Not eating as much Timithy Hay

[Hyde]

I have noticed that Fuyu has started eating less of her timithy hay and I think more of her pellets, but when I first got her it was the other way around. :hmm: I'm wondering if it's because I've bought her timithy hay cubes? Or maybe its due to it snowing here ? :/ (can she get too cold?)

Also I revisited petsmart to buy some things for her (dust, playpen, ect.)
One of the employees insisted that their mother breeds chins and that its okay for them to have a rasin or 2 a day and that I can train her with them.
I told him that I read it was a no-no and that I just give her a pinch of whole quaker oats and he just look at me and was like "no, it's perfectly okay".

I had another insisting that the sand was just as safe for chins as the blue cloud dust and seemed totally clueless as to why I refused to buy it. It's very fustrating, as I know these things are dangerouse and have tried to explain... :hair:

I just want my fuyu to be happy and healthy, I would love for her to be more social, but I think that builds with time (she seems happy with me, but seems to be a man hater, my poor dad can only touch her when I hold her). Are there any tips you guys can offer for her being more people friendly? Or will she be a one person animal?

 

[aznmexaggie]

I give both cubes and loose hay to my chins. My chins prefer the loose hay to the cubes. I think this is true for most chins.

No, raisins are not good for chinchillas. They are hind-gut fermenters and excess sugar can cause digestive issues.

No, bath sand is not good for chinchilla coats. The sand is coarse and can damage the fur, plus it is not fine enough to get into their dense coats and adequately remove the oils.

How long have you owned her? Some chins take a while to come around. My chins all know me and my routine but are very hesitant to come up to my boyfriend or my mother, who spend time with them much less often. It takes time but she may always prefer you over anyone else.

I love the name...

 

[BeginnerChinLover]

I had a scare with my girls going on a hay strike a few weeks ago. They pretty much just stopped eating it. Did you buy a new bag/box of hay? I guess sometimes they just don't like it, and I had to change brands completely. Although, I do feed mine loose hay. I've heard mixed reviews on cubed hay.

When did you get Fuyu? I just got my girls in November, and they were scared, skiddish, and scared of any human contact. Since then, my one girl Kiki has come along MARVELOUSLY, while Lilo is still fairly skiddish, although better than when I first got her. It definitely builds with time, and patience is key. My boyfriend always has to put his hand in the cage really slow, and let them smell him before petting them. Treats work wonders to get them to be social, from what I've found, anyways. I put crushed rosehips in my palm and let them walk on to get them. As they got more comfortable with that I moved it further up my arm so they had to trust me more to get their beloved treat!

Good luck!! I'm sure other people on here will have tons of tips for you!

 

[Hyde]

Ah! Thank you very much! Fuyu means winter in japanese and my Fu-chan is a standerd gray so I thought it suited her

I got her for chiristmas, but had her for 2 weeks before that thinking she was my uncles ^__^
I feed her, play with her, and she sleeps with me in my room and seems to have adapted to my routine. She likes to crawl on me alot and lets me pet her back and tail, but doesn't seem to like being held to my chest (but she likes to jump off me and I worry)
With my mother and sister she's fine, she dosen't seem too upset when they pet her, but thats mostly when I'm holding her too since they dont come in my room often. If my father walks in without anyone else there, she kinda freaks. Im wondering if her vet was male and maybe too rough with her... :/

As for the hay, she seems to prefer the block to the actual hay. I was refilling her ball at least once a week but now it's been two and most of it's still there. I'm wondering if its b/c I switched hays (same brand but diff product)? Or if maybe she really does like the blocks more? It is winter here and I read that I shouldnt be worried if they dop a bit in weight during this time, but I have yet to purchase a scale :/

She is still very active and playful so Im not too worried, just curious ^___^

P.S. Is there some sort of trick I gotta do to reply to a specific message?

