I have been interested in adopting a pet, but I have been doing some research on and I was wondering if someone out there can fill me in on what its like to be a chinchilla owner and your experience. What type of caging and bedding would they need? I have a wire cage with a detachable plastic bottom, is that ok to use? I have a Carolina Storm wheel, would it be suitable for a chinchilla? Can they be litter trained? What is the best way to work on socializing them at first? Do they absolutely need to be adopted in pairs? What is the likely hood of them biting and prevention of that? Can you fill me in on some other answers and info? I would be super happy and much appreciate it Thank you!
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What type of caging and bedding would they need?
Most people would suggest a ferret/ critter nation. Though with chinchillas you need height (with wooden ledges). As for bedding I use kiln dried pine in my litter dishes and cover the bottom of the cage in anti pill fleece.
I have a wire cage with a detachable plastic bottom, is that ok to use?
You'll need to cover the plastic pan with something like fleece, or get it replaced with a metal one. Chinchillas chew EVERYTHING and hard plastic pieces will upset their digestive tract and cause serious health issues.
I have a Carolina Storm wheel, would it be suitable for a chinchilla?
I would say probably not, again it's plastic. You'll need a larger wheel usually 15". Popular ones are Chin Spins and Silver Saucers though I believe some people have tutorials to making safe and cheaper wheels.
Can they be litter trained?
Only to pee in a pan, pooping is something they just do all the time haha.You'll find chin poo in some weird places.
What is the best way to work on socializing them at first?
If you mean socializing with you it just takes time and trust. Sit next to the cage and talk to them. I like to watch TV with my girls and they seem to enjoy it. If you mean with other chins, there are a lot of helpful threads on here.
Do they absolutely need to be adopted in pairs?
Nope! Some prefer to live with others but I own two individually happy chins. But even bonded pairs can turn on each other.
What is the likely hood of them biting and prevention of that?
They will most likely nip a little at first but they're just testing you out. They best way to prevent constant nipping is just working with them and bonding. Eventually they'll start doing super soft nips at you which is grooming
It means they're bonding with you!
I hope this helped you a little!
Most people would suggest a ferret/ critter nation. Though with chinchillas you need height (with wooden ledges). As for bedding I use kiln dried pine in my litter dishes and cover the bottom of the cage in anti pill fleece.
I have a wire cage with a detachable plastic bottom, is that ok to use?
You'll need to cover the plastic pan with something like fleece, or get it replaced with a metal one. Chinchillas chew EVERYTHING and hard plastic pieces will upset their digestive tract and cause serious health issues.
I have a Carolina Storm wheel, would it be suitable for a chinchilla?
I would say probably not, again it's plastic. You'll need a larger wheel usually 15". Popular ones are Chin Spins and Silver Saucers though I believe some people have tutorials to making safe and cheaper wheels.
Can they be litter trained?
Only to pee in a pan, pooping is something they just do all the time haha.You'll find chin poo in some weird places.
What is the best way to work on socializing them at first?
If you mean socializing with you it just takes time and trust. Sit next to the cage and talk to them. I like to watch TV with my girls and they seem to enjoy it. If you mean with other chins, there are a lot of helpful threads on here.
Do they absolutely need to be adopted in pairs?
Nope! Some prefer to live with others but I own two individually happy chins. But even bonded pairs can turn on each other.
What is the likely hood of them biting and prevention of that?
They will most likely nip a little at first but they're just testing you out. They best way to prevent constant nipping is just working with them and bonding. Eventually they'll start doing super soft nips at you which is grooming
It means they're bonding with you!I hope this helped you a little!
akane
Well-known member
Minimum dimensions are usually suggested to be 2x2x3'. Ferret nations, especially doubles, are the most popular but many ferret cages and large aviaries can work. You will have to fill it with wood shelves and remove or cover any plastic or wire mesh in fleece. Bass equipment makes pans that fit the ferret and critter nations as well as custom pans for a pretty low price.
Most people just use fleece layers for bedding. Some are just folded over like ours and some actually cut and sew liners with sometimes an absorbent layer of something else in between layers of fleece. You can buy such liners if you want them and don't want to make your own. Other fleece items are used like hammocks, tunnels, hanging houses...
