he loves the bad food.. :( what i'm gonna do

[Evelyn]

I don't know about this brand, but i'm still feeding gizmo with nutriphrase gold that came with him. I'm looking to buy either mazuri or oxbow for him though. I went to the store and in either of them are pure pellet. My boy always choose to eat only the colorful part of the pellet (Carrot-like for example) and beg for more and not finish the leftover. What should I do? what if i buy him oxbow and he doesn't eat it? is there anything else that I can choose that have those colorful one? He also loves the yogurt treat from petstore. I bought it the first day i bought him and now that I know its not good for him, I bought rosehips online but he doesn't like it at all.

I'm also looking to buy fleece house from the fuzz depot to replace his plastic hiding house? Is anyone using that? Would my chin enjoy it? Its pretty expensive but if he's going to use it i'm more than happy to invest. And is it hard to take out for cleaning?

 

[Laurie]

Your chin is eating the "candy" part of the food you are feeding him. Just like with kids if you give them brocolli or m & m's for dinner they will choose the m & m's. What you'll need to do is a gradual change for him, mix 3/4 of the bad food with 1/4 of the good food and do that for one week, then 1/2 of the bad and 1/2 of the good for one weei, then 1/4 of the bad and 3/4 of the good and finally the last week he should be getting 100 percent of the good food.

Chins may seem picky to us, but when there is nothing to eat but pellets in their food they will eat the pellets. I haven't heard yet of a chin starving itself to death because it can't eat the food it used to have.

The fleece houses from FuzzDepot are very cute and chins do like them!

 

[Essentia]

If you don't give him a choice, he will eat the new stuff. This is the problem with these foods. They eat dessert and never eat the actual dinner. Chinchillas are like children. If you continuously feed a child ice cream, chips and cake instead of real food, they will ever rarely want anything other than the junk food. Take it away though, and they may throw a complete fit, but will usually come around when hungry enough.

Switch him to either Oxbow or Mazuri like you planned. You can either take out the treats and just give him the nutriphase pellets mixed with the new food, or just do a cold switch. Give him lots of hay and you may want to give him acidophilus daily as well during the switch.

 

[Isabella Whateva]

Ditto what these guys said. I just wanted to add that I had the same dilemma (my BS "starter" kit from Petsmart had horrible food that I fed my chin for far too long and then switched to pellets) and I was worried at first too, but my chin barely even noticed I switch her food. Plus it's SOOOO much better for her. When I posted on here and found out how bad that other food was, I didn't even question it.

 

[Stackie]

You just gotta suck it up and give him the stuff that is healthy. He will act mad and act like he doesn't like it for awhile, but eventually he will get over it. Chins will not starve themselves - he will eat the healthy food when he's hungry. It's best for him so he can live a longer, happier life. IMO I would just stop feeding the nutriphase completely and cold switch to the healthy brand. That way he can't pick around it. Just offer plenty of hay and some acidophilus.

 

[eroomlorac]

I agree with all the suggestions you've gotten here. Slowly switch. He'll eat the new food. But let me add while you do this, free feed plenty of hay during the process. If he 'boycotts' the new food, he'll still have plenty of healthy hay to eat while he resigns himself to the fact the 'candy' is all gone. Good luck.

 

[Tagna]

With any of my chins that came with a low quality pellet, I did a cold switch with lots of hay. He will get used to the new food. The biggest difference I notice right away with any of my guys is their poop. They will come here with light brown small poops and once they are on Oxbow, the change is unreal.

For fleece items, I have some chins that love their fleece items: hammocks, tubes, etc but I do have some that don't and pee on it. So you could always try a hammock or tube that you can easily make yourself. There are instructions on here somewhere.

Good luck! He'll be a happier and healthier boy in the end!

 

[Evelyn]

Thanks for all suggestion. I'm switching the pellet tomorrow. I also order a fleece house from the fuzz depot. They are too cute to not get one He's been using hammock quite a bit lately to sleep in (though not as much as his wheel). I just realize how much I have to improve with his cage. Thanks god this is summer and i have more time to play with him

 

[CJR]

Both of my chins enjoy fleece items, but there are some who don't really care. Chins are a lot like people - they're all different.

Food advice... go with what everyone else said.