Stop peeing on the pellets!

[chocochin]

So fourth morning in a row now I've come out to find Ganache has peed in his food bowl, wasting about half of his night's worth of pellets. And he really likes eating pellets! I don't understand what the deal is and I'm worried he isn't getting enough food if half of it is wasted in the night (and I don't find it till the morning). Is there any reason he might be doing this? Any way I can get him to stop? Like I said, he does love his pellets and I haven't changed the type since I got him so I don't know what could have triggered this, or if he is just being a little punk. Any way, tired of getting up and throwing out pee filled pellets and cleaning the food bowl every morning. Please help!

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

Some chins sit in there food bowl and then pee in it - it definitely is a pain. I use a hooded Ceramic bowl that attaches to the side of the cage. I got them in the parrot section at Petsmart or from Foster & Smith catalog (bird section)

 

[Lirana]

I don't know if this will work or not, but if you only feed him once a day, maybe switch to half the food in the morning and half the food at night?

 

[tcraighenry]

We split feeding because of poop in the pellets.

One thing though, we discovered Cinnamon was peeing on the shelves when she felt we hadn't changed her pan soon enough.

We do it twice a week to save some labor during cage cleaning. She mostly uses her litter pan but most importantly no pee on the shelves.

Some are more particular than others.

 

[greychins]

I have two chins here that pee in their bowl. They're good otherwise, but I have to say I won't miss them when their new home comes to pick them up. I've tried every freakin bowl out there and these two find a way to pee in it. So, I just fill it with enough to last em like half a day, and then somewhere during the day, or when I get home, dump and wipe out the mess and refill. That way, they don't waste as much. Normally, I fill all the chin bowls til they're fill and refill when empty (or close to), but with these two, I'd be wasting a ton of chow.

 

[chocochin]

Dang I was hoping there was a better answer! I guess I'll look for a hooded food bowl and in the mean time make sure to give him fewer pellets at night to avoid wasting. Thanks!

 

[javachin]

I use coop cups and make sure they're off the ground. Maybe try moving the bowl around if you haven't already?

 

[mercynursie]

You can also put a shelf just slightly bigger than the bowl over the food bowl.Leave enough room for head/paws to get in the bowl and get pellets but low enough to make sitting/peeing in the bowl more trouble that it is worth!

 

[Asha]

I had a chin that used to pee in his bowl too, it was so icky. I ended up buying one of those gravity sifter feeders that you can hang on the side of the cage. They are made of metal and the lid flips open so you can put alot of food in at once, but it will be protected. Hang it just high enough that your chin can still reach it, but can't pee in it. Works wonders for me. Since it hangs inside the cage, I highly recommend hanging it right below a shelf. My chin used to try and sit on the top of the closed lid which defeated the purpose of protecting the food since his poo would still fall into the supply if he was just at the right angle. Now I have his feeder hanging below his lowest shelf, but made sure to keep minimal space between the shelf and feeder so he won't sit on it anymore. Haven't had any problems since!

 

[chocochin]

Thanks for the ideas! He's decided that he only wants to pee in there like half the time now, for some mysterious reasons I suppose. Going to get a new bowl this week and make sure it's one I can rig up to discourage this silly habit. Of all the things chins get up to, peeing in weird places makes the least sense and is the most annoying!