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571

Q & A / Re: I need help...

« on: July 25, 2006, 06:18:27 AM »

Hi Jenova,

   It might be, he is using hiding there as an attention-getter.  Chinchillas love attention and will do most anything to get it when they want it.  Even if it means getting in a dangerous place.

  Please be very careful where you let him play ... chinchillas will chew on anything they can get their little teeth into, even if it is not good for them!  :-[  Including, but not limited to, electrical wires ... and they don't look to see if they are plugged in first ... no crispy critters, Please! 

   Chinchillas are very curious and love to explore ... they can get into VERY small places, so small, sometimes they can't get out.   

We tap his sand bowl

  Please do not use the sand, it is very harsh on their fur.  Chinchilla Dust Bath Dust is much better for him.

I always think is better for them to get back in themselves because it is a lot less stressful.

Very true ... you are lucky that you have one that will do it, most won't.   :-[

 
Jo Ann [/i]

Don't worry we unplug everything first, remove all the wires we can and then put a rug over the rest. And we do have chinchilla dust, I just called it sand. We bought him from an exotic pet shop and the woman who sold him to us was very knowledgeable. He's got everything he needs as far as we know, we just need to get him a wooden sleeping box because he's using a cardboard one at the moment.

I think he's going behind there just to get attention too  I knew they were intelligent but I didn't realise how intelligent until last night. We have a wooden rocking chair and he was only inquisitive enough to climb it last night and then he went for a quick nibble. We said "No." to him quite firmly and gave his nose a very gentle push away and within two times of doing that he learned not to do it, although we could see him trying to sneak a quick nibble when he thought we weren't looking. 

I'm in love already.

572

General Chat / Re: Pictures of your chinchilla rooms

« on: July 24, 2006, 06:44:27 AM »

Animal cruelty, even if it's not intentional, gets me so angry and even if it is a pet shop surely it still counts as cruelty. Having an injured animal, or one that it not properly housed or fed is inexcusable in my eyes. Even though we have only had our Chin for a few days we have used that time to find out everything we possibly can so how hard can it be?

I don't live in America so I don't know how the law works over there but surely there is some organisation that can at least educate them if not take away the animals that are not cared for properly.

Sorry I know this is still off topic but there must be something that can be done.

573

Q & A / Re: I need help...

« on: July 24, 2006, 06:21:20 AM »

We've only had our little Cheech a couple of days so we've been experimenting on the best ways to get him back in his cage. He only really trusts my boyfriends (who he belongs to really  ) so it has to be up to him. Cheech has a little spot behind the TV he likes to go to and we realised that if he sits behind there it means he wants a tickle or a little pet. So at first we just used to get him from behind there which was pretty easy for my boyfriend, however we don't want him to learn that we might pick him up from there or we'll never get to tickle him 

So at the moment we are in the process of teaching him to hop back into his cage by himself. We tap his sand bowl which is just inside the door and he eventually hops in. I always think is better for them to get back in themselves because it is a lot less stressful.

574

Q & A / Exercise

« on: July 24, 2006, 05:54:07 AM »

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are first time owners of a beautiful new Chin and we've only had him for three days. He seems to be settling in fine and gets livelier every day. We have asked for lots of advice and have a book on basic care. The only think we're not too sure on is exactly how much exercise he needs/ wants. At the moment we're just letting him out for a little bit at a time and he usually runs around like a crazy little thing and then stops for a rest before he's off again.

Some information sites say that they shouldn't come out for more than around an hour or they can over tire themselves, but ideally we'd like to give him as much exercise as he wants. What are your views?