Looking for Chinchillas in Nor-Cal or So-cal area :)

Hello, I live in Santa Maria, CA and I am looking for another chinchilla. Preferably a mosaic or something with great color. I have a female grey and would love a mosaic, or ebony white or some other unique mutation.
P.s. I am willing to drive a couple hours.
Thank you in advance!

Vet visits

Hi

I want to take one of my chinchillas to the vet to get his ears checked.

I have read if you have a bonded pair to take both chins to the vets, even if only one needs to be seen to avoid any potential fights

Is this true? Should I take both even though there's only 1 I'm concerned about?

Thanks in advance 😊

Hello!

Hi guys. My names Heather and I'm from Dublin, Ireland. I've been a chin owner for a few years now and have 2 Chinchillas both males and both 5 years old :)
I've worked in a veterinary clinic as a trainee nurse and have now managed to pursue my dream of studying Veterinary Nursing with only 2 years to go!

Can't wait to get chatting to all you chinnie owners and hearing all about your fluffy buddies and get some advice where needed :)

Lethargic after vet visit

My 5 year old female chin wasnt being herself, (not bouncing, playing etc, you just know when somethings wrong)

She was taken tot he vet whom examined her and said she was a good weight, her teeth are fine, her respitory system is fine and her heart is fine.
She was given a fluid injection to rehydrate her, An anti-inflammatory and an injection to aid her digestion. (Approx 7 hours ago)

The vet said to seperate her from her fellow chins and to monitor her, she has an appointment for tommorow for if she does not perk up.

However my chinchilla seems to be getting worse if anything. If anybody has ANY idea what could be wrong with her, or how she can be comforted PLEASE! Tell me.

Fleece in litter pan?

I wanted to get some opinions on this before I attempt to try it because there are likely some pitfalls I am overlooking:

People seem to use fleece liners in place of bedding, and then put aspen or KD pine shavings in a litter dish. I was wondering if anyone had ever tried using fleece pee pads in the litter dish instead of pine/aspen shavings?

I have almost entirely tiled (mix of marble and ceramic) the wire bottom of the chins' house. There are two small bits exposed in 2 corners that they back up into to pee. This works out great because it all (usually) goes down to the newspaper and makes the cage easy to tidy and clean (I can just sweep the poos and hay down there as well). But because I eventually want to cover up all the wire (just to be safe), I was thinking about putting in a litter dish in one of the corners and then gradually eliminating the other pee corner.

Do you think it would work to put in fleece pads (a few layers sewn together that fit well into the pan) to absorb the pee instead of shavings? I was thinking about making a few of them (a week's worth or so), and then changing them every morning. Does this seem plausible, or do you think it would train the chins to associate fleece with pee (I don't want them peeing in their hammocks...!). There's probably a good reason everyone uses shavings, but I'm just exploring options... Any opinions/thoughts would be very welcome!

Need Help...Natural Twig..Safe or Not?

I have been looking at the safe woods list but still am unsure of what Im looking to get. Here's the description...

Twig Balls Natural

Beckon in the enchanting sensations of the fall season with these preserved globes. The Natural Twig Balls are composed of dried, beige twigs, and they will harmonize well with country-themed décor and earthy surroundings. For a rustic display, place these dried ornaments in a decorative wooden tray or bowl, and arrange on your coffee table. These twig balls come in packs of 12, and measure 2” wide.

Attached Images

natural-twig-balls-2-12-balls-pkg-4.jpg (87.1 KB)

Cause for concern?

Bean has been doing great since his ordeal and now I'm in constant paranoid mom mode. No changes with his weight, he's been eating/drinking/peeing well.

Last night I noticed that his poops were an odd shape, for him at least.
I found this picture when I was researching it.



His stools were always more like the ones on the left. Last night and today, they are like the ones on the right. Very round(maybe some being a little rounder than what's pictured here) in comparison to his other ones, a good size, not soft at all and there are plenty of them.

What do you guys think?

Litter pan size?

I'm a brand-new chin mom trying to figure out the best size Pyrex dish to use for my girls' (Daphne and JoJo) litter pan.

I have a double FN cage with Bass pans, and am using fleece for the flooring at the moment.

At least one of the girls has used the litter pans. I currently have two dishes in there, and both have been used. Both dishes are around the same size, 6 x 7.5, but one is shallow (1"+) and one is deep (6"+). Not sure which is preferred since they've both been used. I also have a ceramic quiche dish that I can use, which of course is shallow, but more roomy since it's round.

Just trying to provide the best for my little furbabies.

Any suggestions, or is it more of a personal choice of each chin?

Thanks!
Trish

chinchillas doomed to not getting along?

We recently got another chinchilla, ChiChi, who's over a year old. When we first got her, we put her in a cage with our other chinchilla, Frida, who's about 9 months old. (which, yes, was a big mistake on my part. I researched enough about chinchillas when they're independent, but not how to introduce them.) Frida was mounting ChiChi at first, and I can't remember what exactly ChiChi did afterwards, but it really scared Frida and she was standing still in the corner of her cage. We kept them separated after that. The next day, we let them both out to play, but they started fighting and fur was lost. We kept their cages next to each other for the next week. Then when we got a new cage, we put them together because it was neutral territory. that didn't work out either. Again, fur was lost. Now we've switched their cages in hopes that they get used to each other's scent. I really hope they aren't incompatible, but I feel like this could be because they got off to a rough start. What do you guys think? Should we not try to put them together again? Or should we possibly wait longer to see if they could possibly still get along?

What can I do to keep mess in the cage?

I just received my FN. The pans do not have very high sides and when I woke up today there was a ton of bedding on the floor around the cage. What can I do to fix this problem?

Fur chewing - not eating hay

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well today! I have a few concerns that I just wanted to get advice on how to handle. Our chinchilla, Lola, needed to be taken in for her yearly teeth filing. Lola has always been extremely sensitive to mouth pain (needed to be taken in for one very small tooth point in the past). We returned from the doctor (three weeks ago) with met cam, critical care, the usual. We realized the day before we brought her in she began chewing the fur on her arm. I assume this is due to stress of the situation. However now she has pulled all the fur out of her left arm and is completely bald there. To stop this I have increased her out of cage time to try to get her mind off of it. Most of the time she puts herself back in the cage (she never used to do this).

Since her return she is eating her hard oxbow pellets happily after a week of syringe feeding (she loves syringe feeding), but refuses to chew hay (have bought her three different flavors of approved oxbow for her) as well as any toy we bring her. I am worried that at this point her teeth will get pointy sooner than later since she isn't wearing them down.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I half want to take her back in for a mouth inspection. But would hate to put her through the stress as she is pooping fine, very spry, drinking water and eating pellets.

Thank you so much! :grouphug:

Syringe feeding Critical Care

So we had a "fun" adventure yesterday. We got to get in our carriers and take an hour long car ride to the vet! I don't think they thought it was very fun. Especially the vet part. But Cloud wasn't pooping properly. And Elena's urine seemed to me to be too dark in color. So the vet says she'll give them both some medicine to get their digestion going - I don't have it in front of me or I'd tell you what it is - and she's concerned about Elena's temperature, which I guess was too low, and her kidneys, which might be having problems indicated by the dark urine. (Tseng had kidney problems, and they may have been siblings, is that genetic? That worries me.) So, more medicine - antibiotics - and going back next week for blood and urine tests. And Critical Care for all. So we finally get to the question. They want me to stuff 20-30 ml of CC into each of them twice a day. How do you get them to eat it? I have enough trouble getting 0.38 ml of medicine into them. The vet gave me this giant syringe for the CC, which Cloud has already bitten the end off of, but it does me no good if they refuse to open their little mouths. If I can get Cloud annoyed enough at the syringe to bite it, I can get a little food in but it's hit or miss. I'm supposed to be wrapping them like burritos, which does not work in any way. Cloud eventually will crawl out of the burrito, and Elena crawls further into it. Both of them end up with almost as much CC in their fur as they get in their mouths. Not to mention the amount of it I end up wearing. I've only fed them twice so far and both times it's been not very successful. I barely got Elena to eat any tonight, probably less than 10 ml. I'm more worried about her than Cloud now. Any suggestions for making syringe feeding easier? Or at least more successful? I need my babies to eat. I wish I could make it less stressful for them, but i can see why being wrapped up in a burrito and held still while someone sticks syringes in your mouth might be pretty stressful, and I can't think of any way to make it easier. Anyone with experience with Critical Care, your advice is greatly appreciated.

Photos of good feet calluses

Hello! I wondered if people would be willing to share photos of their chins' healthy feet?

I know that chins are meant to have some calluses on their feet, but I'm having a hard time finding *good* photos of feet. I'm finding a lot of photos of bumble foot or really soft pink feet (is this a result of having only fleece in the cage...? or just young chins?).

My chins are still young (nearly 7 months) and came to me with fairly soft pink feet, but the pine shelving in their house has definitely given them some calluses. They have a mix of pine wooden shelving, marble tiles, and fleece hammocks. I would love to have a good benchmark to go by to ensure their feet are looking as they should!

Do calluses ever get to a point where you put some bag balm on them, and if so, what will the feet look like? Or should I only be tending to them if I suspect there is a problem...?

How long for Chinchilla Mansion to arrive?

Hi!

I recently ordered a Quality Cage Crafters Chinchilla Mansion. I'm really looking forward to getting it. For others who have ordered it, do you remember about how long it took to arrive? Tracking it's progress doesn't seem easy!

Thank you!

January 7th, 2017 - Empress Southern Atlantic Branch Sanctioned Show - Roxboro, NC

We hope that you can make it!

Sharing toss toys and sticks?

Hello! I have two 6.5 month old chin brothers called Clodius and Milo. They seem pretty well bonded: they often sleep snuggled up together, groom each other often, and I *think* the dominance issue has been pretty quickly established: Clodius is the more ballsy of the two (although smaller). There was more dominance mounting in the first month. It has petered off a bit, but still happens occasionally -- usually Clodius mounting Milo, although Milo tries to assert himself once in a blue moon.

My question is about bonded chinchillas sharing toss toys and sticks. Whenever I give them something to play with I give them two, but 95% of the time Clodius loses interest in his own toy/stick after a few chews, and goes to grab Milo's. Sometimes Milo will let it go, but sometimes he gets irritated that his brother is being a greedy chin. There's some tug-of-war and sometimes some chasing.

I tend to intervene because I don't want them falling out with each other. Should I not be doing this? I realize animals will grab food/toys from each other and the concept of sharing isn't the same for them, but I've been sticking with putting fixed hanging toys in the cage, and monitoring stick chewing/shredding time (sticks come out of the cage when the chins lose interest) because I'm worried about them irritating each other. Am I being overly cautious? :hmm:

Anyone else have multiple chins living together who can advise?

Chinchilla Constantly Whimpering/Clucking?

I'm at a loss at what's wrong with my chinchilla.

She keeps whimpering or grunting or clucking (whatever you want to call it) constantly but still is eating fine, pooping fine, tons of energy.

She just started doing this today and she's had pneumonia before but this doesn't seem to be the same symptoms. No sneezing. No blood anywhere. Still peeing and begging for treats.

Any help is appreciated, here's a video for reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfsMyEoY8s0

She's about 7-8 years old? Not sure if this is her being sick, or if she's in heat? I'm at a loss.

Hay Holder?

what do you guys use to hold your chins hay? looking for some better options, pics and where i can but the product are appreciated!

Hello from Chinny and Cuddles!

Just wanted to say hello to everyone, I've learned a lot from these forums on how to be a better chin parent. So I thought I'd make a thread introducing myself, and my chins. :-)
I recently re-did my cage, and went with the FN. They are loving it, and I am loving the opening doors on both sides lol.
Here are some pics of them snoozing in their hut. Chinny is on the left, snuggling on his chinnie-buddie made by Annie from ChinChic. :-) and Cuddles is on the right.







