Yo-Yo diet Chin!

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Hi all!

I just wanted to see if anyone else out there has a Chin with as wierd eating patterns as mine.

His name is Lucky and he's a 4 year old Black Velvet (Char carrier). He's been with me since he was 18 months old, so for a while now and he has the wierdest eating patterns i've ever seen.

He has got some issues behaviourally and a bit of a traumatic past. He fur chews (for only two days) when other chinchillas are new around him (his breeder rehomed him as everytime he got moved around the Chin room he chewed and then stopped. He chewed when he came home with me and met my other chin, and he chewed when I moved 2 more into the same room after quarrentine)
He also bit one of my Chins badly during intros so he lives alone, and he was beaten up twice as a little one leaving him scarred and battered (he's got a dent in his skull where he was scalped by a previous cagemate!)

So considering his past he's a very sweet loving boy.

But he yo-yo diets allll the time. He's fed on a rotation of quality hays and Beapher Care + food (non selective premium food).

He goes through phases of barely eating any pellets and tons of hay, then all of a sudden his pellet intake will double for a while and he'll barely touch his hay. He eats around half the daily ration that my other pair eat each on the whole. It's not seasonal and it doesn't follow any patterns that you can follow.

He's a small Chin (possibly the Char influence I suspect) and his weight regularly swings between 560g and 680g. He's bright, bouncy and destroys all wood in his path.:wacko: He's healthy and has been regularly vet checked by a specialist - I just find it stranges that he can drop over 100g sometimes and then all of a sudden he piles it back on. Some of it may be due to his love of his flying saucer mind you (he did start to show some repetitive behavours until I got him that). Because he's so physically small, he never feels skinny when he's at 560g.

Anybody else got a Chin that fluctuates extremely? Any idea why? or is he just a bit...erm....damaged in the head considering his history?

 

[tunes]

All chins yo-yo somewhat depending on the season, the weather, and even sometimes I think their mood, so I wouldn't worry about his eating habits all that much if it wasn't for the fact that he has such a huge swing in weight. Lots of chins can be 10 or even 20 gm off over a period of a couple days, but you're talking about a regular weight swing of 120 gm difference and that's a huge amount that I would be concerned about.

I know Beapher is a great food, I've used it here for ailing chins, but you might want to contact Claire D and ask her about some other foods that are available in your area that you might at least mix in with the Beapher. Chins are quirky critters in general, but I think it's possible that they sometimes just don't like a food, or maybe their tastes change and what they once liked they don't as much.

The other thing you might look into is a good supplement. I know a friend of Claire's makes a wonderful supplement that chins really love. I've used it here and the chins went bonkers for it. That might be something to check into to see if that helps with the fluctuating weight.

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

I know the supplement you are talking about, he does get that a couple of times a week along with a daily mini shredded wheat - it is great stuff. I have been trying him with some science supreme but he doesn't like it.
His weight will be stable for months at a time, then all of a sudden he will loose it over a few weeks. Then something will happen and he will up the pellet intake. For a non selective food, he doesn't like the yellow ones much.

He's an odd one for sure.

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

I should add though he hasn't been on the supplement long yet, so it may balance out over time. Some of it may be the weather though as when I weighed everyone last time they had all lost some. He's currently gaining and just weighed in at 606g.
Hopefully the supplement should help. On the whole he's a fussy eater, he doesn't like most treats much.