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Q & A / Re: Dainties for chinchillas
« on: July 11, 2007, 07:25:19 PM »
I give my chin raisins, and the occasional sunflower seed and dried banana chip. But he loves whatever I give him!
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General Chat / Re: Weird chinny
« on: July 11, 2007, 07:20:29 PM »
My chin does that too. He rummages around in his food bowl looking for the best pellet...examines it to make sure it looks good, then tastes it. If it doesn't look good or taste good, he throws it away and grabs a different one. 
He's quite a picky eater!
He's quite a picky eater!
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General Chat / Re: Family
« on: July 08, 2007, 07:38:13 PM »
Such adorable chins! They look so happy cuddling together.
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Guestbook / Re: Hi from Me!!
« on: June 02, 2007, 08:40:40 PM »
Welcome to the forum!
What's your chin's name? It was so sweet of you to save his life!!
What's your chin's name? It was so sweet of you to save his life!!
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General Chat / Re: Yes I got more chinnies!!!
« on: June 01, 2007, 10:36:39 AM »
Gorgeous chins! The white ebony has beautiful markings. Congrats on your additions to the herd! 
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Health / Re: Scratching, Broken Limbs and General Chaos
« on: May 19, 2007, 08:46:16 AM »
Welcome to the forum! 
Are the vets you're visiting familiar with chinchillas? The broken leg problem surprised me, with it still being at a 45 degree angle after 2 weeks. As you may know, lots of vets don't have much (or any) experience with chinchillas. As long as you're working with an experienced vet, you're doing all you can to fix the problem. Unfortunately, there are lots of chinchillas who have lost a leg/arm to a poorly judged leap, but I think most of them seem to get around ok with only 3 limbs.
With the swollen leg, I would pick him up and check for a scratch. If you can find one, you could try to treat it with an antibiotic cream. But if you can't find it, and maybe even if you can, it might be best to take him to the vet. Especially since it didn't swell up until a week after the cat "visited". That makes me think there could be a different cause. He could have injured this leg as well-and a tripod chin will get around much better than a bipod!
As far as the cataracts, I didn't know that chins could get cataracts. And I didn't really know they had pupils, being as they're so beady-eyed. So I'm going to defer to one of the lovely breeders on this site who have experience with dozens or hundreds of chins.
When it comes to the tail, there's not much we can do about that. I would treat it like a cut, and put antibiotic cream on it until it healed completely. I don't know if there's any special risks involved with the fact that a cat bit him off-certain infections you should watch out for, etc. Make sure Spatula doesn't get any dust baths while he has an open wound-you can hold him on your lap and rub the dust into his coat for him, that would make him very happy. But letting him roll himself won't help his tail. I would keep a very close eye on it and visit the vet at the first sign of trouble.
--Also, you should make sure to keep the windows closed when you're letting your little guy out. I've read that chinchillas can jump as high as 6 feet. Mine can only get about 3 feet, but that's high enough to get to my windows. With cats getting in and him possibly being able to jump out, you could lose him forever.
This is mostly my experience from researching chinchillas, some others might have input from personal experience. I hope we can help!
I'm sorry you're going through all these troubles and vet visits! Hopefully soon your chin will be healthy and you can both be happy again.
Are the vets you're visiting familiar with chinchillas? The broken leg problem surprised me, with it still being at a 45 degree angle after 2 weeks. As you may know, lots of vets don't have much (or any) experience with chinchillas. As long as you're working with an experienced vet, you're doing all you can to fix the problem. Unfortunately, there are lots of chinchillas who have lost a leg/arm to a poorly judged leap, but I think most of them seem to get around ok with only 3 limbs.
With the swollen leg, I would pick him up and check for a scratch. If you can find one, you could try to treat it with an antibiotic cream. But if you can't find it, and maybe even if you can, it might be best to take him to the vet. Especially since it didn't swell up until a week after the cat "visited". That makes me think there could be a different cause. He could have injured this leg as well-and a tripod chin will get around much better than a bipod!
