Turning a closet into my chinchillas home

[cuppidsarrows]

I was going to turn a closet in the room where my chinchilla is, into a whole area for her to live. basically make screen doors to replace the closet doors and then add the appropriate living essentials to the area.

I was wondering about a few things like the dry wall, and painted molding and closet shelves... Will I have to sand all those down so there is no paint or will it not be an issue?

I can not image that it will not be an issue so i am sure that i will be having to sand all the paint off, but what about the drywall with the paint on it. Is this not such a hot idea?

Any input would be helpful.

 

[Harleychin]

A chinchilla can chew right though dry wall,molding and your shelves.
If they get their teeth on it they will chew it.

It's in their nature.

 

[chin_gal]

I really wouldn't recommend turning your closet into a cage. What about carpet? The chin can and will chew it. And if it's hard wood floors, they'll be ruined, and will eventually rot. The walls and shelves will also not be protected and if a chinchilla does nothing else, they chew like crazy. You won't have any shelves left, and those things are definitely not safe for a chinchilla to be ingesting. I'm not saying this is entirely impossible, but you'd really have your work cut out for you to make it safe. I can imagine it would get quite stuffy too, with or without AC.

 

[Brandon]

I do not like this idea. As mentioned, your wooden floor will rot eventually and carpet will be chewed. Unless your shelves are untreated, and unpainted, they are unsafe. Besides, the type of wood will probably be unsafe for them even if untreated and unpainted. Chins will wreck drywall.

 

[eroomlorac]

I agree, not a good idea. Not much ventilation. It would be difficult to clean in all the corners.

 

[jk_chinchilla]

We let our chins play in our bedroom when they are out of their cages. They have basically destroyed the drywall within a foot of the floor - they like to tear the paper off in shreads. I tacked posterboard up along the walls which helps but they still chew thru the posterboard regularly to get to the wall. I also have a spot where they chewed thru the carpet down to the carpet tacks and had to rearrange the room to cover the spot with the dresser to keep them from hurting themselves on it. So basically what I'm saying is that the closet idea seems good in theory but may not work in actuality.

 

[Stackie]

Also on the not a good idea wagon. The paint/drywall whatever else could prove to be toxic to your chinchilla. Stick with a cage.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I, too, don't think it's a good idea. There's just too much that can be a danger to the chin - wrong wood, paint, carpet, little ventilation, etc.

 

[Cola89]

heck my chin cage was to close to the wall and there are literally chunks missing when my mom saw i got in trouble. unless you line the wall and floor with cardbored i dont see how they wouldnt chew on stuff there not supposed too

 

[gella]

Unless you built your house you can't be sure what's in/on the walls as far as materials, I personally wouldn't want my chin living in/chewing on that. Also whereas a cage you can clean/replace, if something happens to your converted closet floor or walls it will be much more of an ordeal. If there is adequate ventilation in that space, why not just place the whole cage in there making it an alcove for the chin cage instead of converting the closet itself to a cage?

 

[HedgeMom]

You'd have to line all the walls with melamine, figure out a way to get cross-ventilation (holes on more than just one wall), figure out a way to put a metal pan the size of the floor in the bottom AND remove it to clean and then you'd have a chinchilla cage.

Oh, you need to put in some sort of full spectrum light to cycle so they stay healthy. Even nocturnal animals need a light cycle.

 

[Cola89]

I like HedgeMoms signature lol! so in the end its alot more trouble than what its worth. You would have to do some constuction and all that so im gonna say just guy a big ferret nation cage

 

[cuppidsarrows]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I was planning on covering the carpet, the wood would have been sanded down/replaced with pine, and i do not have hardwood floors.

I now see that it is not a great idea for many reasons....

What exactly is melamine..... is it like formica?...or the stuff that covers the MDF that comes on a desk?

I guess i will stick with the cages for now, Just need to find a cheap on on craigslist.

 

[Twilight_Tails]

I had my chins in a walk in closet for a time, and would just open their cage door at night and let them run around in the closet. It is a very bad idea for all the reason already stated. They DESTROYED that closet-walls, floor..it was a nightmare.
Please bear in mind, this was when I first got my chins and didn't know any better! I would never knowingly endanger them by giving them access to those kinds of hazards with the knowledge I have now.