Death balls

I initially came here to say that this isn't going to be much of a debate for the person who made the thread and was throughly confused when I saw Peggy made it. Then I read deeper. I am dumbfounded that people contact you trying to debate this! I also don't see how anyone can even fathom that this is a good idea. Not only them running around in their own excretment, but these are chinchillas....they have specific temperature needs. I can't imagine how hot and humid one of the death balls gets. This is torture for your chinchilla, whether they act like it or not.

By the way, I absolutely refuse to put a smiley face next to the saying death ball. It is a death ball. It has killed chinchillas in the past and wil continue to kill chinchillas in the future.

Since the ultimate goal of PETA is no pet ownership, they would be no help.

Rickman said:

Maybe we should just forward this link to PETA and let them run with it!!

I agree that they're unsafe for ANY animal - but, unfortunatly, we can't do much but spread the word, and are the majority of people going to listen?

Peta may go after the manufacturers!

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I had one when I started, If used for very short periods of time they can be safe, I do not however recomend them as they are dangerous. People place their chinchillas in there for hours and it is not safe

They are also unsanitary chinchillas roll around in their own feces and urine. and it is a danger, they may roll down the stairs and thay can be escaped from

When my chins are out, they like to hop and jump and look around. They couldn't do those in a death ball and I prefer my chins alive without being covered in poop and pee.

Death balls are dumb.

No to death balls.

I've gotten some in with rescues and am trying to figure out what to do with them. maybe i can do a craft project... Hanging lanterns maybe? lol

aznmexaggie said:

No to death balls.

I've gotten some in with rescues and am trying to figure out what to do with them. maybe i can do a craft project... Hanging lanterns maybe? lol

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Smash and recycle!

Tia came with a death ball. I pitched it that night because I don't think it is fair to ANY animal. Can you imagine running around in one?!?!

Sumiko - If you know someone who has rats, they make great swings. You drill a hole in one side, leave both ends open, put a chain through the hole with a nut or whatever, throw in some fleece to hide in - and off they go. My degu had one at one time too and really enjoyed the motion.

I don't have an opinion either way. I used one for a year when I had a guy living in the Pharmacy Department with me. It allowed him to run the building but not damage anything. He would leave... and come back when he was done. What I didn't like is it did collect the poops and they'd rattle around in there.

I don't have any now, don't recommend them as I think they are unnecessary, but don't throw a stink when others use them either.

I have never personally known a chin that has died from being in a ball therefore remain unopinionated.

aznmexaggie said:

No to death balls.

I've gotten some in with rescues and am trying to figure out what to do with them. maybe i can do a craft project... Hanging lanterns maybe? lol

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I have 3 in my shed I can donate to the cause.

I have never personally known a chin that has died from being in a ball therefore remain unopinionated.

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If you hear a story about one then do you personally know it?

This is actually the story of how I got into breeding...
Not my first chin, but my second chin came with a death ball... I used it because we had dogs. Yes... I was a bad owner. I didn't even have internet to learn on, and of course the pet store books are full of bad info. I also fed bad food.

Anyway, my husband put Cinder in the ball to let her play and he didn't get the lid on good, she got out, and the dog got her. He felt terrible and found someone who was rehoming their chins, it was a breeding pair. And it all went downhill from there. I had about 8 chins when I found a mentor, then I rehomed 8 chins... because I found a mentor and wanted to breed, and it right. Actually that's not true. I kept a girl and her baby. We lost her to malo, we still have the baby. It is my daughters chin Alice.

Although not over heated, or fallen down steps, Cinder was lost to a death ball. And that is a personal first hand story.

tunes said:

Sumiko - If you know someone who has rats, they make great swings. You drill a hole in one side, leave both ends open, put a chain through the hole with a nut or whatever, throw in some fleece to hide in - and off they go. My degu had one at one time too and really enjoyed the motion.

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You can also wire them to the cage to create a bed. I have done this in the past when I had only a few rats and I wasn't concerned about how long it took to clean.

As a small child, I had hamsters and they, of course, had the death balls. I wouldn't let them stay in for long though, because no animal wants to be covered in its own mess. I guess my parents were as ignorant as the general masses of the safety/health issues associated with many 'pet shop' products marketed to owners' whimsy and not pets' actual needs.

