new chin setup and supplies!!! pleaseeee help

[103111148]

im making a list of things to get for my expecting chinchilla in a month or two. i cant wait! i was also wobdering what treats to get it and where! i dont want to buy allvthe supplies in the pet store because its socexpensive. i know there are places to get cheaper and bigger bulks. please help! thanks guys

 

[Daina91880]

Don't buy any pet store treats. They're all junk. I stick to the occassional cheerio or shredded wheat or rose hips.

You can buy a lot of other safe supplies from members on here.

 

[greychins]

Some inexpensive treats are cheerios and shredded wheat. Our chins also like the dried rosebuds and rosehips. Other than that... they just get some wood sticks to chew on, the occasional new chew toy... they really don't need a ton of treats, that's for our benefit more than it is for theirs.

As for supplies, there's a list --> http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20384 of many of the sellers and what they sell. Typically getting from anyone who actually has chins and makes stuff is cheaper than the petstore. Shipping adds a little, but it's still cheaper -- the petstores are way overpriced.

 

[Sandi]

I will post this here and on your other thread...

I will emphasize that you should not give your new baby any treats for awhile! I'm sure your new baby will most likely be about 8 weeks old when you pick it up so all a kit needs for now is a good quality pellet that does not contain treats, fresh hay and purified water. What you can do instead of food treats is offer/hand your new baby a chew stick, such as (prepared) apple, pear or other safe wood sticks.

I also want to welcome you to the forum. It's good that you are here asking questions and preparing yourself for your new baby.

One thing I would like to mention is that you can sex a kit from the day that it's born. If the pet store says they know a lot about them and are breeding them than they should be able to tell you if it's a male or female from day one. Get informed as much as you can. Ask the pet store/breeder lots of questions. What are the backgrounds of the sires and dams?

I would expect that you are probably going to pick up the kit at 8 weeks old, therefore the cage that you purchase should not have wire spacing more than 1/2" apart. A kit can easily fit through the bar spacing of a lot of the cages that they sell for chinchillas/ferrets/rabbits. It would be terrible if you wake up one morning and your baby was missing as it could get seriously injured while out of it's cage. Feel free to read the FAQ's on this forum. There is plenty of great info! )

You can start with this one for new owners...

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46

as well as this...

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=31

 

[103111148]

thats a lot of great info! thank you so much! is timothy hay cubes more expensive than loose hay & which is better for a kit?

 

[Lillybabe]

I would offer both loose hay and cubed hay. Personally I think loose hay is better for a chinchilla's teeth and diet as it is less processed and requires more back teeth grinding. However, both are perfectly safe to offer. My girls I got at 8 weeks and they ignored the hay cubes until they were about 5 months old but munched the loose hay from the very beginning. Just make sure that the high is a good quality, no mold, etc. Timothy hay is most commonly used but the botanical mixes and even alfalfa hay is safe. I offer my girls several different types of hay and allow them to eat it freely. The largest portion they get is Timothy since it is the cheapest and easiest good quality hay to get ahold of here. Make sure you also have your new baby on a high quality pellet. If you are getting it from a breeder or rescue they should give you at least a small amount of the pellets that your new chinchilla was on with them. Then you can slowly get them use to whatever pellet you choose to use. I have handfed my girls both pellets and hay to help with bonding. They are just now old enough for treats but have yet to be offered any. They get a supplement, hay, water, and Oxbow pellets and an decent amount of wooden items to chew on.

 

[103111148]

I would offer both loose hay and cubed hay. Personally I think loose hay is better for a chinchilla's teeth and diet as it is less processed and requires more back teeth grinding. However, both are perfectly safe to offer. My girls I got at 8 weeks and they ignored the hay cubes until they were about 5 months old but munched the loose hay from the very beginning. Just make sure that the high is a good quality, no mold, etc. Timothy hay is most commonly used but the botanical mixes and even alfalfa hay is safe. I offer my girls several different types of hay and allow them to eat it freely. The largest portion they get is Timothy since it is the cheapest and easiest good quality hay to get ahold of here. Make sure you also have your new baby on a high quality pellet. If you are getting it from a breeder or rescue they should give you at least a small amount of the pellets that your new chinchilla was on with them. Then you can slowly get them use to whatever pellet you choose to use. I have handfed my girls both pellets and hay to help with bonding. They are just now old enough for treats but have yet to be offered any. They get a supplement, hay, water, and Oxbow pellets and an decent amount of wooden items to chew on.

oh really? that kind of makes sense since the mother is fed loose hay. so how many times do you feed pellets a day? and hay is fed freely??? does that mean i have to feed a lot? since i know they can overeat as babies.

that makes sense. how many times do dust baths need to be done?