Love this site and all the insight, and so do my boys!

Multiple questions about diet (hay, pellets, treats, wood, etc)

Hello everyone,

I would first like the entire community for their awesome collection of knowledge and advise - it has helped us greatly in the last 2 years!

I want to apologize in advance for the big post, but I would rather ask everything that is bothering me in 1 place :)

So my little furry sunshine is called Loki, son of Odin (no joke, his dad's name is Odin) and he is 3 years old (pic below). I will try to categorize my questions, say what I do and welcome any advice related to that, whether it is to continue, to stop, to change.

Loki has malocclusion since he was 1.5 years old (doctor said it's genetic) so we try to best to make his life as pleasant as possible before the sad day comes. So questions in this context:

Primary food - since the only thing available in Bulgaria seems to be Versele-Laga, Beaphar, Padovan, JR Farm, Vitakraft and Mifuma, we have settled for Versele-Laga Chinchilla Complete as the seemingly best option, confirmed by our vet. We mix it with Beaphar Xtra Vital (seeds, raisins and corn flakes removed) at a rate of about 10:1 in favor of the pellets. As mentioned, any advise is more than welcome.

Hay - he has not been eating any hay in the last 2 years :\ I've tried about 4 local brands of Timothy hay, a couple of "branded" ones (like Versele-Laga and Beaphar) but he ignores every single one of those. Today I found that the pet shop next buy has stock of Alfalfa Hay, so I got it, gave him some - he is a lot more interested in it - destroys the leaves and shows moderate to high interest in the branches. So now I have 2 options - only pellets, or pellets+alfalfa hay. From what I've heard Alfalfa causes issues (if at all) in the very long run, while I consider him not filing his teeth relatively short term. So would you consider Alfalfa better than no hay? If yes, how much should I give him? All he can eat or a specific amount? Every day or X times a week? Just to be sure I didn't get lost in translation, this is what I got and google translate + a couple of dictionaries claim it's Alfalfa:

http://ift.tt/2dcUGsM

Treats - tiny raisins or rolled oats mostly, occasionally dried rose hips. Used to give him dried herbs, but he no longer likes them :( Last year my friend moved into the mountains and he has nice apple trees in his yard, so I got some twigs, baked them according to online manuals and, oh surprise - Loki destroys them. And by destroy I mean bites of the baked bark within a minute and breaks 2-3mm diameter twigs in half within a day. Question here is - should I provide him an unlimited amount of twigs or should those be portioned in any way?

Thanks in advance for all the answers. Here is a picture of him begging for his treat after playtime :D (Ears are naturally spotted, that stuff visible behind him on the right is not rusty, just FYI)

http://ift.tt/2dQukui

Chin has been acting strange, impaction?

Hi, no emergency exotic animal clinics around me are open, but this is what's going on:

My chin was lethargic, and being a first time chin owner I thought it was simply because he was stressed with his new environment (I got him a week ago). However, today he started eating his bedding (wood, which I now found is dangerous), is making a low quacking noise I haven't heard before and his body is making this hiccuping motion if that makes sense? His stomach seems hard when I touched it but he didn't express discomfort.

He also had this weird episode today where he was playing and suddenly stood still and started trembling for a few seconds. He seemed fine after that though.

His teeth have also been chattering often, which he hasn't been doing either.

I'm not sure what to do, as I heard chins can go downhill very quickly, and I'm very nervous.

He's acting fine except for the occasional random nap; he's eating and drinking ok and he's pooping a bit less but it doesn't seem like a concerning differences

Introducing 2 chins

I bought 2 chins a few months ago, the youngest brother died from cancer. I recently rescued another chin. So the first night I put my new chin Chewy in his new area alone. The second day they had play time together for 2 hours no fights just sniffing and a little chasing. Then they had a few more play times. Well today I moved my original chin squeaker out to the dining room next to chewy chewy seemed to be trying to break there the bars to get squeaker. Well there out together right now and seem to be doing well they had a quick scuffle no bitting. Also the cage doors are open and they have both gone and explored the others cage and neither had a problem or paid the other any mind. They have also switched bath houses on there own. What should I do from here? How should I proceed?

