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Chinchino

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Messages
1
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:
https://imgur.com/a/buyfF
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?
 
I'll try and make this as short and sweet as possible! I'm a new chinnie owner myself and have only had mine for a month, so I'll only answer the things I feel comfortable answering.

1. Food and hay are great choices (my chinchilla just got the oxbow pellets and hay the other day and she is OBSESSED with them), but I'd choose a different treat. You can do different kinds of hay (botanical, alfalfa) or apple wood sticks (most chinchillas go crazy for those). Even though oxbow is a good brand, I wouldn't necessarily buy their treats. I wouldn't get that treat stick you have listed down at the bottom, either. Those are usually loaded with honey/nuts, both of which have high amounts of sugar and fats and aren't good for chinnies!

2. For the water bottle, I'd get this one. The kaytee bottle has a lot of complaints about leaking, which could end up getting all over the fluff in the cage and would create a moist environment (can lead to respiratory infections, etc). The water bottle I linked is no-leak and has almost 5 star reviews from everyone. It'll save you a lot of frustration for both you and your chinchilla.

3. I use the oxbow dust myself, but pretty much all chinchilla bathing dusts seem to be the same.

4. For the cage, you really are better off getting the critter nation cage (single or double level) or something similar to that. Out of the ones you have listed, I'd say that the living world one wouldn't be too bad of an option if you get the XL one, but the thing about chinchillas is that they LOVE to hop around from place to place. I decided to spend the extra money and get the double level critter nation cage and removed the ramps that came with it, and my chinchilla has an absolute blast hopping from level to level. Single level cages, even if they are expansive in width, don't provide a lot of jumping room for chinchillas. The critter nation cage is also super easy to clean!!

5. I'm not sure about the supplements. I don't give my chinchilla any, and from what I've researched they should be okay with just their hay and pellets, but anyone else is free to correct me if I'm wrong!

6. For the wheel, you would be better off getting a "flying saucer" wheel. They're more expensive, but they provide better back support and allow chinchillas to run a bit more "freely".

7. Chinchillers and lava bites are great!! We have three chinchillers that we rotate out of the freezer and we always give our girl one after she runs around with us for an hour or so. Their hair is very dense and they don't have the ability to sweat, so they get overheated extremely easily. It's nice to have a few on backup for them.

As a sidenote, fluff is great, but if you have a big cage like I do you'll find that you go through the fluff quickly, and that stuff isn't exactly cheap. I just had some fleece liners made for me on etsy and those tend to be more comfortable and last longer in the long run.

Temperature-wise, I think it's really important you keep the room no hotter than 75 degrees. Like I said earlier, their hair is extremely dense (more than 20,000 hairs per square cm), and they don't have a way to keep themselves cool like we do. So not only are the chinchillers important, but so is the temperature of the room. I live with my boyfriend in a basement apartment in Boston, so we're fortunate enough that our rooms are already cooler than the rest of the house since we don't have an AC unit in our apartment yet. We did have a few days last month that reached 86, however, so my boyfriend and I were in the room every now and then making sure she was alert and oriented (lethargy and red ears are a sign of heat exhaustion) and that she had plenty of chinchiller time when she needed it. Dehumidifiers are nice too, because they take away a lot of the humidity and leave dryer air that isn't as warm. As long as you're able to keep a close eye on your pet and the , you should be fine.

We haven't taken our girl to the vet (yet), but most owners seem to go once a year since chinchillas technically are an exotic animal. I'm not sure about shots/vet visits/etc, so you're better off asking someone else. I do know that dust baths and keeping them dry are a top priority because they're easily prone to respiratory infections if you don't.

I'm like, 90% sure your chinchilla won't want to cuddle with you. A good majority of them do not like being held or cuddled, as they are prey animals and they think they're being harmed or are about to be. Some owners on here have had their chinnies for years and still can't pick them up without getting squeaked at. So I really don't think you should worry about cuddling with your furry friend, especially when just getting one.

Again, walking them/carrying them would be pretty difficult. What my boyfriend and I do is let her run around the room (there's nothing in there but chew toys and a few empty suitcases) for as long as she likes while making sure she doesn't chew up the baseboards and other items, and then she jumps back in her cage on her own when she's tired. Chinchillas love to run around, so hopefully you have the space for that. And please, DO NOT GET A GIANT HAMSTER BALL. That is the quickest way to get your chinchilla to overheat and have potentially serious complications.

I hope this was helpful!!
 
Alright to start, I'll go over the list you have there,
-The pellets and hay are fine.

-The treats no, chins should not have fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, animal products (eggs, meat, bone, hide, etc), and nothing too sugary. They are strict grass herbivores and really can't properly digest much else. Better options for treats are things like rosehips and other herbs like the ones Fuzzies Kingdom sells.

-The water bottle really can be a hit or miss, you do need a glass one so it's chew proof, but you don't want one that leaks, chins should not get wet. I haven't tried the one renieandthejets mentioned though. I currently have a Super pet (got bought up by kaytee and not the same) and a Living world version of the one you have pictured.

-The dust is fine, blue cloud dust is all the same regardless of brand.

