Introduction and a Couple Questions

[Noxxville7]

Hello everyone!

My fiancee and I just got our first chinchilla two days ago. Her name is Belle and she's 3 months old.

We did get her from a pet store, but she looked very happy there (when we first saw her, she started wall jumping and bugging her sleepy cellmate, which is what made us pick her). She already started bonding on the ride home from the pet store, my fiancee was holding her travel case and she slept against her hand on the other side of the mesh. After we got her home and in her cage, it only took about 30-45 minutes before she was coming over to the side of the cage waiting for someone to come visit.

I do have a couple of questions as well:

Belle currently has a large glass water bottle and a heavy ceramic food bowl, as well as a log house and a chew block. Her cage is 3 levels, the ground floor and 2 wood plank levels (not cedar). She also has a cookie tin filled with ice packs (lid is on tight) that stays nice and cool, she hops on top of it all the time. We also just picked up a piece of marble (currently in the fridge) and some lava bites that we just added a few minutes ago (and she loves already). We are also giving her alfalfa hay and she's eating vita exotics chinchilla formula food (although we will probably change after this bag, as I couldn't find the same food at any store around here - going to start adding in the one that has Ox at the start which seems to be eluding me right now - been a long day and I have a headache). And of course she also has a dust bath that we put into her cage for about 15-20 minutes in the morning. Is there anything we're missing that Belle needs?

My other question is regarding her colour. I haven't yet found a colour that directly matches her. Her fur is a fairly dark grey (not quite black) and she doesn't have a white belly, but there is a few spots where the fur is a slightly lighter colour of grey than the rest. Does anyone know what type this would be? Her dark fur is about the midpoint between ebony and ebony hetero.

Thanks very much for any information you can provide. And feel free to tell me anything we need to get, or things I may need to do differently - we want to make Belle as comfortable as possible. Thanks again,

Terrence

 

[Siany]

Welcome

Have you got some Timothy hay for Belle? its high in fibre and chinchillas love it !!

A picture of Belle would also help with finding the right colour and other people on here would be able to tell you, im rubbish with knowing the colours but i would love to see a picture of her.

Also i dont know about the food you are giving her but is it Oxbow you will be giving her soon?

You seem to be doing ok with her and she sounds lovely (some pet stores are ok) and this is a great forum for information, im sure you will be able to find some sellers on here who sell some great stuff. I always make sure i have lots of wood toys for my chinnies to chew on so maybe you could add some Also do you have hammocks (made out of fleece) and fleece tunnels, my chinnies love these and i wondered if you had any.

Oh and a quick thought i was wondering if you have a vet in your area who knows what they are doing with chinchillas, its always a good idea to know a decent vet in case of an emergency

Cant think of anything else right now Welcome to chinchilla parenthood

 

[EMSChins]

It is hard to tell what her color is without a picture but if her belly is not white then it is possible that she is an ebony. Ebonies can range from light grey to pitch black. If she is darker on top than she is on the bottom but the belly is still grey, she may be an Ebony TOV - they usually have a darker top and a darker face.

Oxbow is an excellent food and I would recommend changing it sooner rather than later.

Be careful with the cookie tin - if she gets the lid off the ice packs could be toxic. You will be surprised what chins can get ahold of if they want to.

Congratulations and continue to research on this site.

 

[Noxxville7]

Thanks for the welcome

Yes we do also have some Timothy hay - we haven't given her yet, but soon were going to start adding it in with the Alfalfa so she has a mix.

Yes Oxbow is the food I meant, couldn't remember the rest of the word. I saw it as a generally accepted food around here and thought it would be a good thing to move to. It is this food here http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3135798

The food she's on now we got because it was what she was already on at the pet store, and I wanted to change as little as possible when bringing her home for the first time.

As for a hammock, she does not have one yet but it is something we're currently looking for. I've seen lots of chins hanging out in them and I'm sure she'd love one as well.

This is the best picture we've managed to get of her yet, she likes to start hopping around when cameras come out, hopefully it is of some use.



Thanks again!

Terrence

 

[Noxxville7]

Thanks for the reply EMS,

It sounds to me like her being an Ebony TOV would make sense then, her belly is a little lighter than her back and face, albeit still pretty dark.