Cuddle Ledge

Looking to buy a cuddle ledge for my chinnies but don't want to pay more for shipping than for the actual item. Any promo codes or websites with good deals?

New Noises?

Hello! To start things off, I'm a first time chinchilla owner and I've only had my chinchilla for two and a half weeks so far. She's a very friendly 8 month old black ebony chinchilla named Boo. I've done about just as much research as possible, but I havent come across anything like this. I brought Boo over to me grandmas house today because I'll be staying here for a couple days. Just today, I've noticed some strange behavior. Everytime I take her out of her cage she makes a strange little squeaking noise. (I brought the same cage I've been keeping her in over, no change there) Once shes out of the cage I can pick her up just fine, but if I touch her while in the cage theres a squeak. Is she just getting used to new smells and noises? Is this something to worry about? Slightly concerned, I'd like to know.

Ferret Nation or Critter Nation?

I have recently adopted 1 chin and rescued another they both are in separate cages and the cages are taking up to much room. I'd like to buy a stacked cage but still be able to keep them separate for the time being. I'm having a hard time deciding between the FN and the CN. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Oxbow food changing

Many have been asking about Oxbox chinchilla pellets lately. Not being able to find them in stores and what not. From iv heard, oxbox chin pellets are being repackaged and undergoing a name change to Essentials Chinchilla Pellets. The pellets themselves are supposed to remain the same tho.

The sizes offered are changing too. The 5lbs bag is being discontinued. And it is being replaced with a 3lbs bag.

Oxbow food changing

Many have been asking about Oxbox chinchilla pellets lately. Not being able to find them in stores and what not. From iv heard, oxbox chin pellets are being repackaged and undergoing a name change to Essentials Chinchilla Pellets. The pellets themselves are supposed to remain the same tho.

The sizes offered are changing too. The 5lbs bag is being discontinued. And it is being replaced with a 3lbs bag.

Online Chin Supply Stores and Your Opinions

Hello!

I've decided to take to the web for purchasing my chinchillas food and supplies after a recent frustrating mishap with a pet store! I would like to know as many online retailers that y'all use and your opinion of the best. I live in Texas so something close would be good for shipping purposes but let me know where yall shop!

Chinchilla dog playpen

Good afternoon. I know this has been asked SEVERAL TIMES, but i've been trying to find a playpen for my adopted chinchilla. I would love to get a dog playpen, but the issues I am having is that the gaps between each wire is way too big, and/or its not tall enough. My chinchilla isnt much of a jumper, but i REALLY dont want to take the risk. I've seen people on here using cardboard, but in order for me to get enough cardboard for his play area, it costs almost $200. And both me and my husband feel like if we're spending that much money, we might as well get a dog pen. I have also heard of people using the bathroom as their play area, but our bathroom is WAY TOO SMALL for that. Not to mention both me and my husband want to be with our chinchilla (Gizmo) while he plays, which would give Giz less room in there.

Any help would really be appreciated. Like I said, I know this question has been asked fifty thousand times already, but I'm stuck. I've looked for more hours than id like to admit online trying to find something suitable for gizmo. I know that people get those pet tents, but I want that to be a last resort, because i dont want him to feel like hes caged off 24/7.

thank you

Critter nation: housing alternative for add on

Hi guys!

Here's my dilemma. I need to get an add on for the critter nation but it seems like every store online will not ship to Hawaii. (We have the poop end here) so I'm finding this extremely difficult. For some reason a ferret nation will ship here though. I'm not sure what to do, should I get a ferret nation add on or should I just get a different alternative? If you have any suggestions please let me know! I just need the help and advice I can get. I have one critternation and it has one occupying it and I have two baby chinchillas that need the extra room. Please and thank you ❤️

Pictures of Boo

Here are a couple pictures I took the other day of my female black ebony chinchilla Boo! :chin:

Attachment 22641

Attachment 22642

Attached Images

	IMG_20161009_025034.jpg (157 Bytes)
	IMG_20161009_025004.jpg (157 Bytes)

New Chinchilla Mama

Hey guys! I hopped over here from glidercentral as they highly recommended this forum. I am a very new chinchilla mama to a 2 year old rescued boy who I named Ziggy Stardust. His background is that I got him from some people who were basically hoarders living in a trailer and junkies (they dropped a couch on their hamster while I was there and I didn't sleep the entire night because I was just so... ugh... traumatized and full of adrenaline I guess). He does not like other chinchillas at all supposedly (I was told he screams when he sees them). This was so similar to my sugar glider who I rescued seven years ago that I had to take him (same age, same weird sociopath behavior in a colony animal haha). So I was literally given him and not much else (not even food) at 11:30 on Saturday night. It's been one week and I am slightly less anxious, but still very full of new pet worries and questions.

I fixed his living situation up the best I could on short notice. He has a one level ferret nation cage that maybe I can add modules to eventually (although this is one of my areas of concern as I live in an apartment and my sugar glider already has a fairly large cage so I don't know that I have the space to expand Ziggy's quarters). I did get him lots of stuff though - good food, fancy botanical hay, fancy pink salt nugget on a string, looots of toys, wheel, flying saucer on the way from internetland, two fleece beds one of which is hanging cube that he can jump on/in and play with, chinchiller, nesting boxes, chew sticks, and dust bath and bath house. I love animals and have owned or fostered exotics (and some wildlife too!) but I honestly don't know much about chins beyond the basics and have been feeling very overwhelmed.

I also have a cat and a sugar glider. My suggie is 9 and I've had him since he was 2. He was a very aggressive rescue and he bonded so much with me. I take him everywhere and you'd never know he was a former thug haha. He's the sweetest sugar glider ever, loves to be held and cuddled, loves people. So I'm hoping my good luck with exotics extends to my new chin as well. Oddly, chinchilla is not aggressive at all. Has not bit me once. Very sweet, loves pets, is somewhat okay with being held but scared when I first go to pick him up. Likes to come and sit on me though.

Anyways, back to the chinchilla... he is going to the vet next Saturday as I live in kind of a small city and the only exotic vet I trust is out this week. I'm really worried about doing something wrong with my little guy. Taking on a third pet is a lot for me (I'm 26, have my own two-bedroom place, but I work full time and I'm a grad student too although I do school online so I'm home often... still with two other pets, integrating a third can be tricky). I've thought of rehoming him but it would break my heart at this point and I'd only do it if I was absolutely convinced someone else had the experience to care for him better than I could. Even then, I just love the lil poofball and I want it to work out.

My major concern is the heat issue; do you have to have an AC to own a chinchilla? I live in Montana, but my apartment gets toasty in the summer with no AC.

How often do you let your chins out to play? My suggie is extremely bonded and free roams except when I am gone or asleep. He goes everywhere with me, including work, coffee shops, hair dresser, whatever. It took a lot of work and patience to get my suggie to that level though and I definitely don't expect Ziggy to be that way. It would be nice if one day he could get into a routine like my suggie has. Right now though, I do let Ziggy out as much as possible when I am home. I chase him around and supervise, or sometimes he just sleeps under my TV stand or near the couch. He's so big that I feel bad having him in the cage at all when my other two pets are sitting with me enjoying their evening. :\ Sometimes when I leave the door open, Ziggy stays in his cage anyways and sleeps or runs on his wheel. But in general, what is the norm for outside time with chinchillas? What is too much and what is too little?

And onto my next question... he was very hyper last night and had a good time jumping from my dresser, to my bed, and back, like a kid on a trampoline. Today he is pooped out. He's alert and not acting sick, but is this normal? What is normal sleep pattern for them? I know they are nocturnal but honestly I saw him sleeping on his side for the first time and flipped out because he looked dead so I'm very unsure about chinchillas and their ways. I have been letting him out for several hours, about whenever I am home and doing not too distracted. He isn't constantly playing or being petted/picked up though - like he'll go sleep somewhere and I'll just stare at him while I work on my computer because the TV stand is his "safe spot" so I'll only pet him when he's over there and I don't pick him up that much. I try to pick him up and hold him once every day.

