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1

General Chat / Attn: Grayrodent

« on: July 27, 2017, 09:30:37 PM »

Hello! Do you remember a few years ago you did a little experiment where you hooked a counter up to your chinchilla wheel and got a rough estimate of how much ground was covered? Do you remember the results of that?

2

General Chat / Been a long while since posting. new chin pic

« on: December 05, 2015, 12:10:24 PM »

So, back in march or so one of my female chinchillas has closed pyrometra. She went through surgery and recovery and thankfully made it. Unfortunately her cagemate didn't accept her back after the weeks they were apart as she healed.

I bought a second cage so they both had their own. Salem, the girl who had surgery, became extremely depressed and withdrawn and was not at all herself. I decided to buy her a kit with the hopes that she would return to her normal self. Luckily, it all worked out and she instantly took to him as his new mother and he took to her. She returned to her normal self almost immediately. Her cagemate she was with doesn't seem bothered being on her own either.

Here is a picture of him. He is a violet male and now 7 months old. Best decision ever!

3

Q & A / re-introducing chinchillas that have been apart for longer than a week

« on: April 15, 2015, 09:08:28 AM »

One of my chinchillas was very very ill a little over two weeks ago. She had closed pyrometra. To make a long story short she somehow responded immediately to the baytril and it sorted her out enough to get spayed.

She had very successful surgery and is recovering remarkably well. She is now off anti-biotics and pain killers and was given the okay by the vet after her second post-surgery visit.

Now I have to try to begin to re-introduce my two chins. They lived together for a couple years without incident.
The healthy girl is very territorial and was trying to bite the other chin through the bars.

Has anyone been through a re-introduction of chinchillas that have previously been together? Shall i just follow the normal introduction process?

I was going to start it today and put the cages side by side but far enough apart so they can't bite each other. I have decided to hold off for another few days though to allow the chin that just had surgery to recover even more. I don't want to stress her out anymore.

Does it matter how long i wait at this point? I don't think it will make a difference as they have already been apart for two weeks.

4

General Chat / merry christmas all!

« on: December 25, 2014, 11:53:35 AM »

Hope everyone and their chins have a good one!!

5

Q & A / chinhilla laying down after being held

« on: June 21, 2014, 11:18:48 AM »

I am just curious if anyone has or has had a chinchilla that absolutely did not like being held and then would lay flat right after?

One of the two of my chins does not like being held. She isnt aggressive or anything. Its more of a case of being scared.
I have held her twice in the year we have had her...the first time was to check her and the other was just a case of starting to try to get her used to being held.

She doesnt make any noises or try to bite but she does try to get out of being held.
After i released her she looked genuinely stunned and scared.
Both time she laid flat almost immediately like after shes been out running for a while.

She was a pet store chin and i have no idea if she was ever handled correctly but she has always been very much anti-human haha. She will let me scratch her while shes in the cage. The other chin she came with is fine with humans.

I know its normal for some chins not wanting to be held and thats cmpletely fine with me. I like that shes more of a wild chin than the other. I was just wondering if it was normal for her to lay down like that after being held. Its almost as if the flight or fight response kicks in and it overheats her...which is understandable.

This wouldnt be a sign of an underlying heart condition though would it? Maybe it seems unusual to me since the other chin is fine with being held.

6

Q & A / question about pine shelves

« on: May 12, 2014, 11:41:40 AM »

Out of curiosity, how often do you change/clean/sand them down?

I seem to sand all the shelves down once or twice a month to get rid of staining.

I used to just buy new shelves since they are cheap enough but i figured id just buy a detail sander and do that until they need to be replaced.

7

Health / need advice about baytril

« on: February 11, 2014, 12:27:10 AM »

I made this thread lastnight on another board. I'm just going to link it and ill give a summary here

http://www.chinchillaworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10367&p=69709

Yesterday, one of my chins was taken to the exotic vet. She has a vaginal infection.
Long story short i have to give her .27 of baytril once a day for seven days.

Other than that she is in perfect health. No issues with her weight, breathing, teeth, etc.

I would like some advice from people that have had to use baytril.
I wasn't able to go to the vet yesterday but my wife took the chin and told me all the vet told her.

The only thing that really concerns me is what do i use as a probiotic?
Is it absolutely necessary to use a probiotic along with the baytril?

I have read in past threads on here to wait 3 hours after to give a probiotic.
Is there anymore up to date info?

If i choose yogurt will i need to get sugar free yogurt?

My chin isn't out of the woods yet but hopefully we caught it early enough. The pus was still coming out which is a good thing.we administered the first dose of baytril yesterday. A drop was wasted so it was more like .24 than .27. Will that make a huge difference? Also, is there any tricks or tips to not get any air bubbles in the syringe whem dealing with such small amounts? Basically we just would get one drop at a time on the tip of the syringe and then put it in the chins mouth.(to make sure all the air was out)

This is a first for syringe feeding and baytril. I have some critical care coming

8

Q & A / switching food.

