Hay in Eye - Infection?

All:



This morning I went to feed Asa, and found that his left eye was a bit puffy and half-closed. I looked closer, and saw that he had somehow gotten a 3/4-inch long piece of hay in his eye sometime during the night.



I caught him, which he hates. He struggled a bit, but I was able to pull the piece straight out of the eye. The eyeball was not punctured (thank heaven!), but there was lots of "goop" on the end of the hay that was in his eye.



Tonight he is still holding it half closed. I know from my own experience that an irritated eye can take a couple of days to feel better, but I am worried about infection. What should I be on the lookout for, as far as symptoms?



Tomorrow is a holiday, of course (always seems to happen that way, doesn't it?!?), and I don't really want to take him to the expensive emergency vet, but should I?



Thanks much.

Information on Root Elongation

On December 11th, after 5 long weeks of treatment for a URI, fluid on her lungs, numerous tests and 5 different vets, I found out that my beautiful Gadget had root elongation. What started out as a barely noticeable, early caught URI, progressed very quickly to her gasping to breathe because of her roots. Had I had even a clue what was causing the issues, I would not have put her through all that and I am just guilt ridden. I feel like I should have known and put her through pain for nothing. I caused her pain trying to help her when I should have known better. She was such a good baby through it all. It never even occurred to me that it was a possibility until her lungs were finally clear but her breathing just got worse. Her breathing became almost normal while on the Prednisone (to get the fluid off of her lungs) but the vet said that was because it reduced the inflammation so she could breathe better but when it was stopped, within 4 days, it was horrible. The 5th and final vet is a godsend. The only good thing to come out of this, is that I have found an awesome exotic vet for my girls. My concern now is I have her full sister (2 1/2) and 2 half sisters (just turned 4) and I am scared to death. Recently I have been told that root elongation is not considered MALO if the teeth are not involved. Is this true? What causes root elongation then? Her teeth were fine. No points. No spurs. No misalignment. I have had her and her sisters since they are a few months old (from a breeder) and they have always had quality pellets, unlimited hay and wood to chew. Some would say, I spoil them terribly. My question is...did I do something wrong? Is there something I can do differently to help give her sisters a better fighting chance? Gadget was only 2 1/2. Just a baby. She was my heffalump weighing in at 850g at her highest weight. I always gave the girls the best but that was not enough to save Gadget from this fate. I used to love the fact that I had sisters. Now it terrifies me. Thank you in advance for any insight.

Wet chin

Hi, a couple of months ago I noticed that my chinchilla had a wet chin, I took her to the vet and a couple of her back teeth had overgrown so the vet filed them down and her chin dried up and she went back to normal.

I checked on her this morning and her chin is soaking wet again, she's drinking quite a lot and will only eat raisins as they are soft.

Could this be teeth problems again after they were only filed down a couple of months ago?

My vet is closed tomorrow for New Years so I won't be able to get there until Friday, is there anything I can do in the meantime.

Thanks

Bonding With Your Chinchilla

This week's post is all about: How to Bond with Your Chinchilla! Give it a read, and have a very Happy New Year! :dance3: http://ift.tt/1AaVxMh



As long as you:

- Set realistic goals

- Treat chinchillas like people (in that you understand they have personalities, are intelligent, can carry opinions and feel emotions)

- Take your time and stay positive



Then the main takeaway points are:

- Have a good introduction

- Develop a routine, including feeding, dusting, weighing, and cleaning

- Once ready, start including playtime into your weekly routine

- Keep showing your chinchillas love, and they'll come around!



Hope that your bonding continues into 2015! Cheers!

I want one of these!!

Look how cute these guys are! :cute:









I really don't know which color to get.. I like them all!

Maybe Eli's twin.. Standard, white belly.



Link to the Chinnie Buddies



Anyone already purchase one of these? They seem pretty popular & have great reviews.

Baytril Effects on Chinchilla Behavior

Okay, so I really need some help here.



A little over two weeks ago I took my chinchilla, Boo, to the vet because he was doing some strange stretching, I was worried it was bloat and so I had him looked at by an emergency late night vet, who later told me it was simply and ear infection. Boo was prescribed .02 ml of oral Baytril twice a day for 7 days. This vet however failed to mention to me that the antibiotic needed to be refrigerated, and that probiotics were to be administered along with the antibiotic. Boo went off his feed while he was on these antibiotics and of course I freaked out. I had no idea oral baytril would cause this. So on the last two days of his treatment I overnighted Critical Care and began to force feed as best as I could. When the antibiotic regiment was over, he began to do the weird stretching again. I called the same vet, and she basically told me that she couldn't help, and that they honestly knew nothing about chinchillas.



The following week I took Boo to a vet who gave him a full look over. I told him about the stretching and my concerns of bloat in Boo, and after a long exam and my poor chinchilla going into shock, he told me that Boo did, indeed,

have an ear infection. So this vet prescribed .01 ml of oral Baytril twice a day for 10 days, along with probiotics. He gave Boo fluids through an IV, and sent us home with a follow up appointment the following week.



Boo's follow up appointment was on Monday 12/29/14, and the vet told me that he looked great, he hadn't lost any weight, and he seemed to be fine. Boo had been more active the week of his new treatment with antibiotic and probiotic, and on Sunday night even enjoyed a long playtime with me, showing no signs of his weird stretching and dropping lots of poops.



But then Monday night after his appointment Boo began acting very lethargic and spending nearly all his time in his hut. We take him out to administer his medicine and Critical Care, and he doesn't want to play like usual, instead he simply cuddles in our arms and falls asleep. He has never stopped pooping and I do see him eat on his own sometimes, but I am very worried.



I am hoping this is just a side effect of the oral baytril and he will bounce back once the regiment is done, but some advice would be much appreciated.

Advices on aggressive chin

My older chin Silver is just one-year-old male; I was thinking to find him another chin as a company, and I found one 3-month-old male from local breeder. But before I went to pick up the new chin, I travelled for 5 days and left enough food and water for silver. He was 720g at the time I left, and weigh down to 700g when I came home, he’s obvious not happy for me leaving so long. I picked up the new chin on my way back home, and put him into a separate cage for quarantine. The new chin is doing well and I put his cage next to silver’s cage to let them get familiar with each other, he’s still a baby and very friendly to silver. But silver is very aggressive, he dumped up and down in his cage, even tried to bite the new chin across the cage (I left enough room so he won’t get to bite the new one). He’s also very nervous these days, he didn’t eat as much, his poops are normal though, but his weight didn’t gain back and is around 695g now. He tried to search the new chin even when I put the cage far away. I did researches on introducing two chins, and I understand it might take months, but I'm worried about silver now. Should I still keep their cages next to each other? Is this normal that the old chin get stressed by a new chin?

Chin Spins!

I ordered one last week, and it was shipped yesterday. I am super excited about it, and I'm hoping Eli will actually like it, and use it.



I'm curious; did your chins use the wheel right away? How long did it take for thm to "Figure it out"? And what's your review on it? (:



I went with the chin spin over the flyer saucer for 1) more natural movement (saucer has chins running on an angle--which I know probably doesn't effect them, but I feel like the chin spin would be more comfortable) and 2) it will take up less cage space.



So yeah, share your opinions! :cute: I'll let you guys know how Eli likes it, once it arrives.

My Pet Portrait Drawings

I thought I'd share some of my favorite pet portraits with you guys. (: I chose from various years and mediums. I have most experience with HB pencils.



Pencil











Continued...

Can i use this cage?

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pe...hinchilla-cage





http://www.petsathome.com/webapp/wcs...cjLtAodNB8AEA#



I am in the uk and these are the only two cages i would be able to get hold of....



Many thanks :neener:

Hello from Roxy and Viper

Hello everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you all a little bit about my chinchillas Roxy and Viper and explain how they came to live with me.



In 2009 my mom made the ultimate pet mistake. My sister (Age 14) and I (Age 19) had decided we wanted hamsters we had done a ton of research on them, and asked my mom for supplies only for Christmas. Hamsters seemed to have about the right lifespan for our ages, and we knew it was best if we picked out our own little friends. My mom had other ideas and brought home two chinchillas a few weeks early as an early surprise Christmas present for my sister and I. They were 8 weeks old and my mom had planned to keep them in a 55 gallon fish tank. I have no idea what breeder told her this was ok... The only thing my mom knew and had right was that they needed dust baths and couldn't get wet.