As far as the cataracts, I didn't know that chins could get cataracts. And I didn't really know they had pupils, being as they're so beady-eyed. So I'm going to defer to one of the lovely breeders on this site who have experience with dozens or hundreds of chins.
When it comes to the tail, there's not much we can do about that. I would treat it like a cut, and put antibiotic cream on it until it healed completely. I don't know if there's any special risks involved with the fact that a cat bit him off-certain infections you should watch out for, etc. Make sure Spatula doesn't get any dust baths while he has an open wound-you can hold him on your lap and rub the dust into his coat for him, that would make him very happy. But letting him roll himself won't help his tail. I would keep a very close eye on it and visit the vet at the first sign of trouble.
--Also, you should make sure to keep the windows closed when you're letting your little guy out. I've read that chinchillas can jump as high as 6 feet. Mine can only get about 3 feet, but that's high enough to get to my windows. With cats getting in and him possibly being able to jump out, you could lose him forever.
This is mostly my experience from researching chinchillas, some others might have input from personal experience. I hope we can help!
I'm sorry you're going through all these troubles and vet visits! Hopefully soon your chin will be healthy and you can both be happy again.
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Health / Re: Question about my chin
« on: May 10, 2007, 11:28:32 AM »
This thread probably needs to be moved to Health, but that's ok.
Your chinchilla could be chewing his fur. Have you noticed your chin grooming that area a lot, picking at it or anything?
When they chew their fur it's usually due to stress, so if that's the case, start paying attention to your chins environment. Could it be bored? Are there loud noises or lots of things to disturb the chin?
Also, how does the skin look under the lost fur? Healthy? Dry, red, or scaly? Is the fur loss getting worse or is it just one area? My chin had a small patch of dry skin on his foot this winter, the fur fell off, and didn't start regrowing until I fixed the dry skin problem by cutting back on dust baths and applying neosporin to the area every day.
Another possible culprit is a fungus. There are pictures on the forums under health of what fungus looks like and what dry skin looks like. If your chin does have a fungus, all you have to do is put a little athlete's foot powder in their dust bath. After a while, that will clear it up.
The environment when she's running around shouldn't be causing this problem-at least not in any way that I can think of. As far as how long it takes to grow back, I'm not sure.
Your chinchilla could be chewing his fur. Have you noticed your chin grooming that area a lot, picking at it or anything?
When they chew their fur it's usually due to stress, so if that's the case, start paying attention to your chins environment. Could it be bored? Are there loud noises or lots of things to disturb the chin?
Also, how does the skin look under the lost fur? Healthy? Dry, red, or scaly? Is the fur loss getting worse or is it just one area? My chin had a small patch of dry skin on his foot this winter, the fur fell off, and didn't start regrowing until I fixed the dry skin problem by cutting back on dust baths and applying neosporin to the area every day.
Another possible culprit is a fungus. There are pictures on the forums under health of what fungus looks like and what dry skin looks like. If your chin does have a fungus, all you have to do is put a little athlete's foot powder in their dust bath. After a while, that will clear it up.
The environment when she's running around shouldn't be causing this problem-at least not in any way that I can think of. As far as how long it takes to grow back, I'm not sure.
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Q & A / Re: Introducing Chinchillas
« on: May 07, 2007, 04:31:13 PM »
One thing you need to consider about introducing your two chinchillas is that if they spend time together, most likely your girl will get pregnant.
Breeding chinchillas is a big deal. You don't want to do it if you're not knowledgeable or at least willing to take the time to learn. You also have to consider what you'll do with the kits when they come. Perhaps most importantly, you shouldn't breed the chinchillas if you're not familiar with their pedigree-you might have chinchillas with heart problems or teeth problems, and you don't want to create more unhealthy kits. Also, some colors should not be bred together-I think this is what Jo Ann was trying to find out when she asked the colors of the chins.
You mentioned specifically that your female is from a breeder, does that mean your male is from a pet store? Most owners will agree pet store chinchillas should never be bred.
