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2611

General Chat / Re: Are chinchillas smarter than rats?

« on: March 22, 2012, 08:54:06 AM »

I've seen people train chinchillas on youtube. It often involves bribing chins with food or a scratch on the chin, and I've seen this done in absolutely the wrong way (too much of the wrong treats) too, but I've seen it. There was one that was trained to jump over an object and return, another that would put its front leg up on your hand. There was one that would allow you to pose it and it would just stay put. But then there's the question of problem solving, which is how they measure rat intelligence, like using things as tools and getting through mazes. That was one of things I'm curious about.

2612

General Chat / Re: Chinchilla 3d art - does it look accurate?

« on: March 21, 2012, 08:06:22 PM »

Not counting the hours research on organic modeling methods and staring at photographs of chinchillas it took about 2 hours. I'm actually starting over on the model and paying more attention to the nose structure. Thank you everyone for your input.

2613

Q & A / Re: Spoiled chinchilla

« on: March 21, 2012, 09:53:02 AM »

Yes that is very spoiled. I have a parrot who started to do the same thing but got over it. With animals like this sometimes the best thing to do is ignore them for a while and not react to it. Just make sure he is okay first. Chinchillas like set routines and this could becoming part of his routine. It sounds like you have an exceptionally tame one.

2614

Guestbook / Re: Hi from Europe

« on: March 21, 2012, 09:45:30 AM »

Hello. Welcome to the chinchilla forums. I recently joined to learn all I can about chinchillas since I want to keep one as a pet too. I love the coloring on your chin in the photos.

2615

Breeding 101 / Re: breeding

« on: March 21, 2012, 09:39:48 AM »

Thank you for straightening all that out. I really should have known that but got it backwards. Now I'll remember. 

2616

Health / Re: Chinchilla Just Had A Seizure! Please Help

« on: March 20, 2012, 01:51:06 PM »

Calcium is a very stable substance. Organic compounds will break down in old food but calcium will not. I can't find any info on the Kline diet but I know Mazuri is .90 percent calcium by mass. If you have a label that will give you something to compare, but I don't think the diet is a problem. Another thing you can do is check the date on the food. I wouldn't use anything older than 6 months. There are certainly benefits to supplementing calcium including reducing the risk of malocclusion caused by osteoporosis.

If it really is calcium deficient there may still be an abnormality that is causing it. Hopefully it's just a freak incident that will never occur again.

2617

General Chat / Are chinchillas smarter than rats?

« on: March 19, 2012, 04:40:00 PM »

My family was talking about what is the world's smartest animal. There are popular published lists that put rats in the top 10. I've owned rats and it seems that chinchillas display more complex social behaviors. I was wondering if anyone has come across any studies comparing rats to chins in problem solving tests.

2618

Health / Re: Chinchilla Just Had A Seizure! Please Help

« on: March 19, 2012, 03:51:52 PM »

That would be pretty freaky. As you know there can be several possible causes. I guess you could probably rule things out like nutritional deficiency or head trauma. Only the vet can rule out things like tumors, metabolic, or vascular causes. With it being so young I suppose it could still be congenital and is just now showing up. I think getting it examined by a vet could be worth it especially if it's metabolic. Since it really hasn't been under a lot of stress now is probably the time in case this starts flaring up again and turning into real stress. If it's epilepsy you might want to keep a towel over the cage while travelling to minimize sudden changes in light that can cause a flare-up. That's my two cents anyway.

2619

Other Pets / Re: geckos

« on: March 18, 2012, 05:23:51 PM »

I was able to find a very active gecko forum if you're interested. They have a questionnaire that you can fill out that can help others advise you about your pet. If you have access to a veterinarian that would be better. This kind of problem will be fatal if not properly treated.

http://geckoforums.net/

Health thread:
http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=70912

2620

Other Pets / Re: geckos

« on: March 18, 2012, 05:05:28 PM »

Looks like the cage, I mean, tank temperature is what it supposed to be. The fact that you are seeing weight loss is a bad sign. It could be some kind of infection or parasite, or a bowel impaction. Apparently impaction can be caused by the gecko eating its substrate. In some cases this can be caused by a calcium deficiency where it tries to get the calcium from the dirt. When you feed it bugs they should be rolled in calcium powder twice a week to prevent this.

2621

Other Pets / Re: geckos

« on: March 17, 2012, 07:52:27 PM »

I googled "gecko health issues" and found some articles. It could be a number of things. Apparently a common one is impaction. If it is then you will need to see a vet. With reptiles cage temperature is very important for digestion and for the leopard gecko you must have a thermostat to control it.

2622

Breeding 101 / Re: breeding

« on: March 17, 2012, 06:50:59 AM »

The best thing to do is separate the two females so they cannot fight with each other. Otherwise they might kill each other because they both want the male. You can give the male access to the females one at a time as long as either female will not fight with the male.

2623

Health / Re: Sneezing and shoving head into corner of cage

« on: March 12, 2012, 06:09:02 PM »

This is very curious. Honestly I don't know.
Why would a chin chew on something so hard? Does she chew on other things too and sneeze?
Does she sneeze when she's not chewing?
Can you describe the sneezing? Like does she have a prolonged fit of sneezing or just every couple of minutes?

I'm wondering if it's some kind of strange reflex action thing going on.

2624

Health / Re: Not eating pellets but demolishing hay.

« on: March 12, 2012, 07:46:42 AM »

Normal droppings should not be small and hard (constipation) wet and soggy or loose (diarrhea), or greenish colored. Changes to these states indicate a disruption in digestion. Basically any significant variation of the usual is a warning sign. There are ways to treat these conditions but it's best to prevent them as best as possible because they could potentially lead to serious problems. With any animal there will be some variations. What you're looking for is a trend in either direction. It's always best to monitor this every day regardless.

2625

Health / Re: Hair pulling?

« on: March 11, 2012, 06:20:09 AM »

Chins don't usually slip fur unless they are startled by something and are being restrained or touched by something (or caught in something) at the same time. The fur just becomes loose and easily brushes off in that kind of state. It can result in exactly what you're describing. The fact it happened overnight also lends to this theory. But, it's still just a theory. Have you found any clumps of fur in the cage?