Some chins can be litter box trained to a point but they aren't great about it. Mine rarely pee when out but they do poop everywhere in and out of their cage.
Wheels must be metal with a solid running surface. Silver surfers are the cheapest, then flying saucers-some chins have trouble learning to use them, and then the more expensive wheels like chin spins. The more expensive wheels have their benefits like being quieter, having larger running surfaces, and lasting longer.
Chins don't really bite. Young ones and those just getting used to human interaction may accidentally nip while looking for treats or testing what fingers are but I've never had them break skin. If you really corner them they may bite harder but they give you tons of warning and make every attempt to get away instead of resorting to fighting you. If they run off in to their house don't reach in after them. Mothers with babies are the exception since they may stand their ground guarding their babies instead of avoiding you. So long as you listen to their complaining noises and especially any lunges in your direction by backing off they will not do more than the accidental nips. After about a few months they learn to carefully scrape teeth across your skin until they encounter the treat and then take it. My older ones can take a single grapenut or piece of oatmeal from between my fingers with no discomfort to me.
Most do not like to be held and they tolerate petting to a varying degree. Mostly they want talked to, fed treats, and let run around. They generally aren't very cuddly animals. You do get the odd one that has been handled a ton since it was born and will sit still to be picked up and held for longer than average. Chin safe rooms like bathrooms or large play pens work best to interact with them out of the cage. You can sit in the middle and once they get used to you they will check in for attention and to climb on you between running about the area.
Most chins do benefit from a friend and 2 chins is not really more work than one. There is the risk they may have a falling out though and no longer be able to live together. While most may enjoy a friend they will also usually get along just fine on their own. Some may need an adjustment period if they've never been alone but after awhile they are bouncing around and eating like any other happy chin.
Chins should not have dried fruit or food with little colored bits and such in it. It should be a plain pellet. Oxbow and Mazuri are considered the best. Some feed a pellet called tradition but personally I think it's junk. If nothing else the fact it has animal products in it turns me off from feeding it to a true herbivore. If you can't get those pellets rabbit pellets can work. Most get the kinds sold at feed stores. Nutrena and manna pro/gro/sho are the most popular. They need unlimited good hay. Many buy from kmshayloft.com or oxbowhay.com (you have to follow their retail links since they no longer sell directly) but if you do some searching and research what quality hay looks like you can often find good stuff locally in 50lb bales for between $5-$20 depending on your location. We spend $10/50lbs on organic clover that we use as a supplement and treat to their km's bluegrass and we have a small bag of oxbow oat and oxbow botanical which has herbs in it that we give one handful of something besides bluegrass a week as a treat.
They need lots of chewy toys. Wood especially. We keep a box of small wood pieces next to the hay box and just throw each new wood order in there and take out a handful per cage a day. You can buy all sorts of coins (drilled and not) to put on safe rope or those metal bars with screw on bells and those chains with bells, twigs, perches, ledges, etc... from the vendors on here. Check the banners at the top and the classifieds at the bottom. Some other materials are useful too like loofah chunks, woven willow items, and coconut. Some sell custom made toys and you can use plastic free bird toys. If you buy your own all natural (not anything treated for crafts but stuff with an earthy smell) hemp, jute, or sisal rope and bulk toy parts from chin and parrot sites you can make toys for cheap. Sometimes we also score something interesting on the parrot sites like the 25' grapevine that they spent months destroying.
Most people just use fleece layers for bedding. Some are just folded over like ours and some actually cut and sew liners with sometimes an absorbent layer of something else in between layers of fleece. You can buy such liners if you want them and don't want to make your own. Other fleece items are used like hammocks, tunnels, hanging houses...
Some chins can be litter box trained to a point but they aren't great about it. Mine rarely pee when out but they do poop everywhere in and out of their cage.
Wheels must be metal with a solid running surface. Silver surfers are the cheapest, then flying saucers-some chins have trouble learning to use them, and then the more expensive wheels like chin spins. The more expensive wheels have their benefits like being quieter, having larger running surfaces, and lasting longer.
