Limit on wood per day?

[Morrigan]

Should there be a limit on how many wood chews a chin gets per day?

It seems like my girls would just de-bark twigs/sticks/chunks 24/7 if I kept the supply going.

 

[Jazicat]

I have hanging wood toys that are in the cage 24/7 and they get a stick or two each night unless they still have wood to debark.

ETA I think that chinchillas who are new to wood sticks go through more than once they are used to them. Mine seem to go through phases of where they prefer sticks or their hanging toys.

 

[ChinnyMom]

wood should be like hay, unlimited and all they want!

i counted all of Rhino's hanging toys today....... ready for this?? 17! and all of them are in his cage, lol. the spoiled lil booger...... add to that his lil toybox filled with smaller bits of wood, loofah, willow, pumice. plus his log house to chew on, and a big manzanita perch, and a hunka grapewood, a pumice block, and a nut knot nibbler (nut removed)........

and what does the lil monkey chew on the most???? his shelves!

 

[Jenn]

My chin has hanging wood chews in her cage, which for the most part she ignores, and I give her a handful of apple wood sticks every couple of days. I think the only limit would be how much $ you want to spend on wood chews.

 

[ChinnyMom]

i make all of Rhino's toys, so cost isn't very high at all. i get most of my barked wood from a vendor here in Canada, and i get treated pretty darn well by them, lol.

 

[ticklechin]

I agree with Jenn, the only limit they have is how much money you have!

 

[mishellyshel]

its good to offer a couple different varieties. obviously they love and devour their apple sticks but maybe offer a harder wood that woudl take less time to chew.

but i have to agree if you have the ability to prepare your own or you have unlimited funds than you can spoil your chins with unlimited wood!

personally with the amount of chinnies i have, each one gets one nice piece of apple wood every night. sometimes i will give them a thinner twig in the AM, especially if they are sitting at the front of their cage looking at me with those sweet eyes! i also keep plenty of fresh wood shelves and houses in thier cages and each one has a hanging toy, although unless their is apple wood on it they kinda ignore it!

 

[Morrigan]

its good to offer a couple different varieties. obviously they love and devour their apple sticks but maybe offer a harder wood that woudl take less time to chew.

but i have to agree if you have the ability to prepare your own or you have unlimited funds than you can spoil your chins with unlimited wood!

personally with the amount of chinnies i have, each one gets one nice piece of apple wood every night. sometimes i will give them a thinner twig in the AM, especially if they are sitting at the front of their cage looking at me with those sweet eyes! i also keep plenty of fresh wood shelves and houses in thier cages and each one has a hanging toy, although unless their is apple wood on it they kinda ignore it!

Does it make my girls complete weird that they'll choose any wood over apple?

 

[Amphy64]

and what does the lil monkey chew on the most???? his shelves!

Haha, typical chinnie! I was not pleased when Henry decided to ignore his toys and destroy his beloved nest basket instead, especially as he looked so pathetic sleeping on the remains I had to buy him a new one.

Apple (the only wood he likes) seems to be really hard to get hold of most of the time here, so it's mainly vine twists/loofah/pumice Hen gets. He just debarks apple sticks within about 40mins and then totally ignores them (does he know they cost me 20p each?), little monster, so he's not getting a constant supply.

 

[mishellyshel]

Does it make my girls complete weird that they'll choose any wood over apple?

not at all!! at least 1 of my boys is not a huge fan of it either. he actually prefers mulberry or willow. fortunatly my dad has both trees on his property!!

i also have a few that are very particular regarding the "size" of thier wood. at least 2 will not touch coins and i have 2 that will not touch the fat sticks. they only like the thin twigs.

i also like to offer other chewing options like loofah & pumice. anything to keep thier little mouths busy!

 

[Morrigan]

not at all!! at least 1 of my boys is not a huge fan of it either. he actually prefers mulberry or willow. fortunatly my dad has both trees on his property!!

i also have a few that are very particular regarding the "size" of thier wood. at least 2 will not touch coins and i have 2 that will not touch the fat sticks. they only like the thin twigs.

Oh yes! They're all for twigs and small chew chunks (that aren't apple) but the larger they get the more their interest wanes. I keep expecting to find the coins dragged down to the litterboxes and peed on...just to show how much they despise them.

I'm pretty sure if I don't get some more pear twigs before the willow runs out there will be a small furry revolt, and if they can convince the rats to join them, I'm in real trouble!

 

[Dusty Foot Prints]

Does it make my girls complete weird that they'll choose any wood over apple?

Annabelle doesn't like apple either. She loves willow, pecan, cottonwood and mulberry. I call her the fuzzy termite. :thumbsup: