Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: chinsitter on January 23, 2008, 07:25:49 AM
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Hi, everyone. I'm currently the temporary guardian of 2 chinnies (3 yr. old brothers), considering permanently adopting them. My only misgiving is that in about 2 years I plan to move from my home in Nebraska to Oregon, at the furthest. I'm worried about the stress it'll put on the chinnies. I read a short, older thread that advised reusing the bedding to save the chinnies' scent, and that's all well and good; but first and foremost I'm worried about the physical effects of stress. Has anyone actually moved chins considerable distances?
I have some behavior questions, too, but I'll save those for later.
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A lot of the breeders take their chinchillas long distances to shows and they haven't expressed many concerns although I'm sure they can give you a lot of advice. My advice would be set up the cage(s) in an empty room in the new house, in the corner and leave them for at least a day just to settle when you get there. Move the chinchillas in first and just let them get used to the place.
Also, welcome to the forum and ask anything you want. :)
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Hi,
We drove from Alaska to WI. It took us 10 day's to get here. My chins were in their cages, on both sides of the dog/cat cage at the end of august, and they made the trip just fine. We got to our house and I put them in my room and they seemed happy to see the rest of the animals were there to. But I don't know if you are flying or driving, what time of year it will be. If flying some airlines will not take pets. Also chins beening rodents you will have to check and see if they will let you carry them on board the flight. But all in all they traveled just fine.
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Thanks Jenova and kneesaa! This is exactly the type of input I need to hear! ::nod::
I plan to drive because I don't feel comfortable putting any of my animals in the baggage part of a plane! (If anyone has some side advice about moving car sick cats, that'd be appreciated as well!) It would probably be in late summer, a couple years from now.
Kneesaa, did you stay in hotel rooms during your trip, or did you just drive straight through?
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Hi,
One of our eskies get's car sick and about the first day into the ride down here he was fine. We stayed at motel 8's. They are pet friendy. I think the chins stayed in the car every night except two nights. We mainly brought the poms in cause the chins,cats and the rabbit were fine with the eskies in the car. We were off the roads by 5 pm. I don't even think the chins noticed the change. They were in their homes and they could see the other animals and I think they traveled great. I made sure their water bottles were full and they had plenty of food and hay. ;)
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I don't know about car sick cats, but we used to have a dog that got anxious on long trips and the vet gave something. They probably have kitty gravol. might be worth it for a long trip. Good luck!
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I'm just glad no one's reporting their chins got sick from stress. I feel so responsible for anything that happens to my animals. I even beat myself up when one of my little fish dies.
I imagine we'll get some kind of sedatives for the cats and we'll probably drive straight through to where ever we go. And I'm still thinking about whether I'm going to permanently adopt the chins. I love having them around! They're a lot of work, and I'm hoping to get into law school. I need to make sure I'll have the time to give them and that my husband can pick up the slack with cleaning duties. I have plenty of time to ponder all this, though! ::nod:: In the back of my mind, I've already made my decision. But I need to discuss it with the front of my mind!
Thanks for the advice, everyone. If anyone has anything to add, that'd be great!
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Chinchillas are great because, being nocturnal, they are awake in the evenings, giving you all the time you need to work during the day. Then you can unwind by letting them out for half an hour to an hour. Cage cleaning gets easier as you get used to it and get your own method, but it is necessary to vacuum round the cages each night. I'm lazy and don't do it every night so sometimes I get poos scattered across the whole room, but you can buy cages with poo catching bits at the sides... (nice topic).
I think it's best to keep the chinchillas in a room where you spend a lot of time in the evenings, that way they, and you, always have company. We've got ours used to us playing computer games and watching TV and now they love to watch us too. We were a bit worried at first how they would react to gunfire and things on the games, but we started off playing them quietly and slowly turned up the volume over time, now it doesn't even make them flinch. :)
Anyway, this isn't the topic. I've only ever taken Chong on a short trip by car, and that was over the last few days when he was going to the vets, he didn't even seem to notice the difference. I think they'll be fine, as long as you check up on them regularly and make sure they have lots of hay for the journey. Offer them a water bottle at intervals but don't keep it in there in case the movement of the car causes it to leak and they get wet. And keep the cats away from them. :)
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Thanks a lot Jenova. The chins live in my living room. I vacuum around the cage 2-3 times a week. Their poop isn't flying too far out of the cage. :)