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Topics - Leslie

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General Chat / Chinchillas in Vancouver

« on: March 18, 2010, 10:15:06 PM »

Hi, I'm moving to Vancouver with my chinchilla but I'm having a really hard time finding a place to buy a cage for him. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Health / Is it diherrea or constipation?

« on: October 22, 2008, 08:28:53 PM »

Sounds dumb yes but here's the situation. TBone has not been pooping. He also hasn't been coming out of his house for the last 24 hours. I took him out of his cage and inspected him and there was a poop stuck to his fur and he smells a bit like pooh. His fur around his bum is matted a bit. The poop stuck to his fur was small and a bit squishy.

BUT there are no other poohs in his cage. There was a little bit of a mess inside his house, like a smear, but it was probably just that one poop that he sat on all day.

I'm at a loss for what to try to treat him for. I would rather see wet poops all over than this, so I have given him 2 more raisins.

I cleaned him up with a moistened paper towel and gave him a dust bath, and let him run inside his playpen for a bit to get his system moving.

I don't know if any of this was right or what else to do.

Health / Tooth stuck in corner of cage...

« on: September 11, 2008, 09:05:35 PM »

Hi, everyone!

I just found my chinchilla stuck in the corner of his wire cage. His tooth was stuck in the corner and my boyfriend had to grab a tool and take off a ring clamp to loosen it to get him out. He thinks maybe a tooth is chipped. I don't want to bother the chin though, he is super freaked out and hiding in his hut, anymore action might put him over the edge.

If his tooth is chipped, how bad is that? If it's little, will he just chew wood and his teeth will grow and eventually the chip will be gone? If it's a big chip, is there anything we can do? I can't find any piece of tooth anywhere!

This is so scary! Should I just grab him and cause him more trauma and look in his mouth?

Q & A / My picky eater is not eating his new pellets!

« on: May 08, 2008, 06:20:31 PM »

I cannot believe how picky TBone is! He refuses to eat anything except for raisins and hay....and his old pellets. I had to switch him off Traditional pellets cause I changed suppliers. I did it very gradually, a bit more new pellets over a long period of time (at least a month). We're now just on the new pellets....Mazuri. He must hate it! He hardly touches it at all. I'd say he's eating maybe 1/16 cup a day. He chows down on hay like there's no tomorrow though. And he DOES eat some pellets. He is very tiny and doesn't normally eat very much anyways, but he is definitely eating less than before.

I'm worried. I am thinking of switching again to Oxbow, which the supplier carries, but at a massively different price. I have another chin who eats whatever I give him, but I don't like the idea of switching food so often for both of them. Not to mention I have about 7 pounds of the new stuff still....

Should I just wait it out and he'll get used to the new pellets? This chinchilla is so picky, he won't even eat banana chips, or cheerios, or even oats. It's bizarre. Just goes to show how strong their personalities can be

General Chat / How would you describe a chinchilla?

« on: April 26, 2008, 04:04:13 PM »

Isn't it weird how many people have no idea what a chinchilla is? I often find myself explaining what a chinchilla is, and it's kind of difficult! They're really strange little animals. I find myself comparing them to rabbits, bats, mice, buffalos (the neck thing)..... how do you describe them?

General Chat / Facebook Pet Profiles

« on: January 13, 2008, 01:02:58 PM »

I don't know if anyone here has Facebook, but if you do, you should add the "Pet Profiles" application. I was looking for something like this for a while, but I only found "Catbook" and "Dogbook". Well, now there's Pet Profiles!

You can put a picture of your chinchilla (or any pet for that matter) and all their details, plus add photo albums, etc.

There's just something I like about showing my chinchillas off.....

Health / My chin hasn't eaten/drank/peed or pooped in the last 24 hours

« on: February 20, 2007, 10:58:03 AM »

This type of post totally sucks and I can't believe I have to post it.... $:-\$

Yesterday I was cleaning the cages and I had taken the water bottle off TBone's cage to wash it. I came back and he was chewing the wire spring thing that holds the bottle on. I tried to remove it from his mouth and now in retrospect maybe that is the beginning of the problem. I kind of jiggled it slightly and he let go....but then I looked at his nose (cause it was poking out of the cage) and I saw a tiny bit of blood coming out. I grabbed him and grabbed a kleenex and dabbed his nose and the slightest amount came out....and that was it. I heard him breathe once and it sounded like there might have been a bit more in there, but after that I could hear him breathing normally.

