Question about sleeping boxes and a couple of other things

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Sapphire628

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2017
Messages
2
Location
Alabama
We have 2 female chinchillas that we took in from a friend who didn't want them anymore. She'd had them for six months and says they are around 10 months old (pet store chins).

She had them in a single critter nation cage, which she gave us. The only thing in the cage, besides the plastic shelf was an igloo, food dish, water bottle and chin spin. :cry3:

We immediately replaced the plastic shelf with wooden ledges and perches and took out the igloo and put in a wooden sleeping box, and added some chin safe chew toys etc. However, one of the chins seems lost without the igloo. She will not sleep in the wooden box, she keeps wandering around the cage looking lost and making anxious noises and stuffs herself under the bottom of the chin spin wheel to sleep, which she can only do by laying flat.

After two days of this, I put the igloo back in and she immediately went in there and slept peacefully through the day. I still have the other sleeping box in there too. So my question is - should I keep the igloo in for a little while until she adjusts to the sleeping box? They have chewed on the plastic in the doorway area a little, although I haven't seem them do it since we've had them. I'm worried about having that plastic in there though... The other chin is happy as anything, bouncing all over the place and took to the box right away.

Also, they were on the horrible "mixed" food. I ordered some Oxbow which will be here today. Should I do a gradual switch or just take them off the other food right away? I have been picking out the worst bits, but it's not easy to get it all out and just leave the pellets. But I don't want to cause digestive issues if I cold turkey switch them.

Last question, I have read conflicting things about Care Fresh bedding. That is what she had been using and what I have in there now. I am allergic to aspen shavings so we can't switch to that. I'm considering switching to fleece but am trying a fleece covered tube right now to see if they eat the fleece. If I did switch it'd probably be at least a few weeks before I could get the liners made. I was hoping to continue with the Care Fresh, at least temporarily but am worried about blockages... She said they eat the Care Fresh, although I haven't observed that yet. They do have a lot more to chew on in there now so maybe that will help.

Thanks in advance for any info. We ended up having to take them in 3 weeks earlier than we had planned, so I'm scrambling a bit to get them set up.
 
I would take the igloo out and not put it back. The plastic igloos are dangerous not just because it's plastic, but it also isn't well ventilated so the chin can end up overheating. Just because they haven't chewed on the igloo since you had them doesn't mean they wont, they are known to decide one day (or night while you are sleeping) to demolish something in the cage. What kind of wooden box are you using? and is it big enough for both to fit in? The sleeping house I use for my two is this one, https://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Woodland-Extra-Large-Rabbit-House/dp/B0009WOVP4/ref=sr_1_12?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1489116087&sr=1-12&keywords=wooden+house it gives enough room for both chins to stretch out in.

If the old food is really terrible you can try just removing the pellets all together for a couple days, and give only hay. Then go straight to giving the oxbow pellets, along with unlimited hay of course. The hay only diet for a couple days should help increase fiber in the system so the switch shouldn't be as hard on them.

Carefresh is dangerous if eaten, and the biggest problem is you don't always see them eat it. It's not really digestible and is designed to expand and absorb moisture, and that is exactly what it does in the gut. A piece or two swallowed may pass without issue, but if the chin is eating more it can add up over time and cause a blockage.

If you want to try out fleece before making liners, go with cheap fleece blankets (remove any string or not fleece edging), just wrap it around the plastic pan. If you use tiles or other heavy things to weight down the corners and sides they wont be able to easily get under it. It's quicker so you can do something about it right now, and you can see how liners go before making them out of better quality, more expensive, fleece.
 
Id suggest removing the igloo. Tho i do get your point. You already know they are chewing on it some. They may be used to the structure but its not safe for them. It may take time to adjust but its probably for the better.

If the old food is that bad then you may want to just do a cold switch. Normally with good foods i will do a slow switch, but with something thats just not that good for them its often times better to get them off it as quickly as possible. You will also want to watch his weight during this time. His weight can fluctuate a lot during this. When i took dandy in and cold switched him he lost a lot of grams steadily before he evened out and then started gaining some weight again.

Carefresh is bad for chins. Unfortunately big chain stores rly dont care and use it for chisn any way because its all bright colored and pretty -_-
But carefresh is a paper type bedding. When it gets wet it will expand. So if they eat it, it can mix with the bodies fluids and expand inside them causing a blockage. This can go all the way up to death if bad. Its not worth that kind of risk. Chins chew. Chins eat. Its what they do. Some might get more lucky then others, but chances are its only a matter of time.

You said your allergic to aspen, what about kiln dried pine shavings? Fleece is an option, but it needs to be changed/washed often. Much more so if its only fleece. Which is why many ppl that use fleece, also have a litter pan with shavings in there as well.
I have some horrific allergic reactions to things myself. Dust masks are a big help. I have them placed all around my house lol. An air purifier might help some too.
 
I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, I was sick for over a week -ugh!
Anyway, thanks for all the tips. I made immediate changes after the helpful responses I got.

I took the igloo out. The sleeping house we were using, my husband had made out of kd pine. He ended up making another one, a bit smaller, but with more "windows", and she took right to that one, while the other chin likes the slightly bigger one.

I removed the pellets for a few days and just fed hay, then added pellets back in slowly. They did great with the switch! Thank you, I didn't think to just remove them when switching!

I did get the fleece blankets to try. I have two layers in there. Cagney (they are Cagney and Lacey btw) seems to be tugging on it and chewing a little. She has chewed several tiny holes in it so far, nothing huge but... when should I worry about this? Are tiny holes okay, as long as she is not chomping on it?

As far as wood shavings, we haven't tried the pine because we have two rabbits (not in the same room) and our vet recommended against using it because of them, especially because one is 10 years old and has had some respiratory issues.

So, I'm not sure what to do if the fleece doesn't work out...
 
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