chinchilla questions

[zooky]

1)when are they considered adults? because my chinchilla will grab onto me and scratch me with his :hairaws it start to hurt and he does it really often. i read it was because of his age but hes about 8 monthes old already:hmm:. so i was wondering if he will grow out of it and how to stop it and when will he be mature?
2) would he be more comfortable if he had a bed? or maybe a stuffed animal he can play with? or is that a bad idea?:banghead:
3)whats the best food brand for pellets that i can get for him? and how many toys should he have? and how can i make toys for him?
4)i have a area to let him out in. what can i use to make a shelf that he can play on while out? and how long should i let him out? also how could i get him to like me more and maybe stay on my shoulder and learn his name?:wacko:
5) how often and how long should i give him a dust bath for? and how could i clean the dust off of him after he bathes so he doesnt get his cage messy?
6) what times would he be awake so i can let him out?

 

[Anna35]

I can't really answer all of questions as I am a fairly new chin mom too but I can tell you what other wonderful people have told me.
1. I have heard that this varies with a chin but I think they are considered adults around 1-2yrs and I may be wrong on that. Not sure if he will grow out of the scratching on you. But mine will sometime try and groom me and when they get rough I just squeak at them and they know to stop that they are hurting me.
2. I line my cages with anti-pill fleece as I have been told fleece is the only fabric safe for chins because it does not have long strands that the chin could swallow. Now for the bed I know with my three it depends on the chin my Wakka loves her little home made bed. I bought fleece and cut it in to chin blanket sizes and put 2 pieces in a corner and she cuddles up in it.
Like this

The stuffed animal she sleeps with is her chinnie buddy. I bought it and it is made with fleece. I don't think it is safe just to throw ANY stuffed animal in with them they need to be chin safe.
3. For the pellets I use Oxbow which I order online but I have been told Oxbow and Mazuri are the best but timothy hay should be the main part of the chins diet (hay is very important for their teeth). For the toys chins can only have woods that are safe for them. I give mine apple sticks to chew on and they love them along with some chin wood toys I ordered online and I think some sites sell toy parts so you can make your own.
4. For the shelf I don't have shelves for mine to play on during playtime I just have a cardboard maze, a hidey house I made out of cardboard, chew sticks and cardboard tunnels. But in my cage I use KD pine for shelves that I got at Lowe's. I let mine out for an hour every night to play. I have noticed with mine if I just sit still and pretend to ignore them they use me as a jungle gym...lol To get him to like you more you just have to be patient it can take a while for him to trust you. As for the name I taught mine by using her name every time I talk to her. I don't know if there is a certain way to teach that or not.
5. This is where I have heard many opinions. I let mine dust once daily and have not had an issue with dry skin, but mine only dust for a few mins and then they are done. But I have heard not to let them dust for more than 15 mins. Not sure if that is accurate. I don't think you should clean the dust off them I never do. But I let mine dust during playtime and by the time I am done with playtime they are not really dusty so my cage doesn't get really dusty. But my playroom is full of dust because they run around and play after they dust so I have dust all over the floor.
6. Mine sleep all day and up all night so I get mine out about 7:30pm for playtime and they do fine. It is our schedule every night at 7:30 they know it's playtime and are up and ready to play. But I do believe chins are most active at dusk and dawn.
I hope that helps and hopefully some more experienced chin owners will give their advice and correct me if I am wrong on anything.

 

[tunes]

Zooky - If you use the search feature at the top of every page on the forum, you will find answers to every one of the questions you have asked. It's why we have a forum, so people can come, put in some time researching before buying a chin, and get the answers they need. I think you retain a lot more information if you do some of the research yourself, rather than having people spoon feed it to you.

Try reading through the individual forums as well. Start at the top and work your way through. Each thread heading gives you a pretty good idea of what it's about, and you can pick and choose which ones you need. The dietary questions you asked have been asked and answered hundreds of times. All you have to do is look for them.

 

[jess32247]

I'll make this short since a lot of it is already answered in the forum, if you look there.

1. They live for 15-20 years, so I would think 8 months is still pretty young for a chin. I can't answer though, as my girl is 6-7 years old.

2. If you want, sure give him a bed! He may or may not like it, but it's worth a try. I sewed two pieces of fleece together and stuffed it with more fleece to make a "pillow". She uses it mostly as a "potty pad" and doesn't lay on it much, but that's fine with me.

3. Mazuri Chinchilla Diet, Tradition, Oxbow, Manna Pro Show Rabbit Formula, Purina Advanced Nutrition Show (PANR) are all good foods and are suggested you feed one of them. As many toys as you can give would be perfect. You can make a process your own sticks, use the search box above and look for a thread that explains it. Here is a safe wood list, this wood is fine to give ONLY if it's treated and processed: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34

4. I don't think he needs shelves to play on outside of his cage. You can make "castles"' out of card board boxes for him to play in, have lots of safe toys outside of the cage for him too. A lot of people let there chin our for an hour a day, but I let my girl out for 4-5 hours a day usually, sometimes even more. Whatever works best for you. Practice makes perfect, give him lots of praise when he doesn't something good! Make sure you only give him SAFE treats (no raisins or dried fruits).

5. I give my girl a dust bath 2-3 times a week, you should leave the dust bath out for 15-20 minutes for them. Sweep off whatever gets dusty to clean the cage, it happens a lot. Or give it to him when he's out for playtime and clean up afterwards.

6. I forgot what the word is, but they are usally up around dawn/dusk. It depends on the chin though. My chin wakes up around 12 at night so I let her out until about 4am. Others are lucky though and there chin wakes up around 8pm, it really just depends.

Welcome to the forum btw! There is a search button near the top, that might be some help for you! )

 

[Sand_Dance]

Tunes- thanks for putting the advice about the search bar. I have so many questions but didnt want to bombard this forum with tons of questions a day. I just did a search on one of my concerns and came up with alot of threads with info. Very helpful indeed..