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16

General Chat / Just for fun: You know you're obsessed with chinchillas when...

« on: June 07, 2009, 05:35:39 AM »

I was thinking of all the strange things I've started doing over the past few years since we got Cheech and I thought for a bit of fun I'd make a thread which we could all add to and compare.

You know you're obsessed with chinchillas when...

You started off with one chinchilla but now (?) years later you own (?)
Everything you own has tiny bite marks in... and you think it's cute.
All your new furniture is untreated pine so it's not harmful to your chinchillas (and you're not bothered that it's going to get chewed).
You find chinchilla poo in the weirdest places in your house.
You find chinchilla poo at work, although you're not sure how it got there.
You talk about chinchilla poo far too much.
You've come up with your own pet names for chinchillas, like chinnies or finnies.
You talk to your chinchillas like they're babies/children/adults.
Chinchilla proofing your house is an ever changing and active sport.
You're sure your chinchillas are smarter than you.
You're sure your chinchillas are laughing at you.
You've learned to read chinchilla body language better than you can humans.
When people visit they must be introduced to the chinchillas like other members of your house, or you feel rude.

And now add some more.

17

General Chat / Big Boss and the Lollipop

« on: April 19, 2009, 04:40:11 PM »

My friend was helping me with playtime for the girls because I needed to concentrate giving Cheech her eye drops. My friend had a lollipop and as she took it out of her mouth Big Boss ran into it and got it stuck to her side. She was running around with it stuck to her and we couldn't catch her for a while. She wasn't happy. My friend felt so bad but a little bit of warm, damp cotton wool got it off in seconds and all was well.

The moral of the story: Don't eat lollipops around chinchillas.

18

Health / Cheech and the vets.

« on: April 11, 2009, 06:46:17 AM »

Cheech's eye was getting pretty bad, there was no discharge but she was getting a lump just above the tear duct and I could see what looked like a hair in there. My usual vets aren't open over the holidays so I tried a new one and the vet I saw was really really good. She said, however that she didn't think it was an infection and thought it might be an abscess as the lump is just over the eye. Now I feel awful because I was pushing it a little to try and get the infection out. I'm really worried  might have done more damage. I've been given new eye drops to give 3 - 5 times a day for a few days to see how it goes. If it doesn't get any better Cheech might have to have gas and they're going to lance it. I'm really worried about my baby.
Any advice on the subject would be great.

On a good note though, the vet commented on how well trained she was, Cheech just jumped up onto my shoulder and sat there. She also learned how to open her carrier from the inside so on the way home I had to wrap my jacked around it to stop her getting out. She's too clever for her own good.

19

Health / What's causing these eye infections?

« on: March 25, 2009, 07:08:10 AM »

Snakes eye infection healed perfectly. I agreed with the vet that it was a foreign body in the eye and therefore it was not contagious and kept her with her mum and sister. Like I said it's healed perfectly and then about two weeks later Cheech, the mum, gets an infection in both eyes! It's not bad at all and I'm hoping I caught it and am treating it early enough to stop it getting any worse but I'm stumped as to what's causing them.

I haven't changed any cleaning products, or any deodorant sprays. I can't think of any other conditions that might have been changed. And why would it affect one and no one else and then a month later affect another? Has anyone got any experience of this?

20

Health / Flushing a tear duct? - Snake's eye infection, advice needed.

« on: February 07, 2009, 06:13:18 AM »

Hiya,

As I said in a previous post, my baby, Snake got an eye infection. Her eyelid was really swollen and there was a little, what I called, gunk. I took her to the vet after the weekend and she was checked for all sorts of things (but not her teeth - my vet who deals with exotics moved to another practice and although the vet I saw was very good she didn't have the experience I would have like with chinchillas). She said that it was a foreign body in the eye. She gave me some eye drops and I've been using them since Monday.

The swelling has gone down loads. Her eye lid has started to turn grey around her eye again but she has lost fur around the area, I assume this is because I've been cleaning the area. The only thing I'm worried about is that her tear duct looks quite swollen. I just wanted some advice on whether this is normal or if I should take her back to the vets. She has been eating fine and pooing fine.

Cheers.

[Edit] Some more info added in latest post:
After a week of treating the infection in the eyelids has subsided greatly, although she has saggy skin there now. The only thing that has happened is that her tear duct, or that area, has swollen up. I thought it was just the residual infection that would take a little longer to clear but it didn't seem to be going down. My boyfriend and I gently rolled a finger over it and white pus 'squirted' out into the eye. She didn't seem to phased by this, it didn't seem to hurt her. And today it looks a little better.

