Digging food out of food dish.

[Squirrel_Butt]

Clyde has recently started to dig his food out of his dish, even rolling is face in it as if to take a dust bath. There is not dust in the bowl, it has been washed too. He just digs out all the pellets. There are never treats in the food dish, so I don't know why he is doing this.  What is he trying to tell me?

[chinclub]

He is playing.  Chinchillas find all sorts of ways to keep themselves busy.  Try getting a smaller dish and attaching it to the side of the cage at mouth level when your chinchilla is standing up on his back two legs.  That will make it a little harder for him to dig.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I have a few that do it all the time. I've been putting just enough pellets to get them through the day in the dish. Or I end up throwing so much out.

[Gallardo_Puff]

My Gallardo Puff used to do that too. What I did was I moved his food dish to a different spot in his cage and he stopped digging all of the pellets out of his dish.

[Squirrel_Butt]

Hmmm.... I really can't attach it to the side of the cage, the cage doesn't support those types of feeders.  He has a small dish to begin with.  Anything I put up on the upper balcony he pushes over the edge. If I put it on the bottom floor, he will accidently pee in it. I keep it on the mid balcony. Perhaps I'll try a bigger dish with the same level of pellets in it. I will also get different toys for him too.

[jmdebb]

oh isn't it fun... i sweep teh cage otu every night when they are out playing, and when noel gets back in her cage, she goes to her hay dish with a tude, and pulls all teh hay out..... little stinker 

[Squirrel_Butt]

I got him a lava ledge to chew on but I have never given one to a juvenile chin before. Is it safe for them?  I have given lava bites to adults with no issues in the past.

[jmdebb]

yes the lava items are safe for them.  they are great for their teeth too

[Squirrel_Butt]

He seems to do it less often now, but he still does it at least once a day.

[GrayRodent]

One of the things we had to do to keep our parrot from dumping over his dish was to secure it with a small 1" C-clamp. You may be able to get a stainless steel dish to attach to the bars so it can be elevated and secured to the bars. If you try this I recommend washing the clamp off with soap and water to remove any oil that may be on it from the factory.

[Squirrel_Butt]

Clyde recently started picking up his dish with his mouth and moving all around the cage spilling pellets.   He even got it up to the balcony. I started to put his dish there but he would push it down. I put it on the bottom level, he picks it up and drags it around the cage. I then gave him one of the bigger bowls and he doesn't move it. He digs around in it but does not get the pellets out of the bowl.