Hay Holder

[Abby102013]

I have been putting my hay just on the ground, but when I got my FN I tried to get a hay holder to make it a little less messy. My chin, however, usually eats a lot of hay, isn't eating any it seems. So my question is: Where do you all keep your hay in your chins cage?

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

I have a double ferret nation with two chins in it and they have hay in three different places: in a metal bowl attached to the side of the cage on the top level and another identical one on the bottom (these ones are filled with timothy hay) and then a terracotta pot that I put their 'treat' hay in (botanical or orchard or oat - they get hay in this pot only after playtime at night, whereas the timothy hay is freshened at night and in the morning and is always available as their primary hay).
I find my chins go through phases where they prefer to eat from one spot over another, sometimes they like to share sometimes not, but I would recommend moving it to a different location in the cage to see if your chin prefers it somewhere else

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

One of the things I have used with success is a small ceramic flower pot

 

[CRG7]

I have 2 hay balls right now for my little guy. One came with his starter cage. I bought another one to go in the starter cage after my guy got his Critter Nation and I was supposed to get another chin (was told my guy was a girl; found out he was a boy a couple of days before getting the other one -- a female). After not getting the other, I moved the second hay ball into the CN. My boy loves to pull the hay out of the balls. I used to fill it every night in the starter house, and by morning he would have had all of the hay pulled out and onto the ledge. He would eat some, and just pull a bunch out as well. The hay balls can be found on Amazon or at PetSmart:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HG965M/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I picked up a smaller wooden hay manger as well. My little guy was interested in checking it out when I first put it in the cage, but he could really care less about it. He still goes for the hay balls, and whatever hay he leaves on the ledges after pulling it out.