Chinchilla Community Forums

1

Cages / Cage Question

« on: March 07, 2011, 08:07:32 PM »

Hi guys, I'm thinking of getting a new cage for my chinchilla and i really like the Feisty Ferret Cage. Here's a link to it. http://www.futurepets.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=PR485 I thought the cage was perfect for my chinchilla but Jean just told me that it will break if I put a wheel on it. I have a flying saucer that i bought from Quality cage and i would love to put it in Bambi's new home. What do you guys think I should do? Or do you know any cage that's about the same price/size?
Thanks in advance

2

Health / Pawing at mouth??

« on: November 17, 2010, 12:53:05 AM »

I was doing some research and I've read that pawing at mouth is a sign of illness. So i was wondering what does pawing at mouth look like? Because my chinchilla does that a lot but I thought he was just cleaning his mouth...since he usually does it after he eat or when he's doing his usual cleaning routine (biting paw/fur/cratching his back). He would put 2 front paws on his mouth and then wipe them down to his chest. When he does that, it's usually 2-3 times in a row. Each time, he would turn a little bit to make sure that he get the other side of his mouth. I'm not sure if that's pawing at the mouth. Everything else is normal, he's active and is eating his food, stool is normal, teeth are yellow/orange.

3

Q & A / Normal Hay vs. Hay cubes?

« on: November 13, 2010, 08:59:17 PM »

Hi guys! I have been feeding my chinchilla normal hay, but he always push it away to his peeing area and then I would have to throw them away everyday. I was thinking of feeding him hay cubes instead of normal hay, but I am not sure if the hay cubes is 100% good. I mean...the normal hay seems to be more natural. Will hay cubes be a good replacement of normal hay? Do chinchillas like one more than the other? Advice please

4

Q & A / making sounds?

« on: October 08, 2010, 12:40:58 AM »

hi guys. Today, i've noticed that my chinchilla Bambi make sounds when he run. It happened a few times before but i didn't think it was anything serious, but i'm just asking to make sure. When i let him out to play, he would run around, and when he run, he would make this very soft sound, i have to be close to him in order to hear it. It seems like that he make that sound everytime he lift his feet in the back. So is there anything wrong with him? Do you know what does it mean when he make that sound?

5

Q & A / Making Hammocks?

« on: September 24, 2010, 12:34:27 AM »

Hi guys,
I bought a hammock for my boy a few months ago and he loves it, so i am thinking of making hammocks and donate them to the rescue that i got my chinchilla from, since I have so much free time in my senior year of high school. Does any of you know how much it would cost to make one? I'm planning to make a lot, depends on the cost. I've never bought fabric before so I'm not familiar with the prices. Any advice in making them would be very helpful!

Thanks,
Tiennie

6

Q & A / Iced water for chinchilla?

« on: September 11, 2010, 01:20:28 AM »

hi guys i have a question. is it ok if i put ice in my chinchilla's water bottle? I just thought he would like it when it's a hot day. Is there any risk of making him sick in doing that?
Thanks,
Tiennie

7

Q & A / leaving bambi home for 4 days?

« on: June 10, 2010, 07:11:56 PM »

so i'm going to go on a little vacation for about 4 days, my mom said just put a lot of food and water in his cage...but i'm still worried about him. Do you guys think i should do that? or any idea of what i should do?
Thanks,
Tiennie

8

Health / Bambi is doesn't want to eat treats!!

« on: May 31, 2010, 05:51:32 PM »

hi. So i've been away for 3 days for a trip, and when i came back today, my chinchilla doesn't want to eat treats that i give him. I told my mom to get new water for him everyday and make sure he has pellets, but i think my lil sis put a lot of treats in his cage. I saw a lot of rosebuds and cookies in his cage, i was worried so i tried to give him an oat to see if he eat, but he didn't. Do you guys have any idea what's wrong with him?

9

Q & A / what's up with this??!!

« on: May 13, 2010, 09:07:25 PM »

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.peta.org/feat/chinchilla/page/FINALElectrocution.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.peta.org/feat/chinchilla/account.html&usg=__NdiWEl7ymFgv7BhtWYRRZwRqEjM=&h=333&w=500&sz=22&hl=en&start=10&itbs=1&tbnid=OaJIWF-L64zE_M:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dchinchilla%2Bfur%2Bchewing%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1

Well i dont have any question, i just want to share my feelings. Right now i dont know what to say after i come across that website...it made me feel so hopeless...i feel so bad that i can't do anything to help..i dont know how can someone do that to an animal.

