The Chin That Ran Away

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Lil_Branchette

Lil_Branchette

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
123
Well, I really don't know what to say. At my work, we have this one chin in a humongous cage. And he ran away!! Well, the cage he was in was quite old, and it's actually two cages that have locks to connect them. There is one door that is open, and it connects the two cages. Apparently, the chin managed to push the two cages apart, and the was a little space for him to just barely squeeze through. I guess the locks did not work at all. Oh my god, I am just so....I don't know what to do! Me and this one other girl ran around the whole store putting little bowls of food and water for the chin. The girl, Jeannette, is planning to ask the manager if we could rent a live trap. Quite frankly, I dunno how a live trap looks like, but from my understanding, it doesn't kill, right? Any suggestions of what we could do?????
 
Oh man, does he react to a treat jar? I mean I know you are somewhere large, so it would be a bit harder, but Fuzzy always comes when he hears the treat jar....... I dont know that a chin is heavy enough for a live trap are they?
 
Put out dust and follow the foot prints. Also a live trap is like a rectangle. one side is the door. The other side you put some kind of bait...dust, rose hips hay, sticks. When the animal goes for the bait they trigger the door to snap shut so they are stuck. The shelter uses them all the time to catch feral cats to spay/neuter and vaccinate them.
 
OMG !! That could be bad-- I had a live trap for my hamster and NO IT DOES NOT KILL-- and it worked : ) Peaches the ham was gone for nearly a week and we caught her in the trap. I just put food in it and when they are hungry enough it goes in there and the trap closes. I would put food and hay and water bowls around. I am sure you will find poo droppings if they didn't get out side. Good Luck and please keep us updated.
 
Sometimes the humane society will lend out traps if you put down a deposit for the trap. You get your money back in the end. Poor little guy!

And I have to say, I agree with Jeannette!
(What a wonderful name! ;) )

ETA: That 'winking' emoticon looks like it just has a twitch! rofl...
 
The dust bath idea is good, if you have someone to watch it all the time to make sure you know when she's in it. Probably not likely. Otherwise I would say the live trap is your best bet. I just hope that she doesn't get out when the door is being opened. Good Luck.
 
Good luck, I would look in the darkest furthest corner all the way in the back. And make sure no one opens any doors. Hope you find him soon.
 
Live trap is probably going to be your only option if the chin is loose in a large area. My guess is that the poor chin is terrified and holed up in a corner or small area that they found and feel safe in. As for cages, chins are very strong and very smart and take advantage of any tiny holes or problems with the cage. I've had chins chew on the cage bars long enough to create a hole in the wires enough for them to get out. I'm lucky that mine are in a bedroom with a closed door. Depending on how large the building space is, you may want to get a number of different traps. Hay can smell a bit and could draw a chin in, and really fresh pellets smell quite a bit too, but they don't end up bringing a chin to eat from across the room. The humane soceity will rent out live traps, and you can also try calling local pest control agencies to see if they'll allow you to rent live traps. Get going on this as soon as you can because if the chin is forced to go without appropriate food for very long they can have problems with their tummies. Try to have the traps be the only place that the chin can get food. You'll have a better chance of getting him that way. Good luck, and let us know what ends up happening. - Jessica
 
I don't know if this would work but over the span of many years I can recall 2 escapes. The first one was Rio our ferret, he tore a hole in the aluminum dryer vent, for some reason the outside vent that should be screwed on the side of the house was off as well. So I was sitting on the couch looking out the window and the outside dog we had then was VERY interested in something. I look where he's looking and there's Rio peeking out. He was fine. And one time while we were gone some neighborhood kids broke in, let the chin out of her cage and left the front door open. We were looking all over then we saw the cats staring at a corner of the garage, sure enough there was Chinny, she was fine too. I don't know if it would work, but maybe if you had a tame dog on a harness, she could slip just a collar, well maybe if you were quiet the dog could hear where the chin is so you could catch it. You'd need other people because the person with the dog couldn't come near it. Try throwing a blanket over it to catch it.
 
I would put some dust out. If you can't catch the chin in a dust house or something at least they'll be some tracks. Good luck.
 
If you borrow a live trap, make sure you clean it REALLY well before setting it out! You don't want your chin to pick something up because of a live trap.

Best of luck!!
 
Definitely try the dust--but put it in all rooms that have a door, and close them also. That way, if they use the dust when no one is around, they can't leave that room. It will help narrow your search area.

Put bowls of food around, and hay also. Sometimes the smell of the hay will draw them out. Dishes of water, or water bottles near the food also, and mark the bottles, so you can see if the level goes down.

Good luck. :)
 
Are there several different rooms or offices that doors could be shut? Then you could put food/water/hay/dust in each of the rooms and if you discovered she got into the food stash, you'd know which room to look in. Otherwise, by morning, she could be anywhere again. I hope you find her soon.
 
You can get live traps for rats at TSC, they are not very expensive.
I would also put out a dust bowl or house; something he may stay in and take a nap that you can catch him in. And put the food in houses, boxes or whatever you have that is enclosed, hopefully he will move in.
I second trying to close as many doors as possible.
 
Yes, the live trap should work. I believe they weigh enough for the 'live trap'...because isn't a mouse about to same weight as a chinchilla??? lol. Sorry I am not much help hun.
 
Well, the chin had been up and about. There have been recent sightings of her dashing about. Jenn, we've put food everywhere: in the lunch room, underneath the racks of food, in the hallway leading down to the office, etc. The store itself is quite big. Ok, that's an understatement. REALLY BIG! The chin is waaaaaaay too fast for us to throw blankets over her, or catch her with nets. Believe me, we've tried everything. The problem is, there's a lot of big racks with dog food on them, or low ledges where we put the cat trees on top of, so the chin runs from one rack to another. And once she's under those racks, good luck trying to get her out! One time Jeanette was trying to get the chin out from under one of those racks, and the chin ran out and dashed between Jeanette's legs and under another ledge. THAT's how fast she is. My manager is considering the live trap. We just need to know how much it costs...
 
I've seen them for $15-20 at a Big R store around here! I'd use a smidgen of peanut butter, as it's aroma will "call" to the chin!
 
Don't use peanut butter! Put in a dust bath and maybe a raisin or two.
 
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