Roaming free

I have posted the fact that I have a small little play area for Sunshine. She knows that there is something outside of the area and always shows interest in getting out.

I would let her out but I am renting a house and it is not "chin proofed," the last time, she chewed on the baseboards which I can't have happen. Also, I am not sure that she would come to me if I would let her go.

I see all kinds of pics of Chins on the beds and although mine will sit on my lap, I haven't tried to hold her yet.

Any advice?

Fostering Two Chinchillas

Hi,
I'm fostering two chinchillas until a certain court case is over. If the defendant wins (god forbid, he was abusing hundreds of expensive animal breeds), I will be forced to return them. If he loses, however, they will go up for adoption and I am planning on keeping at least one of them.

I'm keeping them in my chinchilla's room with each of their cages about a foot or less apart (it's not a large room). I would keep them in a different room but rules are preventing me from doing that. Everyone is getting playtime as usual, love, food, and toys. My problem is getting them to accept one another. I'm hoping they become friends so they keep each other company while I'm gone. If that never happens it's fine since each has their own cage, but it would benefit them if they all became buddies. The two I'm fostering are more used to each other but have never had free interaction. So far they have never been out at the same time; I only let them see each other through the cage. Whenever one is out, I cover the other two cages with heavy blankets to prevent them from biting each other through the bars. If I don't do this, they'll meet at the bars and sniff noses. It goes fine for five seconds or so until one of them nips or makes a sudden move that frightens the other. One of the fosters leaves the other chinchillas' cages alone, but the other two (mine included) are persistent and attempt moving the blanket out of the way to get to the other. I'm unsure if I'm doing this correctly or not; I'm hesitant to begin bonding before the two fosters are completely used to me and the new environment.

Does anyone have advice on this?
Thanks.

Real problem with running wheel.

Hi there.
I have a problem. In my country, Chinchillas are not very common and you have to actually do a bid searching to find one. Most pet shops do not have them. So you can imagine that the accessories list is almost negligible. I know the story of the wheel size, but the biggest wheel I can get is 30cm (Kaytee). I know it is too small and I know it is plastic.

Very simply - what do I do?

Chinchilla is barely chewing on toys

Ive had my chinchilla for a little over a month and in that span of time I got a small mosaic chinchilla. The chinchilla came from a certified breeder, but my older chinchilla came from sketchy people on kijiji. I noticed that my older chinchilla has wierd behaviours compared to my new mosaic chinchilla. My mosaic chinchilla chews hos woods like crazy and im left with a pile of wood in my mosaic chins cage. I realized that my older chinchilla is barely chewing on the wood compared to my newer chin. Im freaking out because his jaw is slightly lifted but he is drinking and eating his hay and pellets just fine (either than the fact that he crumbles his food). Im very concerned because hes very strange compared to my newest chinchilla. Ive never came down to my older chinchillas cage and see any wood shavings in his cage but their is bite marks on things, so hes might be eating it. Should I be taking him to the vet? Has anyone else encountered this?

Dirt like substance on chinchilla paws

Ive had my chinchilla for a little over a month now, I realized that he has some kind of dirt on his paws. At first I thought it was a scabbed cut, but then the next day is was gone but now moved around on his paw. Im not sure where the dirt is coming from because his cage is fairly clean. Or maybe it is a cut, but im not sure. Has anyone else experienced this? How do I know whats happening? should I take him to the vet.

Cage within Cage method tips?

I have 2 chinchillas, they are not bonded and they are separate, around the same age and one is a few months older and a little bigger and not as social. The newer one is smaller and more social. I have tried a few methods but I was wondering if anyone has tips on the cage within a cage method of introducing them?

Chinchillas and dogs

My boyfriend wants to get a dog but I am worried about having the new dog around my chinchilla. She lives in our living room and I don’t want to have to move her into a bedroom and close her in by herself. Is it safe to get a dog? What kind of dog breed would be best? Would a trainable puppy be better or an older more mellow dog be better?

Labs showed kidney issues...

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I was on here. Some of you may remember that Nixi is my problem chin. The other three never have issues... always her. She started leaving her pellets all over the floor of the cage and dropped from 470g to 421g. She bounced back up to 429g yesterday, so at least her weight is stable for now, BUT the labs came back today and showed a problem with her kidneys. The ultrasound is scheduled for Wednesday, but in the meantime, I'm wondering if anyone has personal experience with kidney issues.

