Best carrier for chinchillas

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

calcaneus

Active member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
31
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I'm looking for carriers to transport my two chins in (need a separate carrier for each of them). Currently they are in separate compartments of a wire carrier that is too big and not very comfortable for them, though I do line it with fleece. They are both very nervous in the car, and I need the carriers for taking them to the vet (1 hour drive each way) and my parents' house when I go back for long periods (2.5 hour drive each way).

Which ones do you recommend? I have seen these (http://www.petco.com/product/11339/...l_3-_-Super Pet Come Along Pet Carriers-11339) but they looked cheap, had plastic edges that could be chewed, and looked way too big for my small guys.

This one (http://www.petco.com/product/112328...-D36E-DF11-BAA3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA) is more the design I'd like, but as I haven't seen it in person I don't know if it's chin-safe.

I basically want something like my boy's fleece hidey house that is a bit more rigid and can be closed up - they both like snuggling and hiding, and being in something soft and a bit dark might reassure them on the drives. What does anyone recommend? If anyone sells carriers, please send me details!

Also, I always leave a bit of hay in their carriers and occasionally feed them bits of oat and barley through the drive, but they don't get any water and if it's just me in the car all the food they have is the hay. My current carrier doesn't have a space to attach a water bottle, and it doesn't look like these soft carriers do either. I've also been worried that the ceramic foodbowls I use might shift on the drive and hurt them, which is why I only put hay in. They don't seem to eat the hay, I think they are just nervous and sleepy most times, but what does everyone else do to make their chins at home when on a long drive?

Many thanks!
 
I use the Ryerson's carriers. I like them because the chins can't chew through them. They're small and enclosed so most chins feel secure. Also, if you get in an accident there isn't extra room for them to fly around in the carrier.
http://www.ryersonchinchilla.com/arc010009.jpg http://www.ryersonchinchilla.com/

Most carriers you'll find at pet stores won't work well for chins. If they're fabric they'll chew right through them. Cat carriers work, but some chins will chew through them.

When I travel, my chins just get a handful of hay and a twig. They sleep the whole way anyways. The longest they've gone in a car ride was about 5 hours.
 
I wouldn't recommend either of the carriers you have listed from Petco. I have the first one. I used it for weighing them until they started chewing it! It didn't take long either! The Ryerson's sell great carriers and they're $11 a hole. So, a 2 hole carrier would be $22. Not sure about shipping, though.
 
I have this one on my chin wish list as I've read it's best to have a small cage so they dont have room to slide around, this one also happens to meet the in-cabin airline recommended size too, not that I've had to tackle that particular issue.
 
I have/use both cat carriers (for a single chin to go to the vet, etc) and Ryerson carriers. When more than one chin has to be transported at once, I use the Ryerson carriers, and I love them. With the plastic cat carriers and even the fabric ones like in your first linked page, I worry about the chins chewing through... but there's no way they're getting through the metal...
 
Thanks for the responses everyone! It seems like most of the cages people are listing are very similar to the ones I have already, which were used to transport our family's three chinchillas transatlantically on an airplace three years ago. So, it's a three part cage, and I need to put something down on the bottom to protect their feet since they are wire bottomed, but other than that they are alright. I suppose I just worried that they might get thrown around in there a bit if there's a sudden stop or an accident, but the other cages people have posted here don't look intrinsically better in that regard.
 
Honestly it seems it all really depends on your chins tempermant. You wouldn't want a chewer to be in cloth or plastic cage for extended periods, but you also could keep an eye on them and they could do just fine.

I like the metal cages, but wouldn't want those on my leather car seats, and over time metal (bare metal) could tarnish or corrode and just not look as well.

Its all personal preference.
 
I suppose I just worried that they might get thrown around in there a bit if there's a sudden stop or an accident, but the other cages people have posted here don't look intrinsically better in that regard.
I don't know if your carrier has some sort of handle? But for ours... well, we have a 3 hole Ryerson and then a 6 hole Ryerson... for the 3 hole, we're able to thread the seatbelt through the handle on top and buckle the seatbelt... holds the carrier nice and tight to the seat. The seatbelt doesn't stretch far enough to do that with the 6 carrier, but we just tie the seatbelt in a knot around the handle of the carrier, and that also seems to hold it in place well. Never been in an accident with the chins in the car, but I have had to suddenly stop, and the carriers have stayed in place...
 
I don't know if your carrier has some sort of handle? But for ours... well, we have a 3 hole Ryerson and then a 6 hole Ryerson... for the 3 hole, we're able to thread the seatbelt through the handle on top and buckle the seatbelt... holds the carrier nice and tight to the seat. The seatbelt doesn't stretch far enough to do that with the 6 carrier, but we just tie the seatbelt in a knot around the handle of the carrier, and that also seems to hold it in place well. Never been in an accident with the chins in the car, but I have had to suddenly stop, and the carriers have stayed in place...

The three chin carrier that I have is large enough that I brace it between the front passenger seat and the back seats, so the cage doesn't move at all during the trip, but if there's a bump or quick stop I've noticed that the chins lose their balance a bit and sometimes fall into the wire sides, which can't be comfortable. There are a lot of terrible bumps on our highways here after the last few winters, so I just thought in a cloth carrier they'd be less susceptible to those sorts of insults.

They aren't big chewers, so perhaps I'll think about getting a cloth carrier for them.
 
I used to use the one above from Walmart, but I had a male chew out of it where the little plastic air holes are. I switched to an all metal one from Bass Equiptment that looks like the Quality cage carrier, but Bass is cheaper in price.
 
I used to use the one above from Walmart, but I had a male chew out of it where the little plastic air holes are. I switched to an all metal one from Bass Equiptment that looks like the Quality cage carrier, but Bass is cheaper in price.

Hrmm, now you got me thinking! :hmm:

I HAVE to find out where the closest Bass Equipment is to me. The "cage" my chins came in weighed about 40lbs on its own (I was told it was "small"), so there's no way I could transport either of them in that easily. Either way I have to get another one soon....*likes being prepared*.
 
Just wanted to add in here that with summer heat coming up,always go for superior ventilation and cooling both in type of cage and also where you place it for travel!;)
 
Back
Top