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1

Health / How to gain weight?

« on: January 04, 2017, 03:09:32 PM »

I have an underweight rescue, boy about 2 years old at 344 grams. He desperately needs to gain weight!

Any tips to help him gain faster?
Right now he has food pellets and timothy hay. I have alphalpa, would it be good for him to suplement with some?
Anything that helps them gain well?

He was in very good shape and kept his weight around 360-370, though he didn't gain it was stable, happy and active. But his cage mate decided to bully him now, which he hasn't done before. He has some scratches, but they are healing fine, but it made him loose some of his already low weight

I keep him in a separate cage now, the bully will have to live alone. My third boy I'll try reintroduce once he is feeling better as they got along wonderfully. (I keep them in three separate cages now)

Any tips on what to give him will be helpfull. I am still a novice, they are all rescues.

2

Q & A / Can I keep boys and girls in same room?

« on: December 30, 2016, 03:09:06 PM »

I have three boys together in one cage and two girls in a nother (though separated from eachother at the time in case of pregnancy, but looks more and more like they might be safe ). After some tidying up and changes I found room for the girls in the pet room (had them in the middle of my tiny livingroom). There is only a slight distance from the boys so they can see and smell the girls. The boys have been very currious and much noisier, and some chasing has occured. Not a single scratch or bite though, no fur being ripped of. Can they stay in the same room, or will the currently friendly scuffles become worse?

I have another room I could move one of the cages to, but not untill next weekend, and if I could keep them in the one room that would be prefferable. Next weekend I can be able to move them further away from eachother too if that helps.

Love to hear about you guys' experience and knowledge. I'm a novice with chillas

3

Q & A / Are my chinchillasreally pregnant?

« on: December 27, 2016, 05:45:52 AM »

I recieved two female rescues a month back, and was told they had lived with a male so they are pribably pregnant. The male had been removed about two months back, thus now about three months ago minimum (they lived with him full time). I can not tell by their weight, but it has gone up slightly. I can't feel any movement in their bellieswhen resting my fingers there. I haven't seen any signs, other than this:

I can find their titts, takes me only a second. They are easy to find and elongated on both, I read this is a "sure sign" and they are "virtually impossible to find" when not pregnant.

Is this sign enough to know for sure, is it that safe a sign? I'm keeping them separated in child safe cages untill enough time has passed to know for sure, but so far no other sign and acording to time they should be close.

Are there other signs to look for? They have not been sleeping more, on their side, nor eating or behaving any different (though I've only had them for a month so changes are hard to tell)

4

Q & A / Process for wood baking

« on: December 22, 2016, 06:06:48 AM »

I read up on what woods and other natural items are known to be safe and found a nice list of trees and plants that include some I know where to find pesticide free in the wild here, a list made specifically for chinchillas made by breeders. But it said "All woods should be thoroughly cleaned, boiled, and baked" and though it sounds easy enough, it's not very specific.... Can anyone explain the process for me so I do it right? =)

Do you use any soaps or similar in the cleaning process, which ones if so?
Boil how long and a boil or simmer?
Bake... put it in the oven? ^^; What temperature (celsius) and how long? Do you wrap it up or just put it on a tray? =)

Thanks for any help =)

5

Europe / Norwegian newbie

« on: December 22, 2016, 05:48:03 AM »

I just recently rescued some chins here in Norway, and fell in love with them so they are staying with me as a forever home! <3
But I'm a complete newbie with chins. Gotten some great help in the Q and A area though =^_^=
But if anyone more localy knows what brands are good or not that would be a great help =)

I took photos of what I have and tried to explain what is what here: http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,5157.0.html
Got help on most other than what brands of food are good due to not being used to the brands =)
And might know of more types of safe wood that can be found here? =)

6

Q & A / Food hay and other needs, advise needed

« on: December 20, 2016, 01:59:47 PM »

I have recently rescued 3 boys and 2 pregnant girls, and am a first time owner so want to do right by them. Gotten wonderfull help here already about caging for the girls, so now I want to ask about neutrition as reading online gives too many different answers.



Hay:
Lets start with hay. My local petstore sells mostly mountain meadow hay, whatever that means. Being the only thing available they have used it for a short while.

But today I finally found Timothy and Alfalfa at my vet clinic. So question is, should I only use those, never the ordinary hay? I read pregnant and nursing chillas need the alfa, should they have only that or combined? Should the boys have some combined with the timothy?



Wood:
Are apple sticks the only wood they should have? Are there any other safe woods I can find in the wild? (Norway, northern hemisphere so mostly same kinds as North America available) I only use bought apple wood at the moment.


Food:
They are picky eaters and shouldn't have foods where they can pick their favorites nor too many treats I read. I found a food that they really love, but fear it might be "too good" and only should be used as treats.


Their main food is a pellet mainly made of timothy, which sounds like might be the correct food to give them. I have two brands, first I find localy the other is harder for me to get




Treats:
But those sticks with seeds on them, though marked as chinchilla, I read they are wrong for them, don't give them at all. Is this true or can they have them just sparingly? Is it better not to?
I read there are few safe treats and all used sparingly, but healthier to give none at all, so I get worried. One of them had almonds with it when I got him, should they not have those either?
And what about this snack, dried dandelions as far as I understand:

And these are made of carrots and raisins, both I've heard negative things about:

This was sold as chinchilla snack, has yoghurt, milk and egg as well as seeds:



Stones:
The boys have a pink himalaya salt stone in their cage, so I wondered if maybe the girls needed that too, but semed more like it was wrong. Should it be removed?

The other boy had a small white disk that also seems might be some kind of salt, but not sure.


I found a big pink gnawing block that was suposedly for chinchillas. Might have been calsium or the like. Is this something they should have? Boys and girls both or only the pregnant ladies?


I also have general gnawing mineral stones for rodents, shaped like fruits. Good or bad?


I also have gnawing stones from the Andies for their teeth, but seems to only be for their gnawing habbits and ever growing teeth.



Other?
Is there anything else they need or thing I need to know about? All help is highly appreciated
If you have an opinion even on just one of these items I'd be happy to hear it =^_^=

7

Q & A / Can pregnant sisters stay together?

« on: December 05, 2016, 03:37:49 AM »

I just rescued two females from poor condition by buying them of a bad home from a site similar to craigs list. From the photo I could see they where kept outside (it's below freezing here) and lacked of everything. Upon delivery I was told they used to have a male and are most likely pregnant, and far along. I can find their tits, they are long and easy to find on both.

The two girls are sisters and 2.5 years old. They are very close and lovable with eachother. Can they stay together when giving birth and rasing the little ones? Or is there a big risk to the babies?
We had bunnies when I was a child and the two sisters there had their babies together lovingly, but this is my first experience with chinchilla babies. So any guidance will be apreciated.

What I know so far is remove the after birth and no sand for 10 days for both baby and mother. Temperature in the room is a comfortable one, calm room and no drafts. The bars in their cage is half an inch or less, so no escapes