Chins don't really bite. Young ones and those just getting used to human interaction may accidentally nip while looking for treats or testing what fingers are but I've never had them break skin. If you really corner them they may bite harder but they give you tons of warning and make every attempt to get away instead of resorting to fighting you. If they run off in to their house don't reach in after them. Mothers with babies are the exception since they may stand their ground guarding their babies instead of avoiding you. So long as you listen to their complaining noises and especially any lunges in your direction by backing off they will not do more than the accidental nips. After about a few months they learn to carefully scrape teeth across your skin until they encounter the treat and then take it. My older ones can take a single grapenut or piece of oatmeal from between my fingers with no discomfort to me.
Most do not like to be held and they tolerate petting to a varying degree. Mostly they want talked to, fed treats, and let run around. They generally aren't very cuddly animals. You do get the odd one that has been handled a ton since it was born and will sit still to be picked up and held for longer than average. Chin safe rooms like bathrooms or large play pens work best to interact with them out of the cage. You can sit in the middle and once they get used to you they will check in for attention and to climb on you between running about the area.
Most chins do benefit from a friend and 2 chins is not really more work than one. There is the risk they may have a falling out though and no longer be able to live together. While most may enjoy a friend they will also usually get along just fine on their own. Some may need an adjustment period if they've never been alone but after awhile they are bouncing around and eating like any other happy chin.
Chins should not have dried fruit or food with little colored bits and such in it. It should be a plain pellet. Oxbow and Mazuri are considered the best. Some feed a pellet called tradition but personally I think it's junk. If nothing else the fact it has animal products in it turns me off from feeding it to a true herbivore. If you can't get those pellets rabbit pellets can work. Most get the kinds sold at feed stores. Nutrena and manna pro/gro/sho are the most popular. They need unlimited good hay. Many buy from kmshayloft.com or oxbowhay.com (you have to follow their retail links since they no longer sell directly) but if you do some searching and research what quality hay looks like you can often find good stuff locally in 50lb bales for between $5-$20 depending on your location. We spend $10/50lbs on organic clover that we use as a supplement and treat to their km's bluegrass and we have a small bag of oxbow oat and oxbow botanical which has herbs in it that we give one handful of something besides bluegrass a week as a treat.
They need lots of chewy toys. Wood especially. We keep a box of small wood pieces next to the hay box and just throw each new wood order in there and take out a handful per cage a day. You can buy all sorts of coins (drilled and not) to put on safe rope or those metal bars with screw on bells and those chains with bells, twigs, perches, ledges, etc... from the vendors on here. Check the banners at the top and the classifieds at the bottom. Some other materials are useful too like loofah chunks, woven willow items, and coconut. Some sell custom made toys and you can use plastic free bird toys. If you buy your own all natural (not anything treated for crafts but stuff with an earthy smell) hemp, jute, or sisal rope and bulk toy parts from chin and parrot sites you can make toys for cheap. Sometimes we also score something interesting on the parrot sites like the 25' grapevine that they spent months destroying.
Thank you guys! sounds a little costly for me right now and i realize that I will need a bigger cage the cage i have is pretty wide and long, but it doesnt have the height for a chinchilla to jump around. One more question, Do they not like to chew on fleece?
sounds a little costly for me right now and i realize that I will need a bigger cage the cage i have is pretty wide and long, but it doesnt have the height for a chinchilla to jump around. One more question, Do they not like to chew on fleece?
Chinmama
Well-known member
Some chinchillas will chew on fleece and some will not. If they do, it is best to remove it from the cage.
akane
Well-known member
A handful will chew on fleece. Usually they don't but many do like to pull it into a pile often inside their house. I have some of mine weighted down with bricks and granite chiller tiles. We tried binder clips but they are strong enough to pull it loose.