Anyway, I am taking her to the vets as soon as I can, just to be sure. I've had a lot of experience with eye infections because my rabbit has a birth defect which means his skull is deformed and this squeezes his tear ducts closed. Due to this he has constant runny eyes. At first they tried to flush the infection out of his tear ducts and I'm wondering if they might suggest this for Snake. I would be happy if anyone could give me some advice on the normal procedures for clearing this sort of infection in chinchillas because I am so scared of her wriggling if they try and do that and injuring herself. She is a wriggly chinchilla by nature (I have scratches all up my arms just from treating her with eye drops). I'm afraid they might want to sedate her to do it which to me is a last option.

Anyway, any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

21

General Chat / Chinchillas and balls...

« on: January 18, 2009, 11:58:18 AM »

I know that some people like to put their chinchillas in balls and others would never even dream of it. I am one of the people who thinks it is a good idea and I have a video of Chong in his ball on YouTube with information on how to use them safely. However, the other day someone who said they were a small animal vet really laid into me about the video. Here's my take on the subject:

The ball has got to be big enough for your chinchilla. This means they shouldn't have to curve their back backwards to run around. Mine is 15 inches and they have to stand on their tip toes to reach from top to bottom.
Chinchillas can overheat easily in balls if you're not careful. I am always careful. They get no more than twenty minutes in it so they don't have time to overheat from running around and I make sure the room isn't too hot.
I think it's a safe way for them to get a bit more exercise. I have just moved into my first house with my boyfriend and we both work full time. We keep the bedroom dedicated to the chinchillas but sometimes it gets messy and we just don't have the time to tidy it. So rather than let them go with out a run I let them out in the ball because I know they can't eat anything they're not meant to. Most of the time they have a free run for half an hour.

I just wanted people's views on the subject because if someone tells me I might be hurting my babies I want to be damn sure I'm not.

22

Health / No end of trouble - Cheech ate a sweet.

« on: October 06, 2008, 03:30:39 PM »

Cheech found a jelly bear down the side of the bed and before I could wrestle it from her she bit off and ate the head. It was only a small amount but I'm sill worried. Is it serious and is there anything I can do? If I wasn't concerned for her health I would find the image of her eating a bear's head amusing...

Cheers,

Jennie

23

Health / Bloody nose after play time.

« on: September 29, 2008, 04:26:21 PM »

I let all the chinchillas out to play and as I was putting them back in their cage about half an hour later I suddenly noticed Big Boss acting a little strange. Just sitting there wiping her nose and sort of sneezing every now and then. I tried to pick her up but she ran off and continued to sneeze and wipe her nose. I had to chase her a little into the corner where I picked her up and checked her to find a tiny bit of blood on her nose. Really a minute amount in one nostril and a bit on the front. I checked her over, her teeth, her legs everything and couldn't really see anything wrong apart from that. I put her in her cage with her mum and sister. She is a little bit quiet but is still playing with her toys and climbing around, just stopping every now and then to sneeze or wipe her nose. Now I know chinchillas are good at hiding illness so I'm still worried. I've left them alone, just to give a little normality, I don't want to stress her out. And I will check on her throughout the night. I can only think she must have run into something while she was playing but I can't imaging what. Does anyone else have any ideas?

I'll keep you posted.

24

General Chat / Me, rambling on about my babies. UPDATED with a video.

« on: July 08, 2008, 01:15:36 PM »

They're so unbelievably cute!
I let them out for a five minute play the other day, their first one.
It's really weird because Snake is exactly like her father, loves company and automatically knew how to climb up between the side of the cage and the wall, just like Chong does. Imagine a two week old chinnie going straight up there! Of course I quickly got her down but Boss didn't even seem interested. Boss just likes to hang out like her mother and seems to like human company more. They will both hop into our hands now if we put them into the cage, but Boss more so and she just climbs onto my fingers and goes to sleep.
They're both starting to eat bits of hay and drink a few drops of water too. Cheech looks pooped. She keeps on trying to roll onto her back for a sleep but whenever she does Snake jumps on her like a trampoline. I bet she'll be glad when they're old enough for her to have a few hours brake from them, hehe.

