Chinchilla Community Forums

1

Q & A / Wood

« on: February 24, 2009, 10:21:47 AM »

I know this is going to be repetitive, but I need a reminder. My Mom is going to make wooden shelves for the chinny cage, as they chew the plastic ones. She has a lot of different kinds on hand, but wants to know if there is any they definitely CANNOT have.

Please help! She's leaving to come visit in a couple days and we would like to know before then.

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General Chat / How do I protect my walls?

« on: November 24, 2008, 12:47:19 AM »

My girls pee out the back of their cage. I have two litter boxes for them, which they use, and were trianed in in the old cage, but since we got the new two leveled cage, they seem to pee on the wall anyway. I was using a clear shower curtain to protect it, but they've started eating it

Any suggestions of what I can put there that would be chinnie safe?

3

Health / Frayed whiskers

« on: October 14, 2008, 02:44:57 PM »

hello everyone,

Sorry I haven't been around in a while, I had a super busy summer.

I have a concern with my M'noke! We just got back from three weeks holiday. Our neighbours came and looked in on the animals everyday, and, once a week, our friend who knows the chins better, let them out for a long run. Everybody seems fine and healthy. A couple days ago I noticed that on M'noke's right side her whiskers are all split and frayed. Kira seems fine. Her behaviour is the same, she eats lots, poops lots, drinks lots and runs on her wheel tons. She still only comes out to play about 5-10 mins a day (whereas Kira comes out 45 mins), but she's always been like that.

Is this a deficiency of some kind? They get vitamins in their water, they don't like cuttle bones much, but they get one of those every now and then anyway. And they get good quality pellets and hay.

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Health / How do I tell if they are two females?

« on: May 25, 2008, 08:15:52 PM »

I know there are a lot of topics about chinchillas in heat, but I'm a little suspicious of my "girls". If you've read any of my other posts, you know that I have little reason to trust the pet store I got my girls from. So how do I trust that they're both girls? I have no way of checking them, Kira will probably never let me hold her.

Anyway, I ask because I think Kira's in heat. There's little doubt really. She's been doing the "swish swish tail dance" a lot, grooming M'noke, licking her head, and trying to mount her. She doesn't ever seem successful, but do girls mount? And should I be preparing for a litter? I've had them since November, so we figured we were safe. We don't really want to be breeding them, so I'm not sure what to do if we have a boy and a girl!

Could anyone more experienced with chinchilla breeding help me identify this behaviour? Thank you so much in advance. I don't want any surprises in 111 days!

5

Q & A / Sticks as shelves

« on: May 10, 2008, 12:21:27 AM »

I'd like to add some sticks to one area of the new cage where there's a lot of room. Can I just take them from the pine tree in our yard? I want to make sure it's safe.

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General Chat / Help moving my chinchillas

« on: April 16, 2008, 02:28:45 PM »

Please Help! this will probably be a lengthy message, but I need help! I want to move my girls to the living room. When I first got them, I read they needed to be in a quiet part of the house, so I put them in my office. I now think they should be where the action is, so they get lots of company and get to know us better. The problem is, now that we know how messy they are, my husband doesnt' beleive that they can be in the living room and it won't be a mess, and they won't eat everything.

So, here's the advice I need so that I can plead my case:

1. I am willing to buy a new cage with poop catchers. I know I've asked before, but please help me again. I was asking a bit differently before.

2. Any suggestions whatso ever on how you keep the area clean? He doesn't believe that I will vaccuum daily, which is probably true.

3. I also agree with him that they shouldn't have play time in the living room, because Kira has started to chew on the window sill and get into everything. I can only pick up M'noke (and only if I"m sneaky), and I don't believe Kira will ever like it. So, is there a way I can train them to maybe jump into a pet carrier and take them somewhere else safer for them? I know some people take them elsewhere. I don't think a play pen will work, just because of Kira, she's jumpy and an escape artist. But, suggestions on that will help too.

4. Also should I give them the new cage first, or move them first?

Don't get me wrong, it's not that my husband doens't love them, he just doesn't want a zoo (even though we have one!). I think once they're in the living room, he will love it, he has a big heart, but I have to plead my case and look prepared first! We have to stop thinking about poop and start thinking about looooove!

THANK YOU! I appreciate any help.

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General Chat / When a chinchilla misbehaves

« on: April 10, 2008, 08:45:04 AM »

I was just wondering if people have soemthing they do to stop a chinchilla from misbehaving. My Kira, my spunky little girl, was being just a brat yesterday. She knows she's doing things she shouldn't, like chewing on the window sill, but I can't do anything to stop her. I spray my cats with water, but I can't spray them. I've tried shaking a jar of pennies, thinking they're so jumpy, and if you can believe it, neither of them budged! The only way I can do something to stop her is to pet her. She's affectionate with me, but doesn't like me to touch her. I don't like this though, as I don't want her to associate being touched with being bad.

