for the chinchilla who doesn't eat their pellets

[greychins]

I don't measure it out when I feed mine, but I put in what looks about like 2 heaping tablespoons and there is always food left over in the morning. So how much do you feed your chins Ashely?

Jean

It depends on the chin. The cages that have pairs, I just fill up the bowl (I use those metal coop cups in most of my cages, so not huge bowls, maybe a 1 cup size). Usually there's a little left at the end of the day, but not much. Two of the chins spill their dishes, so we watched to see about how much they ate and now give about that amount, so they're not spilling a ton out. For my mom's chin and for Fuzzy, they both have big bowls, but they dont' dig, so we fill up the bowl and it lasts them about a week. I know a lot of people advocate throwing away the spilled food at the end of the night, but with the two big-bowled chins, we do watch and make sure they get new food once it's down to the reject-pellets and crumbs...

 

[jmdebb]

2 tblsp is what people say most chins eat in a day, so to not waste food (assuming you're dumping the extras out each night) you put about that much in.

I just know what my chins eat in a day. Mei and Kona will eat their whole coop cup full, so I fill it up, Chibi eats one scoop (I believe it's a 1/4 c scoop) and MuShu eats the least pellets at just under one scoop a day.

So, if you aren't sure what your chins eat, put some out and make sure they have enough for the full day. Then after you get an idea of how much they eat each day you can scoop out the appropriate amount.

It was never recommended to only give your chins 2 tblsp and that's it. It was just a general guideline for how much on average they eat. Chins won't over eat.

Okay thank you for clarifying that for me. I just read it wrong. Yah, mine don't overate, like I said I think earlier, I always find pellets left in the morning. Sometimes hay, but more usually the pellets before they hay.

jean

 

[Siylvat]

Another thing to remember, if it wasn't mentioned already, is that some chins are really picky, and only eat SOME of a single pellet. I have a chin that will pick up a pellet, smell it, toss it aside, pick up another one, bite it in half, eat half, toss the other half...etc etc. So, while there is food left when I go to give more, I know that he has eaten all that he will out of that particular batch.

silly chins.

 

[Ash]

I don't measure it out when I feed mine, but I put in what looks about like 2 heaping tablespoons and there is always food left over in the morning. So how much do you feed your chins Ashely?

Jean

I feed my chins as much as they'll eat. I don't measure my food out, and honestly I'm horrible at guesstimating measurements. I just meant to say that the 2 tablesoon rule is only used as an approximation of how much they eat per day, it's not a rule of thumb that has to be followed. Chins won't "overeat" and always need to have pellets and hay available. A chin without food will go into gut stasis, as they need the constant food to keep their gut moving. Some chins eat less than 2 tablespoons, some eat more.