I cleaned his cage out and set him in the play area but he was not himself. He sat in this pile of shavings the whole 45 minutes, eating the shavings (totally strange for him). When I put him back, he went into his house and stayed there for the rest of the night (again, completely unlike him). This morning I went to check on him and he's still in his house but I can see I don't think he left it all night. There are no poops at all on the bottom of the cage and no pee spots. His food and hay and water are untouched. The full water bottle is not unusual, he's never drank much water before, but the hay is his favourite thing to tear apart.

He is sleeping now and he will be sleeping for at least another 7 hours (he is such a sleeper - there is no waking him during the day). There is no way I can do a further assessment of him until this evening....

Does this sound really bad? Should I be taking him to a vet right now? Should I wait until this evening and see if he's back to normal? I do have an emergency vet I could go to, but I doubt he really knows any more about chinchillas than I do. I saw him once before and he was very nice, but it was a waste of time and money and unnecessarily aggravated my chinchilla for nothing. I don't want to do that again. It's not the money issue, it's more that even if something IS wrong, I doubt he would know how to fix it.

It sure sucks to be in a city of 700,000 people and not have one decent chinchilla vet.

anyhow please help. If you have suggestions for some kind of supplement I should be feeding him, please give me some advice about how to feed a chinchilla that refuses to eat anything except pellets and raisins too....this guy is the pickiest eater in the world. And it needs to be something I can buy that isn't a specialty item....again, this city isn't a chinchilla-friendly city.

thank you.

Cages / Wire bottom cages

« on: November 03, 2006, 07:56:57 PM »

A few years ago, I bought a wire bottom cage because it seemed so much easier than the drop in type. Ever since then, I have had nothing but problems with my chinchillas peeing all over the place. It's like they don't understand the difference between the bottom of the cage and the levels. I have done absolutely everything I can to make them understand. I have covered almost every inch of the levels with wooden boards or tiles. They will find any little space to pee through. They pee through the ramps. They especially love when a wooden board gets hay or a bunch of chewed wood on it....THEN they pee right there on the board.

A friend of mine recently bought a new cage and I cautioned him about the wire bottom, but he was won over by the "easy" cleaning aspect. His chins have started peeing from the upper levels now as well.

When I put a pile of shavings on top of the wire bottom, they go nuts for it. Chins love the "digging" thing and chewing on the shavings!I feel bad for taking that joy away from them!

I blame wire bottomed cages. I think it's a bad idea. Does anyone else have the same problem? Unfortunately I'm stuck with mine...but maybe this will help someone else?

General Chat / Stranger anxiety

« on: October 21, 2006, 09:47:57 AM »

I find it so frustrating that my chinchillas are so cute and comfortable with my boyfriend and I, but when I have company over, the chinchilla's behavior completely changes. No one even knows how loving and cuddly my chins are because every time someone else is in the room, they act different. They rarely run on their wheels, they don't hop around their cages and play, they won't come out to be held, they won't sit and be scratched....but they do all these things when we are alone. Even if the outside person is sitting nowhere near the cage,they can sense an alien presence and they seize up.

Are most chins like this? In a way it's....flattering I suppose....to be loved so much by an animal that has such wild instincts. I've cracked their hard exterior

but I just wish people could see how heartwrenchingly adorable it is to see my chinchillas smile while I scratch their bellies, or how trustworthy they actually are when they're being themselves....I trust them so much I can put my head in their cages and let them groom my eyelashes for heaven's sakes! Maybe I'll have to get out the video camera to prove to people how cute they are!

General Chat / Changing Seasons....changing chinchillas?

« on: October 03, 2006, 08:13:20 AM »

Over here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the weather is completely changing. A few weeks ago it was totally warm and I had the air conditioning on. Now it gets to about zero (celcius) at night and it's chilly in our apartment. I have noticed that my chinnies are eating so much....I can't put enough pellets in their bowls! My chinnie TBone (whom I have talked about being skinny and mousey) has suddenly become a big fatso of a chinchilla

! He has rounded out and his fur is thicker.....making him look like a fatso

....no problem with that here!

Has anyone else noticed that the seasons affect your chinchillas as well?

And I am wondering if I should put as much pellets in the cage as TBone will eat? He's about a year and a half and the pellets are good quality Oxbow pellets....I feel I should just let him eat as much as he wants, especially considering he has been needing to gain weight.

General Chat / Hay Storage and hay dispensing

« on: September 26, 2006, 07:51:21 AM »

I ordered a big huge bag of hay online (why not when you have to pay so much for shipping?) and I am wondering how to store it and still be able to access it daily. It's 9 pounds of Oxbow Timothy hay and it's compacted into a big square....once I open it it's going to expand. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Also....how does everyone feed loose hay? I have a hay rack and I HATE IT

, it looks so unsafe but I don't know what else to do. They climb on top of the hay rack and sit there, chewing and pooping into the hay, not to mention the chance of getting a foot stuck in the bars. I need to keep it off the floor of the cage cause they always pee in it if it's on the floor.

Help!

Chit Chat / UN declaration on Animal Welfare

« on: July 09, 2006, 09:41:12 AM »

This is a great petition to sign!

Help achieve global recognition that animals matter, that they can feel pain and suffer, and that we have a responsibility to put an end to cruelty around the world. We seek 10 million signatures to let the governments of the world know we are serious about achieving a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare at the United Nations.

http://www.animalsmatter.org

ps and after you sign the petition you can upload a photo of an animal to add to their gallery and there are hundreds of cute pictures... but not many chinchillas yet

General Chat / Holding your chinchilla

« on: July 06, 2006, 01:20:17 PM »

I don't know if there is a "right way" to hold a chinchilla, but over the past few years I have perfected the way I hold my chins. It makes me cringe to watch my friends try to hold the chins, and I try to explain how to do it properly but only practice can really help. It took me a long time to figure out how to hold them so they are comfortable. I don't know if everyone does it the way I do, but both my chins are comfortable being held (for a little bit at least...the more often I hold them the longer I am able to do it each time). Perhaps we can share our secrets and make it easier for newer chinchilla handlers?

1. The most important thing: Support their back feet! Place a flat hand underneath them so they can stand.

2. I make a fence with my other arm and hold my opposite shoulder but I don't squeeze them to my chest. This is what makes them kick and squirm...if they still think they're in control they're okay. They sit in the crook of my elbow and look down, but can't jump away.

3. Don't sit down with them. If they can see an escape route, they will try to get away. If you are standing, they won't be able to see a place to jump to and they generally will stay put.

4. Walk around. If you just stand there, they get bored and want to look around. If you move around, they can look at new things. I like to do tours of the apartment. We go from mirror to mirror and room to room.

5. Get comfortable with them being able to move within your little fenced area of arms. If they can go from one side to the other, they don't feel like they're being held and squished and they'll be calmer.

Anyone else have some advice?

Conformation and Quality / What makes a chinchilla "good quality"?

« on: July 03, 2006, 02:23:37 PM »

I have two chinchillas, one is about 4 and the other is just over a year. I have been noticing how different the two of them are, and I have a feeling that my one year old, TBone, is not very good quality

I don't have a problem with that, he is healthy and I don't plan on breeding him. But he is quite skinny...I can feel his backbone and it's a bit curved (I don't think he's hunch backed at all, his cage is very big and he's very active). I can feel his ribs as well. His fur doesn't seem as "full" as my other guy's. My 4 year old Ninja looks like a big puffy ball of fur sometimes. When Ninja sits I can't really see his back feet, his fur covers them. With TBone, his feet stick out all the time. He almost looks like a mouse...his nose is a little pointed and his head isn't as round as Ninja's. Also, TBone's feet and front paws (and genitals :-[ ) are BIG! They just seems gigantic compared to the rest of his body. I got him from a breeder and saw his mom and dad and they are quite small as well. Should this breeder not have bred chins from small parents?

I am not complaining about TBone, I love him no matter what

like I said he's so cute and happy and loving and gentle he can be as skinny and mousey as he wants...I'm just curious about quality.

Q & A / Shedding

« on: June 14, 2006, 11:47:04 AM »

I have had my standard chinchilla for about 3 years and I've never noticed him shedding. My new guy is beige and now there is chinchilla hair on EVERYTHING in our apartment! Do chins shed during certain seasons or is this just an all-the-time thing? Maybe it's just the colour of the fur that makes it stand out more?

Also...if I got a comb and groomed him, would that cut down on the loose fur? I've never groomed my chins before, so I have no idea!