Older, I had a pair of degus, and I remember letting one run in the death ball once and instantly realizing what terribly stupid contraptions they are. Degus are much too intelligent to want to be trapped in a foggy, humid ball that prevents them from naturally exploring their environment. It's just wrong.

I'd never dream of putting a chinchilla in one for all of the reasons everyone above me has mentioned. That rat swing mod sounds good though.

I had a customer let a chin run outside in 85° weather in a ball for more than half an hour. The chin died because she overheated. I warned them about the stupid ball, but they didn't listen. Apparently the petstore knows better? I don't like them...the chins can't stay in them very long, they get pee pee on themselves...and the ball is VERY difficult to clean out. Not to mention that the chins bang it into the wall so many times that the ball ends up all nicked and covered in paint that transfers to it each time they smack into the wall..

I always tell people that it's a giant waste of $20 or whatever the stupid thing costs. Buy some toys, that would be a better use of the money.

Although not over heated, or fallen down steps, Cinder was lost to a death ball. And that is a personal first hand story.

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No, she was lost to your hubby not putting the lid on tight enough. Human error.

I had a customer let a chin run outside in 85° weather in a ball for more than half an hour.

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Again, above and beyond what you would normally let a chin out in.

So if the ball is used correctly, in temperatures chins are supposed to be in - 75 or less, in the house - have they killed chinchillas?

You can't save people from their own stupidity with any item, I don't see how this ball is different.

)

Regardless of the ball killing chins with inside "proper" use or not, I still see them as cruel. I would not want to put an animal in a tiny enclosed space that prohibits them from naturally moving, has poor ventilation, and causes their urine and feces to be flung all over themselves. I do know that it gets hot and humid inside that ball. I remember as a little kid I would put my hamsters in the balls and when I went to get them out, it would be nasty hot in there.

I would not use a critter ball for any critter. It restricts natural movement and keeps them for sniffing around and investigating things like a critter ought to be able to do.

I kind of like the idea of hanging lanterns made from the balls. It might be kind of cute in an animal room or a barn.

Spoof said:

So if the ball is used correctly, in temperatures chins are supposed to be in - 75 or less, in the house - have they killed chinchillas?

You can't save people from their own stupidity with any item, I don't see how this ball is different.

)

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Yes, I had a chin overheat and almost die from being in a ball for 15 minutes inside a room that was no more than 68 degrees. The balls do NOT have proper ventilation so it heats up quickly. I've also talked to a couple people out here that put their chin in the ball, walked away and came back 15 to 20 minutes later to a dead chin. I don't know the exact temperatures but they all said the temperatures were 73 degrees or less in their houses and since I usually get these calls in the winter, it's not hard to believe.

People are stupid with items, hence they are unsafe. Would you trust the vast majority of the population to properly use the ball? I wouldn't...I wouldn't trust the vast majority with my chins either.

I have seen the ball directly related to over heating and death. This is one of the few things with chinchillas that fully deserves the nickname the chinchilla community has given it.

Personally, I would not use it because of how badly it restricts natural movement. My chinchillas definitely enjoy being clean and taking their baths, I don't see why they would find enjoyment in their feces smacking into their faces over and over again or their urine coating their bodies. I think it's also terrifying for a prey animal that is TRYING to run and hide but can't because the ball can only go so many places.

It is human error to put the animal in the ball, so how is it different? It's possible that the lid came off due to "normal use" as well because she wasn't just in it for a couple seconds then it fell off. An aquarium with a screen top has more ventilation that a ball, but yet people shouldn't put chins in them.

Even if it is safe when used under certain conditions, there's too many people that don't follow directions out of immense stupidity, ignorance or inattention. If someone sat right there and supervised the chin in the ball and timed it with the temperature being 70 degrees, then it may be alright.

It's just that people see that stupid ball as being something that simplifies playtime and makes it so that they don't have to clean up poops or worry about the chin getting behind the furniture. Once people get lazy like that it's all downhill. (I'm talking about people in general.)

With all the attention required to use the ball properly and safely a chin owner may as well just let the little guy out to play! Sometimes the chins won't even use the ball...they just spin in a pathetic circle. It just doesn't allow for a chin to be a chin with all the wall surfing and exploring and chewing on things a chin shouldn't, etc.