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46

Health / Re: giardia in chinchilla

« on: June 27, 2012, 09:21:05 PM »

I would suggest getting your chinchilla re tested and ensuring it is clear of the giardia. I have not personally dealt with it ever, but I have heard it is really hard to get rid of. You have to use a bleach/water solution to clean and disinfect their cages, you have to toss any toys or anything that the chin may have come in contact with, etc...

Try re testing the chin to see if they still have it. As far as I know, the fenbendazole is the correct medication to give. If the chinchilla is cleared of giardia but still having wet droppings, you can also ask your vet about using chloramphenicol to correct the diarrhea (if other options are not working like burnt toast or activated charcoal.). It works really quick on clearing up diarrhea.

For the meantime, always feed and care for your healthy chinchilla first, and your chin with giardia, last...to prevent passing anything onto your other chinchilla. I am not sure on the diet you're using, so will have to look that up. Using acidophilus can help though with the diarrhea and tummy troubles, though. You can give that in between giving medication to your chin. Say if you treat every 12 hours, give it at every 6 hours after treated with medication. This might help with the diarrhea too. Wish I knew more about it, but maybe someone else who has personally dealt with giardia can help you more so.

47

Health / Re: Oxbow or Purina Rabbit Show?

« on: June 23, 2012, 01:46:41 AM »

  I think it is a good decision for now. I know the Purina rabbit food has been used for many years by other breeders in the US and I have not heard any complaints of that particular brand ever. I have never personally used it, to give my personal experience with the diet.

I do think it is probably easier for your chinchilla too, as it is much less stress on a chinchilla to keep to the same diet they were raised on, than it is to switch the diet. I personally only switch diets if I am unhappy with the results of the original diet. If your chinchillas look healthy, seem happy and appear to enjoy eating the pellets, why not stick to them? As the old saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

48

Health / Re: Oxbow Timothy Hay

« on: June 23, 2012, 01:31:45 AM »

My favorite brand of hay is APD - http://www.americanpetdiner.com/

49

General Chat / Re: Pedigrees

« on: June 20, 2012, 01:00:22 PM »

I just know that if a rancher or larger breeder around here was selling chins to a pet store, the more than likely reason would be, because they cannot breed that animal nor sell it privately for some reason they'd rather not disclose. It could be something simple, like a female chin being too small to pass kits through her birth canal, to something more serious like genetic defects with the heart or malo or fur chewing.

I personally don't know how many times I have seen people buy chins from pet stores that either are fur chewed or have a heart murmur or end up with malo. I know I could not count the times on one or two hands though. I'd need to borrow other people's hands to count how many times that has happened. I have to say though, all chins deserve a good home, so I hope it doesn't deter people from buying from a pet store if they are choosing to have the chinchilla as a pet.

Sometimes it can be that the chin just is born out of a line of maloccluders (but the chin only carries malocclusion and isn't a maloccluder.) or a line that has congenital heart defects, etc... and not knowing whether the chin carries the genes (since they are recessive.) or is an actual maloccluder or a chin with a heart defect, they'd rather sell to a pet store to prevent the animal from being bred by a breeder and passing on those bad genes.
I don't like to call them breeder rejects... they just are chins that are not fit for breeding and are suited to be pets only... hence why they are in a "pet store".

50

General Chat / Re: Pedigrees

« on: June 19, 2012, 12:31:36 AM »

Well like I mentioned earlier in the thread, what kind of "reputable" private breeder or rancher would sell their chinchillas at a fraction of the price to a wholesaler or pet store, when they can sell the same chinchilla (if it is healthy and good for breeding) privately to other breeders or pet owners for double or triple the price they get from Petco or Petsmart?

I know at least in Canada here, most breeders who sell chinchillas to pet stores for dirt cheap, are the breeders who know they cannot sell the chin privately to a breeder or pet owner because of some issue with that animal's background or health or because the chin is just NOT breeding quality. That is why they say "pet" quality. Pet quality means it is not for breeding. If the chinchilla was healthy and perfect for breeding, then the breeder knows they could sell the same chinchilla to Petsmart or Petco for $30 - $40 each or they could sell a healthy breeding quality chinchilla to a breeder or pet owner for $100 - $350.00 each.

Do the math... most breeders do want to make money to support their raising chinchillas, not lose money, by selling their babies they raise. I'm fairly sure most breeders would rather get $100 - $350 for a baby chin of theirs, than get only $30 or $40.

 The pet stores jack the price up to make a profit off the chinchillas for themselves. They have to pay their rent and their employees, so that is why the increase in price you see in the store. The other thing with pet stores is they never usually tell the sources of their chinchillas, so it is an anonymous thing for a breeder to dump their not so good quality chinchillas in a pet store and have no one know.

