To roam or not to roam

[tcraighenry]

We're very, very cautious with playtime for our girls. We only let them out in a confined space we've cleared to make safe. (No outlets, no places to hide) But! I see a lot of people letting them do their little things in bedrooms and the like. How much do you let your chin roam? What do you think is better for them? How much roaming time do you allow?

 

[Pikaia]

I don't let my chin "roam" at all. They have a designated playpen and that's it. I used to let them run around my living room and used a baby gate. This turned out to be too much of a hassle.I had to put cardboard over all the wood mouldings, because they would try to chew them like the dickens. Couldn't keep them away. LOL.

I think a confined space or playpen is the best way to go. I guess if the bedroom you're using is absolutely chin proof it's okay, but there are too many places a chin can go hide and what not. It's not safe to just let your chin roam around your house, they WILL get into EVERYTHING.. lol

 

[chinchillin2005]

My chinchilla on certain days is allowed to roam the whole entire house with every bedroom/bathroom closed. he goes upstairs/downstairs and he really doesn't go under the sofas or anything unless he gets scared. We're just quiet and walk to wherever he runs to. We make sure he doesn't chew anything which he doesn't because he has soo much space. Whenever, wherever he is, when I shake the dust bath container, he comes running to it no matter what and that's how I catch him. He actually knows the whole house because he's escaped over 50 times when he used to live in a wire cage even though we used paper clips. Most days he plays in the laundry room next to his cage but other days I just let him out in my room.

 

[ticklechin]

I have three areas they play, their bedroom, the 12 x12 ft playpen and the family room, all chin proof. Let them go elsewhere and the house would be trashed with chewing. Free range chins, to me is not a good idea since they are destructive and even if you don't see trouble they will find a way to make trouble.

 

[Chinmama]

We have a room that is specifically for chinchilla playtime. It doesn't have anything in it they could destroy or anything that could hurt them or allow them to escape.

They generally get about an hour of playtime each. ZZ will run around forever, so we have to catch him to put him back in his cage. Marble lets you know when she is ready by hanging on your leg, begging to be picked up.

 

[ArmyWife]

We only let our chins play in our bathroom. We used to let them roam the kitchen and then realized one day that there was a hole in the cabinetry and they could get behind the oven. At that point we decided to keep the space more confined.

 

[becky12883]

My boys get the run of the living room and kitchen. They are both very small rooms and were easy enough to chin-proof. We have lovely cardboard wainscotting in both rooms, as well as a cardboard barrier up around the stove and fridge. Most cords are behind the cardboard or too high to reach. They get extra sticks while they are out and have never chewed the cupboards or tv stand. We don't have much company and since it's just my bf and I we leave everything chin-proofed all the time. The boys get play times 3-4 times a week for about an hour and a half or 2 hours. Either my bf or I sit on the floor for the majority of the time they are out to supervise. I would never trust them to be out on their own, they would find some way to get in trouble.

 

[Brittany]

Free range chins, to me is not a good idea since they are destructive and even if you don't see trouble they will find a way to make trouble.

So true.

How much do you let your chin roam? What do you think is better for them? How much roaming time do you allow?

My chins get a chin safe room, always with supervision, I never leave them alone. I used to use my bedroom, but I got tired of having to chin-proof it every night. The bathroom works just fine, plus they like jumping up to the toilet seat and counter. I let them out 20min - 1hr depending on how much time I have. I don't mind letting them go longer in the bathroom because the tile floor is cool on their feet. With the carpeting in my bedroom they would overheat faster, so they got less playtime.

 

[AZChins]

I only use the chin safe areas here for playtime. Free roaming chins scare me because of all the hazards. Not to mention that chins that are allowed to roam everywhere often get lost or get outside. Once I lost a chin in the air ducts of my house because he escaped his cage and there was just a tiny space for him to squeeze through - that was over a week of absolute **** for me worrying about that one little guy. Luckily he appeared one day wanting back in his cage....I think he took 10 years off my life. There's enough escapes and problems without letting them roam everywhere they want to roam. Letting them go wherever they want is just encouraging accidents and missing chins.

 

[Riven]

My personal opinion is chins don't really NEED free roam time if their cages are set up properly. I've seen more injuries from chins out for play time than anything else. Chairs, feet, cats, dogs, kids, friends, doors, toilets... I could keep going until there was a 5 page list of things.

