How much food do your chinnys eat?

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The hay ball has never been a problem mine only has a large enough gap on one side and its on the top part... He only eats the hay while in his tunnel si he pretty much lays down and just sticks a hand out and grabs some
 
Those hay balls are not safe, he doesn't get hurt when he's laying around eating, it happens when they are bouncing around in their cage and wall surfing. And they don't break their legs every day...175 could pass and then it happens
 
i use empty boxes to hold my hay, preferably the ones that sandwich bags come in. but i also cut the tops off of fruit snack boxes, hamburger helper boxes (yuk, my kids love that stuff!), cake boxes, anything around that size that can be cut down to a size they can put their heads into. they dont really eat the boxes, sometimes they nibble. they often get wet or will break after a week, so i just replace them. i also use toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls or any of the industrial ones i can get from work. i only use the ones that have NO glue residue and lately all of them have had that, which is why i have been using the boxes more often.

i do have a hay bag also, it works okay, but i didnt want to buy 9 of them!

as for the food, i usually give them enough to cover the bottom of their bowl and ditch any un eaten every night. mostly they eat half a pellet & toss is back, so its best to replenish every night.
 
I just use a clean empty can of veggies with the lable removed. Use your finger to check for sharp spots where the can was opened and remove them with sandpaper. Then I just zip-tie them to the wall of the cage. Remove and clean weekly.
 
addictedtochins said:
I just use a clean empty can of veggies with the lable removed. Use your finger to check for sharp spots where the can was opened and remove them with sandpaper. Then I just zip-tie them to the wall of the cage. Remove and clean weekly.
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I really like the veggie can idea. Maybe I will snip the side and roll the edges to make a hook to hang on the cage. or just screw a hook onto the side or something of that sort.
 
addictedtochins said:
My littlest boy eats the most pellets. I see no need to ration the pellets, or hay for that matter. I buy a 20lbs sack of Panr show rabbit and I have 5 chins. I keep it fresher by storing it in a GIANT ziplock bag but by the time we're down to the last 5 lbs or so (6-8 weeks) the boys tell me it's getting old so it goes to a hungry horse and they get a new bag
Oh, and about every 2 days I dump the old feed and clean their food bowl
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Sorry about hijacking the thread..but where do you find the really big Ziploc bags?

I have 3 chins and one of them eats a 10 oz bowl of food a day, while the others eat a 10 oz bowl of food every 2 days. But they all eat as much hay as they want.
And I have found that the ceramic chinchilla dusters make great hay bins, as do the wooden hidey houses that you can find at Petsmart.
 
Correction: The scoop that I have in the pellet container is 1/4 cup, not 1/3. It was a bit dusty when I looked at it the first time but when I cleaned it off it did in fact say 1/4. So that's how much food each boy gets a day. :rolleyes:
 
GORILLAMANJA said:
I really like the veggie can idea. Maybe I will snip the side and roll the edges to make a hook to hang on the cage. or just screw a hook onto the side or something of that sort.
Click to expand...

i actually made a fleece cover very similar to the tube covers that goes on veggie cans! its really simple and even better, washable!
 
the boys tell me it's getting old so it goes to a hungry horse and they get a new bag
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I have 30# of old feed waiting for the horse - even picked up a free underweight one for this purpose, and she's gotten so fat on it I've had to cut back to a handful. :D

I go through roughly 1lb per chinchilla per week. Mom with babies is two pounds. That's with hay cubes and I know they waste quite a bit of this particular feed. Some feeds they eat less of.
 
Olallie said:
Hm with the veggie cans, you make fleece covers for them? Or can you just use the tin can?
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you can definately use the tin can. just make sure to sand any sharp edges you might find. they sell metal zip ties at home depot you can use to keep it against the cage. i just use fleece because im a very "matchy" person. :)
 
You can just use a plain can with the label removed. I have made a simple fleece cover measuring the height of the can and the circumference plus maybe 1/2 inch overlap on the width but not the height, Use Elmer's glue or a hot glue gun to cover. No sewing needed :)
 
addictedtochins said:
You can just use a plain can with the label removed. I have made a simple fleece cover measuring the height of the can and the circumference plus maybe 1/2 inch overlap on the width but not the height, Use Elmer's glue or a hot glue gun to cover. No sewing needed :)
Click to expand...

Nice! I think I will do that. Right now i put it in a flower pot, but it still sits on the floor of the cage :/.... I think a veggie can would be perfect! Good thing i read this thread.
 
My Buster beastie uses a tin can for hay and it works really well. Yes, you do have to make sure that the edges are totally smooth and I've attached a can in two places b/c at first I just had it attached in one place and he'd beat on it like a drum and drove me bonkers.

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