A PSA To New Chin Owners..

[Zahrii]

So, I decided to check up on my chins late at night. I was certainly shocked to find out that BOTH of them had escaped their cage! Apparently one of their cage doors wasn't fully shut, so when they were hopping around inside it swung open. It was obvious that they took dust baths, and then explored the play area. Luckily for me, I had the area chin-proofed (chin-proofed with supervision, as there was still plastic inside the area (litter scoop, open hay bag, etc. but none of them really mess with it) with a gate and multiple safety measures. After a quick game of Catch the Chins I did a quick health check on both of them and made sure they didn't get into anything harmful. They probably have munched on some orchard hay, but that was it. No damage was seen on the walls, litter scoop, hay bag, or anything in the storage area of the Critter Nation. A little damage was to be seen on the other hay container, which is a cardboard box, but nothing in dangerous-level chunks. Just some very slight shredding, it was hard for me to find any obvious damage that would be a sign of a harmful amount of consumption. I have no idea how long they were out exploring, but at least they were mostly safe nonetheless.

So, as a summary new chin owners, if you own a Critter Nation or Ferret Nation (or really any type of cage), make sure to double check if the doors are fully locked and shut! CNs or FNs tend to *sound* like they're shut, but don't be fooled. It may take an extra push to shut the doors completely. If you don't have an enclosed area around the cage like me, your chin(s) are much more likely to get into some serious and probably fatal harm if they escape. Now, just because you might have an enclosed area, doesn't mean it's okay to let the chin roam unsupervised! My boys still could have gotten in serious trouble if I didn't catch them sooner. I'll also be watching them carefully for the next 48 hours or so, just to make sure everything is alright.