Anyways, I have lots of questions and I'm hoping the vet can put some of my anxiety to rest, but any tips or advice you all have would be great. I'll have to post pics of him and his setup. He is adorable though. He likes to pick up my cat's jingly ball toys and prance around holding them. When I first gave him hay and chew sticks, he freaked out and fell asleep holding a chew stick. He still frequently sleeps with his chews and it's pretty adorable. <3 I just hope he's healthy and everything. It worries me when he sleeps a lot, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

Safe Petstore Toy?

Hi, I just came back from the petstore and I bought a lot of chew toys for my chinchilla. All the toys I bought were safe, but I'm not so sure about this one. Can someone let me know?


Kaytee Perfect Chews for Guinea Pigs http://ift.tt/2dOhle5

Making chin supplies

Hello everyone

I am considering making and selling chin toys and cage accessories as I have access to a whole factory and all the tools and wood that I could need. I am based in the UK and was wondering if there are any toys or accessories that people have found hard to get, or have always wished someone would make? Alternatively, what's your/your chins favourite cage item?

Any comments about good/bad items and pics for reference would be great :)

Reducing stress during an evacuation

My fiance and I live in Charleston, SC. We recently made the decision to evacuate up north with his family before Hurricane Matthew hits our coast this weekend. While our exotic vet does offer boarding, the vet's office is located much closer to the coast and in the area that's expected to get hit the hardest. Needless to say, we don't feel comfortable leaving our chinchilla so we're bringing him with us.

We sadly won't be able to take his normal cage with us, but my fiance did pick up a single story cage (30.7"; L X 18.9"; W X 19.7"; H), and our chin won't get out-of-cage playtime during to being in a non-chinchilla-proof location.

We did purchase our little guy from a couple who moved up from Florida 3 years ago; they said they kept him (and his parents) in a small cage when they drove and there weren't any problems. I'm just looking for any advice anyone has to help us reduce the amount of stress our chin may face during the drive and 2 to 3 day stay before we can return home.

Bedding? I'm desperate

I was wondering what everyone uses for bedding? My chinchilla is litter pan trained so he only urinates in his litter pan but the odor is pretty strong. I clean it every 2-3 days and it will smell after a day. I'm a college student and I don't have the time to clean it every day (yes I have time for him. He runs around my room for 45 min every day while I am doing homework in there) I currently use "healthy pets critter care" which I got from Walmart. I want something that is safe for him but also handles the odor a little better. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Amanda and Eli :)

Female Chinchilla in Northwestern Indiana

I'm going to be moving to Germany in a little less than two months, and I have a 7 year old female chinchilla that needs a good home. Mischki is a standard gray chinchilla that I've had since she was a baby. She's generally sweet and loves scritches under her chin and arms. She's not a huge fan of being picked up, but usually settles down once you have her securely in your arms. She loves to explore, and her favorite wood is apple.

She would come with a full size (two story) ferret nation cage, as well as any odd accessories like ledges, a wheel, dust bath, treats, toys, etc. The cage has bass equipment pans, as well as two sets of fleece lining.

I am willing to drive a few hours to deliver her to a good home. I would ask a $50 relocation fee for the cage and driving. Please let me know as soon as possible. If I am delivering her, I would be free Nov. 13 - Nov. 27.

Attached Images

	IMG_20161002_120220958.jpg (91.0 KB)
	IMG_20161002_120117112.jpg (89.8 KB)
	IMG_20161002_120052360.jpg (72.7 KB)

Hi!

Hello!

My name is Lindsay. I live in New Jersey and I'm interested in becoming a chinchilla owner. This forum looks like a wonderful place to learn all I can about chins and hedgehogs :).

Lindsay

Current UK Suppliers?