-None of the cages you listed I would say are any good, they are all too small and/or plastic. You want a cage that is a minimum of 2'x2'x3', and height is more important to chins then width, they are hoppers so like to get up high. A plastic cage they will chew out of, and likely end up swallowing plastic which will cause gut problems. As mentioned the double Critter Nation or the Ferret Nation are both great cages for chins, I have a Ferret Nation for my current two. The only difference is FN bars are wider and mostly vertical (fine for adults but kits can escape) where as the CN are narrow and mostly horizontal (better if you get kits). The only thing is you need to either replace or cover the plastic pans so the chin doesn't eat them, remove the ramps, they are dangerous and not needed, and add more perches and ledges for hopping around. Personally I love the wide doors making cleaning and cage rearranging easy. As renieandthejets mentioned I too just use fleece liners to cover the pans. Chins don't nest like other rodents so they don't need bedding, just something to absorb their pee. Some chins can be litter trained to pee in a pan, which makes fleece a much better option, but it can take time and some refuse to learn. They poop constantly so they can't hold it, but a pooping chin is generally a healthy chin (so long as it's normal shape, color, and dry not soft). Another good cage option for chins is quality cages.

-The hiding house is no good, it's honey and sawdust mostly, and chins can't digest sugars. A better option is a wooden house.

-The bath house is ok, even though it's plastic you don't leave it in the cage so the chin wont have time to chew it, but a gallon size fish bowl or candy jar is even better since it's chew proof.

-Carefresh is dangerous, most chins eat it, and it will swell up in there gut causing an blockage that needs surgery to remove. A better option is either the fleece liners as mentioned (so long as you chin doesn't eat it, most don't but some do) or wood shavings, either pine or aspen.

-Unless the chin is sick they don't need supplements.

-For a wheel you want a solid surfaced metal wheel that is at least 15" in diameter. A plastic one the chin would eat, and one smaller then 15" is going to put strain on the chin's back causing back problems over time. Pet stores don't sell wheels that are chin safe, but online you can get the metal flying saucer, the chin spin, or the silver surfer.

- The chin chillers are great, but are an added cooling not primary cooling. Basically good for the chin too cool down after exercise in an already cool room. You want more then one so you can rotate them with cool ones from the fridge or freezer.

-Lava bites are great, but some chins demolish them in a single night. You will also want other types of chew toys, toss toys, hanging toys, chew toys, shredding toys, and different materials. Chins are very smart for rodents and need to be kept mentally entertained. Check out the vendors on here for great chin safe toys. Chins also need daily chew sticks, my guys get about half a dozen a day. Each chin seems to have their own preference for wood they like, but apple seems to be a favorite of most.

As for the temp, if the temp is above 75F for a prolonged period the chin will suffer, and possibly die. Ideally you want the room about 70F or below, and the humidity needs to stay below 50%. I try to keep my chin in about 68F or below year round. You don't want air blowing directly on them though since that can make them sick.

If properly cared for they are pretty healthy animals, they don't require any shots and in some cases never need a vet in their whole life. I don't personally agree with yearly checkups, chins can stress easily and going to the vet is stressful. Mine only go when they need the vet, my current two are around 11 and have never been to the vet. However being exotics as I'm sure you know from your reptiles, you need an exotic vet that knows chins, so it's good to find one before you need one. Even though they tend to be healthy you do want to find a good breeder, there are some genetic issues that chins can have, like genetic malocclusion, that you really don't want the heartache of dealing with.

I would keep the chins away from your other animals, some animals can carry stuff that can make the chin sick so you don't want them interacting. It really depends on the chin how curious they are, their personalities are all over, anywhere from brave and adventurous to shy and cautious. If the chin is out you need to chin proof the area, they chew all the time (they have to their teeth are always growing), so they should never have access to anything that isn't safe for them to chew up.

Most chins are not cuddly, they are a prey animals and cuddling can be pretty scary to them. Most also don't like being held, honestly I think it has to do with the fact that the temp of humans is hot to a chin. I've had over a dozen chins over the years and only had 2 that were cuddly. Sleeping with it in your bed would be a very bad idea, even if the chin doesn't overheat and die, if you are sleeping then the chin is not being watched to make sure it doesn't eat something it's not suppose to. Also, they are not sturdy animals, most of their bones are toothpick width and they have what is referred to as a floating rib cage, so holding them too tight can puncture their lungs or heart. Also having it in the bed would be kinda gross since they poop about once every 30 seconds to a minute, and I am completely serious.

Do to their bone structure you can't safely put a harness on them, one that would be tight enough to prevent escape would crush the chin, likely breaking bone and puncturing lungs. The best way to transport them if you need to is in a metal carrier, so they can't chew out. The large run around balls are known in the chin community as death balls, a chin can overheat and die very quickly in one, depending on the room temp, as little as a couple minutes. Also since they poop so often they will be running around getting pelted by their own poop. A better option for playtime is to either chin proof a room or area, or get a playpen. Keep in mind though that an adult chin can squeeze though any space bigger then 1" and they can jump 5'. Many people use a bathroom for playtime since it's a smaller room that can easily be cleaned up. Also regardless of how chin proofed you make the room chins should never ever be left unattended, if you are not supervising the chin needs to be in it's cage. They are about as smart as a 2 year old human, and should be trusted about as much.

Another thing to keep in mind is they are smart, so they do require daily interaction. Especially if you only get one you need to spend at least an hour a day everyday with the chin to satisfy it's social needs.
 
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