Hay hog!

[deliamaj]

One of my chin pair eats up all the hay. (Or discards nine tenths of it.) He empties the manger every time I fill it. Elena doesn't seem to even go to the manger anymore, and she rarely will eat Tseng's discards. If I can get hay in front of her while Tseng is distracted, she gobbles it up. But when he finds the pile and starts eating/throwing it, she stops eating it. I don't think she likes eating hay with him. (They share pellets just fine.) I've separated them for hay eating a few times, but they tend to stop eating and start trying to get to each other. She's pooping fine so I know she's not starving, but I want her to get all the hay she wants. Any suggestions how I can get Tseng to stop hogging all the hay? Also, has anyone found a reliable way to keep chins from throwing away 9 pieces for every one piece they actually eat?

Dani

 

[Amethyst]

For my two boys I have 2 food bowls, 2 water bottles, and put the hay in three different spots/holders around the cage. That way I know that one can't physically hog all the food or water. As for the throwing the hay, I think that is just a chinchilla thing, at least I'm lucky in that my guys will go back and eat most of what they threw around the cage.

 

[Godofgods]

it often a good idea to use multiple dishes and water bottles for just that reason. Also sometimes they might snap at each other if they are using the same dish which can cause problems. I would suggest trying another dish for hay that way they can both eat at once.

As for not discarding it... yea... i failed in trying to find a way to help with that. - My girls are defiant. There was so much discarded hay one time that i picked it up and put it back in the hay dish. So they dragged it back out and pee'd all over it....