New Chin Owner questions

[dragongirl653]

Hello, I just recently got a new Chinchilla, hes 1 to 3 months old still not sure how old to be exact, my boyfriend got him for me for an early xmas gift. Anyways, the past few days hes been fine, we let him out of his cage a good 3 hours a day and he gets plenty of food, water, chew sticks, and toys. This morning i woke up and uncovered his cage, ( we keep it covered at night due to the dog and 2 cats) i open the cage up and he refuses to come out and play. Is this due to him being nocturnal? Or is he still stressed out from us bringing him home? I'm just worried, this is my first exotic pet and i don't want him to be unhappy. Any and all advice would be wonderful. Also, exactly how often should he be getting his bath? the bottle i got says once a day but everything else i read is saying a few times a week?

 

[lauralynne]

If he is that young, it is best to limit (or cut out) his playtime as he is still growing and needs those calories. Chinchillas should not have playtime until at least 6 months of age. Three hours is too long (IMO) for even an adult chinchilla.

How long have you had him? The best thing to do is give it several weeks before you even try removing him from the cage. Let him get used to you and the new environment.

Dusting is good to do a couple times a week. More when it is more humid.

 

[LeoMonster]

If he is that young, it is best to limit (or cut out) his playtime as he is still growing and needs those calories. Chinchillas should not have playtime until at least 6 months of age. Three hours is too long (IMO) for even an adult chinchilla.

I agree.

 

[Brittany]

In addition to the great advice Lauralynne gave you I'd like to add a few things. First, most chinchillas are weaned at 8 - 12 weeks. So he's probably 3 months or older. Did you get him from a breeder or petstore?

Second, bravo for trying to protect him from the dogs/cats. Chinchillas are a prey species, so for his peace of mind and safety you'll need to make sure they can't get to him. Especially cats who can climb cages and reach their paws through the bars. With that being said, I would not recommened covering the cage. First of all your chin can pull the cover through the cage, and if he eats part of it he could get an impaction. Impactions are tricky to treat, and can sometimes be fatal. Also, chinchillas can't sweat to cool themselves off. Their fur is very warm (imagine wearing your warmest winter coat 24/7). They need airflowing through the cage and ventilation to keep them cool. Is there anyway you can put him in a room that the dogs/cats can't access?

 

[dragongirl653]

Our kitties and dog are mostly outdoor. So they go outside when we are away at work. So ill uncover him and keep the other animals away from him. I got him at Petsmart on Friday. So we've only had him a few days. Should we keep him in his cage? He will crawl up in our hands from his cage and come to us on the bed ( its the only thing chin proofed atm) when we let him out hes only on the bed. I know hes very young. Petsmart told us hes anywhere from 1 to 3 months, but wouldn't give us an actual age. As for his bath with it being wintertime now, do you think a bath every 2 days or so would be okay? I think the bottle for his dust lied to me =(. Also, what bedding is best for them? Right now I'm using Carefresh Colors Premium Pet Bedding.

I just want our new Chin to be healthy and happy =)

 

[LoveBug]

i would keep him in his cage til about 6 months.
he may get mad at you but its good for his health to not be out.
you'll want to give him a dust bath once or twice a week. with it being basically winter the air is gonna be dryer. so you don't wanna over do the dusting and dry him out as well.
best bedding in my opinion is aspen.

 

[ChinnyMom]

carefresh isn't a safe bedding to use with chins. it is made of paper and expands when wet. if your chin were to eat some of it, it could expand in the digestive tract, making an impaction.

safe bedding is kiln dried pine or aspen shavings. many of us here use fleece liners for the cage floor and have a corner litter pan (made of metal or glass) for chins to pee in. not all chins can be trained to pee in a litter pan, but most do, and it is fairly easy to train them to pee in one.

 

[dragongirl653]

I'm going to get him a litter pan this week. His current cage we are going to upgrade, just have to wait till jan to come around. But this is the cage Petsmart told me to start him in http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4470993. I know its for a guinea pig, so I'm keeping a close eye on him with the plastic parts of it. Do you think it will be okay till after christmas? Or should i start go ahead and drop the money on a different cage for him?

I will leave him in it cage for another couple of months, he isn't going to like it though. But its tough love.

 

[LoveBug]

that cage is tiny :/
but if you can't afford a better cage at the moment then just watch him carefully with the plastic.

 

[dragongirl653]

That's what i was thinking when they told me to start him in it but with me knowing nothing about them other than they are cute and super soft i was going with what they told me. Guess next time i wont listen to them, because its very apparent that the Petsmart in Odessa is very stupid. Thank you guys for helping me. I'll probably make this Forum my new home.


What cages are the best for chins? (sorry, all of my animals get the best of everything, from food, to toys, to treats)

 

[LoveBug]

me personally i vote Ferret Nation.
but i hear Quality Cages aren't bad either.

also may i ask what you use for food? and water?

 

[Godofgods]

not all chins can be trained to pee in a litter pan, but most do, and it is fairly easy to train them to pee in one.

My females were amazing with this. (wish my males were jsut as much) I never tried to train them to use corners. But they trained themselves (and me)
I alwasy covered the tray with litter at the time. And noticed they started only useing the corners. So i started only putitng litter on the corners. Worked well. So i got some old corner trays of mine, and now they use them just fine. I love it. However you do have to keep up with keeping the litter changed/fresh. If you dont, they will show their disaproval and use the tray. Out of the 8 corners, i have pans in 4 of them (and i need one more). With 3 girls i have to change them either every day or every other day. But its still soo much better then changing a full tray worth of litter!


As for that cage, well.. as for petsmart, dont listen to them. They never know what they are talking about. Their job is simply to make a sale.
With a cage liek that i can understnad why he likes being out. However he rly should remain in for now. Being that young, a new envirnment, and otehr animals, its best to remain inside atm.

