what am I going to do?

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

A few weeks ago I noticed that Zoe was throwing most of her food out of her bowl. ( I had her on Oxbow ) It was feeding time for both of my chins and she got a hold of a piece of Mazuri and loved it. So I did the safe switch and she has been eating it. or so I thought..I noticed that she is throwing food again. I recently started buying Mazuri from qualitymutationchinchillas instead of the Petsmart kind if that is any help.

is this normal for chins to do? Or could it be the change in Mazuri? Or should I try yet another food? I am at a loss as to why Zoe is doing this..:banghead:

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Almost all of my chins do this, they take a bite and then pitch it. Partly because they hold the pellet with their paw and when it is too short to hold they chuck it, other times I think they are looking for the longer pellets to begin with. If your chin is an adult and is maintaining or gaining weight I would not worry about it. I dump so much feed since I refill every night with fresh. Luckily their pellets are pretty inexpensive. If the Mazuri is keeping her healthy then I would keep her on it.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Does yours ever just dig through the bowl and then dump the bowl out? Ive replaced food twice today because she is dumping it out..
She lost some weight after I got her due to a food change and initial transition period from her previous owner to me but she gained it back and has maintained since then, so I am not too worried about that.
I want to do everything I can to make the little fuzz butt happy, so I thought Id get some insight on the situation. Thanks for the input!

 

[Ippo456]

I think that sometimes my chins deliberately throw their mazuri out of the bowls just to annoy me.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

Try putting the food in a small bowl that is in a bigger bowl. Then you can put the food that is in the bigger bowl back into the smaller bowl and have less waste. Some of mine chins do this also and I have less waste this way

 

[CJR]

You could try a bowl that attaches to the wall.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I have tried the bowl that attaches to the sides of the cage and the ceramic kind with the 'hood'. If they are going to dig out the food and throw it those do not work.

 

[mishellyshel]

i have 2 chins that consistanly toss their food bowls........but it is usually cause they are angry that they are not coming out of their cage. they reside in one separated cage next to eachother. and i seriously think they have food fights! because when i take one out the other kicks his bowl to the side and same thing with the other.

 

[Ash]

My boys will dig through their food also. I've started putting less food in at a time, and it's cut back on what they dig out.

 

[CJR]

Do you free-feed her? Or do you ration it out? You could try dividing it up so there's only a little in her bowl at any given time. Like say if she eats a tablespoon a day, give her half a tablespoon once in the morning and once in the evening. That might work... something tells me she'd be less willing to spill her food if she knows there isn't an unending supply.

Buuuuut chins are spoiled and they do as they please, so that might not work anyway. Good luck though!

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I am going to try a new bowl and rationing the food and she how she does. I think she does it to annoy me now, because last night I heard her eating and when she caught me looking at her, she kicked the bowl out its holder and off the shelf. She is quite the kicker..know of any chinnie soccer teams?

She eats plenty of hay though, so I am not too worried about her losing weight and she does eat the pellets when she is not kicking them all over the place.

It's off to the pet store to find a non kickable bowl!

 

[Sierra]

I have the same problem with Sedona. She knows that when I clean her cage I fill the small ceramic bowl to the top especially if I have a long school day and I won't be home until 8 but it doesn't seem to phase her because the next thing I know it's totally tipped over and all her food is in a pile on her fleece. I will put the food in the bowl again and then next time I come in the bedroom, it's tipped over.

I think that she just does it to annoy me and is trying to make me give up but I won't because I am the Mom and have to be stubborn and put my foot- down which means I will constantly be picking her food up all the time. :confused1:

 

[Olallie]

My chin used to do that too, I have them on PANR. And the food bowl in a ledge bowl holder from someone on this forum can't remember who. And to this day i dont see any food that's not half eaten on the ground.

 

[3CsMommy]

One of these was the best bowl I've ever used: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/12654/product.web

Left it with the ex when he insisted on keeping a chin, but wish I could have kept it. It was narrow enough that they couldn't just shovel it out by the handful.

 

[Kula]

You're only putting food in there, right? If you've ever put anything in there that isn't their normal food, they will dig out their food looking for it.