Storms?

[dayofhope]

I live in tornado alley. What do I do with my chin during a tornado? Where her cage used to be was pretty protected, it was in a windowless bathroom right next to the safest room in the house. Now, her cage is in windowed room, and not as safe during storms.

Recently, we had some tornadoes and I was freaking out wondering what to do. I was about to put her in a small kennel like I've seen some people do on here, but my dog has been in it and I wasn't sure if they could transfer some weird disease? So, I put her in a box (pretty tall, but escapable) for about an hour with some hay and a stick to chew. I'm afraid the air wasn't that great, slits through the top was the best I could do. :S

For future reference, what should I do? Could she go in the dog kennel or should I disinfect it (how?) before? Or is the box okay? Should I have a box with more air holes available? They only last for about an hour (unless of course, we're struck, but that thankfully hasn't happened yet.)

I just hope I haven't stressed her out a lot or anything. :S

One other question, I've heard some theories a chinchilla should be kept in a quiet room during the day for them to sleep, but I've also heard it's better to put them in a room with more activity? Which is true?

Thanks.

 

[Laurie]

Get a carrier for just your chin. Your chin should go where you go when you evacuate or find shelter during a tornado. Make sure to have a water bottle for it as well as food.

 

[dayofhope]

Would there be any way I could disinfect the carrier when I know a storm is coming? Just wondering~

 

[dayofhope]

Sorry for the double post, but what should I do until I get a new carrier?

 

[PetoftheDay]

Clean it with a good disinfectant, then after that, rinse it all off with water as well, just so no fragrance or residue remains. Do that now, and you'll be prepared for the next storm.

 

[addictedtochins]

I got a very small carrier at a garage sale. I'm driving 2 chins down the hwy and all of a sudden Victor (chin) is on my lap. I thought the door malfunctioned. I put him back in and watched as he quickly flew through a verticle bar space of 1-1/2 inches high and 5 inches wide. Can you say freak out? And Victor is a normal sized adult. Now on the other hand Doesha (chin) was being a brat and I put him in a reg. plastic airline carrier until morning when I would have to fix up a separate cage for him. He chewed right through that hard plastic and escaped!

 

[dayofhope]

Would a good/safe disinfectant be water and rubbing alcohol? (I think I read that somewhere?)
Wow! That was definitely not a good surprise! At least the carrier wasn't outside or anything, that wouldn't have ended well :S

 

[partygirlha]

alcholole for 30 ormore seconds followed by a good rinse will work... make sure the bar spacing is 1" or less unless you want a chin on the losse in a storm.

given this years record storms you should also consider having an evacuation set up incase your town looses basic services like power or your home is damaged and you need to leave. Of course we all hope you never need these things but better to have them and not need them.

consider http://qualitycage.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=129_142_153&products_id=534 a colapsable cage (that can double as a carrier if you don't yet have a chin safe one. keep the carrier next to his cage so you don't need to look for it at the last minute.

and in a water tight palstic bin have a water bottle, a few days of food and hay and some bottled water. it would be a good idea to have some fleece set aside in case you need to buy ice packs to help keep him cool - you'll need soemthing to wrape them in. keep the evacution kit in the safe place you planto be during a storm so it's right there if you need it and not gone. You could also consider stroring a kit with friends or family who live near by but not too close, as the storms you face tend to be very local.

good luck with this storm season, I know it's hard on eveyone in the affected areas and there have been some amazing stories of survival in the pet world already, but also some tragic ones. I hope you and your family are all safe during this time.