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Topics - Deeliteful

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General Chat / 10 years

« on: December 20, 2017, 08:50:50 PM »

I havent been here in a while . Just wanted say I have had My Chuppers for 10 years now. She is still doing good. Silly as ever and just had her raisin for the night.

OK ... I havent been on much in a few years ... but life does get hectic sometimes and for the last few years my chins have not really had any trouble until recently. My husband and I bought a house and it needed work . We were going to be living in the reno and I didnt think that would be healthy for my chins so my sister said she would take them for a few months while we worked on the house.

My sister and I do not live in the same town . In fact its 3 hours away but she had always been responsible with my animals in the past . So we took her the chins and my birds and a couple of dogs and went to work on the house. I would call and check on my animals and she said all was good.

It took us 2 months to get the house fixed enough for us to move the animals in . We drive to pick them up and it was a nightmare. One of my parakeets was lying dead on the cage floor there was no food or water in the cage and the little female was looking scared. My chins just on a glance looked ok ... in need of a dust bath but other wise well. I am still not real happy about the care she gave them . She dropped the ball on all this .

I get everyone home and set up and over the next few days I observe my chins. My female is doing great but my little guy was looking really bad. There wasnt any sores on him he wasnt drooling but he was really thin . The more I watched I saw her bullying him for the food . I am guessing the sister didnt feed them regular. So I pulled him from the cage and put him in his own . He was eating really slowly.

So we took him to the only vet in the area ( two hours away) that sees chins but they are not experts. I taught the vet tech the proper way to hold a chin and all that . He spent the night and they started him on critical care and took an xray of his head and looked at his teeth . We go to get him the next day and The vet says she couldnt see anything wrong with his teeth . She could send the xray to a vet with more experience for a second opinion . We did that and took him home .

He eats the criticle care up . He tries to eat the kibble and grass. He is so thin and I also noticed what looks like ring worm on his arm . How do I treat for that and does anyone have any ideas on how to get him to gain a little weight? . The expert hasnt gotten back to me yet . Sorry I was so long winded but I just felt like I needed to vent.

Other Pets / Degus for MEEEE

« on: June 29, 2009, 07:59:50 PM »

Next monday I am bringing home a pair of brother Degus. I know they are cousins of chins and require simular care. I have heard they can be mean and I have heard they can be sweet as chins. I was wondering if any of you have had experience with them. Maybe give me a few tips.

I am thinking of either naming them Fric & Frac . Or maybe Riff and Raff. I figure the names will come to me when I get to know them . I am so excited.

General Chat / Congress wants to ban exotic pets . Yes there is a bill being proposed.

« on: April 18, 2009, 06:21:20 PM »

I am not entirely sure of the particulars . I find such things a bit hard to understand when written like this but from what I get they want to pass a bill banning all NON native animals from being kept here . This would include . Chinchillas , Hamsters, Gerbils , Some birds , Fish and reptiles.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-669

There is a text of it . I don't know about you but this is outrageous in my opinion.

General Chat / Their First Photo together YAY.

« on: April 18, 2009, 05:07:27 PM »

Well I finally got a hold of a cam but the cage was dirty because today is cage cleaning day . So I had to take the picture before I could get the cage good and clean. You can see the pink house they turned over . They like it that way . After they get it turned over they will sleep in their "bowl" together LOL. All that hay in there is from today. You can thank Chuppers for the mess. SOOOOO here they are the happy couple . Chuppers and MeeKeeMoo.

MeeKeeMoo is the one on top LOL. His fur still looks rough . It was worse when we got him . Then the surgery and the hand feeding and not to mention the fur flying during initial intros . I still think he is quite the handsome man.

I do not like this cage but it was the one that MeeKeeMoo came with and since I had the better chance of them getting along by putting her in his cage there they are in the cage I dont like. I am going to fix this though. After about 3 more weeks I am going to move them both into Chuppers cage . By then hopefully they will be bonded really well and she will have forgetten about her cage.

Q & A / Chirping??? (now with sound clip lol)

« on: March 30, 2009, 03:14:59 PM »

Ok I have listened to the records of chinchilla sounds but I can't find one that sounds like MeeKeeMee. He has been doing it for me since we got him. He stopped when we had the surgery but now he does it again. When ever I am at the cage he does this real soft chirping sound for me . I say its singing LOL for some reason I like the idea of animals singing to me. Its so soft that if you weren't right there you would not even know he was making that sound.

