Chinchilla Community Forums

16

Q & A / Question about hay.

« on: January 01, 2012, 09:21:43 PM »

Today I bought some hay cubes for the chins. I noticed when I got home the baged had a small hole going through it as if it was impaled.Is it safe to give chins hay that had a hole in the bag? The cubes appear to be ok but I'm not sure if I shoiuld really let them have the cubes from that bag. I just have this bad vibe, but I also tend to get them when there really is no cause for concern. I need input from others before I can do anything.

17

Health / Chin has lost weight. Help

« on: December 22, 2011, 03:37:51 PM »

Last year about this time my oldest chin Chip weighed 385 grams. Last week when I weighed him he was 337 grams. 2 days ago he was down to 327. Yesterday he went up to 329 grams. Today he went down to 328 grams. He appears to be eating well and is pooing. He is going to the vet on January 6. I'm not sure if he is sick or if he is having trouble absorbing nutrients due to his age.

Before I noticed this he did sneak into an area that one of the infected chins peed on when they missed the cage drop pan. I'm not sure If he got exposed to a fecal pellet though. The others are giardia carriers. Chip has shown no signs of infection at all. The carriers have not lost any weight.

18

Q & A / Digging food out of food dish.

« on: December 15, 2011, 06:08:01 PM »

Clyde has recently started to dig his food out of his dish, even rolling is face in it as if to take a dust bath. There is not dust in the bowl, it has been washed too. He just digs out all the pellets. There are never treats in the food dish, so I don't know why he is doing this. What is he trying to tell me?

19

Health / Housing chins and computers in the same room

« on: November 13, 2011, 03:08:15 PM »

Is it safe to house chins and computers in the same room? Before I ended up with 4 chins, I had a small network set up in my room. The 2 chins were kept across the rooms from the 2 computers and were only let out to run after everything was powered off and all electrical plugs unplugged. When I lost one and got a new chin, she gave birth to 2 kits. I now have 4 chins total. The only available space in my room is the 2 tables that are right next to the machines. The machines are on the ground a few feet from the kits. I have arranged it so that exhaust from the 2 machines do not blow directly on them. My concern is that one of the computers has a fan that blows straight up so I'm worried about particles being blown straight up into the air and landing in the near by chin cages. The other 2 cages appear to be a good distance away.

Has anyone else here had both a chin and a computer or 2 in their room?

20

Health / Is this safe?

« on: October 24, 2011, 04:52:18 PM »

Today I discovered that I left the supply of dried diced apple for my chins open since Friday. Is it still safe to give it to them? I don't see a problem with it, but I want to be sure.

21

Q & A / PLEASE HELP Kit is not eating or drinking

« on: October 23, 2011, 05:59:59 PM »

Hi all

The kits were weaned and placed into their own cages. The female kit is eating and drinking. The male is not eating his pellets or drinking his water. He is chewing his hay though.

22

Q & A / Clyde is not taking weaning too well....help!

« on: October 22, 2011, 06:57:59 PM »

Bonnie and Clyde were weaned today. Clyde is not touching his food or water. He is just staring out the cage. What do I do?

I have him back with his sister for right now, but I can't do that forever.

23

Q & A / How long can kits remain with their mother before they must be weaned?

« on: October 12, 2011, 08:22:48 PM »

Hi Today I was talking with the owner of Chinworld. They have over 100 chins. I was told that the kits should remain with the mom until 3 months. I was told that weaning after 8 weeks is based on information that the early breeders used. That this method is used for ones that are going to be bred or pelts. The vet said that definitely after 8 weeks they should be weaned. The Chinworld owner said that the male kit wont breed with the mom or sister until almost 5 months. She has raised her like this for a while. I don't know what to do. Has anyone else here ever kept the kits with the mother until they were 3 months?

What she said does make sense, as taking them from their mother early could lead them to be less sociable. I'm game for that method, but I need to know if there is the possibility that a breeding could occur. I ABSOLUTLY can't have any more chins. There is no more room.

24

Q & A / How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?

« on: October 08, 2011, 10:27:23 PM »

Bonnie and Clyde will be weaned from Raisin on October 23. What can I do to make the weaning process as stress free as possible for them?

25

Q & A / Whiskers

« on: October 06, 2011, 12:14:30 AM »

The babies are chewing Raisin's whiskers. Will they grow back? Can she function without them?

26

Q & A / Um...kind of a strange question.

« on: September 28, 2011, 06:18:43 PM »

Nine years ago, I lost my first Chin Puff. After he passed I tried to administer CPR, but I knew he was gone, and didn't pump his heart. Now nine years later, I recovered the thought from the back of my mind. If a chin stops breathing or the heart stops beating, is it theoretically possible to perform CPR to save them? From my perspective, it would seem to be a remote chance at best.

27

General Breeder Chat / Can someoen identify the breed of my chins?

« on: September 27, 2011, 04:15:15 PM »

Can anyone tell me what color variant my Chin and her kits are? I have a standard gray male that is unrelated to them, and they look a little different than him. They seem to be gray with a hint of brown. The chin mom was bred before I adopted her. I'm not exactly sure how to post pics in the threads here. I have Pictures of them in my personal album on here. It consists of just 2 pictures total. Can anyone identify them?

28

Q & A / Swishy tail dance.

« on: September 27, 2011, 01:09:19 PM »

Chip, male chin was running around my room on Saturday. He ran under the bed and wagged his tail and laughed. This is usually a mating or dominance thing. The thing is he was under the bed alone. There are 2 female chins in the room, but he was not near them. One is a kit. The kit was the only female to run around the room lately. There was an adult female that ran around in there in JUly before she passed away. Could Chip have picked up the scent of one of the females or our departed room mate?

29

Q & A / Kits are chasing each other

« on: September 21, 2011, 07:35:49 PM »

Hi my kits are chasing each other around the cage, bumping into Raisin. Are they fighting or playing?

30

Q & A / Peeing on seagrass mats.

« on: September 20, 2011, 06:27:23 PM »

My kits keep knocking the seagrass mats in the cage to the toilet areas. I have just been cutting the peed areas off then placing them back in. But if I were to rinse off a freshly peed on seagrass mat, then thoroughly dry it with a paper towel, would it be safe for the chins? My concern is them becomming a breeding ground for microbes. I'm trying to balance my budget without the expense of their health.