Appropriate age for FN?

[Lillybabe]

I was wondering how young a chin can safely be put in a Ferret Nation cage without modifications. I recently lost my only chin to maloclussion. He had fought it like a warrior for over four years. I am not looking to replace him as he will always have a place in my heart but I just can't stand the idea of not having a little chinchilla around. I now have a two level, very empty, FN. We have a local exotic petstore (they get animals from local professional breeders with good reputations, I asked) and I went in and asked some questions. They told me a twelve week old chinchilla could safely live in a FN without chance of escape. Is this true? I do not want to endanger a new chin if I get one. I probably will not get the chin from the petstore (though I am in the middle of nowhere and the closest breeder is over an hour away) but I figured it was a good resource to possibly ask questions since my guy was 9 months when I got him.

Also, I have a 15inch solid metal wood backed wheel. What age is appropriate for the wheel? Can I leave it in there with a young chin or should I take it out until they get older? I could also safely contain a young chin to just one level. Sorry for all the questions, but I had just my one chin for five years. What level of cleaning should I do for the cage? Someone told me if I took a power sander to the wooden levels that they could be reused? I am not against spending money on new I just hate to waste things. As fleece tube can be reused with a different chin, if washed? I was going to spray the cage down with a bleach solution and hose it off. Is this excessive for the whole cage? I definitely am going to do the pans as they have some small stains anyway. I have the deep Bass pans.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shooper]

I dont think there is a certain age, it just depends on the size of the chin. Im sorry for your loss of your chinnie, that's never easy! Most say no wheel or playtime until a chin is 6 mo old, but I know others who say its ok from day one???? You can definately sand off dirty ledges and shelves and reuse them. Any fleece should be fine if you wash it. Sounds like you are on the right track... good luck with a new baby!

 

[mistywaterwoman]

I am so sorry for your loss! I recently lost a baby to malo as well. You never stop missing them, no matter how many other chins you have or get.

You can do a deep cleaning and rinse well, leave it in the sun to dry for a day, that will also help. Sanding shelves is definitely a great way to reuse them. Fleece is fine to reuse as well, so long as you wash it first.
I put a 14 week old chin into a FN, just one level for the first few weeks. She was rather huge, though, so I think it depends more on size.
Wheels are best left out until the chin is 6 months old. In addition to being somewhat of a safety hazard (babies are CRAZY!), during the first 6 months you want them to gain as much weight as possible, and running would slow down the weight gain. That is how it was explained to me by a very good breeder that I trust implicitly.
If you have the middle level in the cage, you can probably give the new baby both levels pretty safely, since there is no danger of falling a long distance. Just make sure he/she has lots of shelves and ledges to hop around on, and a couple of hammocks, too.

 

[Lillybabe]

Yes I have both levels. I paid the extra for two sets of Bass pans, one with the hole, one without. I can easily restrict a young chin to just one level though. Do you all think I need to bleach the *whole* cage? Would it be safe to bleach the pans and then like.. use vinegar to clean the bars? The cage is kind of huge, so it's a bit much to bring it outside and hose off. I plan to do the pans that way but I am just not sure I can get the whole cage down the stairs and outside. There's no way to get into or out of my house without stairs. Is a low bleach/high water solution safe to just let dry completely on the bars? I worked at daycares and they sanitized baby toys with a bleach solution and just let the toys dry completely over the weekend. They didn't rinse them. I know a chin is not a human infant, but I heard bleach evaporated overtime? Any truth in this? I don't want to risk a chin's health just trying to figure out the sanest way to completely deep clean the cage. My guy never chewed on or peed on the cage bars. Also how far apart should levels be for a young chin? I will need to buy or make more I assume as I don't want to risk the baby falling to far.

 

[mistywaterwoman]

Bleach is a registered pesticide, you always want to rinse REALLY well, for humans or chins. I don't even use it, myself, but lots of people do.

If your other chin didn't have anything contagious, I would not go totally overboard on the bleaching, you can probably just wipe down the bars and such with a 50/50 water and vinegar mix and be fine with that.