Luckily I am an all around animal lover and quickly started researching chinchillas. I was always the kid trying to rescue animals. Within a week I knew that we certainly had the wrong cage, the wrong food, and wrong type of house. If only I had found this site then I may have been able to do some things better. Also as it turned out the chinchillas were brother and sister, so I did the only logical thing I could think of and got the male neutered. He nearly died and I will never again neuter a chinchilla.



Fast forward to me moving out in 2012, and my sister decided she wanted to keep the chinchillas since we didn't feel right about about separating them. I decided to give her my chinchilla to keep the pair together. Late last year she got a boyfriend who is scared of chinchillas and decided she didn't want to take care of them anymore... I didn't know she had stopped taking care of them at the time. My brother couldn't just let them die and had been doing the bare minimum of feeding and watering them, perhaps with a biweekly dust bath. Imagine my surprise to find them living in a cage filled with chinchilla pee and poop that hadn't been cleaned in 4 months. I wanted to take the chinchillas out of the house at that second, but I was in an apartment with 2 cats and 2 dogs already and couldn't afford it. After a talk with my brother and mom I started making weekly visits to make sure they were taken care of. The beginning of December I bought a house and now have the chinchillas living with me in a critter nation look alike cage. They are both 5 years old and are really healthy for the situation they were in.



Since I am a recent re-owner of chinchillas I will probably end up with tons of questions. So thanks in advance. Pictures will come soon.

Readi grass

I am wondering if chins can have readigrass, not sure if it would have a different name in US, but it's bassically dried grass.



I have a whole bale of it because I also keep a lot of guinea pigs!



Thanks.

Wire mesh shelves.

I just rescued two chins today. They came with their cage and other stuff. My question is ; some of there shelves are wire mesh, they also have wooden shelves...is this safe for them to walk on, the gaps are really small...

Hello for Scotland!

Hi guys!



I'm Erin from Scotland!



Currently I have 20 guinea pigs and a dog but today I am going to pick up my first ever Chins. I am soooooo excited. They are around two years old. This is all I know for now but I'm sure I will have more info later.



My other interests include all kinds of crafts (paper, crochet, sewing etc) and I play trombone!



I look forward to reading and learning about Chins on this forum.



Bye for now. X

Out-of-cage time

I'm looking to bring home a couple of young chinnies in a couple of weeks. They'll be just a few months old! I'd like to set up a playpen for them so they can have a little out of cage time (supervised).

How much out-of-cage time do you give very young chins?

One of the best things about chin treats...

Oh man, I love when it's time to order more flowers for Dessy's treats. The box came in today and now my house smells amazing!



That is all. :dance3:

What happened to my post?

Do you get some kind of feedback when your post is rejected by a moderator? I tried to post in the chin rescue section over a day ago and my post still hasn't appeared. Not sure if I should try to repost or what...

ISO Home for 10yo Black Velvet Male

I am moving across the country and might need to give up my almost-10-year-old black velvet male, Scooter, if I end up in a place that doesn't allow pets. Ideally, if there's someone local (Washington DC metro area) who can take as good care of him as I would, I'd rather not put him through the stress of travel anyway.



So if there is someone out there who is experienced with chinchillas and would be interested in adopting him, please respond to this post or message me. He's very healthy and not aggressive at all, though he's lived alone most of his life and I don't know how he would react to other animals. He'd come with a cage, wheel, accessories, everything he needs. I only ask for a $50 adoption fee to weed out the tire-kickers. Willing to transport him within about a 3-hour drive from Washington DC for the right person.

Attached Images

scooter.jpg (157 Bytes)

Eye Problem?!?!

I hate to write this but it seems at this time i may need some help. Ive already made up my mind to call the vet as soon as i possibly can and get carl in for an appointment but around the hoildays its the worst with everybody being off for the holidays. Carl had some serious white discharge around his eye. Hes always had a slight wet eye but nothing serious and he dosent have any problems with his eating, drinking, poops, pees or chewing in general. He's acting fine. He just tends to sit and sleep or relax when im in the room. Unless i get up to his cage then he runs around. I have this fear about his teeth. And although i feel as though nothing should be wrong with his teeth, i dont want to rule out the possibility. Could this possibly be a bacterial infection? Or a cold? I just want to know what ill be walking into with the vet and my possibilities. I've heard horrible things about "exotic" vets trying to push meds on chinchillas that arent actually good for them. Does anybody know the possible eye meds i should stay away from? We've also turned the heat on a lot in my house (My room stays at a nice temperature for carl, if anything it can get a bit too cool in my room which i take care of if thats the case) My mom asked if it could be the dry heat causing the discharge? ive wiped his eye and gave him a dust bath, hopefully it wont return. Ill be keeping an eye on him until i get an appointment with the vet. Until than ill be freaking out about what to do and probably crying! Also ive just gotten him a new cage last month and i just bought him some new stuff for his cage, a hay feeder, a teepee made of dried grass or hay or something like that, a wooden toy and some chew sticks. Although i doubt its any of those, id really like im insight.

FN vs CN??

Hi there, I'm about to purchase my first chin cage, and I'm stuck between the CN or the FN (double units). They just look pretty much the same!

Does anyone have one of each and can tell me if there is actually a difference?



Is one better suited to chins than the other?



Only about $12 in cost difference on amazon, so that's not really an issue.

Envrionment Overhaul Question

So I'm thinking of doing a complete layout overhaul of my chin cage. My question is whether or not I should do it in phases or would it be okay just to do it all at once? I'm just not sure if a dramatic change in their habitat will stress them to much.

If you could start over in breeding *scenerio*

I was hoping this might be fun for you ranchers and breeders and informative for us hoping to get into breeding. So here we go ~



This is a scenerio, pretend you are an experienced chin owner and have done your research. Assume you have all of the knowledge you have now, over however long you have owned chins and bred. You also have invested in cages, runs, food, supplies etc and have everything you need to start breeding. As well as funds set aside for vet bills. Now...



Let's say you have $1000 or just go with what you think is adequate to begin, all of this money is for breeding stock. Your current chins are either solely pets, or likely not of breeding quality. So armed with your current knowledge and this money what do you do? What breeding stock do you get? Standards only? A few mutations?



For example do you go to a show and spend 500$ on one chin, and 500$ on another, top quality and have one pair? Or go for a few first place chins? The idea is to make a smart decision in breeding stock and then as you save more money and get more experience expand.

** Please make up your own estimates of how much the chins would cost, based on experience at shows or those you have bought from other breeders, using costs for present day

Chin Chillers

So i need to get new chin chillers, i dropped the ones i had after cleaning them ad they busted, and don't want to pay $8 per tile as i need 8, plus a few extra for back up. Where can i get cheap ones? can i just get them from a hardware store?

Puberty signs?

I feel as if I've been posting way to much in the past week or so, but as a new owner I'm still trying to learn everything that I can.. I have a male chin who is about 7 or 8 months old. I have read that chins usually start hitting puberty around 1 year old and I'm curious if there are any major changes/ signs I should be looking out for, or what I should expect when he hits puberty. Also, if there is anything I can do to make him more comfortable, etc. Thanks !

Most reliable water bottle

I have the Kaytee brand glass water bottle. I have spent the last 10-15min trying to make it stop leaking! What the heck?! It worked perfectly fine for a month, and now it's leaking like crazy. Obviously I have to buy a new water bottle now. I don't know if I can trust this same bottle again.. What's your opinion on the best water bottle? I don't want anymore leaks. I would prefer glass.

Hello from Seattle!

Hi there everyone!



After about 3 years of reading, researching, and pricing, I'm getting ready to bring home my first chinchilla, hopefully within the next month or so. Or a compatible pair, that would work just fine too!

I wanted to join up on a chinchilla forum and hopefully find some knowledgeable individuals to help me start off right with the new addition(s) to the family and maybe even find some fellow Chin enthusiasts in the Seattle area.

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions!



If you're in the Seattle/Western WA area, I'd love to know where you obtain(ed) your chin(s) and if you have any breeder recommendations.



Thanks so much! I look forward to meeting all of you!

Plans and a few questions before bringing home Chin

Hi there, I've been reading through the questions in this forum and wanted to describe a little bit of the set-up I have in mind to put together for bringing home my new furry. Obviously, I don't want to buy expensive or extraneous things that other chin parents may have found to be useless anyway, but I don't want to leave out anything important.



