New family member: Charlie

[Awesome Kristin]

Hey everyone. I used to be part of the forums back before they switched to these new ones. Today my husband and I adopted Charlie from a woman who had to give him up due to a small apartment.

She had told me he would come with a bunch of supplies and food and stuff but I'm pretty disappointed. He has no toys or ledges or hidey places, or even anything to chew on! So this is what he's been living like for a year I guess.

I really can't wait to get an order in for fleece stuff to replace these ferret beds and get some wooden shelves to replace the wire ones.

Is there anything I can do for him in the mean time? Should I make a little cardboard home for him?

For now I just covered the top of the cage so he can feel secure and I gave him some sticks that my hamster doesn't like anyways.

I'm about to remove the bottom ramp right now. Should I remove the bottom grill and just let him walk on the bedding or is it ok?

Also his tail is super curly, and he seems small to me. Will he grow any more? He's apparently one year old.

 

[addictedtochins]

He is cute! He will thrive under your care and playtime exercise. I love his tail, squeeee

 

[kathiva]

Yes, take the bottom grill, and when you can, remove the wired shelves as well and replace them for wood, or else he will get sore paws from the wired shelves, if they were solid metal shelves it would be ok, but with the grids, it hurts their feet.

He might grow, I don' know, depending on the kind of feed he had before,what kind of feed he had, what brand?

 

[Awesome Kristin]

She was trying to make sure I knew how to take care of him (I had already learned a ton a few years ago) and told me she tried to give him the mix but he wouldn't eat the pellets from it. I have no idea how long that went on. The food she gave me is called "nutriphase."

 

[AZChins]

Actually, the wire isn't too bad in those cages. The problem with that cage is not that it has wire floors and shelves, it's more that the shelves can be very unstable and get knocked out of place - also the shelves have a gap around the edges that are large enough for a chin to get a leg caught. I use wire floors in my cages and the chins do not have foot problems. With that cage I wish that they had done a better job at making it safer and not so cheap. It looks like she's been buying all her supplies at Petsmart.

Get something better than the Nutriphase...Mazuri or Oxbow.

 

[Awesome Kristin]

Thanks a bunch for all that info.

 

[ticklechin]

Wire cages don't cause foot issues, and I agree that the wire in that cage is not bad and the gaps are. The hay ball should go also, there have been chins who got heads and legs stuck in it. He is very cute and looks well taken care of!

 

[tunes]

I prefer not to have any animals on wire bottoms. I do think it is uncomfortable for them. I also think if you don't get the wire grids completely clean, it can lead to bumblefoot if your chin happens to get a crack in the skin of their feet then expose the crack to the dried urine or whatever on the grids. You can easily get them off the wire by putting down some tiles. If their feet hurt or bother them, they will sit on the tile. The cleaning part is more of a pain. I absolutely can't stand wire grids in cages because of this. Unless you can drag your cage to the car wash every week, or have a power washer at home, it's darn near impossible to get all the crud off from when they urinate.

I would pull out the wire ramps, the wire ledges, and the grid at the bottom if you can. Reinforce the cage with some nice, sturdy wood shelves. You don't have to special order them. Go to your nearest lumber store and have them cut you pieces of kiln dried pine on special order. It isn't super expensive. Then you just need the hardware to hang them and you're good to go.

As far as food goes, you can buy Oxbow from username Sandi on here, and it will be fresher and cheaper than buying it in a pet store. She can send you a priority box and it will last one chin quite some time.

My chins love cardboard boxes. I use whatever odd sized boxes come in the mail (depending on what was shipped in them) and cut a hole in them for a door. I have some chins that just buzz saw through wood and I can never seem to keep up with houses, so in between they get cardboard boxes to hide in.

 

[ticklechin]

The cleaning aspect is why I went to tile in 100% of my cages, I personally don't like wood shelves or wire shelves, both get crusty and the wood soaks in urine and with the amount of shelves in my old cages sanding or replacing wood shelves became a real pain. Now, cage cleaning is a breeze and the shelves get very clean.

 

[AZChins]

I use a scrub brush every couple months and scrub up my cages. Most cages need to be taken out and cleaned at the same frequency. You have to keep the wire clean, but I don't have a problem with it - I make sure to keep the soiled/stepped on hay out of the cages a couple times a week. Everything comes pretty clean with the wire bottoms without much work for me.

I just don't like that cage because Petsmart is selling it for around $100 and it's cheaply constructed and it's sometimes almost impossible to slide the pan out. Well, and the stupid shelves and gaps all the way around them. I get them all the time and give them to people to use for temporary cages without the shelves, most of the time.

 

[Awesome Kristin]

Thanks, everyone. My husband and I were planning on replacing the shelves anyways. I was going to order them but now that I've read up on it and seen the pictures it really does look simple to DIY.

I don't have a sewing machine and fleece seems to be expensive here anyway, so now I need to find a good place to order some hammocks and tubes and stuff.

 

[Awesome Kristin]

My husband made some shelves and we finally got to replace the metal ones. Still need to get some fleece stuff for him but I think he's happier already.

Toys are on the way and we'll replace that plastic bowl soon too.

 

[Awesome Kristin]

Oh man, last night my husband and I finally got to meet the real Charlie. Now that he is settled in he is freaking insane! He's hyper and mischievous. And he jumps around non stop at night.

He rocks!

 

[xcdnchinx]

the cage looks much better =)

 

[CJR]

Oh man, last night my husband and I finally got to meet the real Charlie. Now that he is settled in he is freaking insane! He's hyper and mischievous. And he jumps around non stop at night.

He rocks!

Aw, that's awesome! It's so great when they finally settle down and relax around you. The day Bess first gave me a kiss was the best day ever.

 

[caiti]

I love it when they bounce around too--it always makes me giggle, even if it wakes me up at 3 in the morning.

His tail is...so...awesome!!!!!!! Chinny-pig, Chinny-pig...does whatever a chinny-pig does.

 

[Jazicat]

So happy he's settling in! It sounds like you guys are going to have a lot of fun!

 

[Riven]

I don't think that the hammock or bed are made of chin safe materials, it only takes one busy night to get an impaction.

 

[Awesome Kristin]

I don't think that the hammock or bed are made of chin safe materials, it only takes one busy night to get an impaction.

They've been in there for a while it seems and I'll be getting fleece soon. He really loves to lay on the bed so I wouldn't wan to take away his only secure spot in the cage.

 

[Sandi]

Charlie is a handsome boy, have fun with him. )