chin owners

LoveBug · Sep 7, 2011

so I went and visited my inlaws today. And my sister in law has a chinchilla. She is doing things wrong to take care of hers. I tried telling her what is the right thing to do and she wouldn't listen. What do you do when someones doing something wrong?

(Sorry if this is in the wrong area. If it is please move it. Thank you.)

Twilight Chinchillas · Sep 7, 2011

All you can do is offer advice, and hope she listens. You could direct her to this website if she isn't familiar with Chins n Hedgies. Some people are just stubborn, and think they know it all, hopefully she isn't one of those types!

squeaker123 · Sep 7, 2011

Well we got my MIL to switch dog foods by saying something like "Oh hey, did you know that brands like ***, *** and *** are better for the dogs because....". Casually mentioning it and making it seem like I'm just sharing something I found out has gone further than trying to correct someone.

LoveBug · Sep 7, 2011

Well she got it from someone that didn't want it. So she thinks she knows everything from her. She told me that she's three years old. And she's tiny. Looks to me like she's not even a year old but I could be wrong. And she feeds her raisens everyday. And takes her outside so kids can play with her. I tried telling her that these things are wrong but she simply wouldn't listen. She is using the right dust though. But what is used in the cage, for food, for bedding. I do not know as I didn't go in her bedroom. But she does know that fleece can be used. As that is how she brought her out to me.

Kialana · Sep 8, 2011

I have a friend that was given a chin because the previous owners didn't want it and they provided several bad things like the junk food and raisins yet did not provide any hay or good brand of dust. (I can't blame her, because it was the previous owners that misinformed her) I told her about how the rescue (Essentia) in Jax sold good quality stuff for way cheaper than the pet stores do and offered to be the go-between and pick up whatever she wanted to see if the chin liked it better. I even threw in some stuff that she didn't order so her chin could "try it out." Now he has better quality food, good dust, and hay.

You might be able to do the same thing. Offer to give her some of your better stuff to see if the chin likes it better. She might go for it. Chins can be picky eaters after all. As far as running around outside and such, the best thing is to tell her the negative affects or show her on the forum and hope that she listens. I had to recently convince someone that the death balls were a bad idea even if the temp was really low.

Best of luck!

LoveBug · Sep 8, 2011

Maybe I'll try that. I mean she lives in wisconsin and there's quite a bit of online stores and what not that I could direct her to. What she uses for food I do not know. Although I was with her parents at a pet store yesterday and they asked for chinchilla bedding and the pet store gave them timothy hay for bedding :/ even though that's wrong its still better then carefree or carefresh (idk the name). So maybe the chin eats it too. I do know that her chin loves to be petted (which is the first one I've been around) and loves to chew. I don't believe she gives her sticks because the chin decided my nails were gonna be its chew toy lol. But I'll defsinitely tell her mom some websites to get toys, food, and proper treats from. Hopefully they'll listen. My fingers are crossed.

EMSChins · Sep 8, 2011

A lot of time, people only know what they are told by the previous owners or from books or online resources. Unfortunately a lot of the time those sources are incorrect, but the chin owner does not know that. At the most, all you can do is offer information in a non-condescending way and hope that she will accept it. If she has a question, tell her "this is what has worked for me" or here is a website, "why don't you post your question here and get your question answered and then direct her to this website. Maybe if she hears information from someone other than you, she will accept it??? Just an idea.

LoveBug · Sep 8, 2011

yeah maybe, i'll try it.

LoveBug · Sep 10, 2011

So I thought id put an update. I saw the cage today. ALL WRONG. Plastic shelves, silent spinnner wheel, water in a dish, guinea pig food, wood hidey house (which is good), dust bath in her cage, and lava ledges (which are good). So I gave her chin some loofah bites and some lava bites. I told her about this site and gave her the website. Hopefully she'll go to it and look at the proper ways for caring for a chin.