--I'm planning for a FN 181 Single Unit, if I remember right it's about 38x36x25, and using fleece liners instead of bedding.



--Question: Is it truly necessary to have some kind of litter box? Or would it be all right for me to just change my fleece liners every other day, I am ordering several sets so I can keep the cage fresh.



--Wheel: If it will fit, I want to put in a 12" exersaucer. Either that or the 16" Chin Spin I saw on amazon.... recommendations?



--For food, a fleece hay bag that attaches to the side of the cage (I saw one on the Fleeces for Furries Facebook page) and a simple ceramic dish for pellets were all I had in mind, nothing fancy. (And a simple water bottle attached to the outside of the cage, obviously)



--I'm excited to pick out some fun wooden toys, I'd like to get 6 or 8 and switch them out every so often to keep things interesting.



--For dust, I saw some Blue Cloud on amazon for pretty cheap and I have an old metal dog bowl I was planning to let the furry one roll around in.



What am I missing?

Blood In Ear?

Just noticed a little blood splatter on my chins ear and front paw. Looked into his ear with a flshlight and saw a tiny bit of blood at the bottom of his ear. Not bleeding profusely just a tiny spot of blood. Could he have cut himself while itching? Is there anything I should do? He itches it a littlle but otherwise he is perfectly normal, active, eating, drinking perfectly. Any first aid or just watch it?

Chin in PA

This girl is close to me, she looks like she could use a bath and doesn't look too well. Hopefully she didn't eat the plastic in her cage. I am really considering trying to get her, I volunteer with an animal rescue and if I could get her bath in good health they could find her a good home.



http://ift.tt/1AB0ajW

craigslist ad had me in horror

Someone please save this little chinny!! I was on craigslist st looking at chinchillas cause I go on there all the time but not actually to buy one yet. And I saw this ad. This chin looks like he's never seen a dust bath, looks like he's gotten wet. The cage is terrible. She has vegetables in there and a dog bowl of water instead of a feeder. He pees and poops on cardboard and the cage is wired floor. His eyes look bare. I'd be there to buy him in a second, but sadly I don't have the money at the moment due to Christmas. If anyone is in the area please help him!! I hope someone else will see this and rescue this little guy. I feel terrible. I really wish we could save them all :( I'm going to put him down as a Christmas present too I just really wanna help him.

http://ift.tt/1GQek2H

Won't stop picking at foot

Hello everyone, I've been trolling here for a while and have done quite a bit of thread reading. I'm posting because I've read a few threads regarding what my chin is doing now but haven't foind the answer I'm looking for.



Long story short, this afternoon I'm cleaning their cage and notice blood. Doing a little looking around I find that one if my chins is bleeding from one of their hind legs where it usually is calloused looking. Tonight I skipped play time because when I let him out during the cleaning earlier it started bleeding again because he was really active. I also noticed him picking at the leg and causing it to bleed again. I guess my question is , do they ever heal on their own? Is this behavior what they do in the wild when an injury like this occurs? I'm going to watch it for a day and see what he does but in the mean time I was going to try to keep his cage as clean as possible. Also, he doesn't like to be picked up or handled so is there anyway I can get him to stop picking at it? Or do I let it run its course. He's still eating and drinking like a rockstar but man, seeing blood in the cage is scary!



Sorry for the droning on and on.

Is Frequent/Unusual Laying Down Normal?

Hi everyone,

So I adopted my two female chinchillas(under a year old) two months ago and I just wanted to know if laying down on the tummy non stop for a good 20 minutes straight after being let out is normal. I know that some of these things vary from chinchilla to chinchilla, and I also read online that they may do this from overheating after being let out, but my basement is very cool, and they have never done this before.

When I let them out tonight, (which I do in an enclosed corridor blocked by a door) they were absolutely normal. As usual they probed the place for any way out, but today one of my chinchillas actually succeeded in escaping under the door. Please understand that for the two months I've been letting them out there, they have never made it under-I though it was impossible! The gap there is hardly an inch wide! After she escaped I went to catch her before she chewed through anything. It turns out she managed to get two decent bites of fresh pine...I know this is very unsafe for them because they can only have kiln dried pine but by the time I got there she was already at it. After this I safely put them both back in their cages, but the one who ate the pine just became very sleepy and slow. She kept lying down on her tummy and closing her eyes as if to sleep. If I made noise her ears would perk up like normal and she would move a little, but almost immediately she would lay down again, and she repeated this process for the ten minutes I stood there before I left her to rest. Coming back half an hour later, she is much improved but still a little slower than usual.

She is always my active chinchilla, always running around and alert, even when tired, so I have never seen her like this before. Maybe it was the pine that did this, or the shock from me immediately picking her up quickly after she escaped, or maybe....maybe she really is tired even though she ran very little. Could someone please provide some insight? Thank you!

HELP!

I got my first chin Dash around mid october. Then on November 28 I went to petco for some treats for Dash and saw a chin. They were adopting him out for free bc he had suffered an injury in the cage there and had nerve damage to one of his front legs. I brought him home and tried to do a side by side cage meeting. But then read to do cage within a cage approach. I did this for around a week and a half (I tried to introduce them during this time and Dash tried to chase and attack my new chin Fitz so i just continued with cage inside a cage approach). I took them into a neutral room and they didnt attack each other(only this first time), but if i try it in the room with the cage Dash again tries to attack. I tried to introduce them two more times in a neutral room and now my new chin Fitz barks and has even sprayed pee one time. As of right now they are back in two cages that are just side by side. I really want them to get along but i do not know what to do!



Note: while i was out of town for a few days due to my grandmother being in the hospital my roomate who was taking care of them and giving them each exercise time, accidently let them both get in the smaller cage and said they just hopped around and acted fine but when i came home i tried to let them meet again and Dash started chasing Fitz again :/. Also i have tried switching them from one cage to the other for awhile to get them used to each others scent.



Please help! Any advice is appreciated!

Changing Routine

I know people say chins get used to a set routine and what not, so I try not to change things around on them if I don't have to.



I've always refilled food/water/hay and given a treat between 3:30am - 4am every morning.



However, now I am working 2 jobs and most days I'm at both jobs. So I was thinking about switching the routine and start refilling food/water/hay and giving a treat at 11pm.



how sensitive are they to routine changes?

size of tiles for ferret nation

I have been contemplating moving from fleece to tiles for a while and I'm finally fed up enough with the fleece, plus I have one who has decided chewing it is fun. Is there a size of tile that I can purchase that will fit well in the ferret nation bass pans or am I doomed to try to find someone to cut it for me?

Thanks in advance!

HELP!

I got my first chin Dash around mid october. Then on November 28 I went to petco for some treats for Dash and saw a chin. They were adopting him out for free bc he had suffered an injury in the cage there and had nerve damage to one of his front legs. I brought him home and tried to do a side by side cage meeting. But then read to do cage within a cage approach. I did this for around a week and a half (I tried to introduce them during this time and Dash tried to chase and attack my new chin Fitz so i just continued with cage inside a cage approach). I took them into a neutral room and they didnt attack each other(only this first time), but if i try it in the room with the cage Dash again tries to attack. I tried to introduce them two more times in a neutral room and now my new chin Fitz barks and has even sprayed pee one time. As of right now they are back in two cages that are just side by side. I really want them to get along but i do not know what to do!



Note: while i was out of town for a few days due to my grandmother being in the hospital my roomate who was taking care of them and giving them each exercise time, accidently let them both get in the smaller cage and said they just hopped around and acted fine but when i came home i tried to let them meet again and Dash started chasing Fitz again :/. Also i have tried switching them from one cage to the other for awhile to get them used to each others scent.



Please help! Any advice is appreciated!

Cannot upload avatar?

Ok so I've tried to upload an avatar and all that appears is a tiny rectangle square thing. I've tried uploading it from tiny pic and from my computer and its not working. When I thought the size was wrong, I enlarged it and was told that it was the wrong size so that cant be the problem. Any ideas on what to do?

How to block off furniture

I was trying to figure out the best way to block off bottom of my couch so my boys can't get under there. I had been putting blankets under it but they always squeeze underneath. Please help! Thank you!

