HELP i think my chin is in shock!!

I let my little brothers (11 and 12) play with my chinchilla for a bit to give him some exercise for the day, which I have done many times before with no problems Which I will never do again And one of my brothers brought my chin back with really bad fur slip and smelled like pee, so from that point I just assumed he was spooked and needed time to chill out while I made sure he was ok. Then I put him in his cage and he was laying very flat and he made an attempt to crawl to his hut to get away from everyone but he couldn't stand up. I did move the hut so he could get to it but for about 30 minutes he crawled into his hut and layed there. He tried to walk but he had a limp. For about 20 minutes he sat in the corner of his cage or limped to another corner (also during this time he wouldn't accept any treats). But now he's walking around fine and even jumping on his ledges. I even tested to see if he would take a bath like my breeder suggested to a friend and he took the bath. I think he may be in shock and I'm going to take him to a vet tomorrow morning.

Any help will be appreciated. I know it was dumb to let my little brothers play with him, please don't remind me. I'm extremely worried.

Need help with introducing 2 chinchillas

Hi all.
I need help with my chinchillas but it is quite complicated. I adopted a 3 year old female chinchilla Misha. She's very friendly. Then later I rescued a 5 year old chinchilla, Chika, from a pet store that had lived on her own in a tiny cage. She barked and peed and she doesn't like being picked up. I've had her for 2 weeks now and she's doing very well with me but she still doesn't like to be held. I've tried to introduce her to misha. Their cages sit next to each other and I let them into a room they've both never been into and let them run around. Chika and misha sniff each other and seem okay until chika starts spraying and jumping towards misha. Misha seems to just want to be friends. No injuries have happened but there is a lot of fur slips.
Can anyone help? Will chika ever be able to be friends with misha? Must I just keep trying? I am so nervous!
Thanks in advance

Normal or bad?

Hello everyone,

I am a chinchilla parrent since 1 month and a half to a boy baby chinchilla who is only 3 months.
I am writing here because two days ago I started to hear for the first time my poor chin sneezing.
I thought is because my mother in law has cleaned the floor with a little more detergent that I usualy put in the water (she is with us only for a week for the Holidays) but yesterday the baby sneezed again and today I heard him again.
I searched through the internet and I searched for eye or nose gunk and he doesn't have it, but now in his sleep is making some noises as he is crying or something like a very silent baby crying.(or a baby dog)
The only vet in this city is on holiday as I already called him, and I have no other vets in the area that knows at least something about chinchillas. (I am from Timisoara, Romania)
I also think that last night he wasn't very agitate as he ordinary is (usually all the toys are all around his cage) and also last evening he stayed in my arms a lot more than usualy and he also fell asleep at some point in my hand.. It's not the first time that he sleeps in my hands, but now he was more not lethargic, but he stayed there a lot...

Could it be normal? maybe he is just tired, or maybe he just sneezes like me (I sneeze everyday :)) a lot I would say and I am not alergic and not with flu)...

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated. ( I really love my baby chin and I am almost crying while writing cause I don't want anything to happen to him)

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San Francisco, CA

VCA All Pets Hospital
269 S.Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, CA 94103

M-F: 7:00am - 7:00pm
Sat: 8:00am - 6:00pm

(415) 861-5725

http://ift.tt/2zaSrMu

They are the only one I can find in the entire city that treats exotic animals.

LUCKILY there is also AIMSS right down the block from me, for off-hours emergencies and they treat chins as well.

Animal Internal Medicine and Specialty Services

1333 9th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122

(415) 566-0540
www.aimss-sf.com

Fur Chewer

Let me start with, it has been a few years since I had chinnies. I have never has an issue with fur chewing in any of my past chins. So recently I acquired a pair and the female who is so sweet and beautiful is a chewer. Is there anything I can do to help distract her? I assume I should take her to the vet and have her checked to make sure she has no underlying issues. Maybe I can get some more info from the girl she came from. I was not the first stop in her rehoming. :sad:

Bump on ear!

I don’t know what this is, and I’m terribly confused— help?

Trying to be a better chinchilla owner?/

Hi!
I am new to this site and this is my first time posting so I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong thread but I need advice on caring for my chinchilla.

I am 16 so I live at home with my parents, the chinchilla is mine though, so everything I want to do has to get passed them. That is the first problem because a little while ago I had a concussion which worried my parents on how I slept, anyways long story short my chinchilla can no longer stay with me in my room overnight. The problem was that he was in my room all the time and now my mom makes me move him before I go to bed in a totally different cage downstairs so I can get good sleep. I feel like this is bad for him though because I constantly have to move him which I feel like must cause him a lot of stress? We keep him in my room during the day though because we want him to be around people as much as possible throughout the day so he doesn't get lonely. Is there a better way to do this? I can't leave him in the common rooms so I have been leaving him in a "storage room" at night. It is a good temperature and carpeted and stuff like that, it just doesn't get a lot of attention.

Secondly, I used to let my chinchilla out in my room to play because it was the most convenient at the time. After him chewing on my wood bed and me being worried that he would get to something that could possibly hurt him, I decided to take him to the bathroom or playroom to play. I always have issues getting him there though, since he doesn't have a cage there and I have to pick him up. Sometimes he doesn't mind me picking him up, I think he bonded to me, but other times he doesn't really like being picked up too much and I don't want to stress him out too much. Is there a better way to do this because I hate deciding whether to make him angry or skip play time so I keep him less stressed but then he doesn't get to play? I use the dust bath to get him in after he is done playing but I don't think using it twice is good but I'm not really going on anything so I am not too sure?

Third (I know this is long, yikes) I want to get my chinchilla a critter nation so he can have a proper cage. The whole two cage thing is really throwing me off so I have a smaller one in my room during the day and a big one downstairs at night because I assumed that he would want to play more and have more room downstairs. I am guessing the ultimate goal for me would be to somehow come up with a way to get him in one cage all day and all night in one location and then invest in a critter nation cage. If the two cage thing is okay and you guys think it wouldn't stress him out too much, is there any cages you would recommend because the ones I have now aren't good and I know that but they were kind of temporary cages that ended up lasting way too long.

Also, am I supposed to take my chinchilla to the vet once a year like a dog? I just thought of it the other day and now I am freaking out because I never took him and I'm scared that he might be sick and I just never knew. He hasn't shown any symptoms I think I am just being paranoid but is it something that I should do anyway?

Those are my four main questions but if you have any advice based on this or any random advise you think may apply please let me know. I am so stressed about this but I am so cluless and it's hard because unless i know for sure it's hard to fight my parents on it if that makes any sense.
Thanks so much if you made it through all of this I know it has been long!

Tricky diarrhea

Hi all,

I’ve had experience with Giardia (mushy poops) on multiple occasions, but never diarrhea in a liquid state. One of my chins has had it for 4 days now, but here is the weird thing. It only seems to be a small quantity (from the amount I’ve had to spot clean in the cage) and it only happens in the late morning hours. By the time I check on him again in the evenings after work, his poop has solidified. Granted not as smooth textured as normal, but not mushy at all. This has been going on for 4 days now, taking him to the vet this weekend.

I feed him a healthy diet (no Charlie or VitaCrap) but have taken him off his Oxbow pellets for now, only hay. Usual treats are shredded wheat or cheerios... dried fruit just once a week. Our other chin is eating the same stuff and is free of any digestive problems. I ordered some pet pectillin but am still waiting for it to arrive. He seems in all other respects perfectly normal. Energy level, appetite, water intake, general behavior. He’s very alert and inquisitive and that hasn’t changed. I have a follow up vet appointment this Saturday.

I took him in for the same thing a couple of months ago, but after a battery of tests (fecal float, blood, urine and ultrasound) the vet ruled out giardia and parasites, but couldn’t find anything conclusive. And it seemed to pass on its own w/o medication. The only other thing the vet can think to check are his teeth and perhaps give him some antibiotics, but we’ll wait until she can see him in person.

I wouldn’t have guessed that diarrhea could be so fickle. I would have thought that it would be more of a constant state until recovery. Have any of you had a similar experience with your chin?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Moving Soon

Gonna move across country in March. Two of us are planning on driving 3 chinchillas, two of which refuse to get along, and a cat from New York to Nevada. I was looking into Ryerson's 3 hole chinchilla carrier, but the pictures are so small I can't tell what it looks like. Are the walls between fenced or solid? Would I need a couple collapsible cages for breaks or should they be fine in the carrier cages for 30 or so hours with ac and food/water stops? will stop to let the cat stretch his legs and use the litter box and eat and offer the chinchillas food and water while i'm at it every 4-5 hours. gonna try and stop at my aunt's house in colorado to put them in a bigger cage to run around a bit and to have somewhere to sleep without worry about the animals.

If anyone has a better picture of the Ryerson carriers that would be greatly appreciated.

Any advice is more than welcome.

Can you re-bond chinchillas after blood is drawn?

Hi, I wrote out the story of my two current male chinchillas and why they may be fighting but it was a WALL of text, and that was after editing it, so I'm just going to ask the simple question and the point of that wall of text; My chinchillas were bonded, they had a falling out, one of them has drawn blood, is there any hope of them bonding again? I know chinchillas sometimes just decided they don't like their cage mate anymore but I was still going to attempt to re-bond them until I heard that after blood is drawn that they need to stay separated. If there is hope of potentially bonding them again, are there any tips or tricks that would help the process? Thanks!

