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Muskratti

New member
Joined
Aug 8, 2024
Messages
3
Location
Ontario
Hi I’m Muskratti,
I have two chinchillas, one male one female. I adopted them in February, but the girl is 4-5 years old, and the boy is 2-3 years old. They share an enclosure and have since before I adopted them. I’ve done some research online but I’m still pretty new to chinchilla care, so any assistance I can get helps!
 
Is the male neutered or female spayed? If they are ignore the next couple paragraphs and continue at ***
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If one or both are not fixed they need to be separated right away and the female put on pregnancy watch for the next 120 days in a kit safe cage since I assume since you adopted them they are not pedigreed chins from a good breeding line. I would definitely look up and research kit care and be prepared if things go wrong. For example an emergency c-section can easily cost a few thousand, as well as sometimes the mom dies or is unable to care for the kits, meaning you need to be home 24/7 to hand feed them every couple hours for at least the first weeks.

If you have a very chinchilla knowledgeable vet you can get a male neutered and try to reintroduce them in a few months (can take 8-12 weeks for all the sperm to be gone), but keep in mind there is no guarantee he will survive (it's an even lower chance the female will survive a spay) or that they will bond again after recovery since that is long enough for the bond to break. The odds of survival are better for males, but still a risk, and most vets wont even spay a female unless it's medically needed since the risk is so high. Just because they may not have bred yet does not mean they can't or haven't already, and if you don't know the genetics they could be passing on genetic issues. It doesn't matter if they are related (they are animals they just see male and female) or they haven't produced any kits yet. It's not uncommon for chins to not breed if the conditions are not right, so in some cases chins have lived together for years before having kits when their living conditions improve.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
***
Since I'm not sure what advise you need here is a basic run down on care since there is a lot of incorrect or outdated online...

-Ideally you want the cage to be large enough to allow personal space, or roughly 8 cubic feet per chin. If the cage is tall you want to make sure things are overlapped to prevent a fall, a fall of more then about a foot can seriously hurt or even kill a chin.

-Their diet should be kept basic, all they really need is hay, a good quality pellet only food, and water. Treats are not actually required but can be given a few times a week but should not contain ANY fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, animal products, or sugars. Safe treats include certain plants, herbs, and flowers (I can give you a list if needed)

- Temp in the room should be below 75F (about 24C) even on the hottest day, so an AC is required almost everywhere in the world. Personally I like to keep it at or below about 68F (20C) that way if the AC dies or the power goes out the temp can go up a little before it's an emergency.

-Plastic is not safe for them, most will chew on it eventually even if it's been in the cage for years. Swallowing bits of plastic can cause damage to the gut and even cause a blockage. Paper bedding and cardboard are also not safe, some chins will eat it, which again can cause a blockage in their gut. Safe bedding/flooring includes pine or aspen shavings, fleece (if they don't chew it), or tile.

-If you choose to get a wheel it needs to be at least 15" diameter (14" if it's a saucer style or the chins are small) and solid metal. Unfortunately pet store do not sell chin safe wheels, but they are not required and do come with some risk so no wheel is better then one that is unsafe (too small, or made of plastic or wire). The run around balls also fit in that catagory of being too small, but are far worse (commonly called death balls). Aside from being too small they also come with a high risk of the chin overheating and dying, toes getting caught and broken or even ripped off in the vent holes, as well as since they can't control their poops the chin ends up being hit by and covered in poop (and pee if they pee in it).

- The dust bath should be just given as needed, normally 2-3 times a week, and not left in the cage. Too frequent baths can cause dry skin, as well as respiratory issues from breathing it in all the time if left in the cage.

That's about all the basics I can think of off hand, feel free to ask whatever you need help on.

One last thing, if you don't have a vet already that can and will see chins, it's a good idea to find one right away. Far too often people don't have a vet for their chin and end up scrambling trying to find one in an emergency that will even see their chin, not all vets will even see chins let alone know how to treat them. So it's better to have one you know will see them before you need it, as well as a backup emergency one if possible. Another issues some people faced during the pandemic is vets refusing to see "new" patients, so even if the vet office does see chins they may refuse to see them in an emergency if they aren't already a patient.
 