I've already read a large amount today on the site alone, including the entire master FAQ and every post contained within, and will continue to do so. This is a great resource and every chin owner should know about it!

 

[Rebecca1122]

Hi and welcome to CnH!

First off, congrats on Belle! She sounds like a wonderful chin who now has a loving home.

Good - you got Timothy hay. It is important for a healthy chin. You also might want to give more Timothy hay than Alfalfa, but that is just in my opinion.

The food you have should be changed as you said. Oxbow is one of the best brands in chinchilla food out there.

How old is Belle? You may not know for sure, but approximately? If she has not eaten much, you can do a cold switch and just get rid of the old food and put in Oxbow. If not, try gradually adding more Oxbow and less of the old food for the switch. For one week, use 1/4 Oxbow and 3/4 food she is on now. Then for the second week, 1/2 Oxbow food and 1/2 pet store food. For the next week, 3/4 Oxbow and 1/4 pet store food. Then the following week, just switch the food.

Hammocks - A hammock would be a good idea to invest in.
Also, make sure you have lots of wood and chews in her cage because chinchilla's teeth are constantly growing, and they need something to chew on.

She is beautiful! She could be a standard as I know that is what most pet stores sell, but she does look like an Ebony TOV as EMSChins said.

Good luck with your journey with Belle! Keep reading through FAQs and forums on here!
I hope this was somewhat useful

 

[Chin_Parent]

Do you have air conditioning? I'm just wondering because you seem to be taking a lot of measures to keep her cool, which wouldn't be necessary (other than keeping a cooling tile in the cage, and that doesn't even need to be put in the fridge) if you did have air conditioning. In case you don't know (and I'm just guessing from your post), chins need air conditioning and become very uncomfortable in temps over 75 degrees. It's preferable that they be kept at 70 degrees or lower. Of course, if you already know this/already have air conditioning and are keeping it at a comfortable temperature for her, you can disregard my comment.

 

[Noxxville7]

Yes, we do have A/C as I've read was a requirement many times throughout, she just seems to really enjoy standing on the cool tin or slab after she gets into a jumping fit - she's a very hyper jumper when she wakes up. Thank you for clarifying though. I appreciate all the input.

Terrence

 

[Jenn]

any cloth items in Belle's cage would need to be fleece. And as already said, a good vet that is chin knowledgeable, plenty of wood chews for her teeth, and a/c is a must. You don't want the temp. to get much more than 70 degrees in your chin room, and the ice and/or a fan won't do enough to keep her cool.

Congrats on your little girl! I am thrilled for you that she is adapting so well!

 

[LovinTheSmallAndFurry]

She is pwecious! In regards to purchasing fleece--or other chinnie items--this link has helped me a ton. http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20384


Welcome, by the way! :hi2:

 

[Godofgods]

thats one cute chin for sure. Its rare to find one that comfortable from a pet store. But sometimes you get lucky and they have someone workign their that actuly knows something about them, and theirfor how to take care of them.

you seem to be going to good lenghts so for your chin, and thats always a great thing to hear. Id make sure you have a vet lines up that is frimilar with chins specificly. Just in case something happens.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Unless it is really humid where you are, your chinchilla should not need to take a bath every day. It can actually dry ou their skin if they bathe too often.

Looking at her picture, I would say that she is a medium ebony, possibly TOV ebony (if her entire face is darker than her body).

 

[Noxxville7]

We had actually decided to give her her bath every other day, which has already started the rotation. Her face is the same colour as her back, and her stomach is a little lighter than both of those, but those also seemed like good possibilities to me. Again, thanks for everyones input.

Terrence

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

She looks adorable!!!

It sounds like you are doing a great job of getting her settled in.

I would go easy on the alfalfa hay, since her pellets will be alfalfa based. Timothy hay is best for them.

On a sad, side note, when Baby died suddenly and with no apparent cause, I asked for a necropsy. In addition to the cause of his death (abscess on pancrease which ruptured), he had multiple large bladder stones, possibly due to the alfalfa hay which I had been giving him to "fatten him up" since he was a very small chin. My vet stopped me from giving it to Mr. Whiskers, and thankfully, he is still with me.

Im sure your Belle will live a long, spoiled life!!!