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1

General Chat / Re: gnawing on cage

« on: July 02, 2016, 06:11:24 PM »

ftp://Most cages can be modified with wood shelves or fleece covers for the plastic ones. A trip to the hardware store will solve your plastic issues. A plain pine board can be attached i side your cage with hanger bolts, wing nuts, and washers. I also have pre-drilled boards and attached them inside the cage with washers and pan screws. If you sew, or know someone who does, fleece fabric covers are easy to make and really decorate a cage. An added bonus of fleece covers is a more quiet cage. Your chins might decide they love chewing the wood shelves, which is good for teeth but no so much for sleeping 
 Sites with chin cages or links for Belgium:
http://www.savic.be/chichi-2 
http://www.petsglobal.com,  http://www.flamingo.be/CatalogusList.asp?ParamLang=UK&Cat1=Fla186UID36710ID25704XML263340Code37003680&Cat2=Fla186UID38120ID268812XML9078300Rang28818720&Cat3=Flam186UID50508ID2394036XML24383700Prod29092608&Page=1
https://www.tomandco.be/nl-BE/Knaagdier/Products-and-Services

2

Breeding 101 / Re: Please help me about Ralgro product?

« on: November 06, 2015, 08:33:37 PM »

I haven't heard about Ralgro in a long time, it's very bad stuff. From what I heard it makes the chins grow very fast and makes their fur prime quickly. This product is very unhealthy for chins and I'm pretty sure no one uses it in the US.

3

Reference Board / What's that bald spot ??

« on: July 14, 2015, 03:22:53 PM »

Sometimes a chinchilla can get fungus, also known as ringworm. You will notice one or more bald spots, usually around the nose, and the skin along the edges may look flaky. Fungus is contagious so wash your hands and arms after touching your chinchilla, also keep him away from any other chinchillas that don’t already have it.

To treat fungus buy both an anitifungal cream and antifungal powder, both found in the foot care section of your local Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS or similar drug store. The cream should contain clotrimozole or tolnaftate, brands will include Lotrimin and Tinactin.  The powder will contain the same ingredients, brands include Desenex, Tinactin, Zeasorb, and Lotrimin. Both cream and powder are treatments for athlete's foot fungus.

The cream should be applied every two days to the bald spots. When applying, make sure to rub the cream outward from the bald spot and into the fur 1/2" to treat the active fungus growth area. Do not allow the chin you are treating to bath for two weeks while you are treating with the cream.

The powder should be added to the dust bath, 1 heaping teaspoon full to 1 ½ -2 cups of dust. When you are done treating with the cream. The fungus should clear up in a week or so, and you will see new fur growth in the middle of the bald spots. Start treating other chins in the home with the dust as soon as you see an infection.

**    If it has not begun to improve in two weeks, you need to see a vet.  **

Once the fungus is clearing be sure to disinfect the dust bath container, all wood shelves, cage pans, and everything in the cage. A mild solution of 1/2 gallon hot water and a tablespoon of bleach is sufficient for disinfection, and drying the items in the hot sun will also help.

Help prevent future outbreaks by adding a sprinkle of antifungal powder to each dust bath, keeping your chin's cage clean & dry, monitoring humidity levels in your chin room, never allowing fresh or green wood into the cage, and insuring a stress free environment.

4

General Breeder Chat / Re: Is it possible to start a pedigree where there is not one?

« on: July 08, 2015, 02:20:31 PM »

No, this is not a good idea.

A pet owner has no need for a pedigree, and a knowledgeable breeder won't buy them if they don't recognize the lines. If you show the chins, you might have more to advertise to pet owners than just their cuteness, but winning ribbons isn't enough to justify breeding them. I caution you strongly against breeding unpedigreed chins, you can't create something from nothing in this instance, because the history is what matters.

How much would it suck to have a customer come to you saying their vet diagnosed a genetic defect that killed their chin? That's a whole big can of worms you definitely don't want to open, and that is the risk you run breeding unpedigreed chins. 

If you really want to breed them, interrogate the owner for pedigrees. If she can't produce any verifiable info, run away.

5

Conformation and Quality / Re: Color changing curiosity.

« on: July 21, 2013, 07:41:11 PM »

Hi!
I had a chin born last year and named her Snow due to her perfect white coloring. She went to her new home at 8 weeks old and when i next saw her at 15 months she was a homo beige! She had two white siblings, so i still wonder what color they are now.   
I only hope the owners arent unhappy their chins changed colors!

