Recent content by Pixie1984

Personally, I don’t trim unless I’m dealing with chins I know have dominant personalities. It’s worked well in the past for me in those situations, one main one being when one in my male herd of 5 decided to start bullying a lower member away from food. It lead to a couple minor fisticuffs at...

Ideally, intact males & female should not interact at all during any out of cage time, breeding can take literally seconds with chins.

Fur chewing can be caused by a number of reasons, pain, stress, boredom, habit, some just enjoy grooming & take it too far. That said, it’s also an inherited/learned behaviour. Some will pick it up from a cage mate that likes to over groom, for others it starts as something caused by something...

Yes, the general rule of thumb with chins is that if blood is drawn they shouldn’t be put back together, mainly because they can hold grudges if hurt enough & forgive/forget isn’t guaranteed. Prior to coming to me one of my males was bitten by his brother which drew blood. They were separated...

Most vets I’ve seen will use both positions to do heath checks, just for the easy access to certain parts that both give. Something like gender checking & spinal alignment is always easier with 4 paws on the ground & a lift from the base of the tail, but for things like teeth, legs & paws, on...

Whisker chewing is just the way chins establish who stands where in the herd hierarchy, the most dominant one will chew down the ones of the one less dominant than them, who will then 9/10 chew down those of the one less dominant to them & so on. My largest herd is made up of 6 boys, all but the...

Oh I’m sorry, that’s unfortunate. 22g is very small, especially for a single kit, so it’s entirely possible that the kit was born too early. I’ve personally only ever had a kit born that small when it was part of triplets. Females milk usually comes in anywhere from 12-24hrs after birth, so for...

No preference at all. I currently have more males than females, but I find chins like people, each one has their own little personality quirks. The only males I keep a closer eye on for hair rings are my breeding boys if they’re in with females, the others I’ll only take a look if they’re paying...

That food is fine for young chins. There’s also Burgess that’s readily available, or pets at homes own pellets which are also made by Burgess. If you’re in the UK & use Facebook, Chinchillas of the UK group is full of owners & NCS breeders with years & years of experience that can help with...

In the UK what you’re better off looking for is Sepiolita. It’s availability on places like eBay, Amazon & Pet retailers in small quantities or up to 20k, but depending on where you are Paul Spooner & John Hopewell also sell it. http://www.paulspoonerchinchillas.co.uk/accessory.html

A failed attempt doesn’t mean it’s over or that that particular method won’t work. If you want to try it again then with any smooshing I find picking up the carrier & walking around a bit whenever there are any signs of a disagreement works in settling them. When they’re secure enough in each...

😂 that sounds about right, my chins cages never stay tidy for long. Tidy one & by the time I’m on the 3rd the 1st looks like a bomb’s gone off in there

Aaah, when you said wire I assumed it was correctly gridded. Yes I see what you mean, vertical bars can be a big problem with how easy it is for feet & legs to slip between them. I had a chin come to me through a local charity when they had no room at the start of the pandemic who needed a leg...

Wire on its own for the base isn’t a problem if it’s 3/4inch squared & a minimum of 16 gauge, for a higher level though it’s obviously an issue when it comes to them being able to pee through it which is where fleece would be handy. Contrary to popular believe, the correct wire doesn’t cause...

Triplets are well known for fighting, each wants the best nipple so it’s not uncommon for the bigger kit/s to bully the smaller ones away from the one they want. If that happens rotation is the best option, the larger two first & then the little one alone for a longer period of time to give...