Age: 8 years old
Food: Oxbow Chinchilla Essentials
Water: PUR3 Filtered
Hay: Oxbow Timothy (Alfalfa, Oat and Orchard grass post surgery a few times)
Treats: Broad Spectrum Supplement (Fuzzies Kingdom), shredded wheat and oats
Brief Medical History: Handfed as a kit because she wouldn't latch on. Broke her leg twice. The last one resulted in a bone infection and an amputation. She's been on more antibiotics and Metacam than the other 3 combined, so I don't know if that's the root cause here or not, but it's definitely a concern.

I have an awesome vet who is directly affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, so the trust is absolutely there, but I still prefer to get as much information as humanly possible. I reached out to Tanya yesterday, but haven't heard back yet.

Aside: She thinks she should have been an acrobat, is beyond headstrong, and refuses to accept "no" as an answer. Despite breaking her **** leg twice, I can assure you that I'm not at all a neglectful owner. She's just a special chin with no fear instinct who seems to enjoy having ALL of my attention every so often.

So what are your experiences? Have you experienced successful removal of kidney stones? What about kidney failure? Is it always an ultimate death sentence and just a matter of time? What's helped you to keep weight on them when kidney function is a concern? She hated Beaphar+, which I've tried in the past, so that's out. BUT, any information you can provide would be sincerely appreciated!

Thanks in advance!!!

Young chinchilla behaviour, dominance or play? Solutions?

Hi there, I have 3 chinchillas, two adults, Princess & Potato, and their 7 week-old offspring, Popcorn. Popcorn was born as a single kit 5 days after we adopted Princess and Potato and is currently housed with Princess, as he is still nursing.

Potato is in a cage next door. Generally, play-time has been quite gentle and enjoyable for all 3, with a lot of grooming and cuddling. However, my husband and I have been noticing some behavioural changes in the little guy. While he is still quite gentle and snuggly with Princess, although he does occasionally mount her, he seems to be getting a bit aggressive with Potato, who is about 3 times his size! Potato is quite gentle and tolerant with this behaviour but will occasionally pin Popcorn. We're concerned that Popcorn is already trying to establish dominance, or are we getting ahead of ourselves and is this just play?

We're wondering how to ensure the safety and happiness of all 3 critters without having to keep them in three separate cages. My husband has read a few things about whisker trimming to control dominance but I'm hesitant, as I know that whisker trimming is a controversial issue and not a solution I'm leaning toward, but will consider if others have had success.

Also curious to know thoughts on neutering, although I've read that it really isn't an option before 1 year of age. We're pretty sure Princess will be quite content to have a cage to herself once Popcorn is weaned and we already have a well-established routine of highly supervised playtime to prevent further pregnancies. We're also aware that it is almost never recommended to spay a female chinchilla.

While we weren't leaning toward neutering either of the males, we're wondering if it is something we should consider. Potato is such a gentle soul and we would hate for him to be bullied or injured by Popcorn as he grows up.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Introduction

Hello, I'm a fairly new chinchilla parent. My husband and I fostered a pair for a couple of weeks and within a week of returning them to the shelter, decided they needed to live with us full time. Five days later, a third arrived! He's about 7 weeks old now and he's the reason I'm joining Chins n Hedgies. I have several questions regarding housing him and the changing dynamic between him and his parents. Hoping to find some answers here!

Chinchilla making weird noises

So I've had my chinchilla for a little over a month and she's around 2 years old. She's super social and friendly and I've never really heard her bark or make much noise. Well tonight I heard her making these strange noises, almost like a soft "honking"? She's been eating and pooping regularly so I think she's healthy I just wanted to see if anyone else experienced this. I think she's trying to get my attention because I usually do work/watch tv in the room that she's in in the evenings and I can tell she really wants to get out of the cage (even though she had playtime 2 hours ago :rolleyes2: )

Colorado floof wanted

Looking to get a friend or two for my rescued chinchilla. Need help finding some baby loves in Colorado.

TIA

Popsticle sticks?

Amethyst mentioned on another thread Popsicle sticks as a chew toy. Can I use those that are sold for crafts? I have three bags of them from couple of years ago when my doughtier loved building with them...

My Chin keeps FLYING OFF her CHIN SPIN. Help

My more nervous chinchilla keeps running so fast on her chin spin that she flies into the sides of the cage or VIOLENTLY onto her back. Help???

cardboard

so i’ve been seeing that people are using cardboard on the bottoms of their cages and i’m just curious if that’s okay for them ? bc i know they love to nibble on everything.


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Loss Hair / Flakey-ish Skin (Possible Ringworm?)

Hi, so my chinchilla, Jack has had a missing patch of fur for a few weeks now. Recently, I’ve noticed that though some new hair studs are growing in, the skin underneath seems to be mildly dry and flakey. Could this possibly be ringworm despite some hair growing back in? The skin also does not appear to be inflamed or red.

Succulents safe to live with?

Succulents seem to be growing in popularity, especially here in New England. I wanted to get a little one (I'm in a "studio," w/some extra walls lol) since as I research them more, I find the idea of oxygen for better sleep via succulents appealing.
Are plants like succulents or plants in general ever harmful to be breathed in by chins? I'd have it in my bedroom where he also lives. It's not like I'm going to put a little pine, white willow, hemlock forest up in my room or anything, heh.
But seriously, is it just eating toxic plants in general or if they inhaled the smell of toxic plants that's as bad? (I CLEARLY would never even play the game of risk with woods like the aforementioned that we know make all the major toxic lists, just a what-if question, especially for lesser known ones!)

Unusual dry poops

Hi
My one of chins has been pooping very dry looking.
He eats and drinks well like same as before.
I give him oxbow pellets, timothy hay and no treat.
His poops are getting better after I gave a acidophilus for two days (one each days), gas relief twice a day for three days, but now stopped it to see how it goes since the amount of poops are very good and didn’t want to keep giving them.
I give him tummy massage every night.
I started adding small amount of oat hay from oxbow.
2 nights ago I gave a piece of goji berry.

When play time, he poops a lot more than before, his fresh ones look good, some are slightly cracked, but not hard.

I don’t know if I keep giving a acidophilus and gas relief.
I attached the pics of them that I took it this morning.
They are all dry looking.

Thank you,

Attached Images

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	C8A04A03-90C1-4B22-AE53-578D4C432557.jpeg (16.4 KB)

Silver Surfer or Flying Saucer

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on a chinchilla wheel, specifically the silver surfer or flying saucer? Both are within my price range but I'm not sure which is best suited for my chinchilla. I would prefer a wheel/saucer that is pretty quiet just because I live in a small apartment and don't want something that will keep me or my roommates up at night. I'd also like one that's sturdy/lasts a while just because of the price.

Introduction

Hello everyone. I just got approved for the forums. I'm here to help me become a chinchilla expert. Right now I have 4 chinchillas; Ivy, Ozzy, Poppy, and Branch. I just recently lost one of my beautiful babies, Snow. Her passing has inspired me to learn everything I can about chinchillas.

Tongues!

Hi,

How long do chin tongues take to heal, one of my girls had an abrasion from a tooth spur (now removed). She is on antibiotics.

Thanks x

Chin Not Dusting!

Hello,

About a month and a half ago we adopted a chinchilla. This is our 3rd chin but the only one we currently have. She came from a pet store original, was purchased by a couple and they were forced to rehome her after only a week. They estimate her age to have been about 4 months but she is fully grown so we aren't exactly sure how old she is (and truthfully the prior owners didn't seem to know very much about chinchillas so I'm not even sure how accurate that age is).

Now for the problem... to my knowledge she has never dusted. Not while we have had her and not while the previous owner did.
She is not greasy AT ALL... which is strange since she hasn't had a bath in well over a month.
I have tried 4 different baths and 4 different dust products. She will go into them willingly and digs around a little but then just hops out and goes back to her wheel and toys.
I have tried to put dust on her and she jumps and squeeks/barks at me a little.

Its almost like she doesn't understand how to dust. Maybe because she's from a pet store?
I can't imagine she would be too young to want to dust... I've read they start dusting almost instantly.

And yes, I will probably take her to the vet in the near future but she is perky as a peach, eats like a piggy, drinks regularly and shows no signs of stress or discomfort at all.
Any recommendations? Ideas? Similar experiences?

terri arnold dog training - the Conspiracy

Terri arnold dog training may be a complicated practice. If you resolve to maintain a dog for a household pet, especially if it's a Rottweiler, do everything you can to develop into knowledgeable about all that Rottweiler training entails.

http://dogstrainingtools.com/2019/01...-dog-training/ :impatient:

Used Ferret Nation Cage

So I found a great deal for a used ferret nation cage on Craigslist. It seems to be in good condition and I’m going to go check it out later this week. I guess I just wanted to make sure it was safe to move my chinchilla into a used cage. I’ll definitely be cleaning it thoroughly before moving her. I just wanted to check if there’s anything specific I need to do.

Chinchilla in New brunswick area wanted

Hi! I'm searching for a new chinchilla in new brunswick or close to northern, n.b. Any help would be appreciated.

Flaky vaginal skin?

Hi,

Saw one of my girls peeing a bit more than normal- looked at her and can see flakey skin at the urethral opening /vagina. Anyone have any experience with this? We are booked to see vet on Monday. Thanks

Possible pregnancy?

I have 3 chinchillas and thought all were female but turns out one is male. We found out by coming home one day and seeing new babies in the cage from one of the females. We separated them and assumed the other female is pregnant as well, but it's been a month since the first female gave birth and the other female has not. She has gotten rather large for her usual size and sometimes has mood swings, but I feel like by now she should have given birth. I read online that they can check if she's pregnant by doing an x-ray, but that it is harmful to the chinchilla and the babies. Should we go to a vet and do an x-ray, or can they do an ultrasound to see what's going on?

Colony Breeding cage

Hi. So I was thinking about starting a breeding colony in my big 4ft x 7ft cage. It will have 3 or 4 females and one Male.

Shall I put in shelves or not and if so how high up the walls should they be? The roof is 6ft tall.

Disclaimer - I am aware of the risks and have plenty of other cages in case things don’t go to plan.

Thank you for reading.

could use advice, I'm a new chinchilla mom.

I recently kind of inherited 2 chinchillas, really don't the back story on them or anything. I have no idea what sex they are, or their age. I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume my black one is a female cause she sprayed my fiance a few times lol. Neither likes being picked up, but the black one is sketchier than my grey one. Mind you, I've only had them for less than 2 weeks. I of course researched as much as I could about them and plan to take them to the vet soon but could use help on how to idk I guess get them friendlier. The grey one will come right up the cage and allow me to pet her a little and will climb on my lap outside the cage but freaks when it's time to go back in the cage. My black one is finally allowing me to pet it for like 2 secs then backs away and doesn't every try to get out of the cage. Its Almost like she wants love but she's scared. I fear they may have been abused in the past and I want to do my best to make sure they know they're safe now. Right now I've been spending an hour or more every night before bed with the lights off in the room with them just trying to get them used to me and their new environment. Is there anything else I could try? I guess I'm just super afraid of stressing them out, I just really want them to be happy.

P.s. I'm STRUGGLING with names lol and not sure what sex they are throws me off too. That's why they don't have names yet 😭

No electricity in cold weather

Hi!
I lived in canada so it's pretty cold out here. Unfortunately, I don't have electricity since yesterday due to a ice storm. My house is gatting more and more cold and i'm scared for my chin... Can chinchilla live under 0°c?

Room Temps and Spring/Fall

I know we need to keep the room our chinchilla is in below 75 degrees. The problem I didn't foresee that we are running into now is Chicagoland shoulder season. Yesterday it was in the mid 70's in the afternoon, and probably creaping up to 77 or 78 in the room Jacks is in. But then last night it dropped to the 40s and today will be a high of 63 and back down to the 30's tonight, tomorrow high of 40's. It is not uncommon for us to get 30 or even high temperature swings here in a single day during this time of year. It will be like this until mid may, then come mid sept through october we will go through this weather again.

How does everyone maintain temperatures in the house on days like this? Is there something I can do to keep him cool while we go through these shoulder seasons without turning on the AC to cool 3000 sq ft for 4 hours then have it switch over to heat up that same 3000 sq ft. Thinking maybe a small spot cooler for just his room for days like that?

What is normal?

I realize that every Chinchilla has different taste (much like us) but I can't afford to keep spending $$$ on toys that Sunshine doesn't even like.

I bought her a toy from Etsy (bug shaped w/ rope sticking out) and she loved it the rope and it disappeared quickly but the balls of wood haven't been touched. Same goes for her wood ledges in the cage.

I seen a post about making your own toys but do not know where to buy the skewers to do so.

So, what is normal/non-normal for a Chinchilla to like?

Also, she gets the hay from the holder but I am not sure if she eats it although she loves her pellets.

Hedgehog Stomach does not look normal

We have had our hedgie for about a year now. He has always been a stinker and fussy. About 2 months ago we had a hibernation scare but got him out of it. Since then he has been in his normal cage. I got him out today to clean his cage and his stomach does not look like it normally does. It's very bumpy and looks very wet along with what looks like swelling but I cannot tell. Wanted to know what you all think as I could not find anything when I was looking stuff up.

Can dust irritate the eye?

Hi there. My first post, and already asking for advice.
My Chinchilla's one eye got some sort of infection a while back. The eye is a bit puffy, sometimes a bit wet, and often just partially open, with the hair around the eye not as smooth as it should be (which from reading other posts, are typical symptoms of eye problems).

I did treatment for ringworm which seemed to help a little, but there was no indication of ringworm presence. I did x-rays of teeth - no abnormalities. I went for bacteria testing, and there was indications of potentially harmful bacteria.

