TheChinchillaDude
Member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2011
- Messages
- 9
Hi everyone, new guy to the forums.
I just got a Chinchilla named Timmy with a cage from an owner who didn't want him anymore on Kijiji. (Canadian version of Craigslist) He's apparently just under 13 months old, and the owner obviously knew nothing about chinchillas, because he came with a plastic running ball (which the owner said he loved to run in all the time) and she said she used to take him out to on the deck during hot days so he could sit in the sun.:wacko:
I just spent the last several hours reading the FAQs and other threads on the forum, and I think I have a pretty good handle on what he needs now. He's in a 69 degree room, I swapped out his newspaper(!) bedding for a doubled over fleece blanket, and have taken out things like his plastic igloo and swapped them for a Timothy Hay bungalow.
Now, the issue is, I just caught him chewing at his junk. I read in the FAQ that this is a sign of a hair ring, and that he is old enough to have been needing hair ring checks for several months. I assume that the old owner didn't ever do this because they did so many other things wrong. But, the problem: I've only had Timmy for a few days, and he doesn't exactly trust me yet. He just hopped into my lap for the first time tonight, and he seemed pretty scared because he was shaking and breathing fast. So, I am worried he is going to jump away when I check him for hair rings. Should I do something in particular to keep him still? My girlfriend can hold him down while I check him.
tl;dr
How can I keep an energetic male who doesn't trust me still while I check him for hair rings? Is there a specific method to use?
And a side question- his cage is 5 feet high with staggered shelves and ramps between them, but I read that 2 feet high is a maximum. So, when I put up a shelf to separate the cage in two parts, should I make the bottom half or the top half 3 feet high?
I just got a Chinchilla named Timmy with a cage from an owner who didn't want him anymore on Kijiji. (Canadian version of Craigslist) He's apparently just under 13 months old, and the owner obviously knew nothing about chinchillas, because he came with a plastic running ball (which the owner said he loved to run in all the time) and she said she used to take him out to on the deck during hot days so he could sit in the sun.:wacko:
I just spent the last several hours reading the FAQs and other threads on the forum, and I think I have a pretty good handle on what he needs now. He's in a 69 degree room, I swapped out his newspaper(!) bedding for a doubled over fleece blanket, and have taken out things like his plastic igloo and swapped them for a Timothy Hay bungalow.
Now, the issue is, I just caught him chewing at his junk. I read in the FAQ that this is a sign of a hair ring, and that he is old enough to have been needing hair ring checks for several months. I assume that the old owner didn't ever do this because they did so many other things wrong. But, the problem: I've only had Timmy for a few days, and he doesn't exactly trust me yet. He just hopped into my lap for the first time tonight, and he seemed pretty scared because he was shaking and breathing fast. So, I am worried he is going to jump away when I check him for hair rings. Should I do something in particular to keep him still? My girlfriend can hold him down while I check him.
tl;dr
How can I keep an energetic male who doesn't trust me still while I check him for hair rings? Is there a specific method to use?
And a side question- his cage is 5 feet high with staggered shelves and ramps between them, but I read that 2 feet high is a maximum. So, when I put up a shelf to separate the cage in two parts, should I make the bottom half or the top half 3 feet high?