I'm not a breeder, just a pet owner, so I'm sure others can pitch in more information. I just wanted to point out some things you'll need to consider.
Breeding chinchillas is a big deal. You don't want to do it if you're not knowledgeable or at least willing to take the time to learn. You also have to consider what you'll do with the kits when they come. Perhaps most importantly, you shouldn't breed the chinchillas if you're not familiar with their pedigree-you might have chinchillas with heart problems or teeth problems, and you don't want to create more unhealthy kits. Also, some colors should not be bred together-I think this is what Jo Ann was trying to find out when she asked the colors of the chins.
You mentioned specifically that your female is from a breeder, does that mean your male is from a pet store? Most owners will agree pet store chinchillas should never be bred.
I'm not a breeder, just a pet owner, so I'm sure others can pitch in more information. I just wanted to point out some things you'll need to consider.
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New Births / Re: Twins 4-30-07
« on: May 01, 2007, 03:32:50 PM »
oh those two chins are too cute!
I hope the little one gains some weight and they're both nice and healthy
I hope the little one gains some weight and they're both nice and healthy
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General Chat / Re: Leo Braun wheel or Flying Saucer?
« on: April 19, 2007, 05:10:16 PM »
The Chin Spin is fantastic, and so are their chinchilla cages, imho. I was looking at the cage you purchased, and I think you would be able to mount the chin spin-just might take more work than usual. The bars are every five inches in the cage, and the chin spin is 15 inches tall, so it should line up perfectly on the vertical. My chinchilla loves his.
Hope that helps!
Hope that helps!
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General Chat / Re: Cute video
« on: April 09, 2007, 08:43:24 PM »
So adorable! Made me laugh out loud when he snapped his fingers...
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Q & A / Re: Clumsy?
« on: March 31, 2007, 09:12:17 AM »
I'm certainly no expert, but I also have a young chin and he does exactly the same thing-
He'll jump to try to get onto a shelf, and hit it with his chest instead of his feet, falling to the ground
I was never sure whether he was inexperienced or just lazy, thought he could make those jumps, and didn't put enough effort in. He's also really bad about running into people when I let him out to play-it's like he can memorize where the furniture is, but the people keep moving so he can't figure out how to avoid them.
Since there are also plenty of times when he impresses me with his acrobatics and his agility, I never really thought to worry about his clumsy moments.
He'll jump to try to get onto a shelf, and hit it with his chest instead of his feet, falling to the ground
I was never sure whether he was inexperienced or just lazy, thought he could make those jumps, and didn't put enough effort in. He's also really bad about running into people when I let him out to play-it's like he can memorize where the furniture is, but the people keep moving so he can't figure out how to avoid them.
Since there are also plenty of times when he impresses me with his acrobatics and his agility, I never really thought to worry about his clumsy moments.
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General Chat / Re: Chinchillas saved themselves, their building and My Husband!
« on: March 29, 2007, 07:39:41 PM »
Amazing story! Lucky the chins were there to save the day!
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News / Re: Virtual Chinchillas
« on: March 23, 2007, 04:04:17 PM »
It worked for me when I signed up
But I was trying to win points, and the computer you play against in rock-paper-scissors doesn't seem to have much imagination-it chose scissors about 10 times in a row! After I wised up, I was able to get a few points and a few bucks from it
But I was trying to win points, and the computer you play against in rock-paper-scissors doesn't seem to have much imagination-it chose scissors about 10 times in a row! After I wised up, I was able to get a few points and a few bucks from it
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Guestbook / Re: Another New member
« on: March 22, 2007, 09:35:07 PM »
Romeo is about a year and a half old. And he's a little calmer now, but for a while he was pretty intent on making some kits of his own, with the forearm of whoever was closest to him at the time.
He's a spoiled little guy, with a huuuge cage which I may make him share with a second male in the future, we'll have to see how that goes.
But he's my first chinchilla and we have a ball together
He's a spoiled little guy, with a huuuge cage which I may make him share with a second male in the future, we'll have to see how that goes.
But he's my first chinchilla and we have a ball together
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