Chin unhappy

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ARS3358

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My one year old female chin seems very unhappy in her cage. She uses her wheel, eats okay, and loves her dirt baths, but she seems unhappy to be there most of the time. She loves when she gets to go out and run around a bit, but that is what she always wants to do - escape. I feel like I am keeping a wild animal caged against her will. Any thoughts on this?
 
What is she doing that makes you think she is unhappy? Is it just that she tries to escape? If so that is pretty normal, chins that want to spend most of their time in the cage are the less common ones. It's like a little kid wanting to spend more time outside playing vs just playing in the house. Aside from a wheel what else do you have for her to do in the cage and how big is the cage? Do you have lots of shelves, ledges, and perches to hop around on? As well as tunnels, hammocks, hideouts, and stuff like that? Some chins like when you rearrange the cage too so everything is "new" and allows them to spend time exploring the cage, just be careful when doing that, chins get use to where things are so are more likely to miss jumps when you change things around. Also what do you have for toys in the cage? It's a good idea to have an assortment of hanging and toss toys of different chin safe materials (wood, loofah, palm leaf, coconut shell, bamboo, pumice/lava, vine, etc), and rotate them like you would a dog to keep things interesting. You can also make her forage a bit for her food, rather then just putting all the food in one bowl you can get a few bowls and put a little bit of food in each in different parts of the cage for her to find. Same thing with the hay, rather then just in a hay holder put hay in different spots, small clay pots. coconut shells, and cholla logs work great for that, and you can use different kinds of hay as well to make it more interesting. I also hide chew sticks and little bits of treats around the cage for my chin to find.

Just to be clear when you say "dirt baths" you do mean dust baths right? Chins should be given pumice dust to bath in a couple times a week, not dirt.
 
Yes, all she tries to do is escape. The cage is not the biggest, but it is the biggest that will fit in our home. It has two levels and shelves, apples logs to hide in and walk on. I do not have toys as I do not know what to get besides the apple wood (we have an apple orchard). I got a coconut shell but she got tired of it. I could really use a list of chin appropriate toys. And yes, I meant dust baths twice a week.
 
Ok well first I would get a variety of toys, chins have preferences on what they like. This etsy store sells bundle of chin safe toys for example View Chew Toys by PandamoniumPets on Etsy

Also since you have an apple orchard you can make perches in the cage as well as hanging toys simply by drilling holes in some thicker sticks or cut chunks and using a toy kabob/skewer or even just stainless steel wire to string them together and hang them. I would definitely get more of a variety of wood though, Home - Rondas Chinchillas has a good assortment. There is a post about toys from last month Chinchilla chew toys . Annoyingly most things you find in stores are not safe, and they seem to like to just list things as "natural" now not what it's made of, so there isn't really a good list of toys you can get in pet stores. There are some vendors still listed here Grand master chin supplier list but the list is old so I know several are no long valid links.

Here is a list of chin safe wood
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Also here is my cage (the pic is a few years old, but it's mostly still the same) to maybe help give you some ideas on what you could maybe add to make your cage more interesting.

Cage.jpg
 
Stuffed animals also help them from being lonely. They need cuddle buddies to feel like they are still in a group dynamic. Little ones about your chins size made of like fleece (not the fluffy shaggy ones) with nothing they can chew off work great! I found for mine this green dinosaur in the party section of Walmart for $8 and a fox in the valentine's section and he loves them.
 
Stuffed animals also help them from being lonely. They need cuddle buddies to feel like they are still in a group dynamic. Little ones about your chins size made of like fleece (not the fluffy shaggy ones) with nothing they can chew off work great! I found for mine this green dinosaur in the party section of Walmart for $8 and a fox in the valentine's section and he loves them.
I don't think Walmart sells any chin safe stuffed animals. They need to be 100% made of antipill fleece, that is the ONLY fabric that is "safe" to have in the cage. Other fabric can unravel and shred if chewed on or damaged, which can get tangled in the gut if swallowed or tangle around a limb or even the chin's neck. Fleece is not edible either, but since it's not made of strings, if they chew it you can remove it before it causes a problem (small amounts if swallowed should pass without issue). As well as it need to be stuffed with fleece not stuffing, chins can choke and die if they swallow stuffing or it can cause a blockage needing emergency surgery. Other stuffed animals can be used during 100% supervised playtime, if you want though.

Safe cuddle buddies can be bought from ChinChic though View Plushies by ChinChic on Etsy Or you can make your own, which is what I did.
 
Ahhhh.... ok. I was just making sure they didn't have those loose fine threads so he wouldn't get them caught and make a hair ring. Which I am totally paranoid about him getting and check constantly.
 
Thank you, that is very helpful. Unfortunately my cage is only half that size.
I know the recommended cage size is at least 2x2x3 ft which is exactly half the size of @Amethyst 's cage. I have 2 so I keep one in the bottom level of my CN and one in the top. That being said, they still need playtime outside of their cage too, especially if your cage that small or is smaller than that.
 
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