Is the male neutered or female spayed? If they are ignore the next couple paragraphs and continue at ***
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
If one or both are not fixed they need to be separated right away and the female put on pregnancy watch for the next 120 days in a kit safe cage since I assume since you adopted them they are not pedigreed chins from a good breeding line. I would definitely look up and research kit care and be prepared if things go wrong. For example an emergency c-section can easily cost a few thousand, as well as sometimes the mom dies or is unable to care for the kits, meaning you need to be home 24/7 to hand feed them every couple hours for at least the first weeks.

If you have a very chinchilla knowledgeable vet you can get a male neutered and try to reintroduce them in a few months (can take 8-12 weeks for all the sperm to be gone), but keep in mind there is no guarantee he will survive (it's an even lower chance the female will survive a spay) or that they will bond again after recovery since that is long enough for the bond to break. The odds of survival are better for males, but still a risk, and most vets wont even spay a female unless it's medically needed since the risk is so high. Just because they may not have bred yet does not mean they can't or haven't already, and if you don't know the genetics they could be passing on genetic issues. It doesn't matter if they are related (they are animals they just see male and female) or they haven't produced any kits yet. It's not uncommon for chins to not breed if the conditions are not right, so in some cases chins have lived together for years before having kits when their living conditions improve.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
***
Since I'm not sure what advise you need here is a basic run down on care since there is a lot of incorrect or outdated online...

-Ideally you want the cage to be large enough to allow personal space, or roughly 8 cubic feet per chin. If the cage is tall you want to make sure things are overlapped to prevent a fall, a fall of more then about a foot can seriously hurt or even kill a chin.

-Their diet should be kept basic, all they really need is hay, a good quality pellet only food, and water. Treats are not actually required but can be given a few times a week but should not contain ANY fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, animal products, or sugars. Safe treats include certain plants, herbs, and flowers (I can give you a list if needed)

- Temp in the room should be below 75F (about 24C) even on the hottest day, so an AC is required almost everywhere in the world. Personally I like to keep it at or below about 68F (20C) that way if the AC dies or the power goes out the temp can go up a little before it's an emergency.

-Plastic is not safe for them, most will chew on it eventually even if it's been in the cage for years. Swallowing bits of plastic can cause damage to the gut and even cause a blockage. Paper bedding and cardboard are also not safe, some chins will eat it, which again can cause a blockage in their gut. Safe bedding/flooring includes pine or aspen shavings, fleece (if they don't chew it), or tile.

-If you choose to get a wheel it needs to be at least 15" diameter (14" if it's a saucer style or the chins are small) and solid metal. Unfortunately pet store do not sell chin safe wheels, but they are not required and do come with some risk so no wheel is better then one that is unsafe (too small, or made of plastic or wire). The run around balls also fit in that catagory of being too small, but are far worse (commonly called death balls). Aside from being too small they also come with a high risk of the chin overheating and dying, toes getting caught and broken or even ripped off in the vent holes, as well as since they can't control their poops the chin ends up being hit by and covered in poop (and pee if they pee in it).

- The dust bath should be just given as needed, normally 2-3 times a week, and not left in the cage. Too frequent baths can cause dry skin, as well as respiratory issues from breathing it in all the time if left in the cage.

That's about all the basics I can think of off hand, feel free to ask whatever you need help on.

One last thing, if you don't have a vet already that can and will see chins, it's a good idea to find one right away. Far too often people don't have a vet for their chin and end up scrambling trying to find one in an emergency that will even see their chin, not all vets will even see chins let alone know how to treat them. So it's better to have one you know will see them before you need it, as well as a backup emergency one if possible. Another issues some people faced during the pandemic is vets refusing to see "new" patients, so even if the vet office does see chins they may refuse to see them in an emergency if they aren't already a patient.
Hi! Thank you so much for al the info!! When I said adopted I meant from their previous owner. She had to move suddenly and needed to give them up. So I know pretty much nothing about their breeding or where she got them from. I am pretty sure that the boy is neutered and they’ve been living together for years. I am bringing him to the vet for just a check up later this month and hope to confirm there. The vet I have is knowledgeable about chinchillas, I just went in to set up their accounts this week. That’s actually why I joined the forum, I was curious to know if anyone knew of Canadian pet insurance companies that covered exotic pets(so far I don’t think there are any but wanted to double check).
Their cage set up is a double ferret nation with a half level for each full level- later this month I’m adding a third level too. From what I read online I think that should be good for space, but I’ll have to do the math with what you’ve given me.
I think their set up meets all the other requirements you listed but we don’t have a wheel, and I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to get one?
 