Does anyone have a chin that does this or know what it means?

General Chat / Introductions

« on: March 13, 2009, 03:50:41 AM »

Well we decided since MeeKeeMee is feeling 100 percent better that maybe we could do introductions with him and chuppers now . The bed is neutral ground so Me and the Hubby decided to try it . First went Chuppers because she has been there the longest . After a few minutes MeeKeeMoo was put on the bed . They hopped around and bounced around not really too interested in each other . They would sniff a little and nip at each others noses but not hard not violent then go on passed each other.

It was really a lot of just bouncing around a little barking from both but it never got violent . MeeKeeMoo tried to mount Chuppers she didnt like it and barked at him he backed off . Then she after a while tried to mount him and he sorta took it for a few seconds before bouncing off. they have dust bathed in each others dust and for a first up close meeting I think it went pretty good.

Health / Chin had surgery and I am worried

« on: March 03, 2009, 06:39:00 AM »

Ok we had MeeKeeMoo neutered yesterday. Its not been a full 24 hours yet and as I understand it He probally wouldnt be interested in eating much for 24 hours but I am worried . I cant tell that he has been drinking and the only thing he wants to eat is raisins and more disturbing is he hasnt pooped .

Now we were given metacam to give him for pain and perhaps that has something to do with him not wanting to eat. I am just worried . Should I have to hand feed him what should I give him ? I have syingenes if i need them I just need to know what to do incase I have to do it.

Q & A / Advice on how to begin grooming

« on: February 16, 2009, 12:38:57 AM »

I need some advice on how to begin grooming my chinnies. I got a comb but well I would like to know how to start. My chinnies are the not staying still kind lol. One doesnt even like to come out of their cage and the other one will come out but im not sure about grooming lol. Any advice will be appreciated.

General Chat / So, I got another one.

« on: February 13, 2009, 10:54:42 AM »

I have been perfectly happy with Chuppers all by himself for the last couple of years. Yet in the back of my mind for the last several months there has been this nagging thought about him being alone . The rats have buddies. The Dog has buddies even My hermit crabs have buddies , but my chinchilla is all alone.

So ocassionally I will go look at craigs list or the classifieds for the area and yesterday I saw an add that caught my eye. So I figured I would go have a look at the little chinchilla no one wanted anymore. We drove the hour to the place and the people were very nice people. The chinchilla was the daughters pet and she was off to college and Mom didnt want to take care of it but you could tell they cared about the little fella but were a bit clueless about how to care for him.

He was on cedar shavings . His dust bath was left in the cage . The food bowl was full of food and it looked like he had been peeing in it . The water bottle was nasty from the dust of the dust bath that was always there. They did not give him grass like you should . They would give it to him as a treat at night. However sitting there in his cage was the sweetest little guy and my heart just went out to him.

Now my chuppers I still call her a him . I thought she was a he for years until closer inspection revealed he was a she and the chinnie I was now looking at is for sure a boy . This is one of those very obvious males . The add didnt say the sex and the people didnt know either So I had to look and while it was the wrong sex I believe this is the right chinchilla. I brought him home. I have gone to look at chins before and never had this feeling . I simply had to have him.

So he is here now . In all his manly glory. I figured it would take a few days to adjust and oddly enough I think he is adjusted . He comes right up to me and wants attention . He doesnt cower away , He is bold and wants that chest rub and chin scratch soon as the door is opened. His name is MeeKeeMoo. Its the name he had when I got him and I thought it was perfect so we are keeping it for now.

However, Back to the whole reason I even went to look at MeeKeeMoo. Chuppers is still alone. So I am looking into having MeeKeeMoo neutered. I have read the pros and cons but I would really love it if they could co-habitate . Chuppers needs a pal and I think MeeKeeMoo does too. I just dont even want to try putting them together right now I know it takes just a few seconds for the deed to be done.

So after its done and He is healed . I will then begin to introduce on a more personal level . Right now its just then looking at each other from several feet away . Chuppers in very interested and MeeKeeMoo stares back. However if they dont get along I am prepared for two cages . Or a split cage or something . I feel its worth a try . I wanted to give him a good home . I do not plan on getting rid of him any time soon. He is wanted here.