I'm pretty sure they're both girls but I check every couple of days just to get them used to me picking them up and stuff. If they are they might stay with their mommy. I'm not too sure about Chong, the dad yet, he seems lonely but every time I let him out with Cheech he tries to hump her again. He's great with the babies though, but he can only play with them for a few more weeks in case he tries to mate with them too...

At what age would you let mommy and babies have a second level to the cage? I don't want to keep Cheech cramped up for too long, but I don't want the babies to start climbing up and dropping from the top of the cage.

I made a video of Chong, the father babysitting the twins. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiHIHQibKSU

25

New Births / Cheech and Chong are parents!

« on: June 18, 2008, 02:13:48 PM »

I have two healthy babies, well Cheech does. They were born sometimes in the morning of the 17th.

I kept on hearing scratching and tiny squeaks coming from the box on the third floor of their cage. I thought it was just Chong because he's quite vocal, but because I knew Cheech was due (I thought in July) I was checking the bottom level, but there was nothing. After waking up three or four times I pulled the cage out and checked the box to find both parents and two little babies.

I immediately transferred the box with mother and babies into a single leveled cage. Chong is quite upset at being on his own, but Cheech is happy enough because she's in her old cage. They're both healthy and active and climbing already. And Cheech is being a great mother. I'm surprised but so happy. Trust her to give birth on the top level of a three storey cage though. I'm glad I caught her in time before the babies started exploring! I just hope I moved her in time and Chong hasn't mated her again.

I haven't sexed them yet so for the time being they're named Snake and Big Boss. Both standards.

26

Breeding 101 / Weighing a pregnant chin.

« on: May 23, 2008, 09:28:03 AM »

As I believe Cheech may be pregnant, I've started weighing her. I've used the sand bath on the scales trick so it's not too accurate as I only get a couple of seconds to check her weight before she starts rolling in the sand again. Her first weigh in was 700g, what sort of increase would I be looking for after a week? She should be due around the 16th of July and I believe she's been pregnant for around 3 months now.

27

General Chat / Some videos of my chins.

« on: April 26, 2008, 12:42:54 PM »

Okay, I know you'd rather watch your chinnies than mine, but I put some videos on YouTube to show my family and, well, I just think they're so cute that I had to share them with the world. Or at least everyone here.

Cheech in a coke box

Double Dust Bath

Chong in a ball

Cheech being cute on my lap

28

General Breeder Chat / Maybe a mommy - need some newbie advice

« on: April 20, 2008, 06:34:11 PM »

Well, I'm still not sure if Cheech is pregnant, she should be one and a half months if she is but she's not showing any of the signs. But there is a male and a female in the cage, so I assume I'll get kits at some point.

I have my breeder on hand who said she would be more than happy to help me with the birth (whenever it may be) and any problems I may have but I had a few questions as well.

Should I leave Chong, the daddy, in the cage for the birth? What do you generally do? Obviously he will be coming out afterwards, but for the actual birth its self would he be able to help her.
I will be either covering the wire floor of the cage or removing it to stop baby feets getting stuck, but should I remove the tubes as well?
Any my last question for now: I will want to be off work for the birth its self to make sure my baby and her babies are all well. Is there any way to tell when she is really, really close? I would hate anything to happen while we are both at work.

29

General Chat / Hi, I'm back.

« on: April 11, 2008, 02:10:46 PM »

Hiya, I had to move house at the last minute so that's why I haven't been online for over a month. Wasn't pleasant but now me and my boyfriend have our own house and our chinnies have a room twice the size to play in.
They're still happily living together and Cheech is possibly pregnant. I'm not quite sure if Chong knew what he was doing but I guess I'll find out soon enough. He's got a lot more friendly since living with her and she's become a lot more independent. But they love each other and play with each other all the time and because they're happy I am.

Hope everyone here has been well. I'll be back soon, probably to talk about chinnie babies.

30

Q & A / A random update: they like each other?

« on: February 27, 2008, 09:04:13 PM »

Chong was really, really pining. More than usual and Cheech kept on going to see him. I was really worried. I tried letting him out, cuddling him, but he was just going mental. I took him in my arms to see Cheech and suddenly they were fine with each other and she let him mate her.
She keeps trying to mother him and clean him and give him chinnie kisses and he keeps on mating her, everywhere, I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself by falling off a ledge or something. And is he ever going to stop? I'm worried for Cheech now. Will he actually leave here alone?

But suddenly they like each other. I'm so confused. I think maybe Cheech came into season. All I know is that the only thing cuter than my Cheech and my Chong must be their babies.