I wondered if anyone has any advice on where to get chinchilla accessories in the UK currently? I have done a fair bit of poking around online and on this forum but a lot of the links are now broken or now go to completely different websites. It's so frustrating because it looks like there are *loads* of really great suppliers/crafters in the US/Canada, but the shipping fees would be ridiculous for things as bulky as wooden houses... :hair:

I've found and already ordered from chinchillas2shop.co.uk, which is really great for toy parts/wood treats etc. But i am looking for things like safe wooden houses / hay racks / ledges.

My boys currently have 2 nest boxes from Pets At Home, but I am *not* keen on them and want to get them out of there once I find a suitable replacement. I wish I was craftier, but I don't think I trust myself to make a safe kiln-dried pine house for them that won't fall apart the second they hop on top of it.

Anyone else in the UK who has found good safe chinchilla-furniture out there? Help!

Corneal ulcer

My chin, Idgie, has a corneal ulcer. My vet and I have been treating it with antibiotic ointment, but there is a lot of tissue build up around it and the ulcer is unable to heal. We are considering a grid keratotomy and consulting with an exotic ophthalmologist to see how effective this would be. I am also looking into the option of having the eye removed. Idgie is otherwise in very good health. Eating, pooping, playing, etc. She just keeps that eye almost half closed--not sure how well she is seeing out of it. She is able to run and jump okay. She is about 11 years old.

Has anyone had experience or know of experience with this? I don't want her to suffer and go through tons of treatment. (She is taking a pain med). I just feel that if the procedure is unlikely to be effective and take months of healing to find out, it may be just easier to not try and save it. But how awful would removing her eye be? I am not ready to put her down because she is healthy and happy otherwise.

Thanks

Chinchilla odor

Hello everyone,

I've had my chinchilla for about 4-5 months now and the past 3 months he has been litter trained and only pees in his litter pan but recently I have noticed that the odor has gotten stronger (if that makes sense) I clean it ever 2-3 days and usually it was fine but I don't know why it has gotten stronger recently. I'll change the bedding and it will smell by the end of the night. Does anyone have any suggestions for odor control? Any recommendation for different bedding that has worked well for you? I'm currently using "healthy pets critter care" I got it at walmart. I live in a college apartment and he stays in my room with me so it's not like I could move him to another room. Thanks in advance :)

New chinchilla bumping into things?

I got a new chinchilla a couple days ago, she's 1 year old and she seems pretty healthy. I've noticed something weird about her, though. When I let her out to play, she bumps into things. Like, she may be running and then just run into a box or something. When we got her, her previous owners also gave us some of her toys, one of them being one of those exercise balls. Maybe that has something to do with it? I'm not really sure. One more thing I noticed is that her poops seem much smaller than my other chinchilla's. I'm not sure if those two things are related, though, but I thought I'd just throw that out there.

Oxbow no longer available at Petsmart?

I'm currently on the phone trying to figure this out... But the food is no longer at any of the stores nearby and it's not online either. I thought perhaps it was out of stock in my stores and I was just unlucky, but I panicked when I saw it wasn't online as well.

It's still available on other sites but I wanted to avoid shipping costs if possible. >.<

Edit: So that phone call didn't get me anywhere. They took my information and said they would see if they can have it shipped to my store or they'd find out why/whether they've stopped carrying it or not. I don't know when I'll hear from them about it but hopefully it's soon.

:D

Hello! My name is Nicole and I recently registered to this awesome forum. I recently bought a Chinchilla from my local petsmart before conducting any research about breeders.

Her name is Pepper (Standard) and she is amazingly awesome! My only regret is that I don't know her birthdate. Obviously they are idiots and tried to tell me she was only a month old but she is way to big for that. She has been a great joy but has turned to mild fur biting as of recent which is disheartening but I hope find ways to alleviate this.

Anyways, I hope to learn a lot of users on this forum <3

National Geographic hay topper

I recently bought National Geographic Timothy hay, it came with a hay topper and didn't specify ingredients other than dried rosehips wicth weren't in the hay. Anybody know if I can feed this to my chin?

Can my chin have?

I read that my chin could have raisins and dried cranberries. Does anyone know if this is ok? Also oats?