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[Gage]

Hi my chin Brock used to eat his pellets and hay normally but here recently he hasn't been eating the pellets. He's been eating everything in the mixture but the pellets and he has been eating more hay than normal. Is it normal for him to do this. 

[chinclub]

Are your pellets fresh? 

[GrayRodent]

What kind of pellets are you feeding? Some are better than others.

[mojito]

You say theres a mixture? If theres other things along with the pellets, like rasins or treats, this is why he's not eating the pellets. One type of it is called fiesta mix. Chins will pick out only the yummy treats and leave behind whats important (like kids!). Get either Mazuri or Oxbow chinchilla pellet feed.

[Jose Chinchilla]

I use the Fiesta Mix for my Jose. It's the kind he likes the best. He rarely would eat the Mazuri or those kinds. What I do with the Fiesta Mix is pick out all the extras like the raisins and bananas. I usually leave the veggie treats, oats and pellets. He will pick out the veggies to eat first before doing anything else. Then he will slowly eat the pellets, but he won't even think about eating the oats. I also, on occasion, use the hay blocks instead of just the loose hay. This makes him eat the hay slower and eat more of his pellets. On his loose hay, he likes to take a nibble out of a piece of hay then throw it down and get another piece and do it all over again! He's so funny! 

[Gage]

I'm using the All Living Things chinchilla diet from pets mart. It has a lot of seeds and a couple different colored pellets. Brock also likes to nibble and throw he's so messy.

[GrayRodent]

Does Brock have other things to chew on inside his cage? Have you noticed any differences in his chewing habits? You might try adding some Mazuri to his diet and see what he does. Remember do not change the diet all at once. This can be dangerous to chins.

[mojito]

Yes if you switch (which in my opinion you should, seeds are very salty and not good for their diet) switch slowly, like 1/4 of new feed to 3/4 old feed for 3 days, then 1/2 and 1/2 for another 3, you get the point. I use Mazuri and love it. He may not want to eat it at first bc he's used to the yummy treat food but he'll open up to it (it's like switching from junk food to veggies). Also like GR said make sure there are things to chew on in his cage, like pumice or calcium stone and wooden toys.

[Gage]

Thanks guys I really appreciate it I'll get some Mazuri when I'm in town next. He has plenty of wood blocks and a pumice cube. I also had to switch hay on him a couple days back, they didn't have any more at Pets-mart he doesn't eat like it very much but he does eat it. When I first put some in (mixing as best i could with what i had left) he kinda threw a mini tantrum and kicked it all over the place, is that normal?

[mojito]

My chin will have tantrums sometimes so yea throwing loose hay and making a mess is normal. You can find blocks or bags to put the hay in (I made a fleece bag for mine) and it helps a little bit haha. Remember to switch slowly! With all the toys in there sounds like it was the food

[Jose Chinchilla]

When I switched Jose's food, he was so funny. He figured out that he liked the new food better and would pick out the new food and leave the rest and not touch the old stuff.

[GrayRodent]

Do you think he would eat the other stuff by the end of the day? Sounds like an interesting problem. Perhaps someone who has seen this before can provide some better insight.
The good news is that he is eating more hay than usual so I would think it should have less of an impact on the overall percentage of his diet. If you're sure he has completely backed off his pellets until now then I would keep mixing more and more as planned. Just keep an eye on his droppings and watch for signs of changes each day that could indicate problems.

[Gage]

What kind of changes in the droppings should I be looking for?

[GrayRodent]

Normal droppings should not be small and hard (constipation) wet and soggy or loose (diarrhea), or greenish colored. Changes to these states indicate a disruption in digestion. Basically any significant variation of the usual is a warning sign. There are ways to treat these conditions but it's best to prevent them as best as possible because they could potentially lead to serious problems. With any animal there will be some variations. What you're looking for is a trend in either direction. It's always best to monitor this every day regardless.

[almost vegan]

CHANGE THE BRAND. you probably just have a picky eater. Snickerdoodle, my young male, was eating his pellets and then stopped, too. I immediately replaced the food type (this was a bad choice on my part, as such drastic changes in diet can cause digestive issues, but Snickerdoodle was fine, thankfully.). I feed CareFresh, and my chin loves it! He specifically adores the whiter pellets,  so i feed those to him as a treat (obviously daily, because they're part of a complete diet). Try CareFresh.