Another thing she does is gets out of the room. There is NOTHING I can do to keep her in if she wants out. When I clean the cage I walk in and out a couple of times, and she always gets out. We usually then close all the bedroom doors but hers and my husband sits on the top of the stairs to stop her going down and we wait for her to go back to her room. But she's getting sneakier. Oddly, last night my husband had just finished telling me off for "letting" her out, when she ran past him and got downstairs!

That girl has no fear! I love her to bits, her spunk makes her fun, but I want to find a way to control her a little better.

Does anyone have any ideas of how I can get her to listen to me? Any training tips? I have them litter trained, so I know it's possible with how smart they are. I just don't know what to do!

Thanks for your help!

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General Chat / I have the smartest chinchilla in the world!

« on: April 01, 2008, 08:43:48 PM »

Last week I went upstairs to the sight of Kira sitting smugly on the bathroom scale! I checked the cage, and turns out she figured out how the doors work adn pushed it open! She's way too smart! I now have a lock on the cage door.

I also just put metal guards around the edges of the cage that a friend made for us to stop the poop from flying everywhere. they're tied on with metal, and have been working really well. Until today, when I went to check on them and Kira was working hard to untie the metal, which she succeeded in! She's way too smart for her own good!

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General Chat / Pix of my girls

« on: March 06, 2008, 10:11:21 AM »

I have been unable to up-load pix to the forum, but I want to show off my girls. So, here I've included two links to albums on facebook! I just love my girls and want everyone to see them!

The first album here is in their frist month when they were mostly hiding in their cage:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=70074&l=9c984&id=522975253

The next album is from last week. What a change! Kira sits on my shoulder everyday! I know there's more pix of Kira, and it's not that I"m biased, it's just that M'noke is camera shy. I have lots of pictures of empty chairs with dust on them because she ran away so fast...I love the pic of her in her wheel though!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96875&l=aaa56&id=522975253

I hope you enjoy my family!

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General Chat / Excited about new hay!

« on: February 20, 2008, 11:01:13 AM »

I found this guy on kijiji.com who sells Timothy hay from his farm. I got 5lbs for $7, instead of the 280g for $5 from the pet store. To me it seems like better quality than the pet store, the pet store's hay was really brown, which to me means it is old?

I"m really pleased with the farm hay, but can someone tell me if there's something I should be worried about? The farmer was even nice enough to deliver it to my husband's work! And it's hilarious to watch the chins eat pieces of hay that are twice as long as they are!

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Health / Giardia symptoms in chins

« on: February 20, 2008, 10:57:23 AM »

Can someone remind me of the giardia symptoms in chins? They aren't exhibiting any, but I am! I've been sick off and on since our honeymoon in St. Lucia. We survived a hurricane, among other horribleness, and we chalked my symptoms up to stress until this last week. I"ve been tested for many things, including giardia, and am waiting for the results. I"m worried about the girls. I've been keeping my hands clean, and obsessive about cleaning their cage. I just hope I don't give them anything.

Thanks for your help.

12

Cages / getting a new cage

« on: February 06, 2008, 05:06:14 PM »

i just won a $250 gift card for a mall, and i want to use it at the petstore for a new cage. i want a big one with a drawer at the bottom for easy cleaning, and poop catchers, this way i can have them in the living room with out the mess!

Does anyone have any suggestions on what cage would be best?

Also, if i want to move them, plus put them in a new cage, how should i go about doing that so it's not as stressful?

i'm not worried about the cats, as they spend the day already watching them in teh cage adn don't hurt them.

i appreciate any help! Thanks.

13

Chit Chat / It's cold!

« on: January 28, 2008, 03:56:34 PM »

Just thought I'd let you all know how much I'm suffering today.
Its -49oC right now with the windchill, which is -56oF.

I almost lost my toes this morning!

14

General Chat / Hay Wheel

« on: January 25, 2008, 02:37:34 PM »

i was just wondering what everyone thought of hay wheels. i have been giving my girls their hay in a tray, which gets soiled. i was just in a pet store looking at the wheels that hold the hay and hook onto the side of the cage. has anyone ever had any problems with them?

Thanks

15

General Chat / barometric pressure

« on: January 02, 2008, 01:01:15 PM »

Our little chins don't bark at night very often, it's maybe happened four times in the last 45 days. Now, I have noticed though, that the nights they bark are the same nights my cat will sit in the kitchen and "bark" (which we've always called it).

The last time it happened, I was up about 7 times between them all, and there was a huge storm coming in. We live in the mountains, so barometric pressure is very apparent here. I am also wondering if it has something to do with the moon. The moon rise was at 3:26am, which is about when they all started last night.

Has anyone noticed anything like this?