Pyometra

I noticed my 10 year old girl Annie had a white discharge yesterday so I took her to the vet today and she was diagnosed with Pyometra. They did a swab which showed bacteria and white blood cells, an ultrasound and xrays which didn't really show much. Other than the discharge she has been acting normal, eating, pooping etc. The vet prescribed 7 days of Baytril .6ml dose 2x a day.

Has anyone had any good outcomes with just antibiotics? The vet thinks surgery on a 10yr old would be risky and recommended we start with the antibiotics and hopefully that will clear it up.

I'm concerned because most of what I'm finding says it can't be cured and surgery is necessary so trying to find out others experience and if anyone was cured with antibiotics alone.

All information and experiences are welcome.

Thank you!!

Scary behavior..?

3 months ago, my chinchilla finnegan was born! I’ve been his best friend, and my family has grown to love him to pieces!

About three days ago, I notice some odd behavior. First, he was oddly warm 5-6 days ago and it worried me, he hid under his little jumps. I covered his cage and he came out, so I assumed it was the new light I put in my room.

The next day, he acted strangely but wasn’t warm anymore.

The day before yesterday, Yesterday and today, he’s acted like he doesn’t know me. He’s also starting digging at his puppy pad and ripping it up. When I go near his cage, he sticks his nose out and if I let him sniff me, he bites me.
When I stick my hand in the cage, he starts circling it and sniffing and trying to bite. I’m extremely confused and worried about him. He has food, water, hay and all his toys. I let him run around the room but since he started acting odd, I don’t let him out, just out of fear that he’ll hurt himself.

I don’t have money to see a vet, so does anyone have any ideas? Experienced any of this???

Chinnie Goodies

It's been awhile since I've had any chinchillas. I recently acquired one. The master list seems to be a little outdated and I'm not sure which websites are still active or not. I've been out of the current go-to websites to buy things for chinchillas. Looking to purchase a hay box, blue cloud dust, and whole rosehips, mainly.

Bonding my two female chins

I have two females about a year old. I had them out for there first playtime and everything seemed to be going good, in the beginning they were both running around ignoring each other or would go up to each other then continue to ignore one another they sniffed each others butts then once again ignored each other there was some soft going on ones back which I know was the one trying to show a little dominance which I was told to expect but from that point everything was looking pretty good they didnt pay much attention to each other but at the end one of them ran up to the other and a little bit of fur was taken out of course I ended things there immediately. But there was no spraying no going up on hind legs fighting pretty much sniffing each other and ignoring for the most part until that last incident. People have said to keep them in there cages for a few days then to try again but I’d like opinions and feedback on how this went what’s normal what’s to be expected because this is my first time I have no experience just going off the internet and fellow chin owners experiences

Chinchillias no longer getting along

I've had my chinchillias for about a year now and my female ended up getting pregnant. Recently the kits stopped weaning and i tried putting my female back in with my male but they keep trying to fight. they are fine when they are loose in a play pen but if i leave them in the cage together they chase each other and bark. Does anyone know if they will eventually be okay with one another or will they have to stay separated.

Peeing on Fleece

I have four beautiful 7 year old girls. About a year ago i moved them to two Ferret Nation cages. I have been having issues with messy butts ever since =/ As you know, the shelves are plastic and must be covered in fleece. I have heard of many people allowing their chins to pee on fleece and have no issue. For whatever reason, my girls get very dirty bottoms when they pee on fleece. Its mostly just my two bigger girls that have the issue. I cover most of the fleece with bedding so that they can pee on that instead, but they often times prefer to pee on the fleece. I am worried about their hygiene. Sometimes their butts become very wet. I use a layer of fleece, two layers of towels topped off by another layer of fleece. Am i missing something? Is there any way to deter them from peeing on the fleece?

Alternate Wheel - running carousel

What do people think about this running carousel?

http://ift.tt/2nKvP51

Our chins have been steadily beating their 16 inch metal wheel into the ground. They run super hard at night and I'm wondering if this might be a good alternative for when we have to take it out/fix it/it needs to be replaced.

My only concern is that it seems to encourage the chin to run at an angle-- kind of curving around. I know wheels that are too small in diameter are no good for chins' backs -- do people think running at an angle like this might have bad long term affects in the long run? Any opinions would be much appreciated! :)

Here are some videos of chins running on them:
http://ift.tt/2nPXtOi

http://ift.tt/2nKvQ95

Chinchilla skin health problem

I have male chinchilla boy for 6.5 years, and he never had any health issue.
Today I saw this hair loss around his ear, and it seems to be itchy, because he's itching very often in that area.
I am suspicious about ringworm here. Does anyone has any other idea?
I have to wait until Monday to bring him to the vet, but to be honest there is no good exotic vet in my town.. :/

Attached Images

djuka5.JPG (18.7 KB)

Bad Fall

Hey all! First of all this is my first post and second I’m very happy I have ran across this site! It has been like my bible since bringing home our 2 mo old chin!

However, tonight during play time he had taken a leap out of my arms... landing on his head/neck! He bounced right up and headed for his cage. He started limping, hopping, and being some what spastic all at the same time. He calmed down and I checked his little body over. Nothing seemed to bother him and he’s acting just fine now. Eating, drinking, and playing normal. Not sure if his movements were out of fear or hurt? Has anyone else had an experience as such?

Dental exam/x-rays

My chinchilla had a dental exam an X-rays done today because she has been pawing at her mouth and grinding her teeth a lot lately. The vet said everything looked normal. After the appointment she seemed fine, she was eating hay an pellets, no issues but after an hour or so of being home she seems to almost be in pain? An she wants nothing to do with her hay an pellets now. She did not have any dental work done an I know it can take them a little bit to come completely out of feeling groggy from the sedation but I just didn’t know if the exam itself would cause her to be in pain? An if it does how long before she goes back to normal?

Cage Rattle

Hi All!

I hope everyone is having a great day. I have ordered some really nice new wooden cage shelves from My Critter Store. They are wonderful but they are only anchored to one side of the cage (previous shelves had nuts and bolts that anchored to 2-3 sides of the cage at once). We have a Ferret Nation 142.

My main issue is now when my chin bounces from one shelf to another the cage rattles. This seems to be stressing her out.

Are there any quick fixes to quiet down the cage?

Thank you so much!

Help With New Chinchilla

So we got our 12 week old chinchilla named Winter on Thursday night. We did what we were instructed. Placed her in her cage and let her acclimate. My daughter would lay down next to the cage and speak quietly to her, but she got spooked by something and ran and hid behind her wheel and started what i would describe as a barking sound. On Friday we did the same, let her continue to acclimate. I also put in her dust bath and she took a bath. However on Saturday we had company over and while no one went into the room we noticed she was hiding and barking more. Now, she will come out and explore her cage when we are not in the room and she is eating and drinking. Its been 4 days and whenever we enter the room she runs and hides. When i open the door and put my hand in just to clean the cage, not even near her (she pulls all of her hay out of its bin) she hides and makes the barking sound. We make a tongue clicking sound whenever we enter the room to let her know we are there. And we are always quiet when in the room. I'm worried that she will never come around. Is there something we should or shouldn't be doing? do we just need to be patient and give her more time? I'm very worried about her.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!

ISO Chins In AZ

Looking for another chin in AZ, if you have a bonded pair or one for re-home let me know as I may be interested.
Looking for Mosaic, Beige, or White Violet.
Preferably under 2 years old.
If you can no longer care for your chinchilla and it may be older than 2 I know others looking or I may be willing to take them.
:HH:

New chinchilla owner-HELP!!

