Question About New, Pregnant Chin And Her Cage

[mrweiner]

Hey everybody. Here's a quick background of the situation.

A few weeks ago, somebody my friend knows had to get rid of his chins and my friend said that he could take one. Apparently, he knew nothing about them, and he ended up being allergic to the point of asthma attacks, so now I have her. I had been looking into getting one before this, so I already have basic knowledge. I have also been lurking this forum for a few weeks as well and have learned a lot.

That all being said, it turns out that she was housed with a male chin and that she is now quite pregnant, which wasn't quite apparent when I got her. I have been reading up a lot about pregnancy, but I have a question about caging.

I have a large cage which she is in right now, about 2'x2'x3.5', but from what I understand it is not baby-proof. There are multiple levels, which I will be taking out, but what i can't change is the wire spacing on the sides and top, which is too large. I don't have the money at the moment to buy an entire second cage to put them in, so I want to make the current one safe. I thought about buying welded wire mesh and outfitting the outside of the cage with it, but obviously avoiding spending money is preferred. So, it turns out that we have a roll of screen in the garage (the type that you put in windows or in sliding screen doors to get to the backyard). If this is put on the outside of the cage, and is secured in enough places, would this be sufficient baby-proofing? Do you think that the baby, or babies, will be able to chew through it if there are no edges for them to get to?

I'm thinking she will give birth in the next few weeks, so I should probably get on this as quickly as possible.

Thank you in advance for any input!

 

[inzeos]

If the screen you are talking about is metal is might be OK. However, the gauge of that metal is very fine usually and could be broken by a chewing chin possibly.

Your best bet is hardware cloth from a local DIY store, which will cost you less than $30 USD for a 1/2"x1/2" size pattern.

 

[Rickman]

No, you can't use that screen, as it's probably nylon, and very 'shredable'!
I've used 1/4 x 1/4 hardware cloth for the fronts of home made cages, with great success - never a hole!
If you wrap the cage, it must be the WHOLE cage, as tight as possible, as they will find the smallest way out!
Also attatch it with some fine wire, as zip-ties are a favorite treat!
Good luck, and welcome!

 

[Sandi]

Also attatch it with some fine wire, as zip-ties are a favorite treat!

They make and sell metal zip/cable ties.

 

[addictedtochins]

Those metal zip ties are to expensive to do a whole cage. I made a cage baby-proofed about 6 weeks ago with that 1/2 inch wire. It works great. It took about the whole roll. I put the small wire on the inside because goofy newborn baby chin Jack would just sit there between the cage and the wire acting like he was trapped. I think he might have died his first night if I hadn't "rescued" him because he was quiet cold.

 

[starleomach]

where are you located? some of us might have a spare baby safe cage we could loan you

 

[mrweiner]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I hadn't even thought about the baby getting stuck between the cage and the wire.

where are you located? some of us might have a spare baby safe cage we could loan you

I'm in San Diego, Ca right now, and go back up to school in Chico, Ca at the beginning of August.

 

[Laurie]

Theresa I made the same mistake with GiGi! we had the whole outside done, but yes she was between the two. We then did the wire all around the inside and it worked so much better!

 

[fanofdmb84]

Our local hardware stores sell 10 ft rolls of the 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth for less than $4. It will be a little bit more work than having another cage, but it certainly shouldn't cost you much. Granted WI prices are probably miles different than CA prices, but you could always purchase it online for even cheaper I bet.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Petsmart has a fantastic little cage that is babysafe - think it was around $30-40 if you give up on making this one babyproof...I can find a link if you are interested

 

[dizzynoise]

I am in a similiar situation. I've never had kits before but my new chinchilla that we brought home a month ago is clearly pregnant. We have her in a ferret nation... I know I'm probably going to need a different cage for the kits. Does anyone know where I can get a baby proof cage?

 

[Rickman]

If the people with these kinds of problems would list where they live, there's members from coast to coast with baby-proof cages which they might sell cheap or loan you.
Never understood why members don't fill-out where they live in their profile!

 

[Stackie]

I am in a similiar situation. I've never had kits before but my new chinchilla that we brought home a month ago is clearly pregnant. We have her in a ferret nation... I know I'm probably going to need a different cage for the kits. Does anyone know where I can get a baby proof cage?

You can wrap the Ferret Nation in chicken wire. Limit her to one level and take out shelves before she delivers. That way she can't jump up on a shelf and then jump down on one of the babies.

You could also post a wanted ad in the classifieds.

 

[mrweiner]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I ended up covering the cage with hardware cloth last week, and just in time too. This morning I woke up to three new babies!

Now to figure out how to deal with (that sounds terrible) them all. I go back up north to school in 4 weeks and they arent going to be weened for 6 to 8.
Does anybody know of any rescues in the northern California area for once they are?

 

[mrweiner]

If the people with these kinds of problems would list where they live, there's members from coast to coast with baby-proof cages which they might sell cheap or loan you.
Never understood why members don't fill-out where they live in their profile!

I didn't even realize that I could edit any sort of profile on here. That might be one reason new people don't post up any of that information. Is there a facepalm smiley? I guess its kinda obvious that I would be able to edit a profile. I do think that I posted my location somewhere in the thread though.

 

[Rickman]

Yes, you eventually did, but then another popped-up without a location, also, asking the same question!
Don't want or mean to be crabby, just have a hard time with anonymity when someone is asking for help!
Most on here will go out of the way to help, if we knew where you were!

 

[Shahna]

I live about 20 minutes from Chico. I really don't do rescues, but I'm here for any other support you may need. I could perhaps list your babies on my website if you'd like.

I also make my own cages, so if you decide you still need a baby safe cage just let me know and I can probably help you out there as well once you head back up this direction. PM me or e-mail me (e-mail listed on website) if you'd like to discuss further.

 

[Ash]

Thanks for the replies everybody. I ended up covering the cage with hardware cloth last week, and just in time too. This morning I woke up to three new babies!

Now to figure out how to deal with (that sounds terrible) them all. I go back up north to school in 4 weeks and they arent going to be weened for 6 to 8.
Does anybody know of any rescues in the northern California area for once they are?

Why give them to a rescue? You could probably find homes for them yourselves, maybe even through here.

 

[momenteller]

What about CA chins? http://www.chinchillarescue.org/ You could send a PM to Sumiko (aznmexaggie) on here and see if she can recommend another rescue for you.