Need EVERYTHING for a new chin!! Links please!

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

my3esses

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
52
Picking up our new 3m old chin this weekend and all I have so far is the cage (FN) and a Bass pan on its way. Would love if everyone could give me the links on their favorites of the following items:

bath house (diy or store bought?)
water bottle
hay holder
litter pan/dish
food dishes
litter material (pine, fleece, etc??)

And then aside from the cage, food, and the above what else do I need to have before my chin comes home with us??
 
I use one of those house-shaped dust baths from PetSmart. I only let him use it under my supervision, of course, since it's plastic.

I think the water bottles I use are Lixit brand - also from PetSmart. They're the flip-top kind with the valve they have to press to get the water to come out (instead of the usual ball) because they don't leak.

I bought a really cute hay holder from Whimsy's Menagerie, but my chin just pulls all the hay out of it anyway and eats it off the floor of his cage.

I don't use a litter pan. I haven't tried to potty train him and don't really have any intention of doing so.

I use a ceramic dish made for small dogs from PetSmart. It's big enough to hold plenty of food and heavy enough that he doesn't tip it over when he stands on it.

Fleece > shavings in my opinion! I tried shavings for about a week and they were EVERYWHERE and it was a huge pain, so I switched to fleece. No sewing, just cut to fit and laid over the Bass pan.

Other than that, you just need dust and lots of chew toys! They go through chew toys fast. You'll need a house or something for your chin to hide in and ledges for them to jump on in their cage. I bought all my ledges from Whimsy's Menagerie and I love them! I bought the bridge too and my chin loves it.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll add more if I think of anything later!
 
ashleynicol3 said:
I use one of those house-shaped dust baths from PetSmart. I only let him use it under my supervision, of course, since it's plastic.

I think the water bottles I use are Lixit brand - also from PetSmart. They're the flip-top kind with the valve they have to press to get the water to come out (instead of the usual ball) because they don't leak.

I bought a really cute hay holder from Whimsy's Menagerie, but my chin just pulls all the hay out of it anyway and eats it off the floor of his cage.

I don't use a litter pan. I haven't tried to potty train him and don't really have any intention of doing so.

I use a ceramic dish made for small dogs from PetSmart. It's big enough to hold plenty of food and heavy enough that he doesn't tip it over when he stands on it.

Fleece > shavings in my opinion! I tried shavings for about a week and they were EVERYWHERE and it was a huge pain, so I switched to fleece. No sewing, just cut to fit and laid over the Bass pan.

Other than that, you just need dust and lots of chew toys! They go through chew toys fast. You'll need a house or something for your chin to hide in and ledges for them to jump on in their cage. I bought all my ledges from Whimsy's Menagerie and I love them! I bought the bridge too and my chin loves it.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll add more if I think of anything later!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will look for whimsy's site and see what I can get! Do pet stores have ledges? I was trying to find things on amazon with prime so they come this week. I saw the plastic bath houses but wasnt sure that was the best option but sounds like it is a popular choice. Ordered blue cloud dust already. Also just ordered a chin chiller (should I get 2?), a lava ledge, and a natural pine hideout hut.
 
Ive never seen real ledges for chins in a pet store. The easiest way to get them would be to look up a seller on this site that makes them, and order them. - The fastest would be to make them yourself. Which is not that difficult of you have a saw and a drill.

Go to a local Lowe's type store and find some kiln dried pine pieces of wood. The selection is never very big for it around me. But the have sheets that are around 4-6 inches wide and anywhere from a 1/4 to 1inch+ thick. I use the 1 inch thick 5-6 wide myself. Then just cut them down to the length you want with a saw.

The other items to pick up are the pieces that will hold the ledges to the cage. One is a two sided screw. One side screws into the wood. The other side allows a nut to screw on. The second item is two 1-1/2 washes. After its screwed into the wood place a washer on each side of the cage. Then attach the nut on the outside.

If you have basic experience with a saw and drill then its not actually that complicated. Less then i made it sound I'm sure. The only other suggestion i would add is to use two attachments on each piece of wood. Its much more secure that way. One bolt alone can move easier, and the wood can strip and slide easier. So i always use two.
 
Fleece liners and Tubes with covers i got from Fleece for Furries or Chin Chic both are on FB they make great things :)
 
Rondas Chinchillas has some awesome wood perches i got 4 the other day in different woods she shipped them out very quick
 
Petstores have small ledges. Personally I plan to make my own out of pine board.
Same concept as this
http://www.mdvaden.com/bird_perches.shtml
We did several hickory branches that way. Pine should be much easier since it's a softer wood. I also ordered a 2' cottonwood branch I plan to do that to. Check the classifieds supply area here for cheap bulk wood and custom perches. Some already have the hanger bolt installed.

You'll want a wooden house. I'm not sure where to get those because ours came with them but I need to find more since I"m getting more chins.

Here's our young boys cage except the hanging bird toy is in 3 pieces now


They've eaten the pans pretty bad so we have metal ones coming and are replacing the top pans with boards.

I've heard suggested to use glass candy jars from places like walmart with the slanted top opening for dust bathes because less gets spilled. We are actually thinking of using a cat litter pan we have because the little plastic container that came with them only has a 1" lip and just barely fits the adult female. There's much wasted dust I have to sweep up every other day. We put them in the bathroom to dust bathe and run around instead of putting the container in their cage.
 
The houses I have are much thicker wood or they'd be gone by now judging by the damage to the floors. That super pet one is fine for in a hurry and a young chin (it's rather small) but it will be eaten a lot quicker than a higher quality house and reviews say it's not very stable which chins like to bounce on everything.

I was looking at these http://www.simplychintastic.com/housing.html I don't really like all the windows though. My chins like it dark during part of the day and they'll just chew the window holes. My female even likes the fact I covered all the holes in her larger house with fleece except the top hole that she sticks her head out to check what's going on.
 
Hmm... apparently there's also nails in that super pet hut that people have had to remove as their chins chewed it up for safety reasons.
 
bath house - a large spaghetti bowl works well and is cheaper than the store one
water bottle - http://www.thatpetplace.com/living-world-eco-water-bottle
hay holder - get a $1-2 terra cotta flower pot from Lowes/Home Depot. It's really cute and works just as well for much cheaper.
litter pan/dish - don't need one.
food dishes - a heavy one that they can't tip over or they'll waste food.. like the last one on this page: http://chinchillacity.com/cage_accessories.html
litter material (pine, fleece, etc??) - I use mini flakes from tractor supply. I think it's pine or aspen. Anything works as long as it's not cedar (which is deadly to chins) or carefresh.

Other than that you'll want ledges like the leap-n-ledge on this page: http://chinchillacity.com/cage_accessories.html
Dust, wooden chew toys, timothy hay, and a hidey house or tunnel (fleece or wood)

Here are some great resources with fun chin stuff:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fleece-for-Furries/158912790837886
http://www.chinchillacity.com/chinchilla_fleece.html
http://www.simplychintastic.com/other.html
http://www.whimsys-menagerie.com/cageaccessories.htm
http://twilightchinchillastoysandmore.weebly.com/

Good luck and if you have any questions I'm happy to help out so just PM me!! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top