gender and other things

[jessonehundred]

about a month and a half ago, i was given a mother chin and her 1 week old baby. they have a decent sized two floor cage (1 ramp), a wheel, and the original owner had told me to use hay as their bedding. i researched when i first got them and decided hay as bedding was not good, since they eat the hay to digest food... i switched to aspen, i dont believe that they enjoy this type of bedding. any other decent suggestions?
i know that mother chins cannot be kept in the same cage with its male kit after i believe.. 12 weeks.
I am unsure of the babies gender. are there any sites or advice on telling the gender besides bringing it to someone?
what is the best thing to do if it turns out to be a male.. separate them? or give the baby away and get a new friend for the female? are females easily situated with other new females?
also, i am getting a new cage tomorrow since i feel that the cage i have now will not be best once the baby gets full grown. i am getting a martins townhouse cage. any opinions on this cage?
thank you!

 

[Ash]

If you can get a picture of the baby's genitals, our members can help you in sexing him or her. If it is a male, you can simply seperate them, but 8 weeks is a bit better than 12. I don't recall what the youngest male to impregnate female was, though.

I'm not familiar with the dimensions of the Townhouse, so if you have them handy, we could let you know if it's a good size for two chins.

 

[arf2184]

The Townhouse is this cage, right?

It's huge and plenty big enough for two chins, though I'd be concerned about baby feet on the wire floor (I don't like wire floors in general, but that's just my opinion). Also, the ramps aren't really necessary and could be removed if you want and replaced with wooden ledges to jump to and chew on. To me it looks like it would be a pain to clean with the small doors, but other than that, I'm sure the chins will love it once you add some houses, hammocks, etc.

If you're not committed to the Townhouse, you might look at the Ferret Nation (http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134) or Quality Cages (http://qualitycage.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=129_142_153) before making your final decision.

Separate baby at 10 weeks if its a boy. A girl can just stay in with mom. See here for sexing pics: http://www.spoiledchins.net/sexing.htm

If baby is a male, they can live separately and be quite content. Or if you don't want two cages, you can find one of them a home. I wouldn't suggest adding more chins to be companions to mom or baby unless you are prepared for them to live separately if it doesn't work out. Some chins are picky about who they share their cage with.

Most people use kiln dried pine shavings for bedding. It's a bit softer than aspen and usually cheaper too. You could also use fleece liners if you don't mind washing them and swapping them out often. Paper bedding (Carefresh) is an option too, though it tends to be expensive and some say it can lead to impaction if ingested. I prefer kiln dried pine.

 

[chincinnati]

Hi. I just want to say I have that cage. right now it is seperated into 2 sections for weaning kits, all metal shelves and ramps have been removed, including the wire floor. I did use it a couple years ago and I have to say it is a pain to clean. It is sturdy and solid. Chins generally don't hang out on the bottom of the cage you could leave the wire in the bottom above the tray wiht a pieces of KD pine to rest their feet on but would suggest getting rid of all the other wire floors and ramps and replacing with oodles of wood shelves, ledges, tubes... also if you were thinking of adding a flip top to it don't bother with the extra expense. It is a waste unless you have REALLY long arms.

 

[chincinnati]

oops, looking at it again, I have the two door version. I can't even imagine trying to clean that one.

 

[jessonehundred]

i think i need some serious guidance. i am **** bent on taking care of these animals the right way, i love them a lot already. so i got the cage, what does everyone mean about it being difficult to clean? it has a pull out tray on the bottom.. and other than that i can just wipe down the horrible wire right?
does anyone have any pictures of a cage similar to mine that has wood shelves and tubes besides the wire? i am unsure of what shelves would be best, i really want them to be comfortable.
and its true, since i got the cage last night theyve both been hanging out on the top floor.

i will try to take a decent picture portraying the kits sex, it is about 5 weeks now and i dont want to risk anything.

 

[jessonehundred]

i have one more question regarding food. do most people tend to feed their chins a set amount once a day? or do they leave a small dish to let them eat whenever they prefer.
for a mother and baby chin, is timothy or alfalfa hay best?
whats the best "toy" on the market for chins to file their teeth?
ahh sorry just figured if i could get any reliable info out of this i should.
THANK YOU

 

[aznmexaggie]

do most people tend to feed their chins a set amount once a day? or do they leave a small dish to let them eat whenever they prefer. Most people, including myself, free-feed their chins. I fill feeders daily and they always have pellets available.

for a mother and baby chin, is timothy or alfalfa hay best? Timothy is a staple hay that should be given to any chinchilla, young or old. I stuff all my chin's hay holders with timothy (and sometimes other grass and grain hays) daily. I like to give alfalfa in addition to timothy to my nursing mothers and growing kits as it is higher in protein and minerals and is also a galactogogue, which increases mother's milk production.

whats the best "toy" on the market for chins to file their teeth?This all depends on your chin's preferences. Most chins love apple wood sticks which you can drill and hang on a chain. Any kind of chin-safe wood toy would be fine (manzanita, apple, pear, mulberry, grapevine, ocotillo, cholla are all safe, for example). However, from the pet stores, I'd say the favorite is definitely the Lava Bites.

