Cages in basement?

[SarahKay]

Okay, so it's getting to be warm season here and I'm thinking about moving the chins to the basement because I know that it stays below 70 there all season. The only thing I am worried about is light. I want to put the cage by the small window down there but I don't think that they would be getting a lot of sunlight. How much sun do chinchillas need? Is there anything I could possibly do to make it work or should I just accept the fact that they're going to have to live upstairs with the AC all summer?

 

[GorillaJTA]

Several people keep their chins in the basement with artificial light.

 

[SarahKay]

Are regular lights adequate or should I be buying something special?

 

[GorillaJTA]

regular should be fine.

 

[Sandi]

I have a finished basement and my daughter's bedroom is down there as well. We have full spectrum lighting throughout the entire basement as there are only 3 window wells. We did have to get a dehumidifier as it got up to 57% humidity down there. All of my chins have been down in the basement for almost a year now and I think they're pretty happy )

 

[SarahKay]

We do have a dehumidifier there already so all I really need to do is move them down, I guess! I'm trying to make their care as low-maintenance as possible because my mother's going to be on chinchilla duty for the next six weeks so I'm glad the basement is okay for them. Thank you for the answers!

 

[Shooper]

Glad you asked! I have been thinking of moving mine to the basement also, but was worried about sunlight.

 

[SarahKay]

I made the move today! I'll get up photos later but it's really cool down there and the chins seem to be doing splendidly with it.

 

[Andrea]

Glad it went well . I have mine in our finished basement and they seem to like the environment.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

All of mine are in the basement. They have 14 hrs of full spectrum lighting with music on 24/7.

 

[Dewdrop]

Mine have always been in a basement. They all seem fine!

 

[greychins]

Ours are in the basement. We don't keep lights on for them, but we do have those windows near the ceiling of the basement, so during the day, they get plenty of light. We don't need to turn on the lights to be down there during the day, it gets surprisingly light down there... so they get about a day's worth of sunlight coming in, and then I'm usually down there at night, so artificial light for a few hours at night as well. They seem to be doing fine.

 

[SarahKay]

Out of curiosity, what are the reasons behind putting music on for them all day?

 

[dayofhope]

I'm wondering how necessary that is, too, but I read somewhere that silence is more stressful on them because they're more alert for prey? No idea how right that is, though.~

My chin is in the basement, she has a window for sunlight during the day and playtime at night and seems fine.