Update on diet, questions about hay

[randomname]

Have had some success in introducing forage to the boys. Sir Ian in particular is very happy to root through a pile of leaves & stuff. They'll pretty much eat anything, but love thistle, dandelion, ribwort & dandelion roots. I scatter their food in it & they forage happily. They get excited when I get the bags out.
Also, have replaced the daily raisin with a fenugreek crunchy & they are very happy about that, have stopped asking for fruit altogether. 
The only sticking point is that they won't touch any hay. I buy a variety as i have rabbits & degus too, I usually have 4 or 5 on the go. I have tried them on every kind, but they show no interest. Even redigrass & fresh oat grass isn't tempting them. I've tried putting it in their nest box, near their toilet spot (as rabbits usually have a munch when they're on the loo) & in hay rack in various places around the cage. They pull it all out of the racks, but don't eat it. I have tried putting it in a pile of forage, but they still ignore it. Have also tried rubbing fresh herbs on it, & they love fresh herbs, but they just dig through it grunting angrily when they can't find the herbs. 
Really wish their previous owner had had them on hay from the start. Any ideas to motivate them? Is it a good or bad idea to maybe reduce the amount of pellets or forage to encourage them to eat hay? I usually wait 'til they've eaten everything before I give them more, but they still ignore they hay, even when hungry. How can I convince them it's food?

[natnat899]

Mine are quite fussy as well, they only like to eat it straight after I put hay out, if it's been left there anymore than a few days they won't touch it! I feed mine Ings hay and Timothy hay (either oxbow Timothy hay or chinchillas2shop) it has to be nice, green and straw-like. 

They seem to prefer it when the hay is suspended, so I have 2 hanging balls in the cage which I partly fill with hay.

www.hay-and-straw.co.uk/hayandstraw/Ordering-Page.html (where I buy the ings hay)

[polly]

I'm fortunate that all my boys are good hay eaters. The weather and temperature can effect how much hay is consumed. You are doing all you can Randomname, I think it's just peserverence.

[randomname]

lol was just going to ask if all chins are fussy about hay, but you've answered that Polly
Do you think it makes a difference if they're not introduced to it early enough? 
I have tried oxbow timothy natnat899, didn't show any interest. They're not fussed with green oat hay either. They like the burgess forage (hay with birch bark) but they only eat the bark, not the hay. Think they see it as something to search through, not actual food. Even tried a bit of straw to see what they'd do, & yup, ignored that too. 
Will keep trying. 

Does any one know of any chins that refused hay, but one day ate some & eventually ate normal amounts? Would love to hear a success story to keep my hopes up

[polly]

Zulu, one of my rescue chins was not given hay or toys in his first home. He came to me at six months terrified of both. He's three in March and even now will only eat hay when he wants to. He's been a very challenging chin to sort out, he won't chew sticks very much with not having toys as a kit, but will nibble pumice etc.

[natnat899]

I can only suggest trying different hays out, some are yummier than others! And hopefully one day they will decide it's food and start eating it! Mine pick through a lot of it so there is quite a lot of waste, but I do see them eating hay.

[randomname]

the frustrating thing is I only have to persuade Sir Ian really. If he eats it, Sir Patrick will probably copy. Sir Ian tends to be first for everything, when he started eating forage, Sir Patrick followed suit pretty quickly.

[polly]

Typical chins 😊.