« on: November 03, 2013, 07:23:04 AM »

So, now that my two girls are settled in it is time i change their food and get them on some top quality
pellets. As i live in the UK you may not be familiar with the brands but i would like some input on the situation.
Basically, as far as i know, my chins have been on this pets at home brand chin pellets their whole lives.
It isn't a bad food but it isn't the best either. 4 days ago i started the switch to beaphar chinchilla care plus.
This is regarded as the top quality food over here. I was going to switch gradually over a month but have run into a problem.
The chins absolutely love the new food and have stopped eating the old food. This morning i woke to a bowl of food
that had the little amount of new pellets consumed and the old pellets untouched. In fact, some of the old pellets were
thrown around the cage and peed on haha.

In this situation do i do a complete change after only 4 days and keep an eye on them and hope for the best?
Should i just gradually increase the amount of new pellets and hope there is no stress to their digestive systems?

I have asked another board as well and the lady said to make the switch quicker than a month.
I was going to cut it to two weeks but it looks like i may have to even reduce that time frame.

Thoughts? Thanks!

9

General Chat / salem the magician

« on: November 02, 2013, 02:49:32 AM »

This morning i had my back turned trying to get my other chinchilla down from the table when i heard a rustling. I thought itwas salem(the other chin) eating or moving hay around. Much to my surprise this is what i saw when i turned around.
I have no idea how she got up there. Nothing like a high rise sand bath! Haha.

10

General Chat / flying saucer wheel question

« on: September 05, 2013, 05:21:49 AM »

Would a ten inch saucer be suitable for a chin thats on the larger end of the chinchilla spectrum? I guess the distributor here is having a problem with getting the thirteen inch saucer and i am going to buy one but im not sure if i should wait for the bigger saucer to come in stock.

11

General Chat / new chins

« on: July 05, 2013, 08:50:07 AM »

After the unfortunate passing of my first chin my wife decided to suprise me with two  new additions!
I came home from work and they were here!

I was planning on going through a breeder so i could be sure of the genetic line but my wife decided to surprise me so these two beautiful girls will do very nicely.

After my first chin passed on i pretty much decided i want to have chins for the duration of my healthy life.
They are  wonderful animals! Here is a picture of Salem and Luna.

Salem is the darker standard and luna is the little light standard. She looks like a little fury moon (very round and her light grey coat is bright) sometimes when sitting hence the name. The darker grey just reminded me of something a witch would have on a pumpkin for some reason si i names her salem.

Salem is huge compared to my first chin. She is very strong. Luna is on the smaller side like my first chin.

We have had them one week today.

12

Health / can i ask a huge favor?

« on: June 23, 2013, 05:38:14 AM »

I've only had one chinchilla so i'm not so experienced...i was wondering if i leave my email address if somebody with experience with eye issues could please contact me and i will provide a couple pictures to look at.

Im not quite sure if there is anything to be worried about but there seems to be a bit of wetness towards the corner of my chins eye. Im fully aware of what it could be but it may also be nothing to worry about.

Im just looking for a bit of reassurance if there is something wrong or nothing at all.

I have tried to search for pictures of eyes problems caused by maloclussion as well as maybe irritation due to dust bathing.

I would prefer to send the couple pictures instead of shrinking the filesize down.

The weather is quite warm and will continue to be so according to the forecast so i dont want to take her out unless i absolutely need to...

My email is mattb0725@gmail.com

Thanks in advance...i realize not everyone would want their email put on here so i am leaving mine.

13

Q & A / This may be a silly question but...

« on: May 19, 2013, 10:03:42 AM »

When switching brands of timothy hay it isnt necessary to slowly switch like one must do with pellets right?

I've been very unhappy with the last couple batches of oxbow timothy hay i have recieved so i picked up a bundle of alfalfa king timothy hay and it is so much nicer. My chin has barely been earing the oxbow hay from the last couple batches ive ordered. She is loving this new brand though. Its way greener and just nicer in general.

I dont know whats up with the oxbow hay lately but it hasnt been very nice at all.
Obviously it doesnt help that i have to order it because no stores sell it here so i cant actuallyvsee it before i buy it.

Thanks!!

14

Q & A / arkvits

« on: April 15, 2013, 12:32:49 PM »

heya...i was wondering if anyone uses arkvits as a supplement for their chins? if so, is the reptile arkvits the correct one to get? i was just reading up a little and many people seem to use this. i just want to know if the reptile arkvits is the correct one to get and to make sure they dont make arkvitsbspecifically for rodents. thanks in advance

15

Q & A / I've recently switched the type of food and I have a question.

« on: January 02, 2013, 01:20:49 PM »

I've switched from charnwoods active pellets(which is a more traditional pellet) to beaphar plus chinchilla care (which is an extruded type of "pellet". As far as i know the charnwoods was an alfalfa based pellet and this new food does not have any alfalfa at all in it. Do I need to buy alfalfa hay as well as timothy hay now or is the timothy hay enough? Thanks in avance.