Granite house

[Stormcrow]

So, since the summer ain't far away anymore I need to start thinking further about how i will keep my chins cool... Everybody talks about granite slabs that they can put in the fridge etc since the stones keep cool a long time.

I was wondering if a small tile allready gives them a place to sit, but a small house made entirely out of stone would be containing its temperature even longer no?

Ofcourse this needs to meet certain standards: sturdy, glue can't be reachable by the chins, need to check the thickness of the stone plates needed etc.

The house would be self sustaining allreadyif put together this way, and with some stong industrial glue (that you can use very precise, in the mid for example so it doesnt spill out through the sides.

It is a crappy sketch, just wanted to give you an idea of what I mean
The holes in the sides i would drill for some more ventilation.
I would also leave a big opening as entree/exit since I have 2 chins and I don't want them to block eachother

Has anyone tried this before or wouldn't it be a good idea? your opinion is appreciated

 

[addictedtochins]

I wouldn't trust any glue not to come apart and kill my chinnies

 

[Stormcrow]

I wouldn't trust any glue not to come apart and kill my chinnies

Thanks for the fast reply. Allthough i understand your concern there is not an issue since they use that Same glue to attach stOne slabs to walls. Pressure/pulling/water resistant.

 

[ticklechin]

Attaching it to walls means the glue is used on the entire surface, in this case you are using it only on the edges-not strong enough. I would build a house out of wood first then attach the tile to it-then it meets the same standards as a wall. I would use liquid nail to attach the tile-I use that on tile for shelves and it won't budge.

 

[ticklechin]

Attaching it to walls means the glue is used on the entire surface and that surface is not another tile but backerboard or cement board, in this case you are using it only on the edges-not strong enough. I would build a house out of wood first then attach the tile to it-then it meets the same standards as a wall. I would use liquid nail to attach the tile-I use that on tile for shelves and it won't budge.

 

[Brittany]

So, since the summer ain't far away anymore I need to start thinking further about how i will keep my chins cool...

Interesting idea. I don't know your setup, but I wouldn't trust the house to do the job alone. It's not going to be a good replacement for air conditioning (hoping you have an AC unit) You won't be able to monitor the temperature of the stones 24/7. The overall room still needs to be kept at a reasonable temperature.

 

[Essentia]

A safer idea is to use a flower pot.

 

[AZChins]

hehe Flower pot!

I've used galvanized steel rabbit nest houses for chins for years. Those seem to work really well and last for a long time since the chins can't chew them up.

 

[~Alex~]

Maybe you could try going the route of an interlocking granite house. That would be much more complicated and you would REALLY have to stress test it to make sure it was safe and it would take a few tries to really get it right...For added stability maybe add a tile that slides in right down the middle dividing the house into two..the chins would still try to be on top of eachother but its an idea.

(When I say interlocking Im thinking of that house you can find at petsmart. Its a chinchilla hut that is all wood and you slide the pieces into notches to build it so it uses no glue)

 

[Stormcrow]

First of all thanks for all the replies!

About the glue: my mate installs industrial kitchens and they use it all the time to fix tablets etc. He is an experienced constructionguy, and I trust upon his judgement. Ofcourse, who would use something like that for that purpose without good testing right?

About the flower pot: Indeed a lot easier! Problem is that I have 2 chins and i have heard stories about one blocking the others way etc. This is the only reason why I refused to think of this as an option, maybe need to rethink this and safe myself lots of problems, time and money.

About the temperature: As you probably noticed by my writing-english skills I don't live in the US, I live in Belgium (east of UK, south of Netherlands, north of France and west of Germany for those who don't know).
We get our occasional heatwave in the summer, but to give you an idea: our usual max temperature (just looked it up) in the month july/august is 22°C or 71.6 ºF.
As you see: we have less problems here with the heat, and in case we do get a heatwave the chins move to a smaller room next to our living room where they will have AC. Since sunlight only hits our living room windows at 3pm, temperatures go up slowly and by the time the sun is full on the windows she starts going down again. The stone thing I want is more as a make-safe measurement.

Oh and not to suck up or anything but if anyone here thought during the reading of my post "omg if you are european wtf are you doing here then?", I just want to say that the support you get here on these forums is more valuable to me then the comments I got on a few silly dutch forums. The amount of breeders over here is rather limited, so most Belgian forums only exist to enhance their monthly sales of chins and ofc they won't hesitate to press their view and opinion upon new people like me who are still learning.
Thanks for not doing that and actually giving advice!

 

[addictedtochins]

! Problem is that I have 2 chins and i have heard stories about one blocking the others way etc. This is the only reason why I refused to think of this as an option, maybe need to rethink this and safe myself lots of problems, time and money.

If they are blocking the way, kacking etc. and fighting all the time then they need to be separate. Otherwise a normal small amount of squabbles are normal. Get 2 pots if you want. I really feel strongly that your design is not safe. If you want to live in something that unsafe go for it....but your chins need something else. I just remembered something. You have not taken into account how the chins pull on and move houses, putting far too much strain on the joints. Too heavy you think? Well I have seen firsthand my chin scoot a giant restaurant sized can of food across the cage floor by simply shoving it...all 6 pounds of it

 

[Daina91880]

The flower pot picture is too cute!

I think the idea of gluing down the granite to a wood house was a good one. Or maybe just glue one on top and use one as a base at the bottom of a wooden house? The wood is always good because they can chew on it too.

I also think my chins are freaks or something. I've never seen them rearrange a single thing in their cage. No house relocation, no chiller tile moving, they've never even tipped or moved a food dish. This isn't an argument, just a random observation

 

[Lillybabe]

Are their granite safe screws? Wouldn't it be fairly safe to use screws or nails? A chinchilla can't really chew through granite too easily. And if your chin is doing so then you have got to worry about the screws that hold their cage together and such. Or how about a metal or wooden structure with slots for granite on the bottom and sides? No need to really have one on the top... but I could definitely see a slot to slide in granite at the bottom at least. Would be fairly easy to make an extra large one that would comfortably fit two chinchillas. I agree with the others who said I glued together granite only house is not going to be very safe. I think it is a cool idea though. Oh, another thought.... what about a clay house? If you have access to a kiln (or possibly you could bake it in the oven?) you could make something out of clay and then dry it. Would be like a flower pot large enough for two. If you did a good job with it then it ought to be plenty safe. I think there are clays that are stronger than others and clay should stay fairly cool. Just something thrown out there... never heard of it done though so you'd have to see how it worked logistically.

The chin in the pot is absolutely priceless. Makes me want to buy my girls a flower pot.

 

[onyx79]

Attaching it to walls means the glue is used on the entire surface, in this case you are using it only on the edges-not strong enough. I would build a house out of wood first then attach the tile to it-then it meets the same standards as a wall. I would use liquid nail to attach the tile-I use that on tile for shelves and it won't budge.

i was thinking about this 1 week ago

wood will also be a great insulation too

 

[xBrianx619]

This is just a random idea, but what if you were to take a water cooling system, and mount the fan to the side of the cage, then secure a flower pot, or something else, to the side of the cage as well..and have the fan constantly keeping the flower pot cool, would that work??

 

[woolala]

Something...........like this？

 

[woolala]