Hello!
I'm a new chinchilla owner and I'd like to make the best possible environment for my new chinchilla. I got my new chinchilla yesterday. He’s the cutest, most adorable, super fluffy thing I’ve ever held! I can barely believe he’s real😁. Chinchillas are officially my new favorite animal! He’s been so perfect. He loves to be held, he loves his cage, he’s fun. But I’ve got one problem. He won’t leave his cage! If I reach in to grab him he’ll yell at me. It’s scares me because the sound he makes is similar to the sounds I’ve heard other animals make when they’re in pain. He seems fine though and he only makes that sound when I try to get him out. I don’t understand, what’s wrong with my chinchilla? What should I do? I gave him some toilet paper rolls, I think he may be eating them. So I’ll probably stop giving him those. I’m getting chinchilla dust off of amazon along with a little bath house and a wood den. I put a ferret hammock in his cage, so far he’ll test it but he won’t actually get in it. I could really use an advice from an expert or even an experienced chinchilla owner. I have a had a lot of experience with other animals and I'd like to know if the chinchilla has similar needs as the animals I've taken care of before. I also would appreciate any advice I can get as a new chin owner. I've had dwarf hamsters, hamsters, gerbils, ferrets, cats, dogs, rats, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and some others that aren't even close to the same category as a chinchilla. What similarities do chinchillas have to these animals? I've done a lot of research on the chinchillas and I'm feeling kinda confident, but I don't won't to make any fatal mistakes. We had some ferrets that would die soon after being bought, we still don't even know why they got sick and died so quick. I'd like to have this chinchilla last years, so what are some suggestions? Here's what I've got for my chin so far; a cage that we've used for our ferrets before-it's tall and has plenty space for exploring and has multiple levels. That's basically it, though we have a water bottle and a food container. I'm planning to just feed the chin rabbit and guinea pig food, from what I've read this is okay. I've read that chins overheat easily, does that mean they don't need bedding? Should I give the chin a liter box? If so, then would it be okay to use cat liter? Do they even need a liter box? Could I use old ferret stuff? I have some ferret hammocks and a ferret tower, would either of these be okay to give the chin? The room I'm putting the chin in isn't really chin-proof, so I can't really let him roam in there. Would it be okay to just let him roam on my bed during the "roam-time" or on the floor with a gate like you'd use for a rabbit? With my small rodents like gerbils and hamsters, I've never really had to worry about their teeth growing too long. I'd just give them toilet paper rolls that have had the toilet rolls or egg cartons to chew on. For our rabbits, I wasn't the main person taking care of them, but from what I remember, we didn't have to worry about their teeth either, though they had wood to chew on. However I noticed that we needed to trim our rabbits toe nails. Will I need to trim the chinchilla's toe nails? I wouldn't think so. Also I saw somewhere that they need wood chips or something at the bottom of their cage. Again I've never had to worry about this type of thing for my gerbils and hamsters, because they'd always make their own chips by chewing up the toilet paper rolls. For our rabbits, we didn't worry about wood chips either, in fact the cages we had them in were homemade wire cages so we couldn't really give them wood chips. BTW I have boy and during my research I saw that with the boys they need to be checked for hair rings monthly. What do you do when you find a hair ring? Just take it off? Are there any other things that I need to do regularly to prevent health issues? From what I've read chinchillas are super sensitive and I'm scared that I might do something to upset them. The room I'm going to put my new chin in is relatively quiet. It's probably one of the quietest rooms in the house. Something else I found in my research is they can smell other animals. We still have cats and a dog, they're the only "predators" we have. The cats stay in the backyard and the dog is basically free roam, but the dog doesn't come in this room very often. The only other animals that will be in this room are one gerbil and a couple betas (fish). I doubt the fish will be a problem, but I'm wondering if the chinchilla will have an issues with the gerbil. I wouldn't think so. I'm super nervous and I can't believe that I even have a chinchilla.

Thanks for any advice you can give me!
-Josie

P.S. I named him Bartholomew; Barry for short, like the flash.

Kit Injured During Birth

My chinchilla girl recently gave birth to a kit, but seems to have gotten over enthusiastic when cleaning it off, as the kit now has a large area on its head of matted fur and I believe scabbing. The kit is running around and acting fine, but I'm worried about there maybe being moisture trapped under there or the site possibly getting infected. Below is the best picture I could get of the wound.

New cage and potty training

My roommate and I recently switched to a new cage (Feisty Ferret) and our previous cage had a solid bottom which we covered with bedding. The new cage has wire bottoms which we have covered with fleece that is chinchilla-safe and put in a corner litter box with bedding, but they are only about 5 months old and still pee in other places. Is there anyway to get some sort of addition to the cage which would allow us to cover with bedding? It doesn't smell as good as it did with all bedding, and I feel a little bit out of my element here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Also - if there is a forum that would fit this type of information, I would love to know what it was, because I had a hard time finding information on this type of thing!

Bob won't eat!

I've been reading many of these threads and felt I should post my own.

Bob had pink eye, vets best guess is that he was aggravated by it and scratched his eye so now he has an ulcer. He's on metacam and eye drops for ulcers.

He won't eat or drink, he's not moving or doing anything. We tried force feeding Critical Care but it was a disaster. He won't eat it, it got everywhere. The only thing he'll eat is raisin. We gave him 2, 1 yesterday and 1 the day before.

What can I try to get him to eat?!

The ulcer is complication the force feeding process, his 3rd eyelid is protruding from his eye socket, it's very large so were worried about aggravating it further.

tiny poops

I just adopted an 6 year old chin, male. His poops are very tiny. I spoke to the woman I got him from and she told me his poops were always very small. Is this normal? Should I take him to the vet. He has never been to a vet so I do not want to stress him out anymore than he has been these last few days, a new home and everything. He does seem to be adjusting more everyday.

Small or far away?

Hi folks, new member here. I have three chinnies, a dad (neutered) and two daughters. I’ve had them about 4 years now, but am facing a dilemma coming up to the holidays.

For the first time, I will be living quite far away from both my family and my partner’s family at Christmas, so I won’t be able to simply pop round and check on them throughout the holiday season, and I’m looking for advice on how to look after my chins over the holidays.

We have only just moved into the area, so we don’t know any of our neighbours yet - otherwise I would ask someone to stop by and check on them every day or two.

I will be travelling home to visit family for about five days, and there will be no one in our house for the duration. I won’t be able to bring their normal cage along with me, as it is very large and my car is not. I bought a small cage (a birdcage, about 2.5 feet tall) which I had hoped to use as a holiday cage, but after putting them in it it seems extremely small.

In the past when I have gone away for a weekend, I have simply left an extra food packet in their house and an extra water bottle attached, but this would be a rather longer trip and I am concerned about leaving them on their own for so long.

I am trying to figure out whether it would be better to bring the chinnies along with me in the cage, knowing that they won’t have very much space and might not have a chance to run around outside the cage very often, if at all, or whether I should leave them to fend for themselves (with plenty of supplies) while I’m gone.

Has anybody any advice or experiences to share on this?

Licking the bars of his cage?

Hiya, so recently I've noticed my chinny licking the bars on his cage, he goes up and down them almost obsessively for 5 or 10 mins each evening, but I can't tell why he's doing it? He's never done it before these last few days. I've tried putting more toys in his cage incase he's bored, but he's still licking the bars... :hmm:

If anybody's experienced this before, do you know why they do it? Is it something to worry about?

Please can someone help???

hello anyone who might be reading this i could really use some advice on a hair ring, so teddy is my male chinchilla and hes been for the last maybe month grooming down there excessively i thought it could be a hair ring but he might just get rid of it himself as i have tried to do hair ring checks before but failed as he is quite fidgety and i didn't like stressing him out. I noticed that he started making pain noises and when id look over he was grooming himself.. i decided that i was just going to try again and have a look for myself so i managed to start a hair ring check but his penis is extremely swollen and it cant go back into the skin properly i managed to pull some of it down and i noticed some kind of blacking colour on his penis but i'm not sure if its hair or dying there's a very large lump that i cant pull the skin past which i suspect is the hair ring would Vaseline be okay to try and glide it a bit easier i'm just scared i might rip his skin if i pull too much hes obviously in pain as when i touched he was kicking me so hard that i'm now bleeding do you think i should take him to the vet to remove it or still try at home? the vets is closed right now and i don't think any of them close by have exotic vets that's why i'm trying to still deal with it at home but i feel like its better for a vet... Thanks

Safe or Not Safe Essential Oils?

Hello,

A friend of mine is into the Young Living Essential Oils. I've got a diffuser but I"m SUPER nervous about using it any where near my chinnies, so I only use it in one room that is closed off to them.

I'm wondering if anyone here has a list of essential oils that are big no nos, to having around chinchillas? Or a list of ones that might be okay? The only one I can seem to find for sure that isn't safe is tea tree. Otherwise everything is very vague and no 2 sources that I find seem to agree.

I would like to use my diffuser more but my babies being happy and healthy are more important to me. Also I only use the diffuser, I would never put the oils directly near my chinnies.

Cage mate pulling fur?

My 2 males have been getting along so well for months. I went on vacation for 2 weeks and I come back to find Nibbler is missing fur. I had a friend watching them maybe that stressed them out?

Turns out Potato his cage mate was over grooming him. I watched it happen. Potato would be grooming than pull out fur from nibbler and nibbler would bark. A few times Nibbler would bark a lot at Potato to keep him away. Then they are right back snug next to each other being cute.

I do have them next to a cage with 5 females. Most of the females are older well over 10 years. 2 are young under 5 years. I have since done some deep cleaning. Today I took the boys out to play and I changed their cage took everything out cleaned and and switched it around. I also put up blanket so they can not see the females any more. I think this has helped.

Has anyone had a same sex pair over groom their friend or pull fur. If so what did you do? did it work? Why where they pulling fur? Did you stop it?

My chinchilla got wet from being in a fish tank

My chinchilla jumped into an old fish tank and the water is very dirty and gross and i have no clue how long she was in there for. when i woke up this morning at around 8 or 9 i saw her in there and immediately used a blanket to dry he off the best i could and used a blow dryer to try and dry her. Im not concerned about her fur not looking as pretty, I just want her to be safe and not sick. She ate some of her kaytee yogurt treat, which is a good sign. but shes not not moving around. im going to take her to a vet tomorrow, but i cant today because of thanksgiving and im really stressing out. she seemed okay, besides her not moving as much. Im so scared for her.

My Chinchilla is scaring me

Today, my chinchilla is acting very quiet, usually, shes very loud and vocal about every little thing and always whines for me let her out. Since today is the day before Thanksgiving, I ignored her partially because there is many things I had to get done before tomorrow. When I finally got around to seeing her, she was sitting in the corner of the cage, hunched over. I pulled her out with little to no resistance and sat with her. She leaned her head against my hand and this was very strange because shes usually very alert and trying to sniff everything. I put her back in her cage and gave her a tablet that help digestion, to see if she would eat because she loves those. She took it, but on her way to jumping down to the final level of the cage she sort of fell on her side. I have no idea what to do, the vet is not open tomorrow, and I don't want her to suffer. She is only 3 years old and she's been having soft stool for a little while. I restricted her to hay only to see if it would help the situation. I will be taking her to the vet on Friday but I'm so worried something else is the issue, please help!

Wood

Where do people get their wood to build ledges and such? I've recently been interested in building my chin some ledges and its been hard finding untreated kiln dried pine. Is there any other wood that more accessible or where can I find wood to make into ledges?

I'm heartbroken and so confused, what happened?

Hello,

This is a little bit long, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart if you bear with me and read this. I'm heartbroken.

Background
My 15 year old chinchilla Egon has had issues with his teeth for over 11 years now. I was always told to put him down (even from people over here) but managed to find an exotics vet who wanted to give him a chance. After I found her, Egon's health has been much better for the last few years. The vet filed his teeth down every 2 months under sedation. Between the visits Egon's been really happy, bouncing and chirping.

But this time when he came back from the vet, he didn't want to eat. For 10 hours, we tried to appetite him into eating. He ate a limited amount and had his metacam, but continued to back off when I approached him with food. At this point he still ran around talking, and dust bathing.

The emergency vet
After another hour I took him to an emergency vet. They were not specialized with exocits and were very clear about this.

Vet said his stomach felt empty, and they weighted him at 430 grams. Egon's usual weight is 550-590. They said he didn't have much fluid in him, that they wanted to try and replenish fluids, give something for his stomach and some morphine.

They gave him:

• Primperan 5mg/ml
• Buprenodale 0,3mg/ml
• Sodium Chloride 9mg/ml
• Some unspecified injection (???)

Then they force fed him with critical care. He looked very tired at this point.

Back home
When we got home, he was moving even less. I put him in his transport cage so he wouldn't hurt himself on the ledges in his normal cage. After a few more hours, I took him out so he could move around on the floor, fearing his stomach would stop working. He looked almost limp, tilted his head and shook a little bit at first. I massaged his belly and put him back into the transport cage.

I tried to get some sleep, but woke up after 30 minutes because I could hear him whimper every 1-2 seconds. I've never heard him do that before. I called a family member to come and help me feed him again. We did, and when he was back in the cage he was no longer whimpering. I also called the vets and they said he could possibly be affected by the morphine (What morphine, the buprenodale?).

I looked after him every 30 minutes, thinking he was recovering. I noticed he was breathing a little bit slower than usual, and it looked like he had hiccups every 2-3 seconds.

When I returned 30 minutes later.. he was lying down on the side.. his coat pushing through the cage bars. I knew this was bad, rushed over to him and grabbed him. He didn't breath, and his eyes were open.. limbs were extremely stiff. But he was still warm. :cry4:

I don't understand.. what happened??? I'm guilting myself for making him go trough these last few hours!! I didn't want him to be in pain but looking back I think he was!

Senior Living: More Than Just Housing

There's the old saying that "Getting there is half the fun," which implies that wherever you are there's plenty more to do and see. There was probably never a better maxim to describe what the Senior Living Community at Three Links Care Center is all about. All it takes is one visit to see that there is more to our facility that fancy rooms and big great rooms.

The Senior Living Community at Three Links Care Center is designed to be like that, and just like you wouldn't have a home just so you had something to live in all of the time, we build our facilities so that they really are a home base for residents who have plenty to see and do outside, whether it be amongst the manicured lawns and gardens of the buildings themselves, or further out into the community.

Wherever they are, they will know that life has really not stopped at their door. Regardless of the level of care your loved one needs, we try to make sure that everyone in our facility experiences all of the outside attractions and entertainments that they can take part in. It goes without saying that this makes those in senior care feel more like they are truly alive and still considered vital members of the community.

Why not show your loved one that he or she is still an important part of your lives by making them part of ours? They will appreciate you for it, and will no doubt welcome you with open arms when you visit the next time you are here. But whether you are with them or not, they will know that as long as they are part of Senior Living Community, they really are not forgotten. Instead, they are alive in every sense of the word. For more information about Three Links Care Center, please visit our website at threelinks.org

Hello

Hi, my name is tia and I’m soon to be a chinchilla mommy. Next month I will be getting 2 kits and I’m so excited, but also nervous. I have so many questions and I think this is the perfect place to hopefully get honest and good answers!

Cleaning shelves

So we have two sets of boards we rotate in our boys cage. I just cleaned a set that we had taken out a while ago (prob should've cleaned it right when I took them out), I plan on swapping them out with the ones in the cage tomorrow.

I scrubbed them down with vinegar, let them sit for a bit, then scrubbed them down with warm water. Dried what I could, then let them dry over night. Today I'm going to sand some of the spots.

My question: there was alot of pee on the boards, so I ended up wiping them down with a lot of vinegar, all over, and then did the same with the water. I dried them but of course they were still damp, and had to dry over night. Pardon my ignorance, but even though they're dry now, is their a point where getting them TOO wet could be bad? Or if their kiln-dried, are they ok to be in the cage no matter how wet they get as long as they're dry by the time they go in the cage? This sounds stupid but I guess I want to make sure I didn't mess up the wood's "kiln-driedness" dumb as it sounds :hmm:

New noise after argument?

I have two chinchillas, both confirmed male, Milo and Tesla. Milo is a year old and Tesla will be a year old in February. They are kept in separate cages because Milo is so full of energy while Tesla is quite a bit more chill.

I do let them play together outside of their cages and they've played together just fine the entire time I've had them. No fighting, just a lot of cuddles and popcorning!

Just a few days ago however, Milo kept twitching his tail and trying to mount Tesla. I checked him for a hair ring just to be sure it wasn't that and found nothing. The encounter bothered Tesla so I put them both away.

The next day, it happened again! Except this time Milo seemed so very aggressive, chasing Tesla around and they were both vocalizing quite a lot. Again I put them away.

I left them to their cages for a few days and even played with them individually for another couple days.

Then today I decided to try and let them play again. I let them take dust baths. Within five minutes they were at it again. When I separated them, Milo was making this like, "huffing and puffing" noise and I couldn't find it on any reference sites to understand what it meant. I was wondering, what kind of noise this is. Is it agitation? Is Milo just being dominant?

I don't think I'll be letting them play together anymore, I'm just too afraid that things will turn violent if I do!

Fungus question

We recently noticed a bit of fur missing on one of our boys nose, it appears to be fungus.

I dabbed some blu kote on it and some Tinactin powder should be arriving this evening. We plan on putting some of this powder in his dust bath, as we've read you can do.

Any advice on fungus is appreciated, but my main question: he is housed with another male chin. Our back-up cage is not quite as up to snuff anymore as I thought. Is it necessary to separate them? If so I won't be able to for a couple days when I can get another cage. My second question: if it's ok for them to remain housed together, is it ok for the non-infected chin to take a bath with the Tinactin powder as well? It would be tricky to give them baths separately but we absolutely will if there's a risk. Would it be good for the non-infected chin to have the Tinactin powder in case he actually is infected and just hasn't shown signs yet?

Thank you!

Hi!

Hi everyone, I'm Amy, pretty new to looking after chinnies. I have 1 at the moment, but I'm in talks with a local rescue for introducing a second chinny to my home and hopefully being able to bond them with my current one.

About me: I'm 23, live in the uk, I like video and board games, love all the cute fluffy creatures, I currently have 1 male chinchilla called Tom, and 2 female hamsters - Sooty and Sweet.

About Tom: I acquired Tom after his previous owner got too sick to look after him, he's a bit skittish, clever, very cheeky, and never wants playtime to end, so it's quite a challenge trying to put him back in his cage. He's roughly 2.5-3 years old, and has unfortunately had to move around a lot in the past due to changing owners so much but I have him now and he's mine forevermore :)

I've had him for around 2 months now, and things seem to be going well. I was able to take him for his first vets visit yesterday and found out that he's been a bit neglected in the past so one of his front teeth isn't so healthy, and that he's suffered some kind of face trauma and lost some of his back teeth when he was younger. :cry3:

Being a first time chinny owner I have loads of questions, but I'm hoping with everybody's advice on here I can make Tom's life awesome <3

P.S. Here's the link to a pic of him, as I've noticed attachments don't seem to work for people on other posts. http://ift.tt/2Ab9ItO

Not nibbles, not quite biting, but something?

Hiya, I rescued a chinny a few months ago and have been having a great time bonding with him and spoiling him with loads of attention, I've noticed sometimes he nibbles me, which from what I've read is like grooming/social behaviours which is fine. However lately (last couple of weeks?) he's been doing something a little different, and I'm not sure if it's out of annoyance or if its another grooming/social thing?

Basically when I'm giving him chin scritches or petting him he likes to stop me occassionally and kind of bites? Like he grabs my fingers and puts them between his teeth and then kinda just... presses his teeth on them? It's not painful, and I don't think he's trying to hurt me, he just does that a few times and then lets go and waits for more scritches. Then rinse and repeat.

