Escaped Chinchilla

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Ghea

New member
Joined
Mar 7, 2019
Messages
1
Location
Sanra Clara
Hi all, my neighbour has just said his Chinchilla has escaped & there's a possibility it could have got outside. Another neighbour reckons he saw him last night in some bushes outside my front door (But we can't really totally believe the guy). Obviously it's bl00dy freezing at nights & i'm not hopeful it could survive. Also there's three cats here, mine is one & shouldn't harm him, but I just found a dead pigeon & so maybe the uncastrated tom would go for a Chinchilla if their paths crossed?

Any ideas where he might be? Whether in or outside? I suggested the hamster trick (You all know, bucket/ramp/food/bingo) but he says Chins can jump quite a height. Thought i'd post here in case of any ideas at all that might help, i'm concerned if he's out in this weather the cold/foxes or cats might kill him. Though if he has got out I suspect he's long gone?
 
There is no way for me to know if it's inside or outside. Yeah, chins can easily jump 5 feet so the bucket trap would be useless. A cat would definitely go after a chinchilla, and chins are not very sturdy animals (thin bones), so a cat (or other predator) pouncing on it could kill it. They are about the size of a small squirrel so are pretty much prey to anything that would eat critters that size (cats, dogs, foxes, birds, etc).

Your neighbor can try leaving food out inside the house and maybe some dust to see if it's still inside, hopefully it is. The only thing I can think of that might work outside is a small humane trap, but you never know what you might catch. I don't know where you are but so long as it's above zero the chin will be ok for temp, it's the heat (above 75F) that is a problem for them.
 
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