Newbies

[Ares-n-Eros]

Hi all,
We've just adopted our first two chins, brothers now named Ares and Eros. Ares is a standard gray and Eros is a mosaic. They will be coming home October 20th and we cant wait!! We've started putting their home together, there is still some work that needs to be done but it will grow as they do. Once we saw the FN we had to have it, it seemed like the best home with the most room for our little chins to grow. We are new chin owners and would love any advise anyone would be willing to give.

<3 Kate and Matt <3

 

[tunes]

Welcome.

The best advice any of us can give would be to start reading the forums. Start with the new chin owner section, read through nutrition, housing, health, etc. You'll gain a ton of information to get you ready for your new arrivals.

 

[cindyv3737]

Welcome!

 

[Jenn]

Hi and welcome! Not much longer to wait for your new babies! Of course, we'll need pics of them when they arrive!

 

[alli713]

Welcome! There's certainly lots to learn!

You may find that you actually have to dump that plastic saucer wheel, most chins don't use them. And they aren't the best wheel anyways. So if you still have the receipt for it, I'd say return it and save the money up for a metal wheel that you can buy online like the real Flying Saucer or Chin Spin.

 

[Stackie]

Welcome! I agree with Alli about the wheel. I see no possible way chins can run on them because they are so small and light weight. They would just topple over anytime they tried to run.

I would also take the ramps out of your cage. Chins have been known to get their legs caught in them and be found by their owners dangling from them with a broken leg. Chins are jumpers, not climbers, so they don't need ramps anyway. )

Also, keep an eye on that water bottle. Some people (including myself) have had problems with the Superpet water bottles not working correctly and the chins are not able to get any water out of them.

Fill your cage up with lots of wooden ledges and fleece items and they'll be very happy.

 

[lauralynne]

Hello & Welcome!

 

[Dusty Foot Prints]

:welcome5:
I agree with the suggestion of another wheel. I never tried a plastic wheel, however after seeing Annabelle on her Chin Spin wheel, I can't imagine that a plastic wheel would hold up. They can FLY.

 

[Ares-n-Eros]

Thanks everyone! We still have a little while to wait and will be adding things to the cage...it's very hard to find anything chin friendly around where we live, it feels like all the pet stores don't even know what chinchillas are. Anyways, thank you all for the advice and we look forward to reading much more and of course sharing pictures!

 

[Sandi]

Welcome. )

 

[javachin]

Hello and welcome :cute:

 

[6Dusters]

Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to pictures of the new babies. You can take out the ramps. Chins can jump very high. And they run and jump as fast as lightening. If they are young and unable to make it to the platforms, just put in some wooden ledges. Stagger them to the height. Believe me when I say you won't need many. A couple fast hops and they will be on the platform. The chins will love the ledges! The chins will eat them faster then you can say, HOUSE BEAVER!!:hilarious:

 

[RDZCRanch]

Welcome to the forum! The wait for new chins always seems to take forever!

Definitely read through the forum and if you're looking for chin safe items to buy at good prices, take a look through the classifieds section on this forum.

This thread also contains a mast listing of all of the suppliers we have on this forum. Go to the last page to see the most up to date listing.
http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=546&page=6

You've gotten some great advice so far on items in the cage! The only thing I have to add is to replace the hammock that is in there with an all fleece hammock. The one in there is a ferret hammock and not made of chinchilla safe materials. The straps are also very easy for the chinchillas to chew and they will have it destroyed within the first day of figuring out how to get up there.

And I agree with taking the plastic saucer out. They are too small for chinchillas to run on safely without contorting their backs and they break easily under a chinchilla's strong hind legs. For chinchilla safe wheels, the only place to buy them from is online. You'll find since chinchillas are a relatively "new" pet, there aren't many items safe for them that are commercially available.