 I know of a few breeders over the years who did just that and explained why they did(which I explained above.). They kept their good quality animals for selling privately and their not so good quality, their maloccluder carriers, etc.. went to the pet stores because they wanted them to be pets only - not for breeding.

51

General Chat / Re: Blueberries

« on: June 19, 2012, 12:19:34 AM »

I agree with Kristy. Vets do not learn much about chinchillas. They learn about more common pets. I know a vet in Maple Ridge told one lady to feed orange juice and banana chips to her chin to get her chin over a really nasty respiratory infection. As most know - antibiotics are what fixes those kinds of problems, not bananas or orange juice. 

Even the vet I see regularly, while he is good for surgeries or doling out antibiotics when I need those, he does not know everything about their diets or care.

IMO, fresh fruit just is not a good idea at all or fresh veggies. You may hear something to the contrary of that, but I've seen and heard a lot of how that affects their digestive tracts, and some chins end up with really bad diarrhea or rectal prolapse (if the diarrhea is not fixed immediately from the moment it is seen.) from fresh fruits or veggies.

If you insist on giving fruit, make sure it is dried naturally (no preservatives or added sugars) and a small piece once in a while (once in a while meaning like once a week or once a month. Small piece meaning like half an inch or smaller in size of dried fruit like a cut up raisin or chip off a banana chip, or a small tiny cut piece of papaya.).

Moderation is the biggest issue with treats of any sort. Fresh fruits or veggies just are not for chinchillas though.

52

Health / Re: Oxbow or Purina Rabbit Show?

« on: June 17, 2012, 01:51:37 AM »

Well I haven't personally used it and I usually recommend it, but I heard it was changed (yes last year - still, knowing how long oxbow has been around, it is a recent change of formula. It was not changed before, from what I know of all the years it has been on store shelves.).

I just have heard/read some things said about it on other forums by some people who switched to it or were using it with the old formula and noticed changes after the formula was changed.

 I don't know how true it is, I don't use it. If you do a search on other chinchilla forums, perhaps you can find where those people who have been using it, spoke about it. I don't want to say it, since it is not my personal experience with the diet and I don't feel it would be appropriate for me to just repeat what was said.

53

Health / Re: Oxbow or Purina Rabbit Show?

« on: June 15, 2012, 09:20:23 AM »

Maybe you can ask the breeder if you can buy from them in smaller quantities, than to go buy a full 50 lb bag? I usually recommend oxbow, but I heard they changed their formula or something recently? And I've been hearing from a few different people in different areas (Canada and the US) about them being unhappy with their chins after using the new oxbow pellets.

You could always try mazuri pellets too. That has been a diet that has been around forever for chinchillas. It usually is easy to get at most stores, and comes in smaller bags. Not too expensive either. I used to use mazuri for my chins several years ago.

54

Health / Re: Hay problems

« on: June 05, 2012, 12:36:08 AM »

What kind of pellets are you feeding her? Most commonly, mazuri, tradition or oxbow are the ones I know of used most often in the States. If she is on one of those kind of pellet diets, she should be fine to eat her hay too. If you are feeding her a diet with treats in it, this may be why she refuses hay or pellets. You have to consider chinchillas like children...
If you have a five year old and you hand them a plate with veggies on it or hand them a plate with a big slice of chocolate cake with ice cream on it - which one will they go for? The cake with ice cream... Is it healthy to raise a human child on junk food? Most likely not... I'd assume it would not be good for chinchillas either, since they have even tinier digestive systems than humans do.

If you want her to eat healthier, just get her a good diet (like the ones mentioned above), and give her hay with it. As always, just like with human children, they may refuse the healthier diet for a little while, but after they realize you aren't going to keep giving them the treat filled diet, they will eat the hay and pellets only. It usually takes a couple days to see the change.

APD hay is the one I most often tell people about, since it is such a good hay. My chins love it and you never hear of any troubles with it. It is quite consistent for hay products.

55

Canada / Re: Calgary Alberta

« on: June 03, 2012, 02:36:55 AM »

It is possible they are not getting back to you because they don't have any available right now.  I have none available at this moment for sale, so I cannot ship or provide a chinchilla for anyone at this time. I am surprised Melanie didn't get back to you, as she is usually quick to respond within 24 hours.

56

Health / Re: Chew toys

« on: June 01, 2012, 10:17:48 AM »

Yucca, pine and beech woods are all safe.