I have attempted several ties to reply to the posts, but for some reason thbey are not showing up! I've attempted to reply three times in diffrent ways and non are working, if this gets through can anyone tell me why? D:

 

[Melissa]

Hyde, new members are automatically put on moderated status to help us keep control over trolls and spammers.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Hyde]

Ah! Thank you! It took about an hour for my reply to show and I kept sending it in >___< I probibly annoyed whoever is in charge of shifting through them, to which im terribly sorry!

I'll try switching fu-chans hay brand and see what happends, but it seems like in oklahoma everything is limited -___-; I had several people refer to fuyu as a rat, but I guess thats southern hospitality for you

 

[SamiJami]

My chins are considered rats to most people, some even call my rabbits such. I firmly correct them!! My rabbits and chins are all on first cut timothy from farmerdave.biz. He ships from NY and grows the hay himself. I find his prices are great!! None of my guys, aside from the two new chins I just got, like store bought hay. I think Farmer Dave's smells great! And they literally attack it.
I attached a photo of the two new chins attacking a toy I made with the hay in it. And one of Altair jumping on the hay bin. He had knocked off Ezio, but I didn't get him in the shot

 

[Hyde]

So cute! :3 I think my fuyu ate some of her hay this morning (i caught her), but she dosen't seem to like it as much as the old stuff we had so i think i'll switch back when i have the chance (i fear snow lol) Thank you guys so much!

 

[Sesame]

Sometimes certain brands of hay and certain types of hay may be more appealing to the chin.

Timothy Hay is the most standard hay that most members use to supplement the alfalfa-based pellet diet. However, you can always change it up by using Oat Hay, Bluegrass, Botanical Hay, Orchard Grass Hay, etc. Hay's main purposes are to wear down teeth and provide extra fiber to the diet. Some brands you might want to try for hay: Kleenmama's Hay loft, American Pet Diner, Oxbow, Fuzzy Kingdom's Herbal Hay. These you can easily buy online and have them shipped. Oxbow is sold at Petsmart stores if there is one near you.

There's also different cuts of timothy hay (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and some chins like certain cuts over the other cuts; Kleenmama's website explains the different cuts pretty well.

If you're feeding her Kaytee Hay, I would switch to a better brand. You may see a dramatic consumption increase, as I did when I first got my chin a few years ago.

 

[partygirlha]

Currently I feed a variety of Oxboy hays and change it up daily to keep them munching. But because I'll be out of work later this year, we're switching to 100% Oxbow Timothy (and possibly farmer Dave - have to check shipping costs).

I just wanted to say that regardelss of hay you should get a good scale... it's important to know what your chin weighs and keep tabs on it. 2 of my 3 are stable, but one of them is not a heavy chewer and by watching his weight I am able to get him in for tooth filings before he has sores in his moth. My vet has been impressed with how fast I get him in - so he bounces back really fast. once a moth we do ring cheks on the boys and eveyone gets weighted. if Bugs is donw at all we switch to weekly weigh ins.

Anyway chins really don't show many signs of illness so starting a weight record is important.

 

[Hyde]

I fully intend to buy a scale, Im just waiting for better weather conditions, I currently watch how much she eats by only putting small portions in her bowl, I cleaned her out this Sunday, and since the hay is all over I now KNOW shes been eating it *yaay*

I think I will try the Oxboy if our petsmart has it.
My parents got me a HUGE bag of Katee hay for christmas, maybe I can mix the two? Until the Kaytee runs out :/
Thank you all so much for the advice and again I promise to buy a scale :3

 

[Sesame]

You could mix hays if you wanted to, but I'm pretty sure your chin will pick out and eat the non-Kaytee Hay. That's what mine did originally. Before I knew about different hay brands, my chin only got Kaytee Hay and ate it (well most of it). But when I switched to another brand, she wouldn't touch the Kaytee hay (or definitely tossed it around, making her home much more messier).

I personally found that the Kaytee hay was much drier, dustier, and kinda abnormally too green. It's why I switched to other brands for hay.

 

[Hyde]

Huh, and here I thought it was supposed to be green :/
For now I'll let her demolish this bag and her cubes, after that no more Katee if I can help it