Improving somebody else's chin's living situation?

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randomtwitch

New member
Joined
Sep 20, 2014
Messages
1
Location
CA
Hello, I'm not exactly a new owner, and I don't even own the chinchilla in question.

This is going to get long.

I still live at home with my parent. Also living at home is my underage cousin, who, last christmas, got a Chinchilla.

For the first few months, the chinchilla was up in his room. I'd check on it occasionally to make sure he had water, and once even cleaned the cage because it was just getting way too gross, but mostly left the chin to its owner.

However, at the end of spring/beginning of summer, we had to move the chin downstairs, because it just got way too hot upstairs for it to be safe for him. So now there's a little corner nook where the chin's cage and my rat's cage sit about a foot apart, and seeing the chinchilla daily has of course made me more curious about him.

I started feeding the chinchilla daily, and changing his water, because I didn't think my cousin was doing it often enough. I even took him out to play when I took out my rat, but had to stop when I realized they didn't get along, and my supervision wasn't enough to keep them apart.

I don't know if my starting to care for the chinchilla made my cousin feel like he didn't have to, or if the chinchilla was receiving inadequate care for months up in his room. But my cousin's interactions with the chinchilla have dwindled to giving him a treat in the mornings. That's it.

So, my concerns are:

  • The chinchilla is lonely
    The chinchilla doesn't get enough playtime
    The chinchilla is being fed too many treats (specifically, raisins)
    The cage--it's entirely made out of wire (with a wire bottom), has sharp edges, and is very difficult to clean.
    The cage is not being cleaned nearly enough
    The bath house isn't being used properly (left in, old dust)

My reservations are:

  • I did not sign up to care for this animal--I would not have signed up for him, myself, at all, as he requires way too much care
    I have absolutely no money to throw at the situation
    He's not actually my pet, so what I can do with him is limited

Removing the chin from the household is just not going to happen. And my mom is buying supplies like dust, hay, bedding, and the occasional toy, but a new cage is just too big a sum at once to convince her to purchase.

So my question to all you experienced chinchilla owners is--what can I do? I'd really like to improve the chinchilla's quality of life, but I just don't have it in me to personally clean the chinchilla's cage as often as he needs, play with him every day, or buy him a new cage.

Are there simple improvements I can make to the chin's cage without spending a lot of money? is there something I can do to make it easier to clean? those are my primary concerns, but if you have tips or suggestions for anything I can do for this chinchilla, I'd love to hear it.
 
First, his cage only needs cleaned once a week. That's not "often." It doesn't take me more than 20 minutes to clean my rats cage and there are four of them in it who poop up a freaking storm on their ledges. My chin cages go much, much faster. Not more than 10 minutes for a large maternity cage. I agree with you though, all wire cages suck. They are just a nasty mess. Does it sit into the bottom of a tray? If it does, put shavings in the tray and cover at least half (or more) of the bottom of the cage with some ceramic tile. If your mom will buy all the other stuff, ask her to make him more comfortable by getting him some ceramic tiles so you can line the cage and get him off the wire. Explain to her that dirty wire can cause bumblefoot in chins. It is VERY hard to treat and it can turn life threatening. You can then use a Pyrex type dish in the corner for him to use as a litter box. Give him a wood ledge or two to stand on. If he has wire ledges, those need covered anyway so he doesn't get a toe caught. Just cover them with wood. He'll enjoy chewing on the wood and it will protect his feet. Super cheap to do both the tiles and the wood.

Second, your rat should have a friend. Rats liver longer, happier, healthier lives with a buddy. Just throwing that in there as an FYI. I've had rats for over 30 years, I've never had a single rat. As far as with the chin, rats are carnivorous predators, chinchillas are herbivorous prey. No, they are not going to get along.

Third, he may be lonely just because he was taken out of his normal routine within your cousin's room. It doesn't sound like your cousin did squat for him anyway, so it's not like he's missing a whole lot of interaction. Can you play a radio where he is? Just giving him some low music may help or something that makes some noise like a fan blowing on low (not at him, just in the room), or a sound machine.

If you are feeding him anyway, just pull out the dust bath. Unless you live in an incredibly humid area, he can get by with one dust bath a week or maybe two. Throw it in when you feed him, the next day when you feed him again remove it.

I know you don't want the added responsibility, but that chin didn't ask to be an impulse buy for your cousin and then shoved into the corner of a room where no one would give a darn about him. I take care of over 250 chinchillas every single day, plus rats, birds, dogs, degu, and a very annoying cat. To feed and water all of them takes me 45 minutes. I work two jobs and I go to school. I would never neglect one of them because they weren't mine (in fact, 30 of them were not mine, I got them dumped on me). He doesn't HAVE to have out of cage time if someone would just spend a few minutes visiting with him each day. Lots of people don't do out of cage time - instead they have bigger cages and/or chin safe wheels. I'm not coming down on you. You have already shown compassion by at least attempting to help him. I would just ask that you eek out a little bit more to make sure that he at least has a modicum of quality to his life by providing him proper care.
 
Aside from what was mentioned above, get him off the treats. Chins can't digest sugar and really shouldn't have raisins at all. If he's getting them really regularly, that's pretty dangerous. If you MUST give him treats (they don't need treats but I know its nice to give them every so often) look at something like plain Cheerios or rose hips or something that isn't sugary and definitely cut back on how often they're given. If you want to give 'treats' more often, maybe buy some really nice twigs or something. A nice new twig to chew can be just as nice for a chin as a food treat and are much safer, they can be given as often as you want since they're just wood and the more he's got to chew on the better his teeth'll be.
 
The posts above provided great advice on what to do care wise for the chinchilla. However, I would like to point out the elephant in the room which that your cousin clearly isn't taking care of his pet. I'd suggest you have a nice, long talk with your cousin about how he either needs to start taking proper care of it or he should consider other options like looking for someone to adopt it from him.

I know you said getting it out of the house isn't going to happen but the main way you'll know it will live a long, healthy, and happy life is if it's owner loves and cares for it.
 
Wire mesh bottom is really not good. I have plastic shelves and keep them lined with towels. I change the towels every two days . They need a very clean cage or they will get sick. Hope this helps.
 
Wire mesh bottom is really not good. I have plastic shelves and keep them lined with towels. I change the towels every two days . They need a very clean cage or they will get sick. Hope this helps.

Towels shouldn't be used because as the chin chews on them (and they will) they will ingest the little strings that they pull off causing internal damage. You should switch to fleece.
 
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