57

Canada / Re: Calgary Alberta

« on: May 30, 2012, 06:36:15 PM »

UI think you might have wrote me about a breeder in Alberta? I had mentioned Melanie of Hallow's Eve Chinchillas - http://www.hallowsevechinchillas.com/

There used to be a lot more reputable breeders in Alberta but many retired from breeding chinchillas the last few years.

58

General Chat / Re: Pedigrees

« on: May 24, 2012, 01:40:30 PM »

He doesn't have to be stressed to chew.  As I said - sometimes a little bit of stress will bring it out - in reference to chinchillas who weren't chewing and then suddenly do chew.
It's genetic, and can be passed down onto kits, much like malo or other genes are - since it is another recessive trait. I hope he just keeps to chewing his fur and nothing more. If you find him ever bleeding in spots or bite marks, you may want to see a vet and ask for help in trying to curb the problem, in case it gets more serious. I know of one owner who used a cone shaped collar to keep her chinchilla from chewing themselves. It didn't work as often times the collar would come off, but she tried, because of the self mutilation her chin was doing to themselves.

59

General Chat / Re: Pedigrees

« on: May 24, 2012, 11:53:43 AM »

Fur chewing has nothing to do with baths. It is genetic, and sometimes chins don't show signs of it till later on in life, some show it right away as babies.
One little bit of stress can bring it out.
Depending how bad the chinchilla can get, they can chew through the skin. Not all chinchillas will chew their skin(many just chew the fur, but some start out with only chewing fur and progress to the skin in time.), but I know of at least two cases where people had chinchilla tails amputated because of the amount of self mutilation going on with their chinchillas, to the point of causing infections and non stop chewing through the skin.

In one case, the owner had to put their chinchilla down because he had chewed through his skin and into his intestines. We had a several paged thread up about it at the time, and when she put her chinchilla down, she was so distraught over the ordeal, she never got another one as a pet again.

Her chin came from a backyard breeder who was breeding rescues and pet store chins btw.

A few photos of fur chewing chinchillas:
http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1440&bih=663&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=PmVxt75WZzSXsM:&imgrefurl=http://www.whimsys-menagerie.com/furchewingbarbering.htm&docid=8Eir_ox8qip84M&imgurl=http://whimsys-menagerie.webs.com/BuffaloBillBetter.png&w=744&h=558&ei=33O-T57EPIfhiALX2fmKDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=302&sig=105274447664436106407&page=2&tbnh=138&tbnw=185&start=21&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:21,i:127&tx=85&ty=87

(I am sure with the photo below, these guys are probably all related...)

http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1440&bih=663&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=DhIT0hz-9Lz0gM:&imgrefurl=http://www.whimsys-menagerie.com/furchewingbarbering.htm&docid=8Eir_ox8qip84M&imgurl=http://www.whimsys-menagerie.com/girls-1.jpg&w=930&h=662&ei=33O-T57EPIfhiALX2fmKDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=422&sig=105274447664436106407&page=3&tbnh=140&tbnw=192&start=46&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:46,i:210&tx=106&ty=90


http://www.rivendellchinchillas.com/furchewing.html

Also just for fun, here's a page with photos on breeding chinchillas too. They are graphic photos, but this shows other aspects of breeding too!

http://www.rdzcranch.webs.com/BreedingChinchillasPage.html

60

General Chat / Re: Pedigrees

« on: May 24, 2012, 09:07:07 AM »

Not sure where you are located, but health care for malo isn't cheap. I know some people who paid well over seven thousand dollars, on one chinchilla for malo. Most can't stand the suffering, pain and hand feeding that comes with malo, so they put their chinchilla down eventually. I imagine the vet bills could be higher, if they prolong the agony and suffering for the chinchilla.

 Most people who learn about malocclusion, wouldn't want to deal with it. They feel as awful as I feel when they learn how the roots grow into the nasal cavity, eye sockets or brain, over time. I just try to think of something puncturing my eye from the inside or my brain, and ouch, I am fairly sure that would hurt...  

I don't truly know anyone who is okay with breeding chinchillas with that. It's a slow painful death and there is no cure for it, when genetic.

Fur chewing is also another genetic issue. Some people associate it with environment, which it can be, but the fact is the chinchilla has to be predisposed to it, and then the right stresses from the environment, bring it out. With fur chewing, while most chins will chew their fur and only their fur, others can and have chewed through their skin and self mutilated themselves.

 It's not pretty. One pet owner in Vancouver, I knew, had to put her chinchilla down because he chewed through his side and the vet couldn't save him. I've heard of others in the States, having to get their chinchilla's tails amputated to try to curb the self mutilation.