Wow - With all the nasty remarks on there, I'm sure these girls are going to just jump to listen to the "advice" given.
Seriously folks - Have you ever been to a chinchilla ranch? That cage is bigger and more airy than 3 or 4 hole runs are.
Not everybody is fortunate enough to find a forum where they can learn how to care for their chinchilla. I know of one person from CnQ whose chinchilla lived to be 25 years old without the benefit of advice (or nasty remarks as on that video) of forum members, even though they weren't doing everything that would be recommended here. There is nothing wrong with using plastic if it isn't chewed and nasty. The wheel won't last them long, because those types just don't, but they certainly aren't abusing her by using the stuff that's in that cage. The cage is nice and clean, it's got Carefresh bedding. Yes, the food sucks, but they certainly aren't feeding it to her to torture her. As Nicole said, they are most likely going by what the pet store recommended. How many people who joined CnQ, and this forum, did the same thing when they got their chinchilla?
Haley - Your friend's chin would have had to have a horribly advanced form of fungus for him to have died of it, and I highly doubt it was from a water bowl. There is a misconception that fungus happens if a chin is EVER exposed to water. It's a wonder any survived the Andes at all - they must not have ever taken a drink (because there are no water bottles) or survived a rain when it occurred. Fungus is just as often caused by a suppressed immune system as it is by bad husbandry, though it can be caused by both certainly. Stress, illness, change - all these things can cause fungus to flare. I know of a ranch where their water system broke, flooded their runs, and the chins were standing on their tip toes, trying to keep their heads out of the water, and not a one of them developed fungus.
Obviously not an ideal situation, and one of the reasons I refuse to use a watering system, but my point being that chin isn't going to die because she has a water dish instead of a bottle.
And since I'm up here on my soap box - it's most likely the same people on there making snide, immature, nasty remarks that make the claim that people on here are mean and not helpful. Interesting, no? I guess it's okay if you're not on a forum. <rolls eyes>