Call me un-fun, but I prefer my chins to be safely in their cages. There are some people who have rooms set up JUST FOR CHINS, and to me this is a little different. I think a lot of it depends on how you live ( just you? Lot of people in and out? Dogs all over? Room mates who want to "help out" with chin care? ) and what you have available for play area. There are times when my girls will take chins up to the bathroom to play while I clean cages or what not, but they know a lot about chin care and have helped me medicate and hand feed kits before so they understand the hazards more than a lot of children.

Free roam all over the house... I think it's a dead chin waiting to happen unless you're going to follow it around every second, and even then they are very quick and can ran behind something faster than we can catch them.

 

[melbur10]

My one girl sage has the chin room nearly 24/7... The room has been designed and set up just for the chins and she treats it as if it were a big cage
Does she NEED it? No. Does she LOVE it? Yes of course! I spoil the heck out of her though since she is the only one with a small cage... She's also not a huge trouble maker like my twins who OBCESSIVLY try to find any thing they can think of to throw break jump over or bite... Including my cats nose (not purposely, I had no idea kitty was right under my legs in the doorway while they were out)

Luckily it's just me and my mom in the house with my animals, she doesn't go into the chin room unless I ask. I've had my twins run out of the room and jump on my dogs face(he and I were not impressed, luckily he knows what the chins are and not to go after them)

There are many different people and many different life situations. Free roam chins are not the best choice for every one...

 

[Jenn]

I tried letting my chin roam when I first got her, but even with constant supervision, she managed to chew on chair legs and wall trim board. In the bathroom confinement, she got behind the toilet - which I didn't think was all that sanitary, and she still managed to chew on drawers and cupboard doors, even though I was right there with her. I now keep a pen (made extra tall with the help of cardboard) attached to her cage so she can come out of her cage freely and into the protected pen. I have this for her full time. It has worked well for the last 4 years or so. But there is no way a person could chin proof an entire home. Free roaming is definitely out of the question. It is just a matter of time before a serious accident occurs.

 

[Ikes_Dad]

My Ike get out of her cage several times a week; i close all the doors in the hallway and block the living room with 2 large pieces of cardboard about 5 feet high; i had shorter boxes but she leaped right over them and ran around the living room lol. She runs up and down the hall and does laps around the kitchen and lower hall that leads to the basement. I block out the fridge and oven and she stays out of trouble for the most part; she has gnawed out two large holes in my book case over the past 14 years god love her! She still moves like lightning even at her age. she will chase me up and down the hall and I return the favor.

 

[Chefscott]

wow do I feel better, now that I have read about all these chins running wild so to speak, I let my gus roam the living room and a hallway, I block off the kitchen and the bathroom and two bedrooms and I bring him out at around 1030 everynight till around 3 am when we go to bed and he loves it, sure every now and then I catch him nibbling on the wall edges or the legs of the coffee table, but the moment I say something he bounces away, also I love how he runs or bounces down the hallway and the leaps at the closed doors and pushes his hind legs off them sometimes he gets almost 3 feet in the air, but like I said he simply loves it and when hes tired he actually sleeps under the coffee table at my feet but he actually lays down on his side and stretches out and then after 20 or so minutes he wakes and starts his roam all over I set up little obstacles for him to hop onto and sometimes he jumps up on the couch where I am sitting as if to say hello, but I do watch him constantly I set up 2 to 3 mirrors around so I can always see where he is and if 3 to 4 mnutes go by and I dont seee or hear him, the I make sure I find him, he is so entertaining and Im sure his cardiovascular shape is in tip top shape, I always joke with my girlfrind that he is training for the chin olympics.

 

[Zoaea]

wow do I feel better, now that I have read about all these chins running wild so to speak

I don't know why you are feeling better, I felt most of the posts were kindly worded cautions about chins roaming the house vs on small proofed area.

I will share 3 examples on why free roaming in your house/bedroom is a very bad idea.

1) my sister while a child accidentally stepped on and crushed a baby guinea pig while both were running around playing. You will never forget the feeling of the little body giving way in such a situation, ever.

2) A person I sold a guinea pig (who are much slower and less darty than chins) let her free roam his house, she got accedently killed when she managed to get up on the couch and snuggle under a blanket, he sat down...

