Recent content by keala

We did pretty thoroughly investigate the idea of colony breeding at one point. In my experience multiple females sharing space while breeding looks to always go badly eventually. For a single round of litters I give it some chance of working with VERY careful choices of who you attempt to...

If they can't eat it then I wouldn't worry about it. I did have a guinea pig eat a small cactus once. I had some started on a mat on the floor under a growlight with a wire barrier. I came back in the room with treats while they were out to find they'd managed to shove the wire apart. I...

Mine all eat cardboard. Excessive amounts can cause intestinal problems and even death. Glues may be questionable as well. Some may not eat as much of it but I really don't see a reason to throw in cardboard they will chew up within minutes to hours. The local hardware stores will cut...

The flying saucer is space consuming and has a risk of breaking cage bars due to it's weight. It needs to be installed with proper support. Otherwise it has few problems I know of but I don't own any. The silver surfer fits in more cage setups but chins will chew apart the thin metal. It...

Chinchillas really do make a wide range of sounds and with varying personalities they aren't always consistent about what is normal for every chinchilla. Unless it seems like there is a respiratory problem altering the sounds they make or cagemates are noisy due to fighting I've found it's...

All products should have a safety data sheet or MSDS. Some of it may be on the container or you can generally find it online provided you know the name of the product. That will tell you acute hazards and first aid concerns. If you need that information quickly in the US you can call your...

I wouldn't neuter a chinchilla. I've had rabbits and guinea pigs neutered as well as other surgeries but chinchillas stress so easily, obsess over wounds or stitches easily, and have a high risk of GI problems both from antibiotics and from not eating as well due to discomfort or stress. I'd...

I really don't know why chinchilla specific carriers and basic small wire cages are so expensive. The wire spacing? The gauge is often the same. Unweaned babies do fit out standard rabbit wire spacing but I've had no issues with anything older. The floor could be a concern if you want a wire...

Lots and lots and lots of wood. Pine board houses, pine board shelves, and several times a year I am drying mulberry wood cut from our yard to refill the boxes of sticks and larger branches. Good thing mulberry grows fast. They could eat one of the 8' tall trees in a year. Large parrot toys...

He probably didn't realize it was hard enough to hurt while grooming you, playing, or simply being curious. If you express displeasure without causing pain or scaring them they usually pick up quickly they made a mistake. Chins are fairly vocal with each other about these things or will give a...

I just use bass equipment rabbit carriers or any wire rabbit carrier if there is a local seller. I think my 3 hole one we had custom made locally 10-12 years ago but with the center designed to hold a 15lb rabbit it's a bit big to move chinchillas in a packed car. You can get any size and...

Even regular dust baths will eventually clean the fur. It just won't remove staining. It won't prevent them getting dirty again though. Sitting in it for only a few minutes can get their fur dirty and wet enough to stick together. The small amount of pee relative to some animals may dry up...

I find most of my chinchillas don't really like quiet all that much. I've had a few I got older that probably were used to silence and became nervous with commotion but otherwise they seem to greatly prefer something going on. Things to see and listen to. Of course animals in general and...

It gets 20% in our house in winter and I develop bronchitis in such conditions so we always run a humidifier from late fall until spring rains bring our 1800s hardwood house back to normal. My reptile and chinchilla hobbies sometimes conflict a bit too so it's a fine balance some parts of the...

I have one like that. She tosses it back in the bowl half the time. We originally thought tooth problems when we found bowls of tiny pellet bits but found no issue with her and 6-8years later she still does it. She gets irritating as she wastes pellets either making bits that get too small...