Not a major concern, I'm just curious why he's doing it. I don't want to be annoying him and wondered if it's some kind of warning like "please stop this or I will bite you"? Or if it's a mutual "you give me scritches and I'll give you cute little bite things"? :hmm:

Losing Hair

My 7-year old female grey has beautiful fur. So pretty, so soft. But lately something has changed. She is missing hair on her lower back, hind legs, rump and base of the tail. She is not bald, but in people terms she looks like a 4 year kid whose 6 year old sibling grabbed some scissors to play beauty parlor. It looks chopped off/peach-fuzzy and is coarse. Tried to upload a photo but did not work, hence the description.

Is this something natural (shedding/self biting) or a sign of something more insidious.

What the heck is this?

I wasn't really sure where to post this, so if it should be moved, please do so.

I checked on my chins before I went to bed last night, and in the corner of the cage was some funky stuff. I freaked out. I have no idea what it is. It's a plastic-y texture, but I don't know where they could have gotten it. Could they have swallowed it and then thrown it up? The shape/form of it has me puzzled. If it is plastic, would it have melted to the current shape? Or is it something else?

They seem fine, btw. But I will watch them closely today.

Thanks!
Trish

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Custom size fleece liner

Hi all,

My chin's cage is about 38" x 23". I'm looking for 2-3 fleece liners, preferably 2 layers of fleece with an absorbent middle layer (UHAUL, quilt, etc). I'm a bit tight on funds right now so I'd like to get a price estimate first before I decide if I'll get them now or in a few weeks. I'd be willing to pay shipping if necessary. Would someone be able to make liners for me, and if so, how much would they cost? Thanks!

Special Needs Chinchilla

Hi everyone! I work at a pet store, and we have a chinchilla who got an infection; she's taken all her antibiotics and is perfectly healthy now but her head is still tilted. The vet is not sure if this condition will ever get better or go away, so right now her options are to be adopted by someone who can care for her, or euthanization, as we don't have the space or resources to care for her long-term at the store; so I'm going to be adopting her as soon as she's cleared to go by the vet.

As far as her individual needs go, I'm going to be using a single-level rabbit cage for her, removing any shelves that she could potentially fall from and injure herself, as the head tilt affects her depth perception and ability to jump. I'm going to look for a hide/home with a wide opening and preferably a rounded, not flat, top, so she can get into it easily, but not on top of it. I've already seen how her food and water are placed in her cage at the store to be sure she can access them, and I'm going to be replicating the setup at home. The veterinarian she's been seeing so far for the infection/head tilt is certified to care for chinchillas, and I'm thinking it'd be best to just have them continue seeing her for whatever she might need, considering they already know her and her disability.

So here's where the questions start: I want to use a soft bedding for her, so that if she does accidentally fall over, she won't hurt herself. Would paper be soft enough, or should I use a fleece liner? One site I read recommended fleece for chinchillas with a head tilt. If I go with fleece, should I purchase liners, or make them myself?

As far as toys and exercise go, would it be safe to let her have a wheel? Would she be able to get into and out of it safely on her own? I'll be chinchilla-proofing my room so she can run around freely when I'm home to supervise her, but I'm not sure if she should have something in her cage with her for when I'm working. For chew toys, would loose ones on the floor be better, or ones that hang from the cage? I feel like with loose ones she could move them around if she needed, but she could also trip over them, whereas with hanging ones she may not be able to access them if they're placed poorly, but if she ran into them they wouldn't hurt her.

As far as dust baths, I'm assuming I'll have to help her get in and out of whatever container I end up using, and obviously supervise her. Is there any kind of container that would be better or worse for this? Should I have her bathe in the cage, or during her free-roam time; if she's bathing in the cage, should I leave the container in there even when it's empty, or only place it in for the baths, so she doesn't try and climb around it herself? For the cage itself, would the wire be alright, or should I try to soften it with something? I'm worried if she tried to jump she could hurt herself, or try to chew on the wire and end up injuring herself that way due to the head tilt.

I'm sorry if any of these questions seem silly but I want to be sure I can care for her properly with her disability. Please feel free to tell me if I'm worrying too much, or ESPECIALLY point out any issues the head tilt might cause that I've missed! I want this little girl to be as happy and healthy as possible, and I'm prepared to do whatever she needs.

chin for adoption, ASAP

I noticed this while I was looking for an older chin to adopt. Too young for me but maybe someone would be able to take him in.


http://ift.tt/2iNvAAs

Fur Biting Issue

I have three pet chinchillas. Gizmo (M-6y.o.), Charlie (F-5y.o.), and Pebbles (F-2.5y.o.).

Gizmo is in his own separate part of the cage, and Charlie and Pebbles (mom and baby) are in the other section.

About 5 months ago I began to notice my girls have been ripping their fur out for some reason. Gizmo does not do it at all. The baby, Pebbles, has much more missing than Charlie does but I occasionally catch them both doing it. Charlie has NEVER done this before now and I'm growing concerned because its starting to look awful, almost sickly.

They are generally pretty happy chinchillas. They have a wheel, their entire cage is made of wood for chewing, they have toys, they get dust baths a few days a week, and they come out for play regularly.

Does anyone know why they might be doing this? Or is it just boredom? I can't think of anything else I can do to entertain them more than I already am. Could it be diet? dust? They eat Oxbow, have timothy hay cubes, and they use blue beauty dust bath (sometimes Poof!).

Is my cage and chin okay

Advice needed.

Is my cage okay? My Chinni is 3months old fed burgess herbal hay and degu pellets.

Advice or suggestions appreciated. Cage measures 97 height 53 depth and 81 length internal measurements

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Heat or Radiation Treatment for Hay

Hi Everyone,

I ordered Alfalfa Hay and a hay ball toy from Amazon, the package was held by customs and they said it would require a treatment before release. I believe the treatment would be either by heat or radiation, i also believe I get to choose which one. So, with that in mind in case they needed both not just one, will the radiation harm my chinchilla? I'd be grateful if anyone who is familiar with this or has gone through this could reply to my post :)


Thanks,
Heath

Many chinchillas in south central pa

I have a few chinchillas looking for good homes in time for Christmas!

8 week old standard female, ready now
7 month old standard female
3 year old standard female, possibly bred
1 1/2 year old standard female ready in dec
1 1/2 year old standard female
dark tan male kit ready in dec
extra dark ebony female kit ready mid/end dec
and more!

see my website for a current list and pictures http://ift.tt/1cybDYe

Chin food/water containers?

So I'm getting a new CN (or FN, whichever I can find the cheapest option for) cage soon, and I'd prefer not to use the water bottle my local breeders gave me, it sometimes drips and would fit very oddly on the new cage. Anyone know of a good one to buy that is safe and doesn't tend to drip? I can make due with the food bowl I have, I'll probably find a way to attach it to the cage sides. However if anyone knows of a good food bowl that works well for them, is safe for the chins, and prevents messes in any way, suggestions for that are very appreciated as well.

New Chinchilla Owner please help!

Hello!
I purchased a chinchilla about a month ago who I named Houdini. I got him from a high school kid who kept him in basically a hamster cage. His fur was matted and since I got him he's in (what I call) a palace, an enclosure taller than me with multiple jump platforms and such... He gets dust baths every two or three days, I'm giving him everything to the book according to Google. I'm being very patient and I'm attempting to making one of those chin spin wheels without paying $100.

He's warmed up to me a lot, but he will still shoot pee at me. I haven't held him since the kid I bought him from put him in my arms.

I would just like some advice on earning Houdinis trust and making sure he's happy and living his best life!

Thank you, I sincerely would appreciate any advice.
Abbey


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Cat and chinchilla!

Hello! Recently, we had a horrible accident happen involving one of our feral cats. I was referred here by a friend who said to ask about it, so here it goes.

Yesterday, My little sister had a friend open, she was showing off the chinchilla and did NOT close the cage door. Thats been a rule for the year we've had them. The chinchilla got out, and the cat must've seen them. I just barely noticed it when my cat was running around with the chinchilla in its mouth! I scared the cat off and the chin seemed fine. He just had one tiny little scratch on his foot, which we cleaned up.

We put him in the cage with the other one, which have been together since birth, and they seemed fine. This morning, I woke up to my chin limp inside the cage. We got one of my mothers transport carriers and made a little bed for him. He's been limp all day, and one thing I noticed is that he feels much lighter then before. Usually I'd take a few minutes at his cage before he'd even let me put a finger on him, then i'd be able to pet him. Now, he just let me touch him and pick him up, he makes that little sound sometimes that you hear when they are in distress.

We can't afford to go to the vet right now, as money is Very tight. I was wondering if anyone has had a situation like this before? what do I do?

My mom has rabbits, so she's dealt with similar situations, but chinchilla's are so fragile that we just do not know what to do. We've been giving him water and pedialyte for the day.

If anyone knows what to do in this situation, please do leave a reply. Any help is welcomed, Thank you!

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Hi!

Hello!

My name is Carol, and a little over a month ago my roommate and I brought two 3 month old chinchilla girls into our lives. I decided to join the forum because though my roommate had had a chinchilla before as well as other small pets, I have only ever had cats and wanted to make myself as informed as possible. I have already been having a great time learning about their habits and their needs, and I love spoiling them! I can't wait to learn so much more by being a part of this site!