Other Pets / The loss of special Ed and Churchill

« on: August 05, 2008, 11:59:52 AM »

A few months ago I adopted a male hairless rat that had been kept in bad conditions . He had the runs and just seemed to not trust people and when I got home with him I figured out why. He was blind . I got the poo problem in order by feeding him a proper diet and took him to the vet who said his blindness was genetic and he had always been blind . I named him Ed and he was special so he became special Ed . I gave Ed a lone level home where water and food was always placed in the same spot so that he would always know where it was and I even had Ed a special friend named One eye . I have had One Eye since he was born and he only has One Eye . So it made sense to put them together and they got along so very well.

It took me a while to gain Ed's trust . I spent hours by the cage just talking to him so he would get used to my voice . When ever I would need to pick him up I would talk to him first so He would know it was me . Eventually I got him to not panic and to not pee on me everytime I picked him up and He ended up being one of the sweethearts that loved to be held and pet . Well a few weeks ago on a tuesday I go to clean Ed's and One Eye's cage and I get them out and of corse love on Ed a while. There was no problems with him I always check him real good and He was fine . Wednesday He wouldnt come out for a treat but I didnt want to force him SO I figured I would take him out the next day and give him a good look over .

Wednesday came and he was bad sick . Weezing hard and he had mucus coming from his eyes and nose . Rat mucus is red and looks like blood which just looked horrible on Eds pale hairless face . My husband called the vet and we got an emergency appointment for 2:45. I held Ed and just willed him to hang in there . At 2:10 I put him down so I could brush my hair and get ready to go . At 2:15 he died. I was devistated it was so sudden . He went from fine and happy to sick and dead in the matter of 2 days.

I will always miss my special Ed . We had him cremated and I will always have him with me.

My first make hairless was Churchill . He is the father of my last litter of babies who mostly have homes now I still have 3 little girls that need homes but well if no one wants him I will keep them . Churchill was a hairless dumbo eared rat . The sweetest guy when he wasnt being reclusive . About a week after I got him he started singing. Yes I had a singing rat . He would only do it for me . He would sing to me from the top level of the cage . He would sing when I held him and the husband finally got to hear him one day when I was holding him and finally believed me about the little ratty songs of love.

At the begining of June he started to act weird . Then the heavy hard breathing started and we took him to the vet who took x rays to discover pneumonia . We did shots and oxygen and antibotics and he started to get better and act more himself . He lost alot of weight so we started him on baby food to give him more nutrition and it was easier for him to eat while weakened. He didnt give up so we didn't either . When the weezing began we rushed him to the vet again . More xrays revealed it had not gotten much better . So more shots new antibitoics and he kept fighting and we fought along with him .

Saturday we had to take his cage mate out because he began to pick on him and Churchill doesnt like to be alone so we started taking shifts on holding him to keep him warm and he soaked up the attention . We would put him down to eat and get water and he was eating and drinking thoughout the day . The hubby works nights so on the weekends he still keeps his schedule and was up in the wee A.M.s with him . I was sleeping and at 4 am He woke me up . Churchill was dieing . I held him for his last few breaths and then he was gone . His little heart just couldnt take anymore .

My little singer is gone now . We have had a necropsy done to find out just what it was that killed him so that if I need to I can take measures with my other ratties but he assures me whatever it was wont hurt the chinchilla . Churchill will be cremated as well and he will sit next to Ed .

I don't know why I love rodents so much . I just do . Rats and Chinchillas they are all so sweet and smart .

Other Pets / BABIES updated with pics

« on: May 04, 2008, 06:04:39 AM »

last night my hairless gene carrying rat had her first litter . numbering 12 little naked pinkies. half the litter is expected to be hairless . soon as i get a new cam (my other got dropped and broken) I will get some pictures up . If you live in NC and would be interested in adopting a new critter please leave me a message .

Health / Need to know about any diseases rats can give chins

« on: January 12, 2008, 06:59:57 PM »

We made our little happy family bigger today. We "rescued" a pretty little hairless rat and her mate who has hair . I am always very careful about washing my hands anyway before dealing with my chin but I need to know about any diseases that the chin can get from the rats and what I can do to keep him from getting sick. They are in different rooms .

Health / My Chin is sneezing?

« on: September 15, 2007, 01:18:39 AM »

Last night I heard him doing it . Quite a bit . The only way I can describe it is tiny little sneezes . His cage is in my bedroom so when I am in bed I hear everything and he was doing it often . I would check on him and he would bounce up there to the door all perky and get some love then when I would lay back down it would start again.

I havn't heard him do it today just yet but is he sneezing? SHould I be worried? I dont want my little guy getting sick on me.