RIP Little ****er

He may not have been a chin, but he was still my pet for many years. He even lived in the same room as my chins (not together). And his partner was the one that saved my first kits life.



If you mods have an issue with the name then do what ever you have to. But that was his name.



Now a days i usually take in or rescue pets. Little ****er was the last one i think that i got from a store back in 08. So he didnt already have a name. And we wernt having much luck in coming up with a suitable name. But as a little kid he was a toe bitter. So when we let him out he would run up when we wernt paying attention and bite our toes. Which resulted in a sudden' Ah! you little ****er!' lol And it just kinda stuck'



--



My ferret Little ****er has died tonight. He was about 7 years old. Ive had ferrets since i was a little kid and as far as i know he is the second longest living ferret ive had. Second only to my girl Zoey. Who, ironically, was his cage-mate and partner for many many years.



Other then his cataract in both eyes which left him mostly blind, he was always a physically healthy ferret. I thought for sure old age would get him one day. But I found him today completely unresponsive. Breathing, but that was about it. He couldn't even lift his head up.



Took him to an emergency vet earlier. They said his blood glucose level was around 20somthing. Normal is around 100something. And he was just short of going into a full blow coma from it.



Insulinoma. One thing i would have never guessed he would have. Not only being as healthy as he was for so long, but after i came home from my last funeral i found my other ferret, buddy, seizing and flailing about. It turned out he had insulinoma. He was able to recover and is now on medication daily for it. I didn't think it would hit Little ****er too. Much less that severe and that fast. He never showed the slightest signs or side effects of having a tumor.



Chances of him undergoing a very risky surgery, it being successful, and being able to recover, given how bad he got so fast, and his high age were beyond minimal. So the choice was made to euthanize him.



Picture of Little ****er this evening before we left...

Hernia surgery

For those of you who don't know, I work at a hotel where we often find strays wondering around. My co-workers and I do what we can to care for them and socialize them until someone adopts them. Earlier this summer we had 2 cats, whom we named Pixie and Marshmallow, show up. Marshmallow has since been adopted. Pixie hasn't been so lucky.

Pixie has a hernia on her stomach which needs to be removed. Unfortunately no one wants to adopt an animal that needs surgery. My co-workers and I want to have the hernia removed in hopes of giving Pixie a second chance at life and a furever home.



I've started a fundraiser page for Pixie (link below). All updates can be read on the fundraiser page, if interested.

I know the holiday season is upon us and money is tight, but even a little bit will help. If you can't donate, we ask that you please share the link.



http://ift.tt/1zODWL7

Cost for Malocclusion Treatment?

One of my Chins (Luna) either has a eye infection or malocclusion. I've take her to the vet and she is on 3 medicines now (some eye drops, anti-inflammatory, and antibiotics). The vet said if she doesn't get better in a week, I've got to take her to another vet that does dental stuff.

I'm just wonder if people can give me cost of malocclusion treatments so I can plan ahead if it comes to it. I'm really hoping the medicine works, but she came from a pet store so it is very possible she has malocclusion. The vet said they would need to take a CAT scan and then drill the tooth-that is what the vet who doesn't do dental said.

Odd behavior

Recently my chin has started sitting himself down facing the corner of his cage, and staring at the wall behind it for long periods of time. At first my boyfriend and I thought it was from us bothering him and referred to it as "Opie leaving the room", as a joke. Now, however, he has started doing it more frequently and I was wondering if this is a normal behavior or if he's just crazy. Any insight would be greatly appreciated thanks !

Has anyone tried these?

I'm looking for an alternative to pet/grocery store hay, but I have yet to find a local producer I trust. How do the masses feel about the following?



http://ift.tt/1C6W45b I've never heard of this brand at all, so I don't know if it's any good.



http://ift.tt/1C6W45d Never heard of this one either, and it has lots of great reviews. The bad reviews that are there make me nervous, though.



http://ift.tt/1C6W45f I was thinking of this as an occasional alternative to loose, just to give my girl variety.



I haven't tried Oxbow yet only because my local store only has smaller bags of it. I like to buy in bulk when I can.



Alternatively, has anyone tried "Farmer Dave's Hay?"



Any other ideas are of course appreciated. If it matters, I like to mix my timothy (Kaytee, but now I realize even their hay is probably bad) with orchard grass, which she loves.

Picky eater?

I have had my chinchilla for over a year and I'm having troubles understanding what's going on with her now. I have never had this problem but just about a week ago she stopped eating her pellets. I have given her the chinchilla food that is blended with all sorts of things but contains mostly pellets. She would eat every last bit. This last bag of food I got her was not the same one that I usually got because they were out of the usual stuff. I never noticed until about two days of her having it that it had way too many treats in it. I started to notice that it was making her poop smaller so I switched to straight pellets. She wouldn't even touch her food after that. Then she stopped pooping on a whole for about three days. She was still drinking and eating hay and eventually she started pooping a little more. I brought her to the vet and he said there are no signs of her being constipated. He checked her teeth and found that one was kind of sharp so he trimmed it down and found that she has lost a lot of weight. He thinks that she's only being picky now. He also gave me the critical care powder to give her if she didn't eat that day. She still has not touched the pellets and trying to do this critical care is really tough considering how fragile they are. Will she eventually eat the pellets or will they be so stubborn and starve themselves to death?

(I am offering no treats. Just food and hay.)

ISO: Wilson White, Mosaic or Extreme Mosaic

I know this is a long shot but i am ISO: Wilson White, Mosaic or Extreme Mosaic to join my fur family in MILWAUKEE. Age and Gender does not matter but would prefer a younger one. I have others so they won't be lonely. I have a room they get to play in everyday for hours. My chins are kept in ferret or critter nation cages. I make my own ledges and they have TONS. I have hammocks and TONS of chews. My chins are VERY spoiled. I only would like to spend up to $50 but may negotiate especially if they come with cage or supplies. They will stay with me forever i will not re-home them. They will be kept in a ferret nation or critter nation. I have a whole room for my chins and they get out of the cage playtime EVERYDAY. My chins are fed mazuri chinchilla food pellets (just switched). The treats they get are daily rosehip. I use cheerios for training.

I would be wiling to adopt more than one if need be.

Please send picture of what you have and price thanks!

I will answer any questions or concerns you may have. Just ask.

Willing to travel to within an hour or two if the price is right. If you want you can drop them off to see their new home as well.

please help these two

i don't know if they are still available but their cage is so TINY.

http://ift.tt/1x22hOp

looking for some fleece items

Its about that time of year to redecorate the chin cages :)



I'm looking for a pvc tube, along with an extra fleece cover, a set of liners for a CN, and potentially one hanging house. Also, I need to purchase some apple sticks! Please let me know if someone has all these things. I'd like to order everything in one shot if possible :)

Adopting 3 year old Chins and bonding.

I am adopting two three year old male chinchillas next week. The person i'm getting them from wanted to re-home them because his daughter no longer gives them the attention they need and deserve. He said that they did get handled on a daily basis previously, but in the last six months not so much, and they are now standoffish, but could be trained as they are still young. My concern is, will they bond with me eventually, even though i have not had them as babies? Anyone else have experience or advice in adopting older Chinchillas?

Custom Built Chinchilla Cages

Hey everyone! Just wanted to reach out and see which of you have built your own cages for your babies - either from an armoire, wood, or other shelving unit that has been converted. My boyfriend and I have painstakingly built one last year and have been making more modifications on it lately.



I've found that having a custom-built wood-based cage makes it easy to make modifications at any point, new shelves and designs only take new pieces of kiln-dried pine and a few screws (and a few patient chinnies)!



You can find our custom cages here! They're constantly a work in progress, but we're very happy with what we've accomplished most recently. http://ift.tt/1BYLGfE

New chinchilla owner, I have two questions...and pics

Some back-story...



We recently bought a chinchilla Sunday and that whole day he pretty much hid in a corner, Monday and Tuesday he started moving around sniffing us but still skiddish.



Last night he kept making these sounds I'd describe as chirps not really high pitched though. He only started doing this after we all went to bed. Is this common? Also to make the matters worse we removed his running wheel that night because it's so incredibly noisy. (We are looking to find a quieter one, the chinchilla we have is pretty big and it looks like chinchillas hop rather then run so this "cheap" $48 pet-smart one is shaking every time he uses it) Can anyone recommend one?



Thanks.

Some sweet pics of the chinnies and us!