Chins Fighting - Neutering to cure aggressive behavior

Hello everyone,

I am new to the site here and need some help before I make a decision to neuter one of my chins. Everyone seems very knowledge so I welcome all opinions and help.

I have two male chins that I rescued from a family that bought them at PetCo before realizing chins don't make good pets for young children (duh). I have had them for almost two years and they lived peacefully in a custom built large cage that is 4ft x 2ft x4ft (LxWxH) with a tube running to another cage that is 3ft x 2ft x 2ft.

Two months ago, I moved across the country and since moving my two chins seem to be fighting more and more often. They are in the same cage as they were before and lived peacefully before the move, only occasionally fighting or chasing each other, but never very often or very serious.

One chin is much larger, named Fatty, and the other chin is much smaller Alfonse. Fatty seems to be the aggressor in most conflicts. Almost daily I am finding small clumps of fur around there cage seemingly from Alfonse.

Today was a tipping point when I noticed dried blood in their cage and a wound on Alfonse's back leg. I am uncertain how the wound came about, but I am afraid Fatty bit Alfonse during a fight. I have since put a divider in their cage and neither seem very happy about it. They sleep each other on the same side of the divider and chew at the block of wood dividing the cage (even though they have PLENTY of other things to chew on).

Fatty has some weird personality traits that make me think he was abused before I took him in. He is terrified of people and often hides when people are near his cage (even after the two years I have had them). Alfonse is much more friendly with people and adventurous. Even though Fatty is larger, it is odd to me that he is becoming more dominant when he is scared of almost everything.

Anyway, I am trying to figure out whether the cause of the fights is the A) stress of being moved (but it has been two months since the move), B) a random change in behavior, or C) caused by maturing and therefore increased aggression.

I think my only hope is to get Fatty neutered but I am afraid this will make him more afraid of people. Does anyone have any advice? I may also consider rehoming Fatty but this would be a last resort. I am in the Denver area.

Thank you so much all.

Do Chins know if they're warm?

I know overheating is deadly for chins, but do they know if they're warm/overheating?

I ask because my Squid LOVES crawling up in my hoodies or shirts to sleep while I'm watching TV or cuddle up right by the vent when the heat is on. I assumed he would know if he was too warm and move.

Though just now while he was in my hoodie, I checked on him and his ears were a bright red and he was quite warm, so I immediately pulled him out of my hoodie and he just looked at me like "stoopid hooman what are you doing, I was sleeping"

He had the option to leave, he wasn't blocked in whatsoever. So, do they know when theyre too warm?

Hello!

Greetings everyone, I joined this forum finally after finding myself reading several threads here whenever I was looking for some information to help with my raising chinchillas, and today I decided to join! I have never joined a forum of any sorts before so I apologize in advance if I don't know what I'm doing haha. I'll now tell a bit about myself, and my chichillas of course!

My name is Zaven. I am 15 years old and I live i the United States. I'm also a guy for anyone wondering. I am home schooled however I love to get involved with the local high school for clubs and such. I especially enjoy theatre, music, woodworking, and Brazlian Jiu Jitsu, a martial art I have practiced for basically my entire life. I have always been an avid animal and wildlife enthusiast, but I first gained my love for chinchillas when I held one for the first time in the 6th grade on a trip to a nature center of some sort. (It was quite a while ago so the details are quite foggy, sorry about that haha) That's enough about me though, on to my chinchillas.

I own two male chinchillas, named Leo and Vinnie. I first welcomed Leo to my home back in November of 2014, on my 13th birthday. He is now a little over 3 years old, and has a standard grey fur coat. Vinnie was welcomed to the chin family on the same day, two years later in 2016. He is a bit over 1 year old and has a beige coat. (I will include some pictures of the two below.) Leo is usually pretty calm and sweet, and can also be very curious and quite the explorer. Vinnie, on the other hand, is far more crazy and energetic, and on top of that much more finnicky when it comes to being held by new people especially. I love them both and they both get along very well despite their seemingly polar opposite personalities.

I will likely post quite a bit of questions for those more experienced than I, for even after nearly 3 years of owning chinchillas I have a lot to learn and improve on my skills raising them. I hope you enjoyed reading my introduction, and I hope you will enjoy my future posts here. Bye!

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Questions About Fleece Bedding and Critter Nation Cage

Hello, I am new to this forum, and to all forums actually, so I apologize for my lack of knowledge of these types of things haha.

I have 2 male chinchillas (ages 1 and 3 years) living a cage I built out of wood and wire fencing, mainly as a temporary cage until I could buy a higher quality one to last a long time. It's not very easy to clean and maintain, and it's also pretty ugly. So the plan is to buy a Critter Nation next week for my birthday.
Right now I use wood shavings as bedding and it is VERY messy, even with 3 inch deep pans. And it doesn't help that the Critter Nation's pans are like a half inch deep or something stupid.
To any of you reading who use fleece liners, how do those work? I've seen so many people online say they use fleece bedding for their chins, and it sounds like a great idea to me, I just have a few questions about bedding and the cage.
I will list everything I'm having trouble finding help with:

-Do the chins chew through it? And how might you stop it if so?
-How do you make them and maintain them?
-Should I place a absorbent layer underneath the fleece, or will the fabric be enough?
-What might be the cheapest way to buy the Critter Nation? (Double) Do they go on sale for Black Friday/Cyber Monday on Amazon? Probably a dumb question but I figured I might as well ask just in case.
-What are your thoughts o fleece bedding, the Critter Nation, or both in conjunction with each other?

Any help with any of these topics would be greatly appreciated. Any and all other tips regarding fleece bedding or the cage are welcome as well! Thanks in advance! :)

Questions About Critter Nation Cage and Bedding for Chinchillas

Hello, as you could probably tell, I am new to this forum. New to ALL forums, actually, so I apologize ahead of time for my small knowledge of how all of this works.
Anyways, I have two chinchillas (male, ages 1 and 3 years approx.) currently living in a cage I built about a year ago. I built it out of kiln dried white pie 2x2's and chicken wire which I attached to the wood frame using a staple gun. However this cage is not very pretty, and its a bit of a pain to clean. My chins also get bedding, food, and poop EVERYWHERE! So it's more or less just a temporary cage till I can get a better one.
So to solve this, on my birthday (which is next week) I plan to be getting a double Critter Nation cage as I hear that they are great cages and are easy to clean and maintain, and are also way more practical and appealing to the eye than the ugly mess of a cage I have currently.
My major question right now is about the cage and bedding. I currently use wood shavings that my local breeder, who I got my chinchillas from, sells in large bags. A lot of the chinchilla owners I've seen on the internet use fleece liners, however, and I want to try them out, it seems like a convenient and easy to clean method. And the pans on the Critter Nation are way too shallow for me to consider using my current bedding without modifying the cage, anyways. If anyone reading uses fleece as bedding, could you please detail how you made and maintain your liners, how to keep the chins from chewing through them, your overall thoughts on these bedding methods, and any other useful tips I should know? And could any Critter Nation owners tell me their thoughts on the cage? (And maybe the cheapest way to buy mine, lol.) Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! :)

Old male with females?

So I have this old male I am nursing back to health he is old well over 15 years. He hates all the males I have tried to put him with. I was going to just let him live alone. Then I got this Idea to put him in with my females. I have some elderly females too.

I thought maybe get him fixed. He is so old. I could just keep him in a cage by himself. I could try to bound him to my other 2 males. I do not want to mess that up they are so perfect together.

Anyone have old male chins with ladies? Could this work? I do not want to breed so I think I just need to keep them apart.

Chin Sudden Behavior Change, Charging then Biting

My chin recently has been displaying a behavior change. When he's out of the cage (for playtime), he'd sometimes charge at people then nick them at the legs. Sometimes the bites are soft so they feel like needles pricking at your skin, and other times the bites break skin. I don't know why he's suddenly behaving this way! He only does this to a specific person, who has never harmed or mistreated my chin. Any thoughts? :help:

Chinchilla killed inside of its cage

Hi everyone, My girlfriend and I own three chinchillas (two boys caged together and a female caged by herself). We recently went out of town for 3 days and when I got back monday night I found Paprika (the female) dead inside of her cage.

She was at the very bottom of the cage with two large open wounds on the lower half of her body. Her head was slightly pushed out of the cage bars as if she had been possibly trying to escape. Her body was also abnormally flat and much hair had been lost both near her and just outside of the cage.

Were both very devastated and can't figure out what even happened... there was no blood outside of the cage and practically none inside even. Whatever it was that got inside her cage (assuming thats what happened) had to have been small enough to slip through her 1inch bars. We have left town multiple times before leaving the chins plenty of food and water, and even have someone who swings by to make sure theyre okay, nothing like this has ever happened.

I would love to know if anyone has ever had something similar happen to them, I can only assume that it was a mouse/rat or something but I'm baffled that a rodent would kill a chinchilla over just eating food from the kitchen or trash can... Please help me figure out what happened so that I can determine whether my other two chins are safe or not.