10

Health / fur chewing??

« on: May 09, 2010, 02:41:45 PM »

Bambi has been doing this for a very long time. Everyday he would turn his head around and eat his fur.He always do that when he pull out his penis to clean it, or cleaning his whiskers. I didn't worry much becuase i thought it was just 1 of his daily routine.But i just wanna make sure if he's just cleaning himself or that's a sign of fur chewing?
Thanks,
Tiennie

11

Q & A / sharp nails?

« on: May 09, 2010, 12:22:58 AM »

bambi has very sharp nails, so everytime i play with him he scratches me. it didn't hurt a lot before though, maybe because his nails were short back then, but now it's getting worse and i always have scratch mark all over me...any idea of what i should do? should i cut his nails?
Thanks,
Tiennie

12

Q & A / where to buy treats?

« on: May 05, 2010, 12:33:54 AM »

hi guys. I want to buy new treats for my Bambi but i don't know where to buy it. I want to buy things like rose hips and other healthy treats (oh, i also need help with this too, idk any other treats beside oats and rose hip, i don't want to give him raisins or any kind of nuts because it has too much fat and too sweet), can you give me a website to buy it? I also want to buy him supplement, like vitamin or something that helps with his digestive system, and i have no idea of what to buy. Help please!

Thanks,
Tiennie

13

Q & A / my chinchilla was barking/screaming for nothing?

« on: March 29, 2010, 05:59:47 PM »

so i was sleeping next to bambi's cage, like always, and last night at 3 am, he started to make noise. It was the same noise he made when he was dreaming, but this time its longer and louder. It seems like he was screaming his lungs off, he bark with long breath for like 5-6 times then he stop, took a deep breath and started barking again, and then he would run on the wheel super fast in between the barking. I went online at 3 am to try to find out what's going on, and i think it's what people call "warning call" and chins do that when they're scared, but can't find any reason for Bambi to be scared...it was just a normal night, everything was quiet and everyone was sleeping. I checked his cage and everything was normal...then i pet him for a while and went back to sleep, i think he stopped barking after that.
I just got back home from school and he was sleeping on his side, he woke up and went back to sleep after i gave him some oats, but what worries me is that hes sleeping sideway and he doesnt wake up even when i open the cage door, usually he would wake up and stand up even when i walk very slightly to his cage to take his picture, but now he would just open his eyes and keep on sleeping. He doesn't even open his eyes widely when he's eating. He seems tired and sleeping sideway makes it look like he's dying

Now i've been leaving the cage door open for about half an hour, and he's not coming out, he just want to sleep.Is it normal for a chinchilla to do that? help please!

14

Q & A / sleeping sideway?

« on: March 28, 2010, 02:52:16 AM »

my Bambi has been sleeping sideway lately so im wondering if theres something wrong with him =[ he only does that before when hes tired of exercising, but lately he's been doing that a lot, he goes in the litter box and use the wall of it as pillow and sleep sideway, sometimes he just pass out and sleep like that for no reason, should i be worried? then today he gave me a temper tanrum and start eating his litter, but i took it out now, is eating 1 or 2 bite of litter that bad? or i need a trip to the vet?

Thanks,
Tiennie

P.S. sorry if u think i ask a lot of questions... =[ i just wanna make sure everything is perfect for bambi, i cant imagine something happen to him

i did do research before i get him but i never knew theres so many little things like this

15

Q & A / pellets/hay questions.

« on: March 25, 2010, 12:23:57 AM »

so i adopted Bambi from a rescue place, and the people there gave me food and hay for him. I know that the food is Oxbow Deluxe, but i have no idea what brand is the hay. The lady there just gave me a full bag of hay in a paperbag, and i've heard that some hay is not good for chin. I've been keeping the hay under my table for more than a month, and some of it turned brown, so im wondering if that's bad for him? And i saw you guys talking about alfafa and timothy hay, can someone explain to me what's the different between those 2 and which one is better? What brand is the best? And should i continue feeding bambi the hay that they gave me or buy new hay for him?

one more question, do chinchillas sleep a lot? All Bambi does is sleep everytime i see him, and he wakes up sometimes to eat and drink and run a little, but he sleeps for most of the time, im wondering if thats normal

one last thing, i've been using newpaper and white wood shavings for bedding, and sometimes bambi eats the newspaper =[ i need the newspaper under the shavings because theres wires under it so the shavings would just fall into the tray under it. And is white wood ok for chinchilla? i didnt see it on the no-no list and i didn't do a lot of research about it because i was in a hurry. thanks

-Tiennie