Dangers

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razberry224

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
101
This is a thead about Dangerous things for chinchillas, I know we can go on forever, with things to be careful about, and not use so here we go.

If you had to put together a list, what would you list.

This was my starting ideas.
Hay racks.
The unsafe Wheels.
Plastic that could get ingested.
Cedar Bedding.
Electrical wires.
 
The reason why I wanted to start this was because of Sun, this is a picture of her, she only has 3 legs. Due to she was in a cage that was not chinchilla safe, the wire ramp she broke her leg in.

I will warn anyone that is getting a cage to make sure they get a chinchilla safe cage.

And I just wanted to make a list of other dangers too.
 

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I had a chin get hung from his chew toy wire hanger- so almost anything can break a leg! Here are some:

Cages that are not escape proof
Sunlight
Fruit, veggies, RAISINS, candy, etc.
dirty water
heat
high falls
too many treats, even the safe kinds
 
Heavy bowls or houses on an upper level and not securely attached.
Junk food.
Not enough ventilation.
Any thing too close to the cage that they can chew on.
 
Other Pets!

Aside from zoonotic diseases and infections like girardia, a lot of more common pets are carnivores (dogs, cats, rats, ferrets) and have a hunting instinct no matter how well they're trained. I wouldn't trust them alone with a chin, and it would have to be a darn mellow animal I'd allow to sniff/touch a chin at all even supervised.
 
Other Pets!

Aside from zoonotic diseases and infections like girardia, a lot of more common pets are carnivores (dogs, cats, rats, ferrets) and have a hunting instinct no matter how well they're trained. I wouldn't trust them alone with a chin, and it would have to be a darn mellow animal I'd allow to sniff/touch a chin at all even supervised.

and rabbits, they can pass differnt diseases and such...
 
Ok, I'm sick of seeing "plastic" listed as a danger due to chewing. Chinchillas can get an impaction from ingesting fleece, and get an impaction from ingesting (*gasp*) wood. Chins don't eat what they're chewing. So plastic is fine. A bigger issue with plastic is the fact it half the time doesn't last near as long as wood does for a chewing surface.


On that note:

Wire shelf spacing larger than (I think) .5"x.75"
Ignorant owners
Wheels less than 15" diameter
Crosswire wheels. (the kind that is usually wire, free standing, and has rods through the diameter of the wheel sides)
Long, unbroken falls.
CEDAR BEDDING
 
My biggest peeve is those huge plastic balls. I cannot tell you how many of those I have thrown away over the years.

  • plastic balls
  • fruits and veggies
  • 4,000 raisins a day
  • snak shak
  • snak tunnel
 
Fish Tanks, would be anothe one I want to add, how many times I have been asked if you can keep them in a fish tank. It drives me crazy.
 
Me. Muahahahaha.

Just kidding.

Exposed electrical wires. Melamine. Many things if they are ingested. Citrus wood. People food. Fabrics that can be ingested.
 
Children under the age of 10 unless watched like a hawk!!
Not enough evacuation cages for your herd!
 
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