One baby just born last week is light beige with a white saddle. Im going to keep her and see how she turns out.

6

Health / Re: HELP!! Something's wrong with my boy's eyes!!

« on: June 11, 2013, 06:07:55 AM »

Hello friends!
Just thought i should let you all know that Curly made a complete recovery and he did not lose the eye or his vision. The eye has a slight cloudy spot where it was injured but no other lasting effects.
Thanks for all your advice!

7

Cages / Re: Better holder for hay available?

« on: June 11, 2013, 05:44:03 AM »

Hi!
I have tried a few different ways to feed hay to my 36 chillas, and i am resigned that i will clean the floor each day.  I put the hay either inside the cage or on topvand the chins pick it through the ceiling. I do have on hay feeder i purchased from this site: http://www.shootschinchilla.com/rummage-sale.htm that is simply metal and attaches to the outside of the cage. I still make a mess, and some hay falls through the bottom, but overall it might be an improvement. Another option for you is to purchase a cheap aluminum cooking tray, pound it out flat and put it behind your hay rack so that it extends 4" or more around it. That wouldvkeep the hay inside. I recommend some metal that isreally sturdy. Youbcould also back the hay rack with something the chins could chew & enjoy, like wood or cardboard. That could be easier to pierce with the wire rack hangers. Good luck!

8

Health / Re: Curly's Eye better! Caution: gross picture

« on: January 28, 2013, 11:23:35 AM »

Friday 1/4 I noticed Curly's eye was pink, it didn't look bad & I figured he scraped it or something. Friday night I came down iwth the flu, and did not remember to check Curly until today, and his eyes look AWFUL! I closed him off from his girls in the run, and took some pictures, attached the best one. He has been with these same two girls since October, and has not been near any other chins.  Curly is from DJ's ranch, so I don't suspect Malo but I will check his incisors. Could Malo appear so quickly? How can I check his molars?  Any opinions you can offer would be great. His diet consists of pellets, timothy hay, 3X/week oat supplement and water. His girls are due in about 2 weeks, and they are both looking healthy.

Ugh...I just checked my records and he lost 22 grams in three weeks.

UPDATE:
Curly's eye is doing much better. I could not get him to a vet because a) no vet in town would touch a chinchilla and b) i had the flu & couldn't drive. Between naps I called my mentor at DJ's ranch and asked what I should do, he advised me to first feel Curly's jaw carefully and compare it to how other chin's jaws felt. I dragged myself to my "barn" (aka guest room) and compared jaws, his jaws feel fine. He also is eating fine and there are no signs of drooling or slobbering.

So, since the teeth appear fine, i examined both eyes and one is definitly worse. My expert said apply Terramycin twice a day because it sounds like an injury told me to get it at Tractor Supply. Well, God was looking after me because I happened to have some unopened Terramycin on hand. I've been applying it 2X day and his eye is a lot less red. he had a scab, or a bunch of dried goop yesterday and the eye was closed with it,but i separated the lids and put some in. Tonight he had cleaned the eye and there is a football shaped gross coating on the cornea. he's still eating fine.

I applied some T to the other eye as well, but it looks normal now so I am only concentrating on the bad eye. All the other chins in the ranch are perfect and lucky me ...we had a set of hom beige triplets born today!

Q:  has anyone ever used the teeth exam tool available from Shoots?  If so is it as easy as it looks?

Thank you all for your advice & support, I will keep you updated.
 

UPDATE1/28/13:
I faithfully applied Terramycin and the eye got worse then better. During the worst day (picture) the eye actually bled so I rinsed it with saline to clean it and moisturize the eye. There was a yucky wet yellow football shaped scab that covered all the visible eye for a couple weeks. it has gradually improved, and now there is a small bulge above, and a much smaller football shaped white spot on the middle of the cornea. it almost looks like a cataract now. He is able to close his eye about 95% and the whole surface looks moist not mucky.

Curly started gaining weight when I began the Terramycin. His activity level returned last week, and he eats everything. He is back with his girls and very attentive to Willow who is due any day. I continue to treat with the Terramycin but only 1X a day since the nasty scabby spot is gone from his cornea.

Unfortunately he looks like he's been in a war, the whole left side of his head is gray and greasy. (pictures) When he is 100% and I'm sure he's able to close the eye all the way I'm hoping the dust bath will take care of it. Picture at bottom left is his right eye.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I look forward to visiting the forums more often!

9

Health / Curly's Eye better! Caution: gross picture

« on: January 10, 2013, 08:24:13 PM »

Friday 1/4 I noticed Curly's eye was pink, it didn't look bad & I figured he scraped it or something. Friday night I came down iwth the flu, and did not remember to check Curly until today, and his eyes look AWFUL! I closed him off from his girls in the run, and took some pictures, attached the best one. He has been with these same two girls since October, and has not been near any other chins.  Curly is from DJ's ranch, so I don't suspect Malo but I will check his incisors. Could Malo appear so quickly? How can I check his molars?  Any opinions you can offer would be great. His diet consists of pellets, timothy hay, 3X/week oat supplement and water. His girls are due in about 2 weeks, and they are both looking healthy.

Ugh...I just checked my records and he lost 22 grams in three weeks.

UPDATE:
Curly's eye is doing much better. I could not get him to a vet because a) no vet in town would touch a chinchilla and b) i had the flu & couldn't drive. Between naps I called my mentor at DJ's ranch and asked what I should do, he advised me to first feel Curly's jaw carefully and compare it to how other chin's jaws felt. I dragged myself to my "barn" (aka guest room) and compared jaws, his jaws feel fine. He also is eating fine and there are no signs of drooling or slobbering.

So, since the teeth appear fine, i examined both eyes and one is definitly worse. My expert said apply Terramycin twice a day because it sounds like an injury told me to get it at Tractor Supply. Well, God was looking after me because I happened to have some unopened Terramycin on hand. I've been applying it 2X day and his eye is a lot less red. he had a scab, or a bunch of dried goop yesterday and the eye was closed with it,but i separated the lids and put some in. Tonight he had cleaned the eye and there is a football shaped gross coating on the cornea. he's still eating fine.

I applied some T to the other eye as well, but it looks normal now so I am only concentrating on the bad eye. All the other chins in the ranch are perfect and lucky me ...we had a set of hom beige triplets born today!

Q:  has anyone ever used the teeth exam tool available from Shoots?  If so is it as easy as it looks?

Thank you all for your advice & support, I will keep you updated.
 

UPDATE1/28/13:
I faithfully applied Terramycin and the eye got worse then better. During the worst day (picture) the eye actually bled so I rinsed it with saline to clean it and moisturize the eye. There was a yucky wet yellow football shaped scab that covered all the visible eye for a couple weeks. it has gradually improved, and now there is a small bulge above, and a much smaller football shaped white spot on the middle of the cornea. it almost looks like a cataract now. He is able to close his eye about 95% and the whole surface looks moist not mucky.

Curly started gaining weight when I began the Terramycin. His activity level returned last week, and he eats everything. He is back with his girls and very attentive to Willow who is due any day. I continue to treat with the Terramycin but only 1X a day since the nasty scabby spot is gone from his cornea.

Unfortunately he looks like he's been in a war, the whole left side of his head is gray and greasy. (pictures) When he is 100% and I'm sure he's able to close the eye all the way I'm hoping the dust bath will take care of it. Picture at bottom left is his right eye.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I look forward to visiting the forums more often!

10

Health / Re: HELP!! Something's wrong with my boy's eyes!!

« on: January 07, 2013, 06:49:10 PM »

Well I know just the person to see, luckily we have a breeder/vet a couple hours away. I hate to stress Curly with the trip.

11

Health / HELP!! Something's wrong with my boy's eyes!!

« on: January 07, 2013, 03:36:28 PM »

Friday 1/4 I noticed Curly's eye was pink, it didn't look bad & I figured he scraped it or something. Friday night I came down iwth the flu, and did not remember to check Curly until today, and his eyes look AWFUL! I closed him off from his girls in the run, and took some pictures, attached the best one. He has been with these same two girls since October, and has not been near any other chins.  Curly is from DJ's ranch, so I don't suspect Malo but I will check his incisors. Could Malo appear so quickly? How can I check his molars?  Any opinions you can offer would be great. His diet consists of pellets, timothy hay, 3X/week oat supplement and water. His girls are due in about 2 weeks, and they are both looking healthy.

Ugh...I just checked my records and he lost 22 grams in three weeks.