not eating hay!

[FaiFlourite]

I just adopted a chinchilla from someone else. He's 5 years old now and apparently the previous owner has never given him loose hay before. I'm feeding him Mazuri pellets which is what he was eating before I got him and he loves it and eats it fine. I bought him some timothy hay but he would not touch it. Tried a few other brands and he still wouldn't eat it. I tried to give him a bit of alfafa hay and he eats that. But I read that they shouldn't be eating too much alfafa, and the Mazuri pellets are based mainly on alfafa too... what should I do? How can I coax him to eat hay, or should i just give him the alfafa hay? or not give any or what?
many thanks

 

[PebblesAndAbby]

I went through this problem once years ago and my exotics vet had told me to rotate out the pellets with the hay a few times a day.

 

[PebblesAndAbby]

have you tryed timothy hay cubes? i know they have half and half timothy half alfalfa or maybe less than half also.

 

[Cuddlebug]

If you keep a constant supply of fresh hay in the cage, he may eventually try it. I would not take his pellets away at all. He needs the nutrition he gets from them. Many people feed alfalfa on a regular basis without any problems. The concern is that too much calcium could cause bladder stones, but there is more to bladder stones developing than eating alfalfa. Make sure that he has plenty of chew toys available to keep his teeth in shape.