I keep my shelves under 9" apart for safe jumping.

 

[ticklechin]

Bleach is safe in animal cages when used as directed, alot safer than tea tree oil which some people use.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Bleach is used very regularly in hospitals and vet offices. Calling it a "pesticide" is misleading people to think it is an unsafe chemical for cleaning.

When using bleach as with most disinfectants, rinse the items well afterwards. It is also best to let the items dry in the sun.

 

[Lillybabe]

Well, I ended up dismantling the cage, that is separating the top from the bottom and lugging it outside with the help of a friend. I hosed it off (in the cold) and sprayed everything down with a high water/low bleach solution. I let the pans soak for just a few, rinsing off the bars immediately, then I rinsed everything about three times. I let everything dry a bit outside... not much since it was too cold for much to dry, then toweled stuff off and lugged it back inside. There I finished drying it off and let it air dry the rest of the way overnight. Today I rolled it back to where it is to stay for the chins.

I plan to wipe it down again with a vinegar solution before the new chinnies arrive just to make sure there's no dust or anything on it for them. I'm glad to I did it because I found some spots that were grimey that I never normally noticed since they faced a wall or were tucked in corners.

Anyone else ever noticed marks on their Bass pans? It looks like my guy might have been chewing on them in a few of the corners.

 

[Spoof]

I wean my babies into a FN, boys on the top and girls on the bottom.

There is a wheel in each cage, some use them some don't. I've never had a problem with the wheels.

Anyone else ever noticed marks on their Bass pans? It looks like my guy might have been chewing on them in a few of the corners.

Chins do chew on the pans, I haven't seen the babies do it but my adults definitely do.

 

[ticklechin]

Its just a goverment classification-they toss everything in the same class-insecticide, fungicide, antimicrobial etc, its just a drama way of calling bleach.

 

[Lillybabe]

Typically I just clean the cage with a vinegar solution. I was told the girls shouldn't be offered playtime, the whole cage, treats, or a wheel until they're about 6 months old. Currently I have the wheel out of the cage. It needs a good scrubbing yet anyway. I didn't want to bleach it because I wasn't sure about bleach getting into wood. It's a Chin Spin so the back is wood.

 

[Brittany]

Typically I just clean the cage with a vinegar solution. I was told the girls shouldn't be offered playtime, the whole cage, treats, or a wheel until they're about 6 months old. Currently I have the wheel out of the cage. It needs a good scrubbing yet anyway. I didn't want to bleach it because I wasn't sure about bleach getting into wood. It's a Chin Spin so the back is wood.

Sounds like you're all set :thumbsup: I would use a good vinegar/water solution on the wheel, but if your new girls are babies you'll have plenty of time to do it. 6 months is a rough estimate. I ended up taking the wheel out of my girls cage because she wasn't big/smart enough to use it safely. She's a year old now, and I'm just starting to think about putting one in her cage. So at 6 months just keep a close eye on them.

 

[Brittany85]

I just wanted to say I wouldn't get a chinchilla from a pet store. You won't be able to see the breeder's conditions or meet its parents/ relatives. Any pet store would say that if asked, I know this first hand as a few of my good friends work at a private pet store. They will tell you they get their dogs from 'local breeders' but that doesn't mean anything. All it means is they live nearby
Anyways best of luck!!

 

[Lillybabe]

Oh no way. I am not getting these beautiful baby girls from a petstore. Not sure the breeder wants to be released before pickup but I'm definitely getting them from a reputable one. I adopted my first little guy from the humane society. I just couldn't leave him to the fate of someone else, plus I fell in love with him. That being the case I got 5 wonderful years with him, but many vet bills and trips. I do not regret it. I would respend the time with him and the money I put into him and I miss him dearly. That being the case, I don't want to risk an unknown again, especially right now. Maybe down the road if I decide I want more than the sisters I am getting I will adopt another but right now I am praying that I will get a long time with two healthy beautiful girls. Even with a breeder there is no guarantees against malo which is what my little guy had.