EternallyCynical
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2013
- Messages
- 161
Also, some chins take to litter training better than others. My boy for example is really only partially litter trained. He'll pee in the pan if it suits him, but for the most part he just kinda pees wherever. In terms of litter pans, do NOT use the plastic ones sold in the pet stores. Lots of people use glass cooking dishes OR metal pans (just make sure any metal pans are NOT non-stick - non-stick chemicals are some nasty stuff...). I seem to remember seeing a pan for sale on a website somewhere that was a corner pan like you see in the pet shops but made of metal with a REALLY high back on it. That would be another option, although I don't remember the site that I saw it on.
I appreciate everyone's replies thank you, it sounds really costly for me right now, Chins must be very hard core chewers from the sounds of it. Where could i find a cage with a solid metal bottom with sides all around so that bedding doesn't get kicked out? The ferret nation cages look good, but there's no sides to them and i don't want bedding kicked on the floor if i can prevent that.
thank you, it sounds really costly for me right now, Chins must be very hard core chewers from the sounds of it. Where could i find a cage with a solid metal bottom with sides all around so that bedding doesn't get kicked out? The ferret nation cages look good, but there's no sides to them and i don't want bedding kicked on the floor if i can prevent that.What are a list of things that Chinchillas need along with their cage? I was wondering if someone could make me a list of the essentials and possible estimate of prices, it doesn't have to be exact, but just so i get an idea. How big do they get? I read that it was 1 1/2 to 2 pounds, is that correct? I want to do more research on them before i adopt one or find a good breeder or place so i know what i'm getting into. I wanna make sure this is something i want to do and not turn around later and realize it was a bad choice
Laurenrachelle
Laurenrachelle
Things you need:
-heavy ceramic dish or clip on metal dish (cost varies)
-glass water bottle to prevent chewing(7-15$)
-reversed osmosis purified water(very cheap- .39 refillable gallons)
-metal or wooden hay holder(I suggest metal if you don't want to buy a new one from chewing; 5-7$)
-good quality hay (I use oxbow but the precious owners had great suggestions and money saving options)
-good quality pellet only food(I buy mine through a breeder for $1/lb; manna pro sho)
-volcanic dust-blue cloud is best(can't remember pricing)
-dusting container
-chews chews chews. Interesting chews to keep interest.(buy from online vendors for chins. They vary in price based on size and complexity- 3.50-20$). Applewood sticks that are safely prepared are great. My moonlight chin breeder sells me everything. Sticks from her are 12.75/lb.
-hideout/sleep house is a must for as many chins as you will own. Once again no plastic. This can be made on your own if you're handy, along with your cage shelves.
Hope this helps! Those are the starter needs.
-heavy ceramic dish or clip on metal dish (cost varies)
-glass water bottle to prevent chewing(7-15$)
-reversed osmosis purified water(very cheap- .39 refillable gallons)
-metal or wooden hay holder(I suggest metal if you don't want to buy a new one from chewing; 5-7$)
-good quality hay (I use oxbow but the precious owners had great suggestions and money saving options)
-good quality pellet only food(I buy mine through a breeder for $1/lb; manna pro sho)
-volcanic dust-blue cloud is best(can't remember pricing)
-dusting container
-chews chews chews. Interesting chews to keep interest.(buy from online vendors for chins. They vary in price based on size and complexity- 3.50-20$). Applewood sticks that are safely prepared are great. My moonlight chin breeder sells me everything. Sticks from her are 12.75/lb.
-hideout/sleep house is a must for as many chins as you will own. Once again no plastic. This can be made on your own if you're handy, along with your cage shelves.
Hope this helps! Those are the starter needs.
Laurenrachelle
Laurenrachelle
To clarify, there are other good pellets I just only mentioned that one as far as pricing. The previous people that posted provided good info on food and hay!
Laurenrachelle
Laurenrachelle
Beyond expenses, keep the time commitment into mind. I bought my first chin 9 years ago, not knowing this until I had already had him for a long time and I felt awful when I found out. They are very intelligent social animals. They need daily interaction with you, both in and out of the cage. They also really need the exercise out of the cage. If you have two chins, they will rely on you slightly less on the social level, but a single will need you to meet its social, emotional, and physical needs. This can mean a stronger bond between the two of you, if you invest the time. I spend every evening with him before I sleep. He comes to anticipate it and gets excited.
