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1

Cages / Ferret Nation Midwest

« on: March 30, 2016, 10:34:44 AM »

Does anyone have it? I've seen great reviews, but Im wondering if it can hold the flying saucer we have currently. Also what is a good shop for fleece for that particular cage?

2

Health / Bronchitis

« on: March 30, 2015, 07:21:34 PM »

Hey all,
Just wondering how easily a chin could catch a (possible) viral bronchitis. My boyfriend has been coughing for almost a month (allergies/congestion, this happens every spring) but now its gotten really bad and I'm not sure if it is viral or not. No fever that I know of but that doesn't say much Hes not handling the chins now but we aren't sure about him even being in the same room as them. Any advice on what to do and signs to look for in the chins? Thanks so much!

3

Q & A / Chinchillas constantly fighting

« on: February 19, 2015, 10:15:31 PM »

So for the past several days my 2 males have been fighting sometimes, and other times cuddling. They do fight at night because I hear them and one is usually cornered so we try to talk to them and it usually seems to help, but its the worst during playtime. Skillet (the chin that's being aggressive) will chase Dexter around and they will usually stand up and face either other by the end until I intervene or one runs off. Now if Skillet comes out to playtime, my other one will just run and not want to play with him, sometimes even hiding in the igloo.
Like today, Dexter is out chewing on some sticks outside the cage. Skillet flies out and starts just running around (not even directly at Dexter even) and Dexter just runs off or goes in an igloo. I'm not sure if skillet, who doesn't come out but more than about half of the time I open up the cage, is trying to play with dexter and just freaks him out or what.
This has happened before where they fought and then in the morning they were cuddling, it just seems to be prolonged this time. Still, for the most part in the cage (with few exceptions at night, maybe once every other night but they also fight for a corner spot some nights so it's hard to tell) they are fine toward each other, even squeaking at each other constantly. I give them tv at night, plenty of hay, food (separate bowls on either side of the cage), and plenty of sticks and other toys. They have a flying saucer as well, but only Dexter uses it as skillets front paw was messed up as a baby.
Also, no blood has been shed. And I have separated them before for just a few minutes and it seemed to not help as both of them then seemed to become a bit stressed out and wanted to be back together, but that was last time this happened. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

4

Health / Wellness Checkup?

« on: February 13, 2015, 08:46:46 AM »

Late last year my chin Dexter went to the vet because he was bloated and not pooping. He's much better now, but I just got a postcard saying he is due for a fecal floatation. I haven't called her so I'm not sure if it's just an automated thing, but I'm currently in parasitology so I'm of course a little paranoid, but I wanted to see if anyone else does full wellness checks for their chins.
I know that some people don't because their chins get anxious going out, but my guys were great at the vet so I don't think that would be a problem. Thanks in advance!

5

Health / Blood?

« on: June 22, 2014, 08:38:39 PM »

When I was cleaning out our chinchillas' cage, I found what looks like blood stained on a small part of their bedding. I was concerned, so I checked around the cage and saw what looks like a smear of blood on one of the ledges.

It's worth noting that both chins seem to be eating/chewing normally and interacting normally (their usual behavior), and there are no signs whatsoever of a fight. One of them has a history of dry foot pads, so we checked that and his feet don't seem to be bleeding. There are no bloody paw prints anywhere on the wooden ledges. The bedding in their usual pee spot in the corner of the bottom pan was darkened normally, with no hint of any red coloration. As you can see in the pic, the bloody spot is not surrounded by any other moistened bedding, so I do not believe either chin is passing blood through urination. Their poop is normal as well.

They're playing now and their behavior is normal. There is no sign of blood on either of them. Anybody have any idea what this could mean, or where this blood may have come from?  The blood (if it's that -- it looks kind of orange) on the ledge is totally dry, and the bloody bedding didn't seem freshly stained either. The bloody mark on the ledge is roughly above the spot that I discovered on the bedding. Any ideas on what this might be from, or how to check for injuries we might have missed, would be greatly appreciated.

6

Health / Dry skin, really dry feet

« on: January 23, 2014, 12:14:53 PM »

So I haven't posted I quite a while and some things have changed since, so I may be a bit long and add details that aren't nesecary (sorry in advance! Better safe than sorry)

So I have moved (with my 2 boys) to my boyfriends house. We currently do not have the portable ac I have always had with them since we haven't needed to use it yet. We have, however, leave the window open when we are home to cool the room down. Another change for them is now their playtime is on hardwood floors, rather than on the carpet.

Before we moved them, both of them would sometimes chew (no fur loss though) or scratch themselves a lot more than usual, so we cut back on how often they got a dust bath from every other day to every 3-5 days. However, Dexter seems to be chewing on his foot quite often, more than before we moved them. The other night we checked out his feet and they were really dry and it seemed like some of the skin had peeled (there was no blood though). So we have been putting vitamin E on his feet 2 times a day and then giving him a dust bath right afterwards (we read to do that on chincare.com). Now we are about to switch to Aveeno because the vitamin E is so thick, I worry it doesn't help enough before we give him a dust bath. I'm also worried that giving him this many baths will make the rest of him itchy too. Any ideas on what to do? I don't think it's really stress related, since there are no other symptoms I've seen. Thanks so much!