3) I left my two girl chinchillas with my mom for a month, with strict instructions to feed them, give them water, but not let them out of the cage. Needless to say I found out later that she let them roam the whole house. I don't know exactly how they died because every time I tried to ask she would break down into sobbing tears and just say sorry, to me, to them... Did I mention my chins never get babysat now.

Anyway, I just don't want some loving owner to be traumatized if an accident should happen, I let my current chins run around the bathroom with the toilette close and the door locked so that the can have fun while I watch em. I think it would be ok to have a chin only room too if u had a big house, no human furniture or places they could hide and be crushed on accedent...

 

[ldewald]

3) I left my two girl chinchillas with my mom for a month, with strict instructions to feed them, give them water, but not let them out of the cage. Needless to say I found out later that she let them roam the whole house. I don't know exactly how they died because every time I tried to ask she would break down into sobbing tears and just say sorry, to me, to them... Did I mention my chins never get babysat now.

Wow what a truly traumatic and tragic story. I can't even imagine how that wouldn't affect my relationship with my mother... I have been considering getting two Marshall 11 panel play pens for the chins vs chin proofing a room for playtime, very compelling arguments in this thread.

For the folks using play pens; chins obviously have great jumping abilities, do they jump out? At what height can you keep them in? Anyone using the Marshall ferret pens?

 

[Anne-Lise]

I know two families that let their chinchilla roam, one in the kitchen-living room and the other in their whole apartment. They tell me they've taught their animal not to chew on stuff over time. And these two families have a bond with their animal that defies everything I have seen. Their chinchilla just comes when they call, it's crazy. When I asked them if they were afraid they would chew on something dangerous, they told me they trusted their animal mostly but they know it can happen.

Question is, is the risk worth the bond?

 

[NiftyKat]

I would never recommend anyone have a free-roaming rodent. When I officially get my chins, I know I would love them to be able to roam all over the place. However, I live in an apartmend and have cats, therefore they'll be getting a puppy playpen that I'll even be able to close the top on. With so many dangers out there for chins, I just wouldn't risk it. :-/

 

[Chefscott]

well thats the beauty of having your own pet is that you can choose yourself how to care for them, and if I want my gus to be able to run around the house supervised like I stated then I really dont see what the problem is, especailly after being all caged up all day and I know for a fact he loves it, and as far as the person who had their guinea pigs stepped on by family member and then mysteriously killed at the parents house, to me that sounds like an IQ or common sense issue, and letting them run only in the bathroom, how many germs are in bathrooms? maybe more than anywhere else in the house, the thing is we all love our pets very much, and this forum helps in many ways, but when it comes to play time we all have to becareful, but there is only one life so live it like tomorrow will never come, and let your pets be happy, but dont judge others who actually have the time, patience and the heart to let them have as much as possible

 

[Zoaea]

well thats the beauty of having your own pet is that you can choose yourself how to care for them, and if I want my gus to be able to run around the house supervised like I stated then I really dont see what the problem is, especailly after being all caged up all day and I know for a fact he loves it, and as far as the person who had their guinea pigs stepped on by family member and then mysteriously killed at the parents house, to me that sounds like an IQ or common sense issue, and letting them run only in the bathroom, how many germs are in bathrooms? maybe more than anywhere else in the house, the thing is we all love our pets very much, and this forum helps in many ways, but when it comes to play time we all have to becareful, but there is only one life so live it like tomorrow will never come, and let your pets be happy, but dont judge others who actually have the time, patience and the heart to let them have as much as possible

And don't judge others who actually want their chins to live to 20 and still enjoy their life... Free roam and supervised play are two separate things, having a single chin safe room helps too.

The point about the crushed guinea pig is that rodents are quiet and also like to get in to dark hidey places (like a couch under a blanket ect) and that's when you can have an accident. Free roam means they roam.... freely. Supervised play means you are keeping track of them and what they are doing. Two very separate things.

There is nothing evil about choosing to let your pet roam, it is just woefully ignorant if you think nothing bad will happen because its you, you should learn the risks, and try to minimize them, not say things like "oh they must have low IQ"... It's not like every animal will die horribly, but you have to acknowledged that it is a risk when you allow that type of play.

PS, Bathrooms are only filthy if you don't clean. Any germs in that bathroom are also the same ones living on your skin, even in your mouth, and i mean ALL of those germs. So unless you sterilize your hands before you touch your chin.... not much difference.