Heating pad?

[Sunnyastounded]

Is a heating pad a necessity thing to have for kits? If so, what brand do you guys recommend?

Note that my cages are http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4191242 and they have a bottom grate and then a removable pullout litter pan.

 

[MyzarandGemma]

I would also like to know this. And to know when heating pads should be used and the coldest room temp a chinchilla should experience... If anyone knows!!

:bump1:

 

[symphle]

No, heating pads are not needed to have kits if the chins are housed indoors and away from the elements. Mother chin will do her job well and warm them.

I suggest buying a shorter cage with no levels. If not remove the levels and cover the floor with cardboard. This cage is rather open and I would suggest a large hide that is unable to be knocked over. Other CnH members have suggested large glass jars from Walmart. This is for both the kits and mothers comfort.

 

[ArmyWife]

Only time you really need a heating pad is when you are rotating kits out and they are away from their mother

 

[AZChins]

If a rancher is breeding out in drafty barn, the heating pads could come in handy. Little wet kits can get chilled very easily. However, if people have kits inside their homes and the heat is on enough to keep humans from being chilly, they would be unnecessary. My chins never get below maybe 57 or 58 degrees, but the babies still can become chilled soon after they are born. I've had to warm up quite a few even when it is in the 60s. (In the winter low air temperatures are different than in the summer - chins radiate a lot of heat to the cold walls...in the summer the walls in the room are warmer and the chins will lose a lot less body heat because the temperature difference is much less even if the air temperature is the same in a winter condition.)

 

[Cuddlebug]

MyzarandGemma, James and Scotty will not need a heating pad. We only use those for kits that have not been weaned yet and do not have an adult to keep them warm, either through a death of the mother or needing to rotate them so all of the litter can get fed.