7

General Chat / Testy Chins

« on: October 31, 2013, 11:20:23 AM »

Our two male chins, Dexter and Skillet, have always had very different personalities but usually have gotten along for the year and a half that they've been together. Over the last few weeks, however, things have not been quite the same. Instead of wrestling and chasing each other, now the chins don't really play together but run around independently. This isn't a huge problem (though it is sad to see them not having fun together), but what happens a few times a week is this: Skillet gets playful and tries to chase Dexter around. Dexter usually isn't having any of it and ends up in a corner. Skillet will sometimes get up in his face and Dexter will rear up defensively, start barking, and jutting his head out at Skillet. Sometimes Skillet will follow suit. In either case, a stern "No" usually stops them.

This happened last night. This morning when I opened up the cage, they were sleeping in separate igloos (not totally unusual, though typically they do sleep together). Skillet came down to wake Dexter up for playtime, but instead of just sticking his head in like usual, he started tossing bedding backward away from the igloo with his feet and doing that aggressive head-jutting thing into the igloo and I could hear one of them barking. I had to give them a "no" again and neither ended up wanting to come out for playtime.

Many times when Dexter is cornered and they almost fight, I'll notice fur coming out from his coat, usually around his back or hindquarters. Obviously he gets very upset, and I'm thinking that maybe when they were playing at some point Skillet got too rough and scared Dexter, which is why he refuses to play with him. Skillet, on the other had, will swish his tail (seems like in frustration) when Dexter won't play, and sometimes will make little distress noises (like barks but much quieter) to try and get his attention, or so it seems.

This gets really upsetting for me, and I worry that they might really end up fighting and injuring each other, which would mean being separated for life. Does anyone have experience with this or any advice on how to get them back to acting like best-buds during playtime again?

8

Q & A / Possibly not getting along

« on: October 04, 2013, 06:49:15 AM »

So my 2 male chins have lived together wonderfully for the past year and a half with no problems. Lately (this week) they seem to not be getting along or fighting more often, but only during playtime. One chin starts chasing another until he goes in his usual corner he likes and stands up and growls at the other. When he leaves his corner he gets chased again. It seems like he wants the one whos growling to play with him. When there is no playtime or after playtime, they may start off by being on opposite ends of the cage but by the end of the night are cuddling in their house again. There's been no attacks yet, only standing up and growling at one another. I have had quite a stressful week and have been working late so thier schedule has been a little off, but this isn't the first time thats happened. I'm really worried that something's wrong with one or both of them. Thanks for any advice!

9

Health / Strep

« on: September 09, 2013, 07:32:14 PM »

So I just went to the doctor this morning and found that I have strep. Last night it didn't hurt nearly like it does today, and I let my chins out for playtime. I washed my hands and tried to be careful (keeping my mouth covered, etc) but strep is a bacterial infection that chins can catch. So my question is how long do I keep an eye out for (since it take can a few days for humans to show signs), and what do I look for? I'm so worried! Thanks!!!

10

General Chat / Air Conditioner

« on: August 18, 2013, 05:56:35 PM »

I've had my Soleus Air portable AC for a little over a year and have never had any problems. This summer however, it has seemed to rain a lot more than past years (I live in SC). Lately I have noticed that my AC sometimes blows out an onion-like smell. I clean it as much as I can but I have found a bit of reddish water in the AC (under the filter) but its very hard for me to get to. Any advice on what to do? I have had it on dry mode the past day and night but the smell comes and goes still. Thanks!

11

Other Pets / Can guinea pigs take dust baths?

« on: August 17, 2013, 08:16:54 PM »

A friend of mine at work has a daughter who owns 2 guinea pigs. I showed her a video of the chins taking a dust bath and her daughter said she did some research and found that her guinea pigs could take one as well. When I looked around I found the opposite answer, so I'm wondering which is the right answer!

12

General Chat / Edible Logs

« on: August 17, 2013, 07:48:26 PM »

So I bought my chins a snack shack hut thats edible, and have seen all over the Internet both sides (either its super dangerous or its fine). It's main ingredients are honey and alfalfa, and the chins really don't chew on it..they like to just be in it and play on it. I just wanted to see what other people's opinions of them are!

13

Cages / Wooden Hay Box Stains

« on: August 17, 2013, 01:40:39 PM »

I have a wooden hay box that needs cleaning. I have used HP to clean out some of the urine stains, but they are not all the way gone. I've done a bit of research about using bleach on the wood and found that bleach is a no-go. The wood is still wet, would it be alright to bake it? Or do I need to wait until its dry to bake? Thanks!!

14

Health / Bleach question

« on: July 25, 2013, 04:13:35 PM »

So my mom has sprayed bleach water (very diluted but I'm not sure the concentration) and sprayed directly on certain areas of the carpet across the room from them. She said she sprayed very close to the carpet, and immediately put a fan on it to air it away from them. But they were in my room as well as hay, food, toys, etc. it doesn't smell in here now however I'm worried about them and their stuff and I don't know what to do!!

15

General Chat / Chinchilla Grooming Me

« on: July 03, 2013, 08:39:54 PM »

So recently one of my chins has begun to take a huge interest in styling my hair!! I know he's grooming me and that's a good thing but I'm worried he's eating my hair. Should I discourage him doing it since that could be a possibility? (I have been letting him do it so far, but now he is doing it more often and longer) Thanks:)!