 

[Sandi]

oh really? that kind of makes sense since the mother is fed loose hay. so how many times do you feed pellets a day? and hay is fed freely??? does that mean i have to feed a lot? since i know they can overeat as babies.

that makes sense. how many times do dust baths need to be done?

Good quality pellets are also fed freely, babies will not overeat their pellets. The bowls I use for my "adult" chins' pellets are not that huge so I always fill it about half way for 1 chin every morning, I would estimate it as 3-4 tablespoons. I also place a handful of hay inside their cage twice a day. I give dust baths 2-3 per week in the summer and once a week in the winter.

 

[Mystic]

Usually I feed a handful of hay, once a day, to my chinchillas. For a baby chinchilla, I would do the same thing, so to answer your question -- yes, hay is fed freely. Also, I do about 2 dust baths a week, but it really depends on your area. If you live in a very humid area I would suggest 2-3 times a week. For a drier area, 1-2 times a week should be sufficient.

 

[Lillybabe]

I agree with others. It is fine to free feed baby chinchillas. My girls have been free fed since I got them at 8 weeks. I always keep food in the bowl. Typically I put about 2-3 tablespoons in each of the two food bowls I have each evening. However, if I wake up and see that it is mostly gone I add more so that they always have pellets available. I do the same with hay. A large handful goes in each of the two hay boxes each night and then I add more if I see it is getting low. I also spot clean the cage, throwing out the hay that gets all over the floor of the cage each day. I give dust baths 1-3 times a week depending on humidity and how their coats are looking. If they are looking a little scruffy I throw in an extra dust bath but typically I give dust baths after cage cleaning each week. We've had very little rain this summer so it's been pretty dry. However, if it was wetter/more humid I'd give more frequent dust baths.

 

[103111148]

does it matter if the dustbath is an actual porcelain or can it be a plastic bin? what do they like??

 

[103111148]

hey!! i want to rescue this one year old chin & i have the new baby still coming in a month or so, would they be able to be togethrr or is in different cages is better? the baby is sooo sweet too.. ran all over me today when i visited! cant wait

 

[Cuddlebug]

You will need to quarantine them from each other for the 30 days. That means a second cage in separate room and wash your hands when going from one to the other. As long as you do a proper introduction, they should be fine. Unless, of course they are not the same gender. In that case, do not put them together at all. Not even for play times.

 

[103111148]

You will need to quarantine them from each other for the 30 days. That means a second cage in separate room and wash your hands when going from one to the other. As long as you do a proper introduction, they should be fine. Unless, of course they are not the same gender. In that case, do not put them together at all. Not even for play times.

okay! thank you

 

[Lillybabe]

While they may be able to be friends if you take time introducing them (and they are the same sex) since you are new to chinchillas I'd start with one. It's best to just have one in the beginning so that you can bond to it and learn how to properly care for chinchillas. They can be high maintenance and expensive.

 

[Sandi]

This was answered in your other thread as well.

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34300

 

[greychins]

does it matter if the dustbath is an actual porcelain or can it be a plastic bin? what do they like??

What you use is really your preference. We use steel "brownie" type pans. I like them cause they're open and with the rescues we get in, a lot of them get in a semi-closed container and don't want to come out. So for us, the open pan is good. But a lot of our adoptive homes use the plastic dust houses that the pet stores sell. And they do hold in the dust a bit better. Others use glass fishbowls. Really, anything you can put dust in that they can roll around in is fine. I prefer using something that's harder to chew, like the metal or glass. No chance for ingestion there. Though, the dust shouldn't really be in the cage for all that long so they shouldn't have hours upon hours to chew.

 

[103111148]

What you use is really your preference. We use steel "brownie" type pans. I like them cause they're open and with the rescues we get in, a lot of them get in a semi-closed container and don't want to come out. So for us, the open pan is good. But a lot of our adoptive homes use the plastic dust houses that the pet stores sell. And they do hold in the dust a bit better. Others use glass fishbowls. Really, anything you can put dust in that they can roll around in is fine. I prefer using something that's harder to chew, like the metal or glass. No chance for ingestion there. Though, the dust shouldn't really be in the cage for all that long so they shouldn't have hours upon hours to chew.

thanks