I tried posting these in my other thread recently but couldn't attach them properly. Finally figured out how to get them to show up (fingers crossed). Thought they were too cute not to share!



Lil Bubs, our feisty Houdini/explorer:







My boyfriend and myself with Bean, the wee king of snuggles:









The pics still aren't showing up in the preview but I'm hoping they'll work when I post... if not I will try another hosting site!

Beige Chinchilla Charms/Ornaments

I have 2 beige chinchilla charms left over from the WA branch ECBC show. 100% proceeds go to the branch, if shipping is less than posted I will also refund the difference. USA shipping only (well unless you want to pay the shipping!)



http://ift.tt/135x27p



If that link doesnt work my user is also Zoaea on etsy.com.



Photos are slightly more yellow than reality due to lighting (and its color corrected as far as possible on my computer).

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Chinchilla being aggressive?

I have had my male chinchilla for about 3 years now, since he was about 12 weeks old.

I left for uni and have returned once before since September. My last visit went ok and he seemed alright with me but this time he is very aggressive.

When I try to talk to him in his cage, he goes mad and tries to bite me through the bars. Just now I sat down on my floor while he was out and made no attempt to touch him or go near him and he ran up to me and bit me. He even broke the skin which he has never done before.

I am really confused as to why he is acting like this, especially since my last visit went okay. Do chinchillas forget people? I know they can hold grudges but I haven't done anything to him!

Naming my newest chin

I just adopted a Hetero Beige female. she is 2 months old and i would like to name her a name that goes with storm and rain. I was thinking Snow or Blizzard but I'm not sure.

Pear Hanging toys FOR SALE

I am selling a some pear hanging toys.

$5 each



Will post a photo soon!

Chinchilla Stickers and Patches

Hi there!



Have some leftover fundraiser stickers and patches from the WA State ECBC show last weekend. Please contact me at ECBCWA@gmail.com if you are interested. All proceeds go to support the branch!



Car/Window Stickers! (Please see bottom of photos for approximate size)

Hay feeder

Hi just wondering would this hay feeder safe for a chinchilla?http://ift.tt/1xiXW97





God Is Good And His Love Last Forever

Christmas Cage Decor

I took a bit longer to get the fleece made up, so some of the items are already chewed up, but most are still there. I went with something wintery rather then Christmas for the fleece so I could use it all winter. I think I may have gone overboard, lol, I just added the Christmas stuff (bells, stars, angels, trees) to the existing toys.

Playtime outside the cage

We've had our chins for about 2 years now and we have recently gotten very busy. We used to be able to let our chins out almost ever night for play time, but now we are down to maybe 2 nights a week...They have the chinchilla mansion cage so they have a lot of room to jump and climb, and a lot of toys to chew on.

We are by no means neglecting them. We jus didn't know if it mattered, the amount of time they are let out of the cage. I guess we feel bad because they were used to being out so much.

Chin living alone, buddy?

Apollo lives on it own and seems fine but I feel bad for him. He gets played with for about 30 minutes a day but he is left in the house on his own for about 7 hours monday to friday. I feel like I should get him a buddy but I don't think I know enough about introductions or have enough for another cage. Ive found an advert on preloved about a free chin for sale, aged 2 with cage and food. I would prefer not to get another chin but i want what is best for him. Opinions?

Just some pictures of Apollo :)

Havent posted photos of Apollo yet (except at the breeders) so Ill do it now.











Ignore all the poos in that one, it was just before I cleaned his cage.

Chin becoming distant

Hello all! I'm Brooke from GA.



I am a first-time chin owner. I am the proud mom of Scritchy, a 1 year-old standard gray male. He was 4-5 months old when I bought him from a pet store. I know, not the greatest, but I did my homework on the place that raised him, and it seemed like a pretty good operation, as far as those go. Scritchy came decently socialized--seemed used to humans. He was nervous the first few days, but he let me start petting him soon after...would even come when I called.



That fur baby is the light of my life. I know that a lot of chinchillas aren't big on cuddling or being held. He still doesn't like me holding him, it seems, but he's let my b/f and a vet tech hold him, and he stayed pretty calm. At first, I took Scritchy into my room for bonding/playtime, and he became more affectionate, sat on my shoulder, and came to me more when he was out of the cage.



He's had the ability to roam the house (supervised), and now, that's all he wants to do, and he protests if he's confined to the bedroom with me. He still lets me pet him, but it's on his terms, and it's becoming less frequent (unless he's bribed with a treat). Have I messed up? What can I do? He's also just hit puberty, in case that has anything to do with it.

Sleeping/Resting at night?

Hi, I've just bought a 2 year old Chinchilla a few days ago. He came with the cage he's been living in which is nice and big, and he's eating and drinking well so I doubt there's anything wrong with him. However, he seems to be spending a large amount of time at night sleeping and resting in his hammock. Is it common for them to rest all through the day and then decide to have another big nap later? He came about quite lively around 7pm for about an hour and a half, then he returned to his hammock and hasn't moved much since (it's now 11pm). Is this just laziness or part of settling into his new environment? He's done this for the last couple of nights since I got him, only the first night he didn't leave his hammock at all. When he was awake and moving around this evening he came to the edge of the cage and had a good sniff at me, bounced around a bit and had a play so I don't think he's scared of me or trying to hide. Is this behaviour normal or should I make an effort to wake him up and get him playing around at night so his sleeping pattern doesn't go dodgy. Sorry for my lack of knowledge as this is my first chin :)

Std female kit in WA.

I have a standard female kit to sell to a loving pet home. Born Nov 1, 2014 and available in mid January.



I hold her and her sisters 15 min+ a day as often as possible to acclimate them to people (besides that's the fun part of breeding!) So she is friendly. This girl has a sweeter more timid nature compared to her sister. Personalities change as they reach adult hood but she is definitely the more cautious type and likes to hide in my sweater while her sis explores.



125$ to experienced chin owner only. She is from a white to beige breeding so I am not keeping her back for chin shows. Both parents are Craner bred with some dark star in the background. Pedigree available on request. No known health defects in parents lines. I will post some pictures later this week. =)



I'm in Mukilteo, WA.

Large living world water bottle - not working

I dropped and broke one of my chin's plastic water bottles so I went to get a new glass one but they only had the extra large ones so I went with that, I know with these ball bearing ones you need to do it so the pressure is right so it won't either leak or not work at all,



With my bottle on the girl's cage I just hold the ball and tilt it back and the air bubbles pump out and it works fine, but with this extra large one after an hour of trying I CANNOT get a drop of water to come out of it !! Any ideas? I'll return it tomorrow, got a water bowl in there for now.

Lovebird bit my chins foot

I'm dumb, I had the birds out while cleaning Delilah's cage. My lovie got in the cage and bit Delilah's toe. I tried to find the wound but can only see blood. Is there anything I should do for itor put on it? She was running on her wheel and chewing on her toys so I assume she is ok? But it must be sore, poor baby.

I feel so bad, I wasn't paying attention but my lovebird has never attempted to get in her cage before.

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

Our kitty has a rare type of cancer

I thought I would write a note about a rare type of cancer that has affected out kitty named Peep. It is called Adenocarcinoma.



She was due for her rabies in early November and it was on my list of things to do. Our kitty Peep is very sweet and outgoing. And somehow I missed the lump on her neck. Higher on the right side about an inch below her ear. She doesn't like to be petted on her head. So I always pet and love on her, leaving the head alone.



Her routine is to sit in my lap every morning while I drink coffee and read the news on the net in front of my pc. She falls asleep curled up in my lap. Always been a very petite kitty. I started to pet her on the back of her head stroking down towards her body. And thats when I found that darned lump. I will add that I thought she was getting a bit thinner to me and was going to address that issue when she went for the rabies/check up.





To make a long story short. It is a rare form of cancer found in older cats. She is 11. My vet did take samples of the lump through a syringe and send them out to the pathologist. Results came back with nothing that would indicate cancer.



She explained she could not perform the surgery based on the location and set us up with a specialist surgeon group here in town.

Both surgeons explained the surgery. What might have to be taken out around it. Said they have to take a bit of good tissue out as well for pathology. And explained the dreaded possibility of cancer. Pathology results will explain benign or malignant.