RIP Paprika you were the sweetest little bean

Chin sounds

I'm sure this is already a thread some where, so sorry for a repost. My chin has been making a sound I can't seem to find anything out about and was wondering if you guys have heard this as well. It's a soft whistle sound that seems to come from her noise. It's not all the time or constant. It seems when we are playing together she will come and sit on my shoulder or my head she will make it. It's only every once in a while, but I haven't been able to find anything out about it. I know her barks and her little chirping, but this sound is completely different from the others. Maybe one soft whistle per breath a couple times and then she stops. She has no signs of any respiratory problems, and breathing is fine. Maybe some kind of contact call?

Two Chinchillas need a loving home- OH

Hi all,
I am looking to find a new home for my Chinchillas. Due to unexpected circumstances, I can no longer give them the care they deserve. They are very sweet and I hope to find someone who can dedicate their time and love to them. Nala is a standard grey female who is 3yrs old. She is very sweet, loves to roam, loves her raisins (1 per week or less) and loves to be groomed. Chewbacca, is a white mosiac 3yr old male. He loves to lay in funny positions, loves his dust bath, and even though he is a bit more shy- he loves chinnie rubs. Their cage is divided and they must NEVER ever be housed together! I do not want them to be used to breed and they do not tolerate each other. We remodeled/ made their cage earlier this year from an old tv hutch. They have wheels, hammocks, and houses. The bottom of the cage has linoleum flooring that I cover with fleece and a slab of marble. Please see the attached pictures to see the cage. As most of you know on here, Chinchillas require certain husbandry and care.
I am asking for $400 due to the cage and supplies. For the right home, the price is negotiable. They must be picked up because we do not have large enough transportation. If necessary, we may be able to find a way. Location is East of Cleveland, Ohio. If interested, I can give your their play pen the is 4ftx4ftx4ft made out of pine wood for an additional $40.
Please email me or send a message. Thank you!
lrwood14@gmail.com

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Chinchilla laying on her side

I’ve had my chinchilla for about a week now and she’s been acting normal but for the past few days she’s started laying on her side randomly for a few minutes at a time and I’m worried something might be wrong with her. She eats/drinks/pooping like normal otherwise. I’ve never had a chin before so I’m not sure if this is normal behavior. Any help would be appreciated!

Runny eye/discharge?

Hey all! My boy Barkley has been having some runny eye issues and little eye boogers. I've been doing nothing differently, so I'm not sure what's causing it. I'll add imgur links because I'm on my phone and it won't let me attach images for some reason. I'm planning on calling the vet and making an appointment for this weekend, but if anyone has any idea what this is I would appreciate some insight. I know eye discharge is usually an awful sign, so I'm kind of freaking out.

Here's the imgur album,
http://ift.tt/2xpcczV

Looking for a boading in Bay area

I'm going out of town for about a month during the holiday season. So I'm looking for a boarding in Bay area for my 2-year-old male chinchilla. I found two small animal boardings online, both of them charges $25 per day and $35 for holidays. That's a lot for a month...

Anyone knows any good boardings with reasonable prices?

Loofah Seeds?

I recently purchased a bag of whole unbleached loofah from a bird toy dealer on Etsy. I had seen people make their own slices out of whole ones. When the package arrived I noticed a lot of seeds in the bag. Upon further examination after cutting one open, I found tons of seeds inside the loofah itself. I’ve never seen this, the ones I had seen didn’t seem to have these seeds. I am now extremely hesitant to give these slices to my boys as I’ve read most seeds are unhealthy if not dangerous.

My question is, is this normal? Are they safe for them with seeds? If not does anyone have a suggestion for removing the seeds (I attempted picking them out, but they were in layers and was very difficult).If these are not safe I have no problem scrapping them, but if they are usable I’d obviously like to use them. Has anyone else encountered this?

My girls won't let me pick them up

Hi! So, I got two female chinchillas about two months ago now, and while they can run up and down my arms inside the cage without a problem, they won't let me pick them up. My room is impossible to chin-proof, but transporting them from my room to the playpen in the other room is really difficult. I have to use their dust bath, but one of them has started not trusting the dust bath so I had to stop that method. They won't jump into the carrier on their own.

It's also worth noting these girls were already 2 years old when I got them and weren't the best socialized chinchillas in the world. I need to be able to pick them up sometimes for practical reasons and I'm starting to get discouraged. I'm at a loss. Can anyone help? :(

Chin got foot stuck

Hi there,
My roommate and I got a chinchilla about a week ago (neither of us have had one before) and everything's been going great so far, but today she got her hind foot caught in the bars of her cage and struggled for a few seconds before getting it out. She's been hopping around and eating/drinking like normal, and we let her out for a bit to roam around the apartment and she wasn't limping or acting weird. I also looked at her foot and it seems to be fine, but I'm so paranoid that she might have gotten hurt. I know that chins can break toes/legs really easily, so I'm not sure if it would be reasonable to take her to the vet or not. Any advice would be very appreciated!

Rescue Chinny Health Issues

Hi everyone! This is my first post so please bare with me as it is a little long. I got my first chinchilla about two months ago after a lot of research. I moved out of my parents into my own place which could not have dogs or cats. I was so upset. I never thought I would love an animal as much as a dog. Then I met Pickles. I found pickles through a wonderful women who breeds/rescues chins. Pickles was one of her litters. Unfortunately for her he has a kinked tail and was not able to show. I adopted him when he was 10 months old. After a lot of reading I decided to adopt a second chin as he was used to having cagemates. They are currently in their introduction process (yes I’ve done my research). I adopted Poe. He was rescued from an abusive home. He had a very severe ear infection which she treated him for as soon as she rescued him. Unfortunately it was too late. He now has permanent damage. Poe has a lot of balance issues and frequently runs in circles. I’m just curious if anyone else has a similar situation. He’s super sweet and friendly so I’m just trying to give him the best home I can. He has his first vet appt next week. I’m hoping maybe they can do more for him. Does anyone have any tips? Attached is a picture of my sweet boy Pickles 😄

Confusion about dust baths

Hi! My roommate and I brought two three-month-old chinchilla's into our apartment almost a month ago and I have read conflicting information regarding the frequency of dust baths. One site had said you should give a dust bath to your chinchilla quite frequently while another said to not surpass twice a week. I only found this site the other day, so I have definitely been trying to make myself as educated as possible! Any advice on the subject would be greatly appreciated!

Female Chinchilla For Sale

Hello everyone! My name is Lexie. I have a standard grey female chinchilla for sale in the Tampa area. I have been her sole owner for about 5 years. She is a loving and very sweet little girl. It breaks my heart to sell her, but I have several chronic illnesses that have taken a toll on my body and I can no longer care for her to the best of my ability. She will come with her cage (Ferret Nation double unit with metal pans on both levels) with all of her toys, food, Hay, Dust,fleece covers and travel carrier. She is a healthy girl with some tangled fur towards her behind. A nice grooming should easily take care of it. I am offering her at $299. A loving home is more important to me than money, so price is totally negotiable. Please message me if you are interested in Chili :)

Is this cage safe?

Hey everyone i was thinking about getting teddy a new cage and i saw this and i thought it was sooooo cute but im not sure if its safe http://ift.tt/2l8Jem4

Thanks 💕🐭

Kansas City Chinchilla Owner

Hello all!

My name is Alexandra, I have four chinchillas...so far :)

I own:

Puka, F, 'Extreme' Mosaic
Paka, M, 'Extreme' Tan/White
Koto, M, Ebony/White
Cachi, F, Mosaic

Just came on here to obtain and retain information and to see answers for questions I may have!

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Chinchilla with microphthalmia.

I have been working on rehoming 50 Chinchilas these last months. A family member passed away and left her husband with 50 chinchillas. He did not know what to do SO I step in. I kept 7 for myself. I only have 3 chins left that need homes. So I am happy about that.

Here is one of my females I named her Pig she is very fat and looks to have microphthalmia she has one small eye. At first I thought it might be infected but it is clear, no crust, not runny, no discharge. I am pretty sure she is blind in that eye but it does not bother her at all.

I just need to get her weight down and she will be greats. I have been letting her out to explore and move around. She lives in a big cage with 4 others mellow females in a double critter nation she uses the whole cage.

Is microphthalmia common in some chin lines?

Meet Pig.

Her good eye
Pig by Sarah Ireland, on Flickr

Her little eye.
20171018_215948 by Sarah Ireland, on Flickr

Chinchilla Checklist ✓ Am I ready to own one? Help me out!

Hi all! As you can see, I'm new the forums here and new to chinchillas in general. I do not currently own one nor have ever owned one. I actually didn't start getting interested in them until a couple months or so ago. When I got to hold one, I fell in love. That being said, I didn't want to make a hasty decision so I've been doing research. I also have many other pets including a bearded dragon, leopard geckos, toads and fish. I've been wanting something soft and furry for a while now. First, I have a list of all the things I need to buy for my future chinchilla. I plan on getting one next month if I don't decide to get a turtle instead. So more or less, I'd like everyone to be as blunt and honest with me as they can and tell me if everything is correct or if I should reconsider.

Here is the list:
http://ift.tt/2kWyozq
NOTE: I'm still deciding on a cage. Feel free to rec me one if you don't think the ones I picked out are good enough.

