Not an actual emergency, but could have been

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trish57

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
55
I didn't know where to post this so I ended up here. On Christmas Day we could have had a tragedy. Perhaps I am not meant to be a chin mom considering my lack of brain cells! I will have to put a note on the back door to remind me to check the cage whenever I leave the house!

That's right, on Christmas Day, being gone for 12 hours (not by choice), I did not latch one of the cage doors!!!!!! OMG OMG. I just about had a heart attack when I walked in the room and saw the wide open door, and neither chin in sight. The 'good' thing is that I think they were too frightened to do anything. They could have destroyed the room, but they were under the shelf of the cage. There was plenty of stuff they could have gotten into; they chewed nothing in the room, not even apple sticks. They were definitely traumatized. I was able to catch Daphne quicker than JoJo. She was trying to climb up between the back of the cage and the wall, and I finally got her. JoJo was more of a challenge, and I chased her for quite a while. They hadn't gotten on the bed, nor did they go under it. I tried tempting her with a dust bath. When I was chasing her around the room, she would change direction whenever she got to the dust ruffle. So they don't know that it's empty space under there, thankfully.

The only thing I can think of that could have made me do that is that I went to the kitchen to cut them some loofah for them. I closed the door but didn't latch it. Obviously I got distracted by something else, because I never got to the loofah. Perhaps I just looked at the clock, because I was late.

Neither one of them would eat the rest of the night, and Daphne barked for quite a while. They seem to somewhat have gotten back to normal, but it will take some more time. I'm sure they won't want to come out of the cage now! And I had just gotten the 11-panel playpen a couple days earlier. I threw my back out a week and a half ago and just hadn't been able to carry it back to the bedroom yet. Yes, all this chasing was done in extreme pain but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

With 3 Advil in me today, the room is now chin-proofed. I just want to smack myself. Sometimes I don't know how I've made it through almost 60 years.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!

Trish
 
oh my! sounds like the gave you quite the scare!!!

glad you were able to catch them (eventually!). maybe give them a few days to relax before trying to take them out of the cage for playtime. take some time to re-bond. they may need that time after needing to be "caught" (which is scary for a chin no matter how bonded you are in the first place!). poor babies! (and poor you!!!!)
 
It sure did give me quite a scare, but I'm sure nothing in comparison to what they were feeling for who knows how long. I don't think they were out all that long though; certainly not the 12 hours.

I'm not even bonded with them quite yet either. I've only had them a little over 2 months. We're getting there though. This seems to be a minor setback. With the playpen up I was comfortable leaving the doors open last night while I was in there. They were curious, but not ready to come out.

I still can't believe I did that. And worried that it will happen again. I'm being real good about checking now, but down the line.... Hopefully it will be an automatic by that time

Thanks for replying!
 
It happens - stop beating yourself up. I have done it a few times. I try to remember to pull at the door to make sure it is closed right.
 
I will try not to beat myself up. Things have changed because they are more curious now. Before, when I would have the door open, they wouldn't come near the edge.

JoJo came out last night!! (I was ready.) She jumped out and back in twice. Then she came out and stayed. She wouldn't come near me, but she wandered all around the enclosure. No popcorning or anything; just a little hopping. Then I thought, how the heck am I going to get her back in, because even if I moved a finger from across the room, she bolted. I finally put up a ramp from the floor to the first level, and she eventually used it. Daphne was in no way coming out. LOL Baby steps!
 
I have some cages that are double latched. On 3 cages I have to put 2 clips (which I call locks) since they know how to undo both latches. I thought I didn't latch them at night so I would have my husband double check the cages before we went to bed. The next morning door wide open some of the chins were out.
 
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