They did the surgery. The incision was from her neck down towards her chest. ( I must say it was a bit shocking, as I thought it would only be on the neck)

It had attached itself to part of the nerve that affects her voice, a lymph node and a small portion of her salivary gland.



It is terminal. Pretty hard to take. Our estimated time with her is only months.

There is very little information about longevity with felines with this form of cancer. Dogs who have this type of cancer have months.

So I have searched the web and found the best site yet that explains any information you might have about dog/ cat cancer. Perhaps it may help someone in the future who has to walk down the same path.



It is from Petcancercenter.org



Our wonderful surgeons have also instructed us as to any further treatment through a local oncologist should we choose to do so.

At the present time we have not told our daughter due to her mid term high school exams next week. We shall inform her next weekend. In the meantime my husband and I plan to talk with the oncologist. I have also spoke with the surgeon on future pain medication and nutritional needs.

Peep is very happy eating moist canned kitten food right now. I am giving her anything she wants to eat to try and keep weight on her. And bought her some new toys. She is VERY happy right now. ( smiles )



Please don't leave any ugly comments about chemotherapy treatments and prolonging her life. My husband and I are not going to be hero's and be selfish to keep her here just for our pleasure.

We love Peep. And will speak with the oncologist to share the information with our daughter. I hope to make the appointment next Friday and tape it so we can sit down with her and share it next weekend. I think you can already tell this is her kitty. Although Peep seems to gravitate towards me 90% of the time.



For those of you who are Christians and of faith. We certainly welcome any prayers on Peep's behalf. I thank you in advance.



Our pets are joys. We are very thankful God has chosen us for this task at hand.

We will walk with Peep through this journey together. The good and the bad.



Alexandra

Any tips on introducing 2 male chins together?

Hi I have a male chinchilla named Roy and he has been alone for most his life he is 10. We are getting another one who is 8 weeks old (also male) and we would like to try to introduce them so they can live together. I've done research about it so I understand the basics that goes into introducing them. I just want to know if anyone has experienced tips about the process. Thanks!

Timothy vs orchard grass?

Hi. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but i'm no expert in hay. What's the difference between Timothy hay and Orchard grass hay? My chinchilla seems to eat orchard grass way more than timothy, so I only feed her that now. Is that okay? Does she need timothy too? She will barely touch it, but she'll be so excited for the Orchard grass one... Please let me know!

Would this hay be safe?

I am wanting to get a larger amount of hay and I contacted a lady near me who has some available. I asked her if there was any alfalfa as I know guinea pigs are not supposed to have it due to high calcium levels... Anyway she said it was orchard grass hay and Timothy mixed with a little clover.( I can't use it for the pigs bc of the clover hay :/ not sure exactly what she means by a little though)



is clover hay ok? I don't really remember seeing it mentioned before either good or bad so I wanted to check.

With 4 pigs and 3 chins I go through a lot of hay and this would really help with cost so I could spoil them with more fun stuff

What can this lead to?

I recently acquired a 6 week old albino female hhog named Dizzy, and have had my female Izzie for over 4 years. Izzie is a grump (I suspect she was not held regularly before I got her) but she warms up to me on some days with the right ritual.



I wonder if it would ever be possible and safe to house Dizzy (new) with Izzie (4 years). They are certainly not litter mates, probably not related, and appear to have different temperaments. Dizzy rarely balls up and quickly explores and accepts my presence, where as Izzie has always been slow to warm and barely warm when there.



I know Dizzy is way too young for any such merger of the 2 housing together now, but perhaps when Dizzy is full grown, is it possible to house 2 females together like this?



Can any one lead me to a good thread or possible discussion of it here?

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Chinchilla TLC: Toys, Love, and Care!

"As we know, the holiday season is in full swing! As we cross off Santa’s ever-expanding list for family and close friends, we turn to our chinnies for a sweet, longing gaze. I heard you, buddy. I know what you want. Let me grab my Santa hat, hop online, and get to ordering your holiday stocking stuffers. Who could say no to such sweet faces?"



We wrote this week's post all about toys - buying them, creating them, and modifying them! Take a look if you're able!



To read the full blog post, visit us at http://ift.tt/1Db8Ock :)

A few photos for you guys :D (mostly about Momo)

While waiting for my father to stop in for my birthday, I thought I would post some pictures and give a little update for everyone!



I love both my chins dearly... but Momo and I definitely have the better relationship. Not only is he more comfortable around humans in general, but he loves to be held. I have never had such a good relationship with a rodent before. I've had some good hamsters in the past, but this guy is just the best little dude.



He is seriously the happiest little fluff! He always popcorns when he's getting out of his dust bath during play time, then he takes off bouncing towards me. His ears go down when he does it, and it looks so funny since his fur is so fluffy... they push it down and it just looks silly. XD



We play this game where I sit by the cage and he jumps into my hands/lap. I put him back, and he shoots at me like a torpedo... demanding that I hold him some more. I'm sure he would happily do this for hours. When I give in and stop him, I must hold him back while I close the cage. The puff will use his little hands and push mine out of the way so he can try and sneak out before I close the door. He will then proceed to beg me for more attention. He is just so precious and I love him to bits!!



The first picture of him is my current favorite♥

Tips/Tricks/Ideas for Introducing Dominant Chinnie to a Shy One?

Hi all, I've posted before but haven't updated since we started actually introducing the boys. You can read about when we first got Bean here - http://ift.tt/1B5FMpW This post will be long, sorry, but I can't shut up once I get talking about my furbabies, lol.



So, basically Bean is a tiny (383g!), sweet, shy, neutered male ebony. I think between the original breeder and the humane society, he's been poked and prodded enough for a lifetime, and hasn't been socialized with other chins much at all. So he's baaarely starting to warm up to me+boyfriend after 3 months with us. He does, however, seem curious about Lil Bubs and always approaches LB in a friendly/open manner. Unfortunately, Bubs seems a bit hostile to the idea of another chin in his house, and will rush at Bean to scare him away. :(



Bubs, on the other hand, seems to be a bit of a dominant asshole (a bit bigger, around 500g, and quite ball-acious/non-neutered). He came from a happy family and is more used to human social dynamics, but hasn't had to share with another chinchilla in a while, if ever. After 11 months with us, he's warm and friendly with the people, runs all over us, chirps at us, eats out of our hand, etc. But anytime we try to introduce him to Bean, nervous nelly Bean flees at the first sign of movement, and Bubs takes that as a cue to chase after him. It's just a high speed chase with fur flying until we separate them (Actually, it seems like Bean may enjoy being chased, at least by me+boyfriend, but it's hard to tell. He kind of initiates it as a game sometimes). I really think Bubs would like a companion, and I think he'd love to cuddle with Bean as he's quite a cuddler on his own with his fleece buddy, but since Bean won't stay still and let him investigate, all LB wants to do is chase him around for fun.



Sigh. We've only tried introducing them 2 or 3 times, just because it's always pretty exhausting and we want to take it slow. I have read all kinds of tips (rub them with sage, put vanilla on their noses, trim their whiskers, put one or both in or out of a cage blah blah blah) but I'm not really sure what direction to go. One thing we tried was letting Bean run free in the playroom while Bubs was in a small cage--normally bad because it makes the caged one submissive, but in this case we really needed to take Bubs down a few notches. It went okay, there were even a few minutes of peace between them, but once we let LB out of the cage it was back to the high speed chase. He managed to take a big chunk out of Bean's fur which really worried me--was he really trying to bite him, or is it possible he grabbed his fur playfully or by mistake?



Here's one of my main questions: Is it really okay to trim their whiskers, and if so, would it make sense to trim only Bubs' whiskers in this case? It's clear that we need to make Lil Bubs more submissive and somehow give Bean more of an upper hand in the intro, just because he's so nervous. But I refuse to do anything that would hurt Bubs or really freak him out psychologically. So, do y'all have any other advice for introducing a dominant chin to a submissive one? How about for getting a high-speed-chase pair to sit still long enough to get to know each other? I don't want to try the smush method as of now, because I'm too worried that Bubs will just tear into Bean like he's breakfast.



If they were people I would just give each of them a glass of wine and tell them to chill out for 5 minutes, but unfortunately, chinchillas are more complicated than humans. ;) Currently, they live in a double FN cage that is separated, with Bean on top and Bubs on the bottom. When we leave a little grate uncovered between the cages, Bean will investigate occasionally and Bubs will immediately jump up and nip at him until Bean goes away. :( So we usually leave a little fleece pillow over the opening so Bean's toes are safe. Maybe we should try switching their cages?



