Cleaning up...and a bit of this and that.

[kardelen]

I've asked a couple of people and said i should change the pellets that are in my chins cage once a week.
That creates two questions...
is truly once a week?
and if it is how do i get her out of her cage to clean it up?
:hmm:

she has stopped barking at nights and we finally spending time together...its mainly me talking to her and she ignoring me or hiding for a lil while and then coming out again to eat her grass or just hung out.
I can sit next to her cage without her being scared and hiding and i even tried to feed her some of her food with my hand(which she sniffed and ignored..both the food and the hand) :hair:

Another issue is that she does love the grass but ignores the food!
How long do i leave it in her feeding bowl?
I had the food in her bowl for 2 days before i managed to buy grass and nothing...since i bought grass and gave her some she has eaten all the grass but not the food!
do i add to it or remove it?throw it and put more?

 

[Amethyst]

By pellets do you mean the food? or are you using pellet litter? (I looked over your previous threads and it looks like you are using pellet litter? and a very small cage full of plastic stuff I hope that was just a travel cage or something since you said in another post she has a big cage) If it's the litter then yes you want to change that once a week, but most pellet litters aren't good since they work by swelling up when wet which is what would happen in the chin's gut if the chin eats it, if it's the type that turns to sawdust though then it's fine. Wood shaving are a much better bedding.
You can try offering her the dust bath to remove her from the cage when you clean it, most chins will jump right in and you can take her out inside it if you can't get her out with your hands.
Also from the other post if that stuff on the shelf is the food then you should look into a better food, chinchilla food should be just high quality pellets with no extra treats mixed in. As to the not eating, is that the same food she has always been eating? or did you switch? If it's the same then it could be stress from a new environment, just give it a little more time. Otherwise if it's new they she probably just doesn't like it. Food shouldn't stay in the cage more then a few days (some people change it out daily) since the air will cause it to slowly loose nutrients. Most chins eat roughly 2 table spoons worth of pellets a day (some eat a little more, some eat a little less) and a hand full worth of hay, so it's best to just put one day's serving of pellets in the bowl at a time, hay should be unlimited.

(I know I added advice that wasn't asked for, I'm just trying to help not criticize)

 

[kardelen]

thank you Amethyst and the extra advice are more than welcomed!

i am writting below what the pellets i bought are saying (as i have no idea if they are good for a chin or not....the pet store said they were!)

"Green natural wooden pellets is 100% biodegradable, dust free and has food smell and moist absorption.
Green is also suitable for use of ground cover for guinea pics and rabbits ."

then is the how to use instructions.

She was given to me with those pellets as her bedding already.
Unfortunately her cage is small write now the cage which she was brought in large enough but not high enough.
I won't be able to get her in a new cage for about a week or so.(can't afford to buy one as they are too expensive but i found that trying to make her one is not that much expensive...so i will be making her one )

She does get into her dust bath and enjoys it but if i make a move to open her cage or put my hand in there she disappears in her sleeping place and hides.


As for the food...
the one in the shelf came with the cage...it was that one plate and the food that they brought with her is "supreme science selective" for chins(i have no idea what they were feeding her in the pet shop but i guess it was that mix that was in the plate).

I am glad that i can give her hay cause she loooves it!!!!even begs for it and takes it from my hand...

still i have no idea how to get her out of the cage without scaring the bejesus out of her or hurting the small trust we have build so far...

 

[kardelen]

Also i would like to ask about her baths.

should i put the bath tub in every night?or just leave it there?

also i opened the cage to put some food in her plate and the little fur tried to escape...
is there a possibility that she is ready to get out and i am not?
and if yes how will i get her out when she doesn't let me touch her?
(i apologize but i am a bit frustrated)

 

[Amethyst]

Well first of all I'd look for a different bedding, the pellets make me nervous, she may never touch them and be fine for her whole life, but if you see her nibbling on them you need to find a different bedding, as I mentioned wood shavings work well(pine or aspen, but NOT cedar which is poisonous).
If you make her a new cage keep in mind that the minimum size for one chin is roughly 3' X 2' x 2' but bigger is always better, and height is more important then length or width.
I'm not sure about that supreme science selective food, the protein seems a bit low, and it's got plantains in it and chins shouldn't have fruit. Seeing as you are in Greece I'm not sure what is available there, but here the 3 most popular and high quality brands seem to be, Oxbow, Mazuri, and Tradition. I did a quick look and Oxbow does list Greece on it's site as a country they sell in, and I'm pretty sure Mazuri sells all over the world too. You don't want to have her only eat just the hay forever, she does need nutrients found in the food too so if she wont eat the current food soon you'll need to try something else.
The dust bath should only be given 1-3 times a week depending on humidity, otherwise she can get dried itchy skin. What I meant by taking her out using the dust bath was to hold the dust bath just outside the door to the cage, when she jumps in depending on what you are using for the dust either hold your hand over the hole she jump into or if it's an open top container place your hand over top so she can't jump out. If worse comes to worse I have used a small box to corner and scoop a chin out of the cage, they don't like it but it does do the trick if you need to get the chin out quickly now. A little annoyance from the chin is better then her getting sick from being in a dirty cage.
It's normal for a chin to want to escape, most are curious little critters and want to explore. I don't advise people to let them out for play time in a room until you can hold them though, since having to chase them trying to catch them can stress them. A lot of people use playpens to contain the chin when it's out though (cheaply made with large cardboard boxes taped works ok and can be made as big or small as you want) that way the chin is in a confined area where it can't hide under things and can be scooped up fairly easily. Also if you make the area large enough you can sit inside too and allow the chin to climb on and explore you. Just keep in mind when making a pen that chins can jump about 5 feet (the fencing I use is only 2 feet high but my guys don't seem to realize they can jump it yet ) and always supervise play. Other people use large cloth dog pens with a zippered lid, so they can clean the cage with the chin enclosed and it's big enough to sit in.

 

[kardelen]

Thank you once more...

her new cage(the one that is being currently made) is 1m high 1m long and 50cm width(i think its the width...grr sorry)
i will check on the food more and see what is going on.
As for the pellets i just baught a large back the other day and checked them out cause of what you said and when they absorb enough water the turn to sawdust....when this bag is over i will turn to wood shavings.
I will try to let her out in order to clean her cage i can't do anything else and i'll see how it goes.
hopefully it will go well!

 

[kardelen]

I am so very proud!!!!

i did it!!!

she came out and she walked around and jumped in the place i made chinchilla proof.
the returning was a bit difficult but i just had the cage in the play pen and she jumped in by herself and i closed the door...
she isn't very happy about being back to her cage but she has a clean cage and she had a lil fun(though she didn't do anything more than explore.)