PLEASE tell me what I shouldn't purchase or what I should purchase if its not on the list. I want to make sure I'm thorough. Bonus points if you can tell me cons about something thats bad.

Temperatures
Lets talk about my room temperature. This is something I was concerned with and took into consideration when I thought about getting a chinchilla. As I've said, I keep reptiles and fish all in my room. I live with my mom and I am 23 years old, working part time at a store with my own transportation. Rules are that all my pets stay in my room. Which is fine. However, I worry about the temperature.

I did a few tests of my room's temp and how it changes. My beardie's tank/heat lamp makes my room a bit hot, especially when the air is off.

• With my beardies tank on and the ac OFF, the room temperature can get to about 80 degrees.

• With my beardie's tank off (at night) and the ac ON, the temperature drops down to between 70 and 65.

• With regular room temperature (no heat lamp OR the AC on) my room seems to stay at a constant 70-73 degrees at night. During the day, its a bit warmer.

• With both the AC and my beardies tank on, especially if left running all day, it stays between 70 and 65.

• During the summer, my AC never turns off. The room stays at about 76 degrees or lower.

• Overall, I am able to keep my room below 80 degrees.

Those are all the temperature gradients of my room that involve my beardie. Now, I rarely turn off my AC. And if I do, its for no longer than 20 minutes just to let it rest for a bit, then it goes back on. If my temperatures are an issue, I don't mind getting a lower wattage bulb for my beardie to make it less hot, or just getting an under tank heater for him instead. And if that still doesn't cut it, I am willing to get a colder ac unit OR a portable ac that blows next to my chinchilla to keep it cool 24/7 that way I don't have to worry about it. On days where I know for a fact my room isn't cold enough, I can put my chinchilla in a much colder room where the air conditioning is cooler and then bring him back to my room at night.

I am also willing to compromise for when the winter comes. I hate the cold, but I have asthma so I cant get too hot either (SIGH). So of course, no heaters on during the cold months. I should probably mention that I live in Louisiana (what is winter? lol). I'm not worried about my fish or reptiles getting too cold, because I can provide them with tank heaters to keep them warm (or they'll just go into brumation). Please let me know if my temperatures get a pass~ :thumbsup:

Questions
I've done a fair amount of research on chinchillas, but I still have a few questions.
1. Are they prone to any illnesses? (Respiratory infections, mange, etc?) Do I need to get them any shots?
2. Are they curious prey animals like cats? Do I need to make sure my chinchilla doesn't bother or try to get at my reptiles/fish?
3. Lets say I wanna cuddle my little guy. Since their fur coats keep them so warm, would it not be advisable to let him sleep in the bed with me? Would it get too hot?
4. Is ok to walk them on a leash/harness, or would carrying them in a bag be more preferable? What about hamster balls?

Concerned about Chinchilla

I'm so nervous about what's happening to my chinchilla. I've had him for 1 month and everything seemed fine. Now he is lethargic or sleeping all the time, doesn't eat, and has soft poops. The vet didn't know what was wrong and put him on anti-biotics. They don't seem to be making a difference. I don't know what to do to help him.

Concerned about Chinny Eye

Hello All,

I am very concerned about my chinny's eye.. She is a rescue and does not like to be handled so I am concerned about the trauma of taking her to a vet. Is her eye severe enough to warrant the trip to the vet? She has gotten watery eyes on and off for the last few years but this is the worst i have ever seen her eyes. She's her usual adventurous self and is not showing any behavioural changes.

your advice would be greatly appreciated!




Thanks!

Chinchilla coughing/sneezing or hiccupping or gagging?

Hi everyone,

So I'm just looking for a bit of advice on my 5 year old male chinchilla. For the past 2 days he's been occassionally having what I thought were "coughing fits" that last for about 4/5s, it's kind of hard to tell what the sounds are but he sort of repeatedly makes little squeaks/sneezing sounds. His whole body goes kind of stiff and straight like he's coughing, or choking, or gagging - it's hard to tell. It happens maybe once or twice an hour. He isn't drooling and his eyes/nose are clean. He's not wheezing or struggling to breathe other than when he has the little coughing spasms. Other than that he seems fine, he's eating and drinking, I think he's pooping (though he has a cagemate so hard to tell exactly). He seems to be maybe a little less energetic than normal but he's pretty much his usual self. I looked online and the closest example of the sound I found is this one (about 10s in.. Poor little chinchilla): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhRn...ature=youtu.be

I took him to the vet today and he checked his lungs and head, and thought his breathing sounded fine. He also thought he seemed healthy and energetic and his weight was about normal though it's been a while since he was weighed. The only thing was that he was extremely stressed out (he doesn't really like being handled, he tolerates me for a little while, so let alone by strangers) so the vet didn't want to stress him out any more by trying to take his temperature etc. So his advice was that he thought maybe he just had an irritated throat, and if it was just a mild respiratory infection, then he wouldn't want to use antibiotics unnecessarily. His advice was to see how he is over next couple days and see if he gets over it, and if he gets any worse to phone and they'll prescribe antibiotics.

I'm keeping an eye on him and he's still eating/drinking. And if he gets any worse I'll contact the vet immediately. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice & second opinions. I'm also now wondering is there a chance it could be a dental issue? He's not drooling or anything but I have noticed a couple times he does the coughing thing when he's eating (but maybe that's because his throat is sore). I've also noticed he does seem to be being more careful/delicate when chewing his wood toys. Should I call the vet & take him back for an x-ray?

If it is a mild respiratory infection, does it warrant antibiotics anyway or is it ok to see if he gets over it on his own?

Any thoughts much appreciated!

Elder care....

So I kept the old ladies from my rescue. I have 5 females all living happy together. 3 are older one is very old and missing a foot. the other 2 one is young and healthy the others is old and FAT! Mima is the oldest female missing a foot and her bff is Fluffy who gets around really well at too cute together. Mima I think has arthritis so when she trys to take a dust bath she can not turn. So I have started to give her hand bathes.

How do you care for elderly Chinchillas? does anyone have any Old chins that are over 13 years old? How are your old ones holding up?

Besides my 5 females I have 2 males in another cage. when you have 50 chins to pick from you are going to fall for a few. It would have been more but I let some great ones go off to awesome homes.

These ladies are all part of a breeding herd that never had the run of a room or a large cage. Now they have a double critter nation to play in; but they like to all stay together in the bottom cage. Some go into the top part but not for long.

I will post photos of my little old ladies. well all but rose are old.

Hurt tail

My chin accidentally got his tail between the door to his cage when I shut it. I realized when it was halfway, enough to pinch him but he did not let out any noise. Picked him up and he was bleeding some but not bad. He let me touch it no problem and did not even flinch. (Makes me think it’s not broken). He’s still eating and running around. Was extending and curling his tail which I don’t think he would be doing if in pain. I called the vet and they were not super helpful but said if he’s acting normal he might be fine. Anyone go through something similar? He’s my baby so I’m kimda freaking out, but not rushing him to a vet due to his stress being moved. He does not like cars and doesn’t go to the vet cuz he is very healthy otherwise. So I don’t wanna stress him out more if I don’t need to.

Looking for prescription med for my sick baby

So, the short version of this post is, I need a refill on Prednisone for Elena, and I don't know if any of these online pet pharmacies are reputable ... And it's apparently an unusual concentration that has to be ordered if you want it from Walgreens or Walmart, not one they keep in stock. (Also what they charge for it is unholy.) It would probably be less confusing to go back to the vet, but that's complicated too.

The long (and sad) version....
I took Elena to the vet a month or so ago because she was losing weight. Absolutely no change in behavior, eating, pooping - just seemingly causeless weight loss. After the exam and x-rays, the doctor says there's no blockage or stomach issues, her heart issue (previously diagnosed) is not worse, her teeth are fine. They took some blood. Apparently they try without anesthetic first, but they got like half a drop. Not enough to do a full chem panel or whatever they call it... But enough to tell that her white blood cell count was really, really high.

The doctor says this is a really prominent indicator of lymphoma.

A follow up visit indicated even higher levels of white blood cells.

They gave me the Prednisone, but it's really just to keep her comfortable... She could have weeks, or months, or longer, no telling.

I feel so helpless. And somehow sad and glad both that she is still running around her cage, snatching treats from my fingers, making a huge mess of her hay, enjoying playtime... She has no idea her time is limited.

They told me when she stops doing these things, it would be time to come back for the "quality of life" talk.

So... My baby will be going, sooner or later, to join her brother Tseng. At least when they are together again, they'll have each other to snuggle with (they always used to sleep squashed together so you couldn't tell whose limbs were whose). I'm just trying to make whatever time she has be normal and enjoyable.

Which brings me to the Prednisone. My vet is over an hour from me. And open exactly when I am not available to go there. I mean, if I have to leave work early, then I will do it, but it's something I'm trying to avoid. I was really hoping I could just order it from somewhere and have it shipped to me. But it's turning out to be much more of a hassle than expected.

I am going to call them tomorrow and see if I have other options. Maybe they can ship it to me, or leave it at the desk for me to pick up after hours (they have emergency services there after hours).

I just want my baby to be comfortable, and to go on not knowing.

Anyway, if anyone has any experience with pet pharmacies, I'd like to know what you think of them, for future reference.

I'm going to miss my furball.