Anyway... I value your experience, stories, and advice, so I just wanted to get some more specific information to our situation. I've read up on introductions a lot, but most things I've read seem to assume that the chinchillas will STAY STILL while investigating each other, and I haven't found a lot of info about dealing with the fur-nado that is Bubs and Bean in the same room. Also, I do understand that they may never get along, and we/they are fine with that--I just want to give them a fair shot at getting to know each other, since I really think both of them would benefit from having a buddy (and a full size FN to share!). Thanks for any thoughts you can share!!



(Attached a couple pics of Bean for your trouble... you can see Bubs in my profile pic! :) )

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Help!!!Dry Skin? or fungus

I got a 3 month baby chin in this April. Pretty healthy boy with normal grey fur.

He is a bathing fanatic, we used to give him dust bath every day till he lost a half square inch fur on his belly in a naughty play one month ago.We noticed that bare part was very dry and stopped giving him the everyday dust bath. To prevent fungus, we added a little bit sulfur into his dust for a week. One week ago, we found something like dandruff on his back. Smaller and fewer than the one on the picture. See attachment. His skin looks a little bit dry, white to light pink, more dandruff could be created if I touch bare skin with the figure. And the rest of his body, ear, feet, eye and nose looks normal.



The indoor humidity is relatively low now. 30-40%. Is this caused by dry skin? If it is, how to deal with it? He only takes dust bath every other day now.



Thanks a lot, I am really a new chin owner and love my little guy so much.

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Hedgie Privates

My 7 month old hedgie tends to bleed from his penis sometimes. It doesn't seem to bother him at all, he's still the same playful hedgie he always is and to take care of it I usually put him in the bath with warm water for a little while and it clears right up. Just wondering if this is normal at his age or if I should seek veterinary help.

Female chin spraying urine

I have owned my chin for about 4 months. She has had two prior owners before me (and I will be her last) so I understand it will take longer for her to take to me. She kind of has taken to me by crawling on me, eating out of my hand and letting me pet her. She is a really active chin and loves out of cage time. She can be really difficult to get her back in after though. Sometimes I end up having to follow her around for 15 mins trying to find a good time to snatch her up.



But...the last time she was being really difficult she turned to me, stood tall on her hind legs, barked a little bit, gaveme little bites, and then sprayed me with urine.



It really broke my heart that she used that kind of "mechanism" on me. What should I think of this?

Metal mesh floor cages

How do you all feel about metal mesh for chin's flooring?



The main floor on our cage is 3 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch metal mesh with wood shavings underneath on a tray. Her tree stomp hideaway on the first floor has a fleece bottom. I also put fleece down on the second floor and the third floor is made of wood.



Is the mesh on the first floor safe enough for her feet?

Where can I view all of my posts?

(I am new to this website)



When I go to other's pages on here theres a section where you can see everything they have ever posted. Where can I see all of my posts? When I click to see my profile it is not like everyone else's profiles.



So I want to be able to find all the posts I have posted

Chinchilla hates boyfriend

My male chinchilla(Meucci) is remarkably sweet to me and shy yet sweet to most everyone else with the exception of my boyfriend. I thought perhaps Meucci was jealous of the attention I give to my boyfriend, but I give a lot of attention to anyone I have have over. Is he trying to be dominant? He's drawn blood from my boyfriend on multiple occasions and he's even gotten enraged and bit /me/ as my boyfriend walked by the cage. That certainly hasn't happened under any other circumstances.



Why all the hate?

Perfect room temperature

I've always read 60-70 degrees is ideal, but what is the most perfect temperature? I love my room cold at night when I'm sleeping and sometimes it gets down to 59 degrees in here. How cold is too cold?

Buying a second chin

I bought my chin four months ago. I really want to buy her a buddy though. If I did I would buy a girl because I hear you should pair chinchillas with the same sex??? The only thing holding me back is the fact that I don't want to buy another chinchilla for them not to like each other. I don't want to deal with having to sell the new chinchilla right away.



Any advice?

And, how do you feel about only having one chin? Do you feel it's necessary to have multi chins so they can have friends?

Fun things for a chinchilla cage

So my chin is super active and loves being out of her cage. So I want to make her cage more fun! What are some things I could put in there that would entertain her?



Her cage is a good size with two levels. She has wood chew toys, a dangly wood toy, a hammock, a stump she can go in and a bell. I want to add a lot more though!

Chin with a thyroid problem

I bought my chin about four months ago and the previous owner told me she has a thyroid problem. She said it's not a big deal and doesn't affect her. She just isn't allowed to eat sunflower seeds.



Is there anything else we should avoid or is there anything I should be doing?

Also, could anyone describe to me the symptoms of a thyroid problem in a chinchilla?

Best chinchilla food brand?

What is the best brand of chinchilla food to get?

Possibly getting a hedgie...

I have been thinking of getting a hedgie but i am not sure yet.

What should i know about them before getting them?

Cage? Would a ferret nation or critter nation work? If not, what cage is the best?

Toys? Best toys for them? Where to get them? Can i make my own?

Food? Where can i get it? Best brands?

Animals? Can they play with other animals, like chinchillas?

List of supplies i need to get before getting one.

Pros and Cons?

Chin spin or Silver surfer wanted

I'm looking for 2 chin spins or 2 silver surfers please list your price, i'm looking for them to be shipped as well.

Ledges

25 ledges cut and i still have another 3ft 2X6 and 3ft 2X4. Next we need to put the screws and washers on. Later this week we are going to get more wood to make hideaway houses for all of them.

We paid under $10 for all of the wood got it cheap because theywere the cracked or bent sections, in total it will probably be between $15 and $20 bucks to make all of them. So in total I will have about 35 ledges for about $20. Better to make your own. It's cheaper, you can customize how you want and it's fun to do :) Will be making more soon though :)

Hope my chins like them as much as i do! :)

Wire mesh-bottomed cage

Hello! I would really appreciate advice about my cage. I have a cage that has a wire mesh bottom. It has a metal tray which can either be placed underneath the wire mesh or that can be placed on top and filled with substrate material (sawdust, carefresh etc.). I have always placed the tray on top of the mesh but my chin is kicking out a lot of bedding material. I was wondering whether to put the tray underneath and to allow him to walk on the wire mesh. Is this safe for his feet?

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New to this website

So I got this website yesterday. I have posted and introduction, I have been answering questions, asking questions and posting threads. When will I start being able to upload pictures of my chin on here?!

Chewing on paper

Whenever I do homework or study I do it on my bedroom floor so I can let my chin play with me. Sometimes she gets ahold of my card stock notecards and chews on them, but after chewing she eats the paper.



Is this bad?!

My chinchilla got her pee on her fur

My chinchilla peed her bed and laid on her own pee. It wasn't much, but now that its dry, her hair is sort of crunchy on the tips. It's on the side of her back.



She's been picking at with her teeth and i've bathed her in her dust. I've tried brushing it, but it doesn't do too much. I would really have to tear through her hair with the brush to get it out ): which I'm not gonna do.



How can I get this out?!

Finally! :)

Finally got my scale. Weighed all of the chins to day.

This is the outcome:

2 month old Rain - 193 grams

5 month old Jekyll - 513 grams

5 month old Hyde - 527 grams

6 month old Sassy - 376 grams

1 year old Sky - 470 grams

2 year old Pepper - 463 grams

4 year old Batman - 568 grams

5 year old Lucky (3 legged) - 558 grams



With Jekyll and Hyde, is this weight that of a male 5 month old? Or did the lady i got them from lie about heir ages? I feel that some of the chins weights are wrong but i weighed everyone twice.

HI(:

Hello!



My name is Teddy and I am from Minnesota. I am a 19 year old sophomore majoring in elementary education at Minnesota State Mankato.



I own the most playful 2 year old female :chin2:chinchilla, Chilly. I have had her for about four months now. Buying her has been one of my best decisions, she has brought so much happiness to my life. She is extremely hyper. She Loves running across the room as fast as she can (which is pretty dang fast) and leaping at walls and hopping off them!



I came across this website whenever Googled a question about my chinchilla. I finally decided to make an account!