I had a pair that were together for over 3 years (was told they were both males and one didn't like being handled so we didn't check very well) then one day I woke up to a couple kits, so they can definitely be together for year before breeding. Since neutering is not common (there are no health benefits) unless you have actual vet paperwork saying he was neutered or the vet can confirm his balls have been removed he likely isn't. Misgendering is also common so you can also double check you do in fact have a male and a female.

As far as I know there are no Canadian pet insurance companies that accept chinchillas, and even the ones down in the US I've heard really aren't great since they are expensive and don't cover very much, there are a lot of restrictions on things they do cover. Personally I just have a saving account and credit card in case of emergency. I think the "best" we have here in Canada is a vet credit card you can apply for when needed that allows you to borrow the money needed at the time and pay it back later.

A double ferret nation is prefect for two (each unit is roughly 12 cubic feet), it's what my current boy (and before him my previous two) live in, and a third unit would be even better. I wouldn't really worry about getting a wheel, the cage is plenty big enough, and as I said there are some risks with a wheel. They can get injury if they fall off or go flying off, also some don't know when to stop and can cause weight loss or even overheat, in that case you can't keep it in the cage. Also not all chins even like or will use wheels either, so it could be an expensive waste of money. There are only a couple chin safe wheels I know of currently sold in Canada, and only sold on Amazon, Exotic Nutrition treadmill/saucer is about $100 and the other standard style is the Exotic Nutrition Chin Sprint at about $180 (you can also find the Chinspin but that is normally several hundred). If you can find someone selling a chin safe one for cheap it might be worth giving it a try, my previous two loved their flying saucer wheel (the one I have they no longer make), but my current chin doesn't seem to know what to do with it and so far just ignores it.
 
I had a pair that were together for over 3 years (was told they were both males and one didn't like being handled so we didn't check very well) then one day I woke up to a couple kits, so they can definitely be together for year before breeding. Since neutering is not common (there are no health benefits) unless you have actual vet paperwork saying he was neutered or the vet can confirm his balls have been removed he likely isn't. Misgendering is also common so you can also double check you do in fact have a male and a female.

As far as I know there are no Canadian pet insurance companies that accept chinchillas, and even the ones down in the US I've heard really aren't great since they are expensive and don't cover very much, there are a lot of restrictions on things they do cover. Personally I just have a saving account and credit card in case of emergency. I think the "best" we have here in Canada is a vet credit card you can apply for when needed that allows you to borrow the money needed at the time and pay it back later.

A double ferret nation is prefect for two (each unit is roughly 12 cubic feet), it's what my current boy (and before him my previous two) live in, and a third unit would be even better. I wouldn't really worry about getting a wheel, the cage is plenty big enough, and as I said there are some risks with a wheel. They can get injury if they fall off or go flying off, also some don't know when to stop and can cause weight loss or even overheat, in that case you can't keep it in the cage. Also not all chins even like or will use wheels either, so it could be an expensive waste of money. There are only a couple chin safe wheels I know of currently sold in Canada, and only sold on Amazon, Exotic Nutrition treadmill/saucer is about $100 and the other standard style is the Exotic Nutrition Chin Sprint at about $180 (you can also find the Chinspin but that is normally several hundred). If you can find someone selling a chin safe one for cheap it might be worth giving it a try, my previous two loved their flying saucer wheel (the one I have they no longer make), but my current chin doesn't seem to know what to do with it and so far just ignores it.
This has been very helpful, thank you so much!
 
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