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[Mel Apple]

My chinnie has gone from devouring his chew toys to hardly touching any of them.  I have tried buying a variety of toys in case he was just getting tired of his usual ones, buying only the ones that seemed to be his favorites, and rubbing the insides of a raisin on them.  He won't really touch the new toys, other than a test nibble or two, he hardly chews his favorites (he used to chew them into nothingness in an hour or two), and he will only chew off the raisin flavor off and won't touch the toy afterward.

Does anyone have any ideas of either kinds of chews to try or something I can do to make what he has interesting/enticing for him again?  I have seen something about sprinkling bath dust over his food to help wear down his back teeth (he mostly refuses to eat his hay), is that something worth trying?

I'm starting to get worried about his teeth--he seems mostly ok, but he does seem to have started having minor problems.  My husband and I are down on our luck and can't afford to take him to a vet (we'll find a way if he gets bad enough), so I'd love to find something that will help him.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[dianah]

is he eating hay? has he lost weight? is he eating, moving around, pooing normally?

if he does have teeth problems that are fixable, it will cost you a lot less to take him now than when it gets bad, not to mention what he'll be going through. if he's not chewing because of his teeth it means he's in pain. if you leave it, it will not only be teeth problems you will have to deal with but digestive problems too.

a rescue girl i recently adopted was fed completely wrong diet and as a result ended up with spurs on her teeth as well as a huge (and i mean huge, it's like a tusk!) incisor root. she had about a week to live when i found her, i have spent about a thousand pounds on her in the past four months and i wasn't even paying for the vet bills then! she doesn't need her incisor removed at the moment but if she does in the future, it will cost thousands. if we keep her teeth in check and keep her eating hard stuff, she will hopefully never need this surgery.

a vet visit will not cost you much. mine charges about £14 for consultation. they will be able to check the molars to some extent but they may suggest an xray. these are not too expensive either.

if it's not teeth, great news! if it is, you can tackle the problem early. good luck!

[ABC Chinchillas]

Some days chinchillas may not chew as much as others. Devouring things daily isn't the norm. I wouldn't worry if they don't destroy a toy everyday. He may have just slowed down with age. If not chewing is his only symptom

[dianah]

i agree that i wouldn't worry too much if he went off his toys for a short period of time, like a week or two. but if he normally loves to destroy stuff and then suddenly he's lost all interest in chewy toys and it's been going on for a while, it's a change that's worth investigating, especially if you've tried different toys (i have found in the past that they absolutely love something only to completely ignore it a months later when my next triple order arrives!)

fluffy, pippi, luella, spock and ffynn all love to destroy stuff and like yours, are quite happy to destroy a ball into nothingness within hours. mae, she's my rescue girl, has teeth problems although she's had a dental and she can chew without any problem, is not a big chewer. she will have a go at a chew if i'm holding it for her and enjoys it but she's had the same four chews in her cage for a couple of months - it doesn't worry me though because that's what she's like. if any of the other five started behaving like that, i would be concerned.

[opaldamour]

Another thought... did you try a willow ball? something small that they can carry arround? Did you try maybe giving them something new after they have had some out of the cage play time?

After play time seems to be the prime time for my girls to go at their chew toys, especially if I've put something new in their cage. or try some natural bark apple sticks. See if your chin will strip the bark off (even if they don't chew the actual stick). You may also want to change the type of hay your offering your chin. If it's alphalpha, that it usually the main ingrediant in the pellets. Change to timothy ( or if you are offering timothy try a 1/2 1/2 mix of both).

I've also heard of some people taking popsicle sticks and soaking them in fruit juice. I haven't tried it myself, but it might be worth trying if someone else has had any experience doing it?