Any other ideas to get chin to chew?

[Kara315]

So after a long ordeal with his teeth, he had them filled successfully and is now eating his normal dry pellets, and is excited to take his treat, before he didn't care as much and has gained his weight back, no drooling and is acting like his old self which is great. But, I still don't see him chewing on anything, I feel like I have the only chin that wont chew. Tigger chews on the wood but Eeyore doesn't care about it, it seems. I have different kids, shapes, sizes, got a pumice stone, hanging toys with different types of pieces. I took some advice from here and the vet, and soaked some in apple juice/Kool-Aid with no sugar added. I might try and do that for a longer period of time.
I guess if he doesn't chew, he'll just have to get his teeth filed routinely, I'd obviously much rather he didn't, but I've tried so much with getting him to chew and he just doesn't care about it. Any other ideas?

 

[xBrianx619]

What types of wood have you tried? My dudes aren't really picky when it comes to wood, but I know for a fact that they'd both go crazy if i threw a bunch of apple wood in their cage! Try Apple wood make pieces that are big enough so he can pick them up. Do you have any lava ledges? I have tons of pumice stones in my chins cage, but they don't touch them..however, if i bring a lava ledge home, it's chewed to the bolt in about a weeks time.

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

The big thing you want your chin to be chewing is hay, because that's what helps grind down their molars vs. chew toys which chins can choose to use just their incisors to chew if they don't feel like ingesting or chewing on it like a cud Of course, you want them to be wearing down all of their teeth and have lots of things to occupy their minds and chompy desires, but again, the most important chew is hay! What are you offering him in that realm?

 

[Kara315]

The main wood I buy is apple, Not really sure what the other ones are. Just the typical colored ones from petsmart. I have loose hay and hay cubes. Haven't seen him chew on either. I think Tigger chews up the cubes. Neither seems to care too much for the loose hay, it looks like they just dump it on the floor, they could be eating some, but I haven't seen them to actually say.

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

I mean what kind of loose hay? If they aren't eating the timothy (assuming you are feeding them timothy) then there are other kinds of hay that you can try, like orchard grass, that they might prefer (mine go nuts for orchard grass!). Hay blocks are fine but don't really work the molars anywhere near to the extent that loose hay does, making them a little moot for molar needs. The brand of hay can also make a difference, as well as what 'cut' the hay is.

 

[Newt]

Have you tried loofah or lava triangles? Willow wreaths?

 

[Zoaea]

Mine have turned up their nose at hay before, but they typically love it. I found out that it was a certain brand they hated. Also my girl that is a pellet pusher only eats super fresh good smelling hay. I give her Timothy one week and orchard grass the next or she tends to go off the hay again. She also wont eat every piece, like in Timothy she will pick out the flowers first (look like furry wheat stalks to me) and throw any thick pieces on the floor. So even if there is a lot of waste she does eat it.

Make sure the hay you get smells fragrant, almost sweet, not dusty. And try a different type or brand.

PS I agree with the lava ledge and lava bites, the plow through those while ignoring the pumice blocks.

Good Luck

 

[Kara315]

Have you tried loofah or lava triangles? Willow wreaths?

I haven't tried much loofah, I will give that a try. I had the lava triangles once and I think it was Tigger that really loved them, but I will buy some more and keep one for Eeyore before tigger hides them all lol.


I am feeding them timothy, I've tried other brands etc...... Tigger just likes the cubes better. Neither have cared for the loose hay for awhile.