To fleece or not to fleece??

[MerMer]

Hello - I appreciate any input!

My chin came with a store-bought hammock that isn't fleece and he never really spent a whole lot of time in it before i removed it. So, I am having a hard time justifying buying him a new hammock. He usually sleeps on a ledge or in his timothy hay bungalow and he only uses his little wooden hidey house as a place to jump off of.

Those little hanging hidey houses, hammocks, and fleece tubes are too cute, but I have spent so much money so far on a new double CN cage, a chin spin, metal pants, chew toys, and supplies!

I am curious as to how much ya'lls chinchillas enjoy their fleece items and which ones are liked the best? Is the tube a must have? I am still on the fence about liners >.< I read they get stinky quite fast... HOW stinky is stinky???

Thanks

 

[Godofgods]

Hammock are nice to have. 4 outa my 5 chins use them. Maybe not all the time but somewhat often. I prefer riveted ones instead of looped. They seem more prone to chew the loops in my experience.

The tubes, all of my chin use. Its actually the one thing they are incredibly protective about. Every one of them. If there sitting on a ledge next to the tube and i reach in to flick away the chin poop in there, they will see it and get protective against my invading hand. They've never done anything serious, but enough where i notice. Its pretty interesting.

Fleece liners are probably a god idea if you chin isn't a fleece chewer. Liners can get expensive because you generally need at least two for each area/floor you cover. Because you need to take one out to wash and low dry so you need another one to go in in the mean time. Best is usually to switch them out every time. - So that can be a heavy purchase. If its getting to smelly then i would imagine the owner should be changing it more often.

One additional thing about the metal pans. If the chins pee on them, over time it will start to dissolve the metal pan. My girls pan started out a nice shinny metal color, now its mostly black/brownish. And i clean any urine up every morning when i get up, and again in the evening when i go to feed them.

 

[Smidgeyy]

Tubes are a must have here. Both my chins spend more time in those than anywhere else. Mine won't get protective over it like GoG just mentioned, but they do love it.

Hammock wise, mine actually don't care for it. One won't even touch it(I once used it as a hay holder so it wouldn't be useless and he rarely even sat in it then.. He sat on the nearby ledge and ate the hay >.<) and the other one will occasionally play in it. He doesn't really sleep or relax in it, but he acknowledges it.

I bought a fleece hanging house and put it in my first chins cage(the one who ignored the hammock) and he ignored the house even more!!! He must not like hanging in things that aren't sturdy. I gave it to the other chin and he loves it! So each chin is different, it's just a matter of finding out what they like.

My liners don't really get too stinky. One chin is litter trained to perfection(he's never had an accident since I litter trained him) so there's no worry about urine on the fleece. My other chin is litter trained but he will pee elsewhere sometimes. Even that doesn't get too bad. I change them out once a week and vacuum them daily.

I have two CN cages and two liners per cage. Once you get all the fleece, it becomes less expensive than bedding in my opinion. You only have to wash them and you're all set. I wasted a lot of fleece when I was first starting out, as I sewed them too small and they shrunk to the point where they couldn't fit anymore. If you only have one FN/CN cage and you take out the small shelves, you can make two sets out of 6 yards(I make mine in a pillowcase style so it covers the plastic pans). :]

Tile is an option too... But I worry about the pee running everywhere and getting on them. You could place tile down in the pans and then cover it with fleece... That can minimize the amount of urine that gets on the pans.

 

[Chinmama]

Our chinchillas both love their fleece tubes.

Marble has a fleece "pillow" that she also loves. ZZ hated his and never used it.

They both have fleece hammocks. She only gets in hers if it'll get her closer to something she wants, and he spends about 75% of the day in his.

They both have hanging hidey houses, which I took out because neither of them used.

It really comes down to the chinchilla. I think it's rare for a chinchilla not to use a fleece tube, but anything else is just a risk. Either they'll love it or it'll be a total waste of money. Like Marble's pillow, for example. It's just a square of fleece with a stuffed edge. Nothing fancy. I thought I'd be nice and get her a real pillow, so I ordered a danish donut from Annie at ChinChic. She hated it and refused to use it.

 

[MerMer]

Thank you so much everybody I really appreciate the input and have a much better idea about what to get him and I won't feel like the purchase is more for me than for him.

I am going to make the jump and give liners a try and will definitely purchase a tube for him. Might as well get a hammock too, but I'm passing on the hanging hidey house. I'm going to start litter box training this week and hopefully he takes to it!

 

[MerMer]

Sorry double post >.< I hit reply before I could gush over chinmamas cuties, love marble and zz!!