Very excited to be a part of such a cool website (:

chin not very active

I just bought a chinchilla from a breeder about a month ago. he was born in July & he is very skittish and kind of lethargic. he has been like that since I got him I don't know if that's just his personality or if there's something wrong with him? when I open the cage he doesn't even come to the cage door or try to come out. he pretty much just sits in his house. after awhile he sometimes comes out or i take him out & then he just hides outside the cage & barely ever runs around. my whole basement is open for him to play but he sits under the couch. the only thing he seems to ever do is take dust baths, he loves those & he's housed with my other 1 year old chin & they get along very well so I don't think he's lonely or anything. & here's a cute little video of my babies :) http://ift.tt/1ymjfBR





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Water

Can a chinchilla drink too much?

I have a 2 month old that loves to sit and drink for LONG times. to the point where her tummy seems bloated but later isn't. this only happens when she drinks a lot. do i have to limit water?

cats and chins playing together

i know its probably a waste of time, ppl are to arrogant to change a belief. But i figured id try in this case. After watching videos of a chin in the Memorial section, i saw this video on the list and just felt compelled to say something.



So if you please, leave a comment there.



http://ift.tt/1pZr8iT

Pogo the chinchilla. My sweet little boy.

Tuesday at around 3:30 I accidentally stepped on my little boys tail while I was cleaning his cage. In a panic I lifted my foot and I put my other foot down which landed on his body hard. I fell down as it happened.



I don't know how I will ever forgive myself. I'm usually always so careful when he's out I just can't believe it. He could barely walk and his little body was twisted but he still just wanted to cuddle in close to me to feel safe and warm.



We took him to the vets here. The X rays showed nothing. No broken bones or internal bleeding. They poked him for pain response and he didnt respond to anything but he could move his back legs so he was not paralyzed. He made no sounds of distress at any point in time. He was just a brave chin, letting them do anything to him. They did not know what was wrong. Possibly trama to the spine or a fractured diaphragm. But like I said nothing was broken and they couldn't tell much from the xrays. They gave him a shot of anti inflammatory and told us to go home and monitor or we could go to the 24 hour emergency clinic in calgary. I wanted to do everything I could for him. We drove the three hours to calgary. He was so limp and just cuddling into my arm the whole way there. He would still smile when i would scratch him in the right spot even though he must have been so scared, stressed and in pain. When we got there they did more x rays and figured that he had a displaced hip. He was moving more and willing to eat a little bit of his food by that time so we were optimistic. We were going to take him to an exotic specialist for an operation in the morning to get his leg put back in place.



During that night his breathing became laboured and he went into cardiac arrest. He died on the table. They tried their best to bring him back. They don't know exactly why it happened. Either he reacted badly to the fluids they put him on last night because of a pre-existing unknown heart problem or his lungs were severely bruised and he just didn't show signs of it until much later.



I loved him so much. He was such a smart and loving little guy. He was loved by many on my youtube page showing off how smart and special he was. He didn't deserve to die this way. He was a perfectly healthy and happy chin. I thought he would become an old man with me. He was only about 8 years old. I can't believe I did this. Remember to always shuffle around your chins when they are out. In a split second the impossible can happen.



Rest in peace my special boy. You meant the world to me and I'm so sorry.



http://ift.tt/1yRQK1N



http://ift.tt/1yRQK1P

Is something wrong with my baby hedgie?

Okay, so I just got a baby hedgie on Sunday afternoon. I brought her home, got her a fairly good sized tupperware container for her size, and filled it with her stuff. Originally, I had a fleece blanket in there as the bedding, but last night I switched it out for a different kind of bedding that was approved by the woman I bought her from. Anyway, she has a wheel in there, and a food and water bowl, and a small pan for litter, along with one of my beanies and a shirt to sleep in. I keep the temperature between 74 and 78 degrees most of the time. And she's been seeming to do pretty good. She is quilling, so her skin is sensitive, and she always spikes up and is a very huffy little thing. But also she is very scared and nervous a lot of the time. Since I've gotten her, she has been sleeping during the day but then been very active during the night. I hear her on her wheel and eating all through the night. However, last night, she didn't wake up on her own once. I woke her up around 8:30 to kind of get her awake for the night, and she was active when I had her out, but then when I put her back in her cage, she ate and then went to sleep. I tried to wake her up again two hours later, and she ate, but then went back to sleep. Finally, when I woke up at 4:30, I woke her up again and she just kinda sat there. So I put her on her wheel, and she was on her wheel for a good 15-20 minutes, and then I heard her shuffling around, but then I think she went back to sleep. Is this normal? I took her out two or three times yesterday during the day, so maybe she was extra tired from that? I'm very very worried about her trying to hibernate, and I'm worried that I've done something wrong or am not doing something right, and that she is sick or unhappy or something. Is it normal for her to be sleeping so much and to not want to wake up and be active at night? I was just wondering if there's anything I'm missing or doing wrong or should be doing too. Anyway, thank you so much in advance for your help!

Sweet PDZ

I was looking into Sweet PDZ, which is a powder ammonia remover and moisture absorber commonly used in horse stalls. Does anyone know if it would be safe to use in my chins' cage?



Here's a link to the product's website:

http://sweetpdz.com/



Thanks for your suggestions!

What is this white gloop?

From male chinchilla, 5 years old.



Would really appreciate if anyone know what this is and whether he is alright.



Thank you so much!!!

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Large amount of white gloop from Chinchilla

I was wondering if anyone would advice me about this unknown white gloop/fluid made by my chinchilla please.



I don't know how he made it. It was next to his doll, so I guess this could be his sperm but the amount is unusually large, so I wonder if it is something else I really should worry about.



I am willing to take him to the vet soon, but as not all the vet are chinchilla expert I would like to ask your opinion first. I really hope my boy is fine.



My chinchilla is Male, 5 years old.



(The first picture was taken soon after I saw this. The picture taken with flash, and a ruler were taken afterwards.)



Thank you so much for your help!!!

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Chinchilla Made Noises All Night

Hey everyone,



I made an account here in the hopes someone had a more educated guess as to what happened with my chinchilla last night.



From about 1AM to 3AM he made this noise constantly (from the sticky): http://ift.tt/1BgK6Fy



I've had him for about a month now, and things have been going rather smoothly with him. Since I've got him though, he's made that noise once a night at his food dish. Really odd, and I'm not sure what it means. Last night wasn't different than most nights, and he started making this noise a lot. I tried talking to him a bit, or make a small amount of contact which usually makes him stop. But he just kept doing it. I tried holding him, which didn't work as he kept making the noise in my arms. And after a minute he jumped out of my arms and hid behind my bed and continued to make the noise (chase around the bed ensued). Tried giving him treats, a dust bath...nothing worked. He had food, water, toys, a room under 75 degrees (and a big cage) that night.



Now its the next night here and he's acting normal again. Took him out for playtime and he displayed the normal signs of joy and curiousness.



Any ideas?

Play time poll

How much play time do you give your chins?

blind chin?!

Hi all. I was concerned about my 1 and a half year old female chinchilla. I've had her since she was 4 months. Lately i've noticed one of her eyes are gray? Not FULLY but a good portion is gray.. I don't know why. It's her left eye. The other seems perfectly fine.

Her eyes are usually red/brown. I'll attach some pictures. My mom and brother both pointed it out. Then I knew it wasn't just me being paranoid. She acts fine. Eating, drinking, etc. Once when she was eating her hay with her grayish eye on the side where I was. I walked towards her not really making any noise. At the time I didn't think anything was wrong even though it was gray. So I didn't make sure she knew I was there or anything. So I went right up to her cage and tried to give her a scratch as usual. When I did that she kinda freaked out for a second and ran to the other side of the cage. That is quite odd for her. She doesn't do that often. After a second she calmed down when she saw it was me, and let me scratch her.. Just wondering if I should be worried? Even if she WAS blind would I have to do anything differently? I've been taking care of her the same way for over a year. Someone help :( :help:

Looking for FIXED male chin

I would like to get a playmate or two for my female. She is close to her first heat and i no longer feel comfortable letting her play with the males i have. I have tried to get her to play with my other females but she attacks them. Age doesn't mater, would prefer mosaic, white or extra dark ebony. I am located in Milwaukee, WI bu am willing to travel about an hour for one or even to madison. I already have a cage and other supplies so i don't need any of that just the chin.

MUST BE A FIXED MALE!!