We have 2 female chinchillas that we took in from a friend who didn't want them anymore. She'd had them for six months and says they are around 10 months old (pet store chins).
She had them in a single critter nation cage, which she gave us. The only thing in the cage, besides the plastic shelf was an igloo, food dish, water bottle and chin spin. :cry3:
We immediately replaced the plastic shelf with wooden ledges and perches and took out the igloo and put in a wooden sleeping box, and added some chin safe chew toys etc. However, one of the chins seems lost without the igloo. She will not sleep in the wooden box, she keeps wandering around the cage looking lost and making anxious noises and stuffs herself under the bottom of the chin spin wheel to sleep, which she can only do by laying flat.
After two days of this, I put the igloo back in and she immediately went in there and slept peacefully through the day. I still have the other sleeping box in there too. So my question is - should I keep the igloo in for a little while until she adjusts to the sleeping box? They have chewed on the plastic in the doorway area a little, although I haven't seem them do it since we've had them. I'm worried about having that plastic in there though... The other chin is happy as anything, bouncing all over the place and took to the box right away.
Also, they were on the horrible "mixed" food. I ordered some Oxbow which will be here today. Should I do a gradual switch or just take them off the other food right away? I have been picking out the worst bits, but it's not easy to get it all out and just leave the pellets. But I don't want to cause digestive issues if I cold turkey switch them.
Last question, I have read conflicting things about Care Fresh bedding. That is what she had been using and what I have in there now. I am allergic to aspen shavings so we can't switch to that. I'm considering switching to fleece but am trying a fleece covered tube right now to see if they eat the fleece. If I did switch it'd probably be at least a few weeks before I could get the liners made. I was hoping to continue with the Care Fresh, at least temporarily but am worried about blockages... She said they eat the Care Fresh, although I haven't observed that yet. They do have a lot more to chew on in there now so maybe that will help.
Thanks in advance for any info. We ended up having to take them in 3 weeks earlier than we had planned, so I'm scrambling a bit to get them set up.
She had them in a single critter nation cage, which she gave us. The only thing in the cage, besides the plastic shelf was an igloo, food dish, water bottle and chin spin. :cry3:
We immediately replaced the plastic shelf with wooden ledges and perches and took out the igloo and put in a wooden sleeping box, and added some chin safe chew toys etc. However, one of the chins seems lost without the igloo. She will not sleep in the wooden box, she keeps wandering around the cage looking lost and making anxious noises and stuffs herself under the bottom of the chin spin wheel to sleep, which she can only do by laying flat.
After two days of this, I put the igloo back in and she immediately went in there and slept peacefully through the day. I still have the other sleeping box in there too. So my question is - should I keep the igloo in for a little while until she adjusts to the sleeping box? They have chewed on the plastic in the doorway area a little, although I haven't seem them do it since we've had them. I'm worried about having that plastic in there though... The other chin is happy as anything, bouncing all over the place and took to the box right away.
Also, they were on the horrible "mixed" food. I ordered some Oxbow which will be here today. Should I do a gradual switch or just take them off the other food right away? I have been picking out the worst bits, but it's not easy to get it all out and just leave the pellets. But I don't want to cause digestive issues if I cold turkey switch them.
Last question, I have read conflicting things about Care Fresh bedding. That is what she had been using and what I have in there now. I am allergic to aspen shavings so we can't switch to that. I'm considering switching to fleece but am trying a fleece covered tube right now to see if they eat the fleece. If I did switch it'd probably be at least a few weeks before I could get the liners made. I was hoping to continue with the Care Fresh, at least temporarily but am worried about blockages... She said they eat the Care Fresh, although I haven't observed that yet. They do have a lot more to chew on in there now so maybe that will help.
Thanks in advance for any info. We ended up having to take them in 3 weeks earlier than we had planned, so I'm scrambling a bit to get them set up.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire