A not so new owner with new chinchillas!
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At one point, yes. It started with Chico (male) and Sophie (female) being introduced and eventuly living together. After Sophie gave birth to Houdini (male) The three of them lived together.
Since when i found out about houdini, it was already more then probable that she was already pregnet again, their was no point in seperateing Chico form his son. Seeing as Chico was doing great with the kit, and the kit would have to live with him.
When the kit was old enough, I seperated sophie to her own cage. So Sophie was in one cage, the males chico and houdini in another.
Some time later, she had two more kits. But the kits cant stay with her forever, and i only have two cages, so i made sure to get them frimillar with chico and houdini when they were out. In the hope of the four of them living together.
Since one of my males had a slight diarreha problem jsut days before i was goin to seperate the new kits, i couldnt move them in together jsut yet. So i had to take Sophies two story FN cage, and break them into two seperate one story cages. Untill i can move the kits over.
So as of now, my first to males, Daddy Chico and his first son Houdini are living in one two story FN cage. The kits (now 8weeks old) Living in a seperate one story FN cage. And Sophie is living in a seperate one story FN cage below the kits.
Hence the reason i was trying to find something healthy for them to have on a daily basic that wouldnt be considered a real treat. But might full them into thinking its a 'treat'
When he gets home in the morning, them chins dont want scratches or attention lol. They get highly annoyed to say the least, if thats all they get.
They go into a frenzy untill they get something lol. And when they do theyll calm right down. My ferrets are the exact same way.
Right now theyve been getting some apple wood twigs, but their quickly growing a dislike of the same thing each day.
Try ordering other types of wood.
Cottonwood, Mulberry, Pear, are all very popular. Or try getting some Loofah frmo Amy555.
My chin gets a stick or loofah in the morning before I go to work, and either a treat (rosehip only), or a stick at night before bed.
Thats really the only way to please them, but keep them healthy. Which is ultimately the most important thing.
mishellyshel
Chin Slave
i cant imagine them getting sick of apple wood sticks!!! lol
i agree with emily. try some other woods. also the loofah is a great idea and amy555 has little loofah bites that are reasonably priced and small enough to give frequently.
also another option is to get a board of kiln dried pine and cut it into little pieces yourself if you or someone you know is handy. some of my chins shred these into sawdust. others not so much! just gotta try different things and find what combo works.
definitely stay away from banana chips for them ( you can eat all you want!). it may not affect all your chins the same way but when you have more than one it is always difficult to figure out what one is having issues.
i agree with emily. try some other woods. also the loofah is a great idea and amy555 has little loofah bites that are reasonably priced and small enough to give frequently.
also another option is to get a board of kiln dried pine and cut it into little pieces yourself if you or someone you know is handy. some of my chins shred these into sawdust. others not so much! just gotta try different things and find what combo works.
definitely stay away from banana chips for them ( you can eat all you want!). it may not affect all your chins the same way but when you have more than one it is always difficult to figure out what one is having issues.
Dusty Foot Prints
Well-known member
Our Annabelle is in the minority here, too since she does not really prefer apple sticks. She loves cottonwood, mulberry, and willow though. Try different kinds and I'm sure you'll find one they adore.
ChinnyMom
slave to Rhino and Guss
Rhino goes nuts over the fruit flavoured wood chews sold at petsmart. he enjoys the shapes (stars, hearts, etc) more than the rods or blocks, since there's more surfaces to gnaw on. and he's happy having them as little toss toys to hold and chew or on a hanging toy.
The pros and cons of having a smart chin...
So my female Sophie, will chew absolutly anything she can get her noth on when shes out to play. Shelves, cabnites, the walls, the floor. Anything she can. Now for the most part, i dont care. Theirs nothing out their of value that the chins goign to destroy or anything. But things like the wall is another story.
The ppl that maintained this apartment are idiots. The kind that even realy bad screw up look at and ar like... ****... thats bad. Theirs nothing rong that a coat of paint cant fix for them. The house is caveing in a bit.. coat of paint. The door was shattered into many peaces. Put em back up and throw some paint over it. You get the picture.
Its beleived that the chins play room once had tileing on the walls form back in the day. Held up with that glue or paste stuff. And when they came down, they simply painted over the remaining stuff. (gotta love cheap greedy ppl)
So when sophie was out she would try to chew the wall. And would occasionly get a little foot hold and rip a sheet of paint off. TO which she would try to eat. Obviously i tried to stop her, and get the peice away froo her. And pealed the sheets as much off as i could to stop her form being able to get any.
I eventuly covered the walls with some large cardboard peices. Not thrilled with it, but id rather them then her trying to eat the walls. The (other) problem is, shes a very smart chin and she knows shes not allow to do that. Shell give a good lookout before attempting. And when she starts, if she sees me move towards her, most of the time shell jump up and run away. Cause she knows she shouldnt be doing that.
Then she got tired of running away and would simply not move when i came over to stop her. She will chew off sheets off the cardboard now and try to eat them. Which has now evolved into her going for the sheets, and you try to come near here or stop her, she will shoot you with urine. Which is suuuuch fun to deal with. She is very smart girl and highly highly persistent. She will not give up for anything.
So my female Sophie, will chew absolutly anything she can get her noth on when shes out to play. Shelves, cabnites, the walls, the floor. Anything she can. Now for the most part, i dont care. Theirs nothing out their of value that the chins goign to destroy or anything. But things like the wall is another story.
The ppl that maintained this apartment are idiots. The kind that even realy bad screw up look at and ar like... ****... thats bad. Theirs nothing rong that a coat of paint cant fix for them. The house is caveing in a bit.. coat of paint. The door was shattered into many peaces. Put em back up and throw some paint over it. You get the picture.
Its beleived that the chins play room once had tileing on the walls form back in the day. Held up with that glue or paste stuff. And when they came down, they simply painted over the remaining stuff. (gotta love cheap greedy ppl)
So when sophie was out she would try to chew the wall. And would occasionly get a little foot hold and rip a sheet of paint off. TO which she would try to eat. Obviously i tried to stop her, and get the peice away froo her. And pealed the sheets as much off as i could to stop her form being able to get any.
I eventuly covered the walls with some large cardboard peices. Not thrilled with it, but id rather them then her trying to eat the walls. The (other) problem is, shes a very smart chin and she knows shes not allow to do that. Shell give a good lookout before attempting. And when she starts, if she sees me move towards her, most of the time shell jump up and run away. Cause she knows she shouldnt be doing that.
Then she got tired of running away and would simply not move when i came over to stop her. She will chew off sheets off the cardboard now and try to eat them. Which has now evolved into her going for the sheets, and you try to come near here or stop her, she will shoot you with urine. Which is suuuuch fun to deal with. She is very smart girl and highly highly persistent. She will not give up for anything.
Isabella Whateva
Well-known member
Your chin should NOT be chewing the walls. It is extremely bad. There are all kinds of chemicals in paint that can make them sick, plus they can get blockage in their intestines from eating it. If it's impossible to let Sophie out without her eating the walls, then she should not be let out until you come up with a solution. Chins don't NEED play time. It's good for them and stops boredom, but if it's going to be a danger to their health, it needs to be stopped immediately. Sophie might be a little grumpy about it, but this is another case where human knows best and you have to do what's good for her.
Have you ever looked at getting a play pen? Many users on here use them. They're good because your chin is in an enclosed space and you know they can't be getting into trouble. If all your walls are like this, it may be too big of a problem to just cover up. Are there any rooms in the house where this isn't a problem? Lots of people have playtime in bathrooms because they're generally easier to chin-proof.
Have you ever looked at getting a play pen? Many users on here use them. They're good because your chin is in an enclosed space and you know they can't be getting into trouble. If all your walls are like this, it may be too big of a problem to just cover up. Are there any rooms in the house where this isn't a problem? Lots of people have playtime in bathrooms because they're generally easier to chin-proof.
discounting wires from everything in noraml rooms, the bathroom would be the very last room id want to let them out in. Its a bit to dangerous for them. Not to mention the time they come out is not to long after the shower has been used, to the room is still wet/moist as well as the air.
I have no room to put a playpen atm. And i cant keep her away form her play time unless i absolutly had to. Her kits have jsut been seperated and shes by her self right now. And you can see she is lonely, and bored. The cardboard seems to be working to keep them from chewing the walls, but now shes jsut chewing and trying to eat the cardboard.
One lucky thing (kinda) is the place i worked at that gave me this disability >< my dad still works their and has acces to very large cardboard slabs that are sometimes placed on top of pallets. Which is much better then trying to use a bunch of small peices.
Its jsut that she knows shes not supposed to chew them and does anyway. And will shoot urine at you if you try to stop her.
I have no room to put a playpen atm. And i cant keep her away form her play time unless i absolutly had to. Her kits have jsut been seperated and shes by her self right now. And you can see she is lonely, and bored. The cardboard seems to be working to keep them from chewing the walls, but now shes jsut chewing and trying to eat the cardboard.
One lucky thing (kinda) is the place i worked at that gave me this disability >< my dad still works their and has acces to very large cardboard slabs that are sometimes placed on top of pallets. Which is much better then trying to use a bunch of small peices.
Its jsut that she knows shes not supposed to chew them and does anyway. And will shoot urine at you if you try to stop her.
Isabella Whateva
Well-known member
Eating cardboard is not good either. It doesn't have all the chemicals paint has, but can still cause blockage. Instead of playtime, you can just spend extra time talking to her in the cage, give her more chew toys, things like that. Which would you rather have? A bored chin, a whopping vet bill from stasis treatment, or a dead chin?
Obviosuly i dont want any harm to come to my chin.
She honestly doesnt care for the attention from me tho. While shes bonded to me and everything, shes jsut not one that wants to be peted or scratched or talked to. She jsut give me that chin look like 'leave me the **** alone..' and goes into her hut.
Thats another reason i feel bad. Shes seperated from all the males, theirfor lonely. Doesnt rly like human attnetion unless she thinks shes getting a treat. The idea of taking her play time away seems a bit crule on top of all that.
I havnt been able to come up with to much in the term of toys or entertainment outside of the cage either. Someone suggested ping pong balls for them to chase around or try to play with. Unfortionitly, out of my 5 chins, only one ever shows slight intreset in them. For my girl, they mine as well not exsist. They all even ignore the cuddle buddy stuffed chin i got for them a long time back. They dont liek it. If you place it in their hut they will kick it out.
She honestly doesnt care for the attention from me tho. While shes bonded to me and everything, shes jsut not one that wants to be peted or scratched or talked to. She jsut give me that chin look like 'leave me the **** alone..' and goes into her hut.
Thats another reason i feel bad. Shes seperated from all the males, theirfor lonely. Doesnt rly like human attnetion unless she thinks shes getting a treat. The idea of taking her play time away seems a bit crule on top of all that.
I havnt been able to come up with to much in the term of toys or entertainment outside of the cage either. Someone suggested ping pong balls for them to chase around or try to play with. Unfortionitly, out of my 5 chins, only one ever shows slight intreset in them. For my girl, they mine as well not exsist. They all even ignore the cuddle buddy stuffed chin i got for them a long time back. They dont liek it. If you place it in their hut they will kick it out.
of course, right now sophies stuck in only half the FN cage. Sicne the kits are seperate on the top half. I was getting rdy to to move them to their father and brothers cage, but one had some diarreah problems so that was postponed. Hopeing to try it in a few days tho. They get along fine when their together so im hoping for good results.
And if so, sophie will get her full cage back. Which im sure will make her a bit more happy.
And if so, sophie will get her full cage back. Which im sure will make her a bit more happy.
ChinnyMom
slave to Rhino and Guss
first of all, this cuddle buddy, is it stuffed with fleece or with stuffing? if stuffing, it should not be in the cage. if just during playtime, keep a darn good eye on your chins when they are playing with it. some chins just don't care for cuddle buddies, and buddies are more of a male thing, from what i've read (and seen with Rhino).
you mention there's no room for a playpen. it doesn't have to be set up all the time, just when your chins come out. if you have a 5 or 6 foot wide square area clear, then that is enough room to set up a playpen, and it shouldn't take too long to put up or take down. or maybe your roommate or some friends could help you move some furniture around to make room? a chins play area shouldn't be too cluttered with furniture either, as that creates too many places where they can go hide and chew without you knowing.
you mention there's no room for a playpen. it doesn't have to be set up all the time, just when your chins come out. if you have a 5 or 6 foot wide square area clear, then that is enough room to set up a playpen, and it shouldn't take too long to put up or take down. or maybe your roommate or some friends could help you move some furniture around to make room? a chins play area shouldn't be too cluttered with furniture either, as that creates too many places where they can go hide and chew without you knowing.
Dusty Foot Prints
Well-known member
I also agree that if a safe area for playtime can not be provided, then she is better off without playtime. Do you have a wheel or saucer in her cage? They can be tremendous boredom busters.
Chins are chewers. It's in their nature. You just have to find a way to outsmart them and provide them with safe things to chew on. Keep trying different things- sticks, twiglets, loofah, willow wreaths, cocanut shell, sisal rope, cholla.. certainly there has got to be something that will interest them.
Maybe you can post photos of your cages so we can give you suggestions?
Chins are chewers. It's in their nature. You just have to find a way to outsmart them and provide them with safe things to chew on. Keep trying different things- sticks, twiglets, loofah, willow wreaths, cocanut shell, sisal rope, cholla.. certainly there has got to be something that will interest them.
Maybe you can post photos of your cages so we can give you suggestions?
Theirs not much i can do to stop them from pealing the walls other then covering it up. Maybe a thin cheet of chin wood of the proper dimentions. Tho that wood is not easyly found around here. While i intend to continue trying to give them other things to do, i doubt it will stop them. Im reminded of the age old attage of the baby opening a new toy and instead playing with the wraping. lol
I do have a flying saucer in one cage with father chico and oldest son houdini. I got another one for mother sophies cage, but atm she only has access to half the FN cage, since i had to seperate the kits on the top floor for now. So theirs not much room on the one floor for the saucer. Tho i might try to put it in for here later tonight anyway. Theirs jsut deffenitly not going to be a lot of room for her, which makes me feel relay bad. But at least shell have something to do. (since she ignors the hammok completly, i can put it over their)
Im not sure whats inside the cuddle buddy chin. It was made by the same person that i odered my fleece hammoks from a while back. She specialized in making chin products. To the point of it taking so much more then 40H a week, that she had to cut what she offered on her site by well over half 3/4 cause she couldnt keep up with the orders.
The buddy has been left in their cages. And it didnt matter if it was the males or the femlaes, they all hated it.
Ill see if i can get a pic of the current status of the cages tonight. Some times my old camera doesnt like to turn on tho, and other time the shudders dont like to open. So its touchy on when i can use it or not. Itll also give me time to change the one cage and add that wheel. I swear.. this aspen bedding is infinitly cheaper then the carefresh i was useing, It lasts 100x as long... but this stuff gets evvvvvery where! Im also stuck with the trays the FN cages come with, with the low edges so that doesnt help. And at the cost of getting four trays with higher edges, i could jsut get the fleece lineings. (cant afford either atm so it doesnt matter) But it is a mess
I do have a flying saucer in one cage with father chico and oldest son houdini. I got another one for mother sophies cage, but atm she only has access to half the FN cage, since i had to seperate the kits on the top floor for now. So theirs not much room on the one floor for the saucer. Tho i might try to put it in for here later tonight anyway. Theirs jsut deffenitly not going to be a lot of room for her, which makes me feel relay bad. But at least shell have something to do. (since she ignors the hammok completly, i can put it over their)
Im not sure whats inside the cuddle buddy chin. It was made by the same person that i odered my fleece hammoks from a while back. She specialized in making chin products. To the point of it taking so much more then 40H a week, that she had to cut what she offered on her site by well over half 3/4 cause she couldnt keep up with the orders.
The buddy has been left in their cages. And it didnt matter if it was the males or the femlaes, they all hated it.
Ill see if i can get a pic of the current status of the cages tonight. Some times my old camera doesnt like to turn on tho, and other time the shudders dont like to open. So its touchy on when i can use it or not. Itll also give me time to change the one cage and add that wheel. I swear.. this aspen bedding is infinitly cheaper then the carefresh i was useing, It lasts 100x as long... but this stuff gets evvvvvery where! Im also stuck with the trays the FN cages come with, with the low edges so that doesnt help. And at the cost of getting four trays with higher edges, i could jsut get the fleece lineings. (cant afford either atm so it doesnt matter) But it is a mess
Isabella Whateva
Well-known member
The easiest and cheapest chin safe wood is kiln dried pine. They have it at any home improvement store, like Lowes and Home Depot. You could get sheets of that and cover the walls with it. Until/unless you do that, there should be absolutely no playtime if there's no other way to stop them from chewing.
ticklechin
Well-known member
If your building is pre-1978 then there is a real possibility of lead paint on the walls, the chinchilla can get lead poisoning, the most common symptoms of lead poisoning are lethargy, pain in the gut, change in mood, loose poo and finally seizures. Don't let them eat paint, if this was a human child you would prevent it, so why not a chinchilla.
Isabella Whateva
Well-known member
yeah, lead paint kills humans, so you can imagine how fast it could kill a chin. And honestly, it doesn't sound like your landlord cares much about building standards, so I really wouldn't doubt that they would (like you said) just cover up the lead paint with more paint.
ill get these pics to work one day...