 

[Riven]

Free feed, timothy, and all kinds of toys for variety!

Pine ledges, definitely.

Check out the classifieds, a good feed is VERY important! The only feed that is public that I recommend is Oxbow, or there are many good suppliers on here.

 

[Rickman]

I'm still using some cages with wire main flooring, but I've covered all exposed wires with 1/4 x 1/4 hardware screen, so feet can't fall through!
I covered the shelves with 1 x whatever the width of the shelf is pine boards from Home Depot, and they'll cut it for you - eliminates 'golden showers' from above!
The screen I cut about 1/2 inch wider per side, notch it for the verticle wires and wrap it around, squeezing with pliers.
Will last about 5-7 yrs. and the holes are large enough for the majority of chins.
Have fun, and using poultry shears to cut it is much easier - measure twice cut once!!

 

[shubbles]

Riven, you said that oxbow is the only good food "publicly", do you mean food from a pet store? because i found mazuri there, do you think thats the same as mazuri you would by on here or a specific place. sorry i know this isnt my thread, but its not a huge question soooo thanks

 

[Hazurdouscowgirl]

I used to have a martin's chinchilla skyscraper. It is an okay cage for not a lot of money, but does need to be "chinnified". I modified it by removing the wire floors and adding pine wood shelves, tubes, ledges, etc. like arf said. Martin's doesn't make ledges for their cages but Quality Cage does. You can find 30" shelves that will fit your cage here. I had the smaller cage so I was able to get shelves to fit both walls of the cage. You'll have to special order the 36" shelves from someone on here or make them yourself! The galvanized wire on the martin's cage is a pain in the butt to clean. Just make sure you scrub it thoroughly and often. Your chin will find her favorite corner and the urine will be caked on. Make sure you neutralize the whole cage by washing it with a 1:1 solution of vinegar and water before you put the chins in it. I had my cage before I knew about fleece liners, so there was nothing I could do about that dreadful wire floor. But a fleece liner would be an awesome alternative for your chinnie's feet.

My chins are free fed Mazuri pellets and always have fresh Oxbow timothy hay and distilled water available. I give my chins alfalfa hay occasionally as a treat, although they prefer brome hay or orchard grass. If you are interested in purchasing Mazuri, here is a link to a member who has switched feeds and needs to sell the Mazuri. Shubbles, the Mazuri you found in your local pet store is the same Purina feed that members sell on here. I have found that some chain store locations (petsmart, petco) sell it, while others do not. But those that do only sell it in small 2 or 3 lb bags. Where Riven is located, they probably don't carry Mazuri so Oxbow is the best food "publicly" (lol). So yes, it the same food but it would probably be cheaper for you to buy it in larger quantities from someone on here.

Oh btw Shubbles, I love your signature. "It's a chinchilla thang, you wouldn't understand." You should have bumper stickers made, I'd totally buy one!


Okay sorry...on with the chlorophyll!



(Billy Madison if you're trying to figure out what movie that came from) :hmm:

 

[jessonehundred]

thanks everyone sooo much. great info, fast. !

 

[Bethany]

does anyone have any pictures of a cage similar to mine that has wood shelves and tubes besides the wire?

I took the bottom wire out of my highrise, which means when I slide the pan out they can get out. I'm going to order a bass pan for the center I wanted something to break the fall. Right now I just have a liner covering it. This pic. was right after I put in the shelves and hadn 't put fleece in yet.

This is a custom Martins palace, it has a custom door, and a wire flap that covers the hole where the pan is when you slide it out.

 

[Sesame]

If you decide to keep some of the wire shelves/floor, you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and get marble or granite tiles (cheaper than the Chin Chillers sold at petstores). I asked them to cut mine in half and they fit on my shelves nicely.

The cage looks quite tall, so you would want to make sure the shelves, ledges, perches are well spaced out. Also, I would recommend getting a fleece hammock and stretching it across in the middle, or having 2 stretched out so if a chin falls, the hammock will help break the fall.

The Chin Supplies For Sale is a great place to get chin-safe chewies, cage accessories, dust of all sorts. The only thing I get from the petstore are the Lava Bites (3 triangle shaped stones in 3 colors). My chin goes nuts about them!

_______________
On the comment about Mazuri: Some people have found that while feeding Mazuri, their chins have experienced loose poos. I personally feed Sesame Mazuri and she's been doing great on it. She's gotten quite chunky actually.

Some chins are picky and like certain pellets over another, so make sure to change the food slowly (there's a food mix schedule somewhere on this forum) so it doesn't upset their systems.

Also, young chins shouldn't be given treats until a certain age. Chewing items should be fine, but not treats.