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Behavior Tipping Food Dish

scarlettraven

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First a little background on the situation.
I used to have my two girls food dish in their litter pan...but I noticed that as they started to grow bigger it was taking up more room than I wanted (they ended up sticking their butts in it while they were eating hay). I have them in a 2 x 4 and use a small cat litter pan in their kitchen area. works great as they do 99% of their business there...but I really don't want to make the litter area any bigger because I don't want it to take up any more space.

Recently I moved the food dish out of the litter pan and it's just in the middle of the cage on the fleece. Now at least twice a day "someone" keeps dumping the whole dish out. :D I put the food back in....come back awhile later aand it's all over the place again. They seem to like to eat it that way (off the fleece) but it's so messy! There's Oxbow everywhere! :p

I have used both a ceramic dish and a plastic one, same result.
I don't really like the ones that screw onto the side of the cage....I find they sit to high for pigs to reach comfortably and I don't think they would work with my coroplast.
Any ideas? what do you use for a food dish?
 

SeeSpotSit

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I use this ceramic tilted dish - (broken link removed) - in the kitchen area. I like it because they don't need to put their paws on it (which I assume leads to some tipping). What about putting it in a corner? Maybe they're tipping it over as they run through the middle of the cage?
 

scarlettraven

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One of the dishes I have tried is tilted...I really think it's Bingo doing it, she's bigger than Daisy....is it weird that I think she's doing it on purpose? :D When I start picking up the spilt food she always runs out of her hidey and starts hanging around...just waiting for her chance! :cheerful:
 

SeeSpotSit

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Haha!!! Doesn't sound weird at all...sounds like a piggie game if I've ever heard one. I spill it and the human collects it back in the vessel...woohoo! Sounds fun to me. :)
 

pinky

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I bought some low rimmed glass ashtrays. They work great and none of mine can tip them over.
 

KD006

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Mine intentionaly tromps on her dish to get to the carrots under the lettuce, she will munch some lettuce, poke her nose in the bowl sniff the carrot then pounce on the dish to flip out lettuce, grab a carrot and let the bowl flop back.
 

scarlettraven

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Haha!!! Doesn't sound weird at all...sounds like a piggie game if I've ever heard one. I spill it and the human collects it back in the vessel...woohoo! Sounds fun to me. :)

Brat! :heart:
 

jacqueline

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well, since they only get 1/8 c twice a day, there's so little that could end up on the fleece. mine tend to have eaten their pellets pretty soon after i give it to them. there are lots of things we all try to keep the cages tidy, and i know different things make people crazy (i hate when they chew on grids!), but in the overall scheme of things, whether they eat their pellets from the fleece or from their dish, it doesn't matter to me. and since the pellets are the least important thing in their diet, even if they soil or trample on some, there's the hay and veggies. i understand it bothers you, but maybe, since you may not be able to "beat" them at this game, you may as well join them?
 

Zuidy

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If you can, put the bowl in something that you can re-use other than the litter box. That way, when they spill, at least it won't get everywhere. Unless you want to use a different method, but that should work.

(seriously, I don't see why everyone has troubles with Piggies tipping over food bowls!)
 

piggi_zone

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I use shallow two sided cat dishes seems to work better for me never thought of the ashtray idea
 

Cavyness

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I had a problem with bowls tipping over so I switched from a ceramic bowl to the All Living Things Nibble bowl. Leo hasn't tipped his pellets since.
 

piggi_zone

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spy that sound cute your piggie throwing the paper plate around
 

scarlettraven

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Well...I think it's something I will have to learn to live with...I'm pretty sure it's a game they're playing...it's kinda funny, and who am I to take away their fun? :D
 

guineapigfied

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what about a small saucer?
 

piggypuppylove

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I have the same problem! They do it on purpose and no matter what type bowl/dish I try to use, the little brats tip it overlol
 

Skippie

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@ThePigAlchemist

Why punish your pig for having a little fun? They're not hurting anything.

[MENTION=20244]SeeSpotSit[/MENTION]..I couldn't have said it better!

My pigs dump out their bowl too. They do it right away, every single time. I tried different bowls but settled on a lightweight one so when they dump it, it doesn't hurt if it hits them on the head. I think its just fun to dump out all the food. To me, its like a kid who likes to eat with their fingers or sort their food out on the table. It really isn't hurting anything, its just more fun that way. Besides, we know pigs are passionate about their food!
 
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pocketmonster

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For a little while, mine were tipping their food bowl over, and I wasn't sure if they were getting so big they were doing it accidentally. After observing them, though, I saw that they were doing it on purpose for whatever reason. I got tired of it, so every time they did it, I sprayed them once with a spray bottle of water. They figured out pretty quickly not to do it!

Instead of spraying your small animal with a water bottle, how about fix the problem? You're their caretaker. I find it cruel that you would spray them with a water bottle for doing something that they do naturally. I'm kind of appalled that someone would do this…

Anyways, I use a two-sided cat dish that I found for $.97 at Tractor Supply!
DSC05618.jpg
It works perfectly and they can't tip it over because of its flared lip. For my two boars, I fill each side up with pellets (in moderations of course, the equivalent of 1/8 cup!) and Radley gets her full serving in one side and veggies in the other.
I spent almost $5 for Radley's pellet/hay station set up in her cage. The suet holder is from Lowe's, the pink bin/litter pan is from the Dollar Store. :)
 

MissJean

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For a little while, mine were tipping their food bowl over, and I wasn't sure if they were getting so big they were doing it accidentally. After observing them, though, I saw that they were doing it on purpose for whatever reason. I got tired of it, so every time they did it, I sprayed them once with a spray bottle of water. They figured out pretty quickly not to do it!

I don't know how "trainable" guinea pigs are, but animals should be trained with positive reinforcements. Guinea pigs in particular are small, scared little prey animals and the idea of spraying them with a water bottle for bad behavior is really upsetting to me. I wouldn't even do that to a cat or dog if I owned one.

I think all my food bowl ideas have been covered. I just make sure my bowls have a wide base, and if a little spills out while they're running laps, they still eat those right up. Just be careful if you're putting them near where they pee.
 

piggi_zone

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It's even funnier when he jumps on it and slides. I don't know if it's accidental or deliberate.
I am gonna try the paper plate as another toy.
 

Petlovr

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I like these for my "tippers". I hate wasted food and messy cages-it makes me feel like I"m not a good Mommy if their cage is messy.
 
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