These results are controlled and checked by an exotic animal vet, dental specialist and eye specialist. They are also a bit in the dark, and say that Chinchillas are uncommon (which is the case in my country), so there is limited historical data on file.

I have done two courses of different antibiotics, which did not work. I am now on the third one. This time I have seen great improvement in the eye. But every time he baths, the eye goes bad again and the hair around it seems wet again. I am positive about this antibiotic since it is the best recovery I have seen.

1. Could the dust be the reason the eye gets irritated?
2. Could the dust really have such adverse effect on the antibiotic to the point where it almost stops its function?
3. If this is the case, should I potentially stop his baths for a while (and long can he go without a bath).

I look forward to some input and ideas.
Thank you in advance
Renier

Chinchilla has eye boogers?

My chinchilla ive had for a week or so had been worrying me because he has these eye boogers on one of his eyes. The eye boogers look like the ones you get in the morning just whiter. Its not very close to a liquid and its very hard and crusty. Its been like this for a few days and has not built up. Please help

Please help! Chin may need emergency care

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum, and am in desperate need of advice. My chinchilla, Baron, is going to be 4 years in May. He has been a healthy and energetic boy his whole life. The other day, my boyfriend and I noticed he wasn't hopping out onto our shoulders like he always does, nor did it look like he has eaten or had anything to drink from his bottle.

I let him rest, thinking maybe he was tired, and the next day (this morning) I noticed he still hasn't had any liquid or food. He also has some yellowish/brownish discharge coming out of his anus/genital area. He is very jumpy and doesn't like being picked up whatsoever, so I wasn't able to get a good look.

It is now over 12 hours later (we had to go to work, but I had a friend come over and keep an eye on him) and he still has not consumed anything, and he has barely pooped. I don't know if he has peed at all. He has a vet appointment for tomorrow at 1 pm, but is this serious enough to take him to the emergency vet tonight? Please help!!! I don't want my little man to he suffering and me not acting on it quick enough.

Out of cage question..

For playtime or out of cage time, I have 5' panels that allow her to roam free and yet gives me the security to know she isn't roaming free around the house. I am always with her as she hasn't learned to come to me yet.

I have seen videos where the chins roam free and yet there doesn't appear to be any droppings. When Sunshine is out of her cage, droppings are everywhere.

Is there something that I need to do differently regarding her droppings?

Prevue Pet Products Cage?

So I am currently saving up for a new cage for my chinchilla. Currently she is in the cage that the person I adopted her from provided. It's a decent cage and has a good amount of height to it but I would love to get her a critter nation in the next few months. I stumbled upon this cage at Walmart for like half the price of the critter nation. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this cage? It looks very similar to the critter nation from what I can tell. I would remove the ramps from it and cover the plastic with fleece. I linked the cage below.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Prevue-Pe...fPYzj4QyEvlygU

Hi there!

Hi folks,

i'm new in this forum and I think it's awesome all the information you have here! I've been reading some posts and I think it's wonderful all the experience that you share here.

My boyfriend and I have two chinchillas at home, Alan and Phil. About a two years ago we had another chin who was the Alan's brother, Ada. They were quite close and loved to sleep together. Unfortunately, Ada passed away because of tummy problems and Alan stayed alone :( We decided getting a partner for Alan, Phil (another male) to make him company. We tried to introduce them slowly because we read that sometimes it was hard for two chinchillas to get along if they weren't family.

We tried with a split cage protocol so they can smell each other but Alan was really violent with Phil and started to lose weight very quickly. We decided to stop the protocol and buy another cage for Phil.

Now they live each other in his own cage, and we would like to resume the protocol. We tried to put them together in playtime, but Alan gets aggresive. We're kind of stuck at this point :(

I attach a photo of Phil so you can meet him :)



Nice to meet you all!

Ears missing fur and crusty

My chinchilla recently got over having ringworm, so I thought. I treated it on her nose by using flowers of sulfur in her dust everyday. I think this may of dried her ears out and caused them to be flaky and losing fur, but I’m also not sure if it’s ringworm. I’ve been treating her for a while now and the fur on her nose has grown back about a month ago. I’ve cut back on dust baths and I only use half the amount of FOS. I’m just not sure how I should continue to treat her... with FOS or with bag balm.

Swollen testicles?

Hello,

Today I just noticed how big my chins testicles are. I was worried if they are swollen since I found a picture of another male but his testicles seemed tiny in comparison to Zico's.
How can you tell the difference between swollen or just big testicles. And how big exactely is normal? Do you have any pictures that could help me out?
I will try to get a picture of him soon but I don't know when since he doesn't let me pick him up without biting me lol. Is it maybe possible that my chin just has huge balls?