Chinchilla cage location.

[bianca]

hey! my chinchilla has been in the basement for quite a long time now. however, this has its pros and cons.
pros- it's always cool in the basement, he is the last thing i see before i go out..and he is the first thing i greet when i come home.
cons- he is alone very often and i am starting to feel like he doesnt feel part of the family


i want to move him up to my room. i realize that this may effect my sleep habits, since he will have a lot more energy at night. but i want to move him in just because he will be with me A LOT more.. which i think is good for our relationship.
however, it tends to be a bit warmer in temperature in my room.

do you think moving him into my room is a good idea? also.. please provide tips on how to keep his cage and his cage area cleaner when it's in my room and just tips in general with having a chinchilla in my bedroom. thank you.

p.s. i bought a chinchilla cooling block for him..and i plan to put it in his cage when i move him to my room. (will this prevent him from being effected by the slight change in temperature?)

 

[caiti]

My chin is in my room and I personally love it. That's because I love being able to see her a lot. Yes, she makes noise at night and sometimes I think her cage is falling apart with the noises that she makes when she's bouncing around, but it never is and she's just loud, ha. I definitely think she appreciates it since she interacts with me a lot. And it's wicked fun to watch her go crazy. I've gotten used to the noise, to be honest and I would rather have her near me and risk being woken up than us each be alone in our respective rooms. But, it's a personal choice and there's no wrong answer.

You'd want a thermometer and hygrometer in your room to tell the temp and humidity percentage to figure out if it's comfortable enough for your chin. Do you know what it is currently? A cooling block will just help in the moment when your chin is on it. It is usually a temporary fix, but will help if it gets a couple degrees above his comfort zone until it cools down. I like them, and they get nice and cold if you put them in the freezer, although they warm back to normal quickly.

As for the mess--small handheld vacuums for brief daily upkeep help a lot. Also brooms, but I vacuum more often than sweep because it gets more of the mess. If you have hardwood floors, the cage might benefit from being on an area with that so you can sweep/vacuum easier.

I'm sure others will have more suggestions.

 

[starleomach]

you may want to keep the cage somewhere you will be sure to clean it. As for sleep you will get used to the sounds. Until I got married I kept the chinchillas in my bedroom with me and got plenty of sleep

 

[bianca]

thank you so so much!!
yeah.. since i havent really ever had my chinchilla in my room.. i think its a good opportunity for him to trust me more and such.
my goal is to play with him a lot or just be in the same area with him.. so that eventually he will let me touch him more without running away so soon! haha. i am prepared for the noise.. since i sometimes hear him making noise in his cage all the way from the basement! hahah.

 

[Essentia]

Right now I have 6 chins in my bedroom and I don't hear a sound. I run a small fan near the head of the bed to throw some white noise in the mix, but I honestly don't hear them much even without the fan (and every cage has a wheel). You may have a few nights where he wakes you, but you will get used to the noise pretty quickly and sleep right through it.

 

[bianca]

thank you. yeah, noises generally dont bother me anyway. i am most concerned about the temperature. but if he isnt in a spot where the sun will be touching him, and he has a cooling block, i think it will be fine.
i never use anything that generates heat in my room (such as a flat iron or blowdryer), so i think he should be ok!

 

[Stackie]

Exactly how warm does it get in your room? I would put a thermometer in there before you move him in so you know exactly how hot it gets. You can get one from walmart that reads both temp. and humidity. It also records the hottest temp. and the lowest temp the room as reached.

If it gets too warm and you still want to move him in, you may want to look into getting a window a/c for your room before you put him in there.

 

[sheltiefan]

my chin is in my room. I am pretty used to the noise. I have a small problem getting to sleep but she tires and takes a nap and then i fall asleep. once im sleeping i don't hear it. There are times when she doesn't get her outside time cuz i don't feel well due to back issues from a car accident. And she gets mad and throws a temper. She will jump on ledge to ledge as hard as she can so you can her THUMP THUMP THUMP. LOL

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

i suggest getting a window ac unit. that way you dont have to worry about how hot your chinchilla is and you will feel safer about the situation. those cooling blocks are good to cool a chinchilla down after playtime but are not a long term fix. if your room is above 75 degrees then your chinchilla can over heat easily. 60 to 70 degrees is the best temperature to keep your chinchilla comfortable. if you have a sturdy cage and a decent wheel then the noise shouldnt be 2 bad, i suggest what crysta said about the fan and white noise. i cant sleep without my fan on. even if you have to point the fan at the wall so that it doesnt blow on you the fan will provide great white noise and will help you sleep. having your chinchilla in your room will let him get to know you better and you will have a better chance to interact with him. also you will see him more and get more accustumed to how he acts so that will help with questions about his behavior in the future (not that you asked one just saying) and im sure that you will notice some things that you didnt know about your chinchilla because you will be around him more.

 

[bianca]

yay! moving him in to my room tonight im excited!

my room is a little warmer than the basement, as mentioned before. but it is never humid or extremely heated like a kitchen or something.

in the winter when my household furnace is on, i will just close my vent in my room so this way the heat doesnt come in my room.

do you think this will work? and ensure that he stays cool?

(if one day tends to be hotter than another, i will introduce the cooling stone to his cage for temporary fix) worse case... i can always bring him back to the basement.

sorry.. im just telling you all my plans so that if u see a problem with it you can tell me. hahah.
id rather my chinni be safe than me be selfish and want him in my room all the time!

 

[InkedupTara]

What is your house theromostat kept at?

 

[Tagna]

You'd have to take an actual temperate reading of your room to figure out how warm it is. Even with a cooling block, if the air temp is too high, it won't really help at all.

 

[bianca]

Help! I moved him into my room a few hours ago.. And I finally got to bed about 45 mins ago. I woke up very shortly after that though to my chin barking!! He WON'T stop!! I went to his cage, sat with him a bit.. He won't stop barking and won't move from the one spot hea in. Do you think he is just angry that his cage moved? Will he just need time to adjust? Ahh!!

 

[Tagna]

It's normal for them to bark after a cage move. Hope you managed to get some sleep. When I get a new chin and they move into my room for Q, the first night is always the loudest.

 

[bianca]

Oh ok thank you. He was playing on the lower level at some point last night.. I heard him chewing hahah
But he has been in the same spot in his cage for the majority of the time.. I'm assuming this is normal too? I think he may just be nervous.