Need opinions on food/hay/toys!!!

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UrbanBlue

New member
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Messages
3
Location
New Orleans
Need two or three (or 50) opinions. I found two websites that chin parents seem to like and found some items on each that I'd like to get her. I have grass allergies so I'm looking at hay cubes or pellets instead of the standard hay. Any thoughts? Any favorite toys for chins? She loves pumice and she loves sparkly stuff (my engagement ring and sparkly watch).

From Whimsy's Menagerie & Chinchilla Rescue:
http://www.whimsys-menagerie.com

  • Hay Cubes
  • Confetti Cuisine
  • Jacob's Ladder

*Removed link and reference to website of banned member*
  • Oxbow Deluxe Chinchilla Food or Mazuri Chinchilla Food
  • Timothy Hay Pellets or Oxbow Timothy Hay
  • Pumice Wreath Chew Toy
  • Crafty Pine Hanging Chew Toy
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Each chin is different, I suggest you get a variety of toys and see what she likes. Keep in mind that you also want hanging and non hanging toys, and different types of materials, wood, pumice, grass, vine etc, so you have chew toys, shredding toys, and toys to toss around (like a fleece cuddle buddy). There are some toys my chins wouldn't play with or touch until I hung it up, or others they wouldn't touch until I took it down or moved it to another part of the cage so try just moving toys if they don't get attention. You will need a lot of toys though, they are roughly as smart as a parrot so need a similar amount of things to do to avoid boredom and unwanted behavior issues that come with it. Also it's good to regularly change out toys to keep things interesting. Depending on if you can deal with it, most chins I've had enjoy bells, shiny and makes noise.

The hay and pellets you listed should be good, basically if you go with alfalfa based pellets (which the mazuri and oxbow are) you want timothy hay to balance out the diet. If you have to go with hay cubes I would suggest trying to research places that have hay cubes of different hay types too for variety. I've only seen timothy and alfalfa, but I've heard you can get them in other types too. I'm not sure about hay pellets, most have binders in them to keep them together (commonly sugars), and are made of finely chopped hay. They need the long strands of hay for proper digestion and to grind down their molars, so either loose or cubes. Hay should make up about 75% of the diet though, so make sure whatever you do go with the chin eats it.

Check out the banner and classified ads for vendors, there are a lot. You can also buy toy parts in bulk, and make your own toys for cheaper. Also you want plenty of chew sticks as well, several vendors on here sell that as well. Just like the toys though, you will need to figure out what your chin likes, almost all chins love apple wood for example, but there is a whole list of other chin safe wood your chin may also enjoy.
 
Can anyone show me how to make my own toys for chinchilla? Also do they need regular vaccinations??
 
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