What type of cage are you looking to upgrade to? They are many diffrent kinds out there. Some much better then others. And some much better in terms of quality/price. Its a good idea to ask/shop around. Get some ideas form ppl, and see whats most doable for you.

You deffinitly want to keep the other animals away form the chins. Expecaly dogs and cats. Is their anywhere you can put either the ****** or the others where they cant get to the chins? Last thing you want is to wake up to an accident....

 

[dragongirl653]

he has a plastic bottle for water (its out of a well not city water) he has a little red hay ball that i give him timothy hay in, and a plastic red bowl that his pellet food goes into.

We are using All Living Things Chinchilla Daily Diet for his pellet food. Animal Oxbow Health Western Timothy Hay its showing on the bar 3 for sweet and 3 for soft.

 

[dragongirl653]

My females were amazing with this. (wish my males were jsut as much) I never tried to train them to use corners. But they trained themselves (and me)
I alwasy covered the tray with litter at the time. And noticed they started only useing the corners. So i started only putitng litter on the corners. Worked well. So i got some old corner trays of mine, and now they use them just fine. I love it. However you do have to keep up with keeping the litter changed/fresh. If you dont, they will show their disaproval and use the tray. Out of the 8 corners, i have pans in 4 of them (and i need one more). With 3 girls i have to change them either every day or every other day. But its still soo much better then changing a full tray worth of litter!


As for that cage, well.. as for petsmart, dont listen to them. They never know what they are talking about. Their job is simply to make a sale.
With a cage liek that i can understnad why he likes being out. However he rly should remain in for now. Being that young, a new envirnment, and otehr animals, its best to remain inside atm.

What type of cage are you looking to upgrade to? They are many diffrent kinds out there. Some much better then others. And some much better in terms of quality/price. Its a good idea to ask/shop around. Get some ideas form ppl, and see whats most doable for you.

You deffinitly want to keep the other animals away form the chins. Expecaly dogs and cats. Is their anywhere you can put either the ****** or the others where they cant get to the chins? Last thing you want is to wake up to an accident....

He's in our bedroom right now with the door shut. We put the dog and 2 cats outside for the day while we are both at work. So nothing should bother him. We keep him separated from the others because our cats hunt on our land and so does the dog. Like right now everyone is outside but him and me.

As for what kind of cage, I'm at a loss, i want to give him the most amount of room i can so he stays happy. He will only be alone for 4 hours a day, but i want him to be able to run and play while we are at work.

 

[LoveBug]

http://www.chinnation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16&Itemid=30

that site helped me alot (along with this one) before i got my chinnie.
also when you upgrade to a new cage i would get a glass water bottle and just get rid of plastic all together since its not good for them.
also if the hay ball is the ball i'm thinking of it isn't good for chinnies. their legs can get caught in them.

 

[LoveBug]

i think the water thing changed though. if i remember right it's the PUR 3 filter now. you can also get reverse osmosis walmart water at walmart it's the green cap.

 

[Brittany]

He's in our bedroom right now with the door shut. We put the dog and 2 cats outside for the day while we are both at work. So nothing should bother him. We keep him separated from the others because our cats hunt on our land and so does the dog. Like right now everyone is outside but him and me.

As for what kind of cage, I'm at a loss, i want to give him the most amount of room i can so he stays happy. He will only be alone for 4 hours a day, but i want him to be able to run and play while we are at work.

Excellent! Glad you're keeping the animals separate. If it's exactly like you say, then there's no reason to keep the cage covered

This is a tiny baby chin. The cage you have right now is PLEANTY big enough. Babies don't need huge cages like FN's and can actually get hurt if the cage is too big. As long as your chin isn't eating the plastic he'll be fine in there until you can afford a new cage. Eventually you'll want to get rid of all plastic in the cage, no plastic litter pan, no plastic water bottles. Metal and glass are best.

I agree with ChinnyMom on the dangers of carefresh. Pine shavings or fleece are your best and safest options.

No chin needs 3 hrs of playtime a day, no matter how old they are. With that being said SOME playtime is ok. If you want to hold your pet chin, or let him crawl around on your lap for 5 - 10 minutes a day it's not going to upset his growth rate. But you do need to be very strict and not let him out for too long. Babies don't need anything (treats or exercise) upsetting their caloric intake and growth. That's why we use the 6 month rule for wheels, full playtime, and treats.

Don't beat yourself up about the bad info petco gave you. No petstore gives out 100% good information. You'll quickly learn that most of the chinchilla items they sell are actually bad. Most of us have been there before, so don't be too frustrated. Luckily you've found us, and your chinnie is going to have a great life because you care enough to educate yourself =)

 

[dragongirl653]

I've learned a lot so far from this community. And I've decided that i will no longer buy anything at petsmart for my chin. (other than food) I think I'm going to start ordering items from sponsors on here. You all have a wealth of knowledge and I feel that this is the only place that has safe products for my new little one. Thank you all again for helping me out =) I cannot express how thankful I am that I found this site. ^_^

 

[dragongirl653]

Got another question.

Would it be okay to go ahead and take that carefresh out of Oz's cage and leave the bottom emply untill i can get some fleece or pine chips for it? I'm very scared he might eat it now. I've already removed his hay ball and plastic food bowl and replaced them with 2 smallish sized bowls i had in the cabinet. I'm about to remove his plastic ramp so all that would be left plastic wise in his cage would be the second floor and the bottom of the cage part itself. Any advice would be great. Also, For his potty pan would I be putting wood chips in there as well or kitty litter? and is there a recommended size potty pan to start him with? or would any glass pan work?