How much do you spend on your chin(s) monthly?

[liewwan]

I've always wonder if everyone is like me, who can't stop shopping for my chins. I spend close to $400 a month for 4 chins. Now of course I'm one of those that HAS to change the bedding everyday on 2 fn 142 so I go through A LOT of bedding.

So on average, how much do you end up spending every month per chin?
I know there are some out there with more than 1 chin, so give a good estimate. :thumbsup:

 

[kathiva]

I spend lots of money on food usually, I spend $80.00 dollars on pellets for one month, and then another $80.00 dollars on hay that lasts me 2 months, so that is $120.00 just on food, but plus the bottled water that I get for them, I think maybe $30.00 dollars or so, and then bedding like $50.00 or so, since I clean their cages every week, and then dust, which is like $20.00 dollars at least in a month, and then garbage bags you know, cleaning supplies for them, and then the treats or toys here and there, that I buy as I need, since I already purchased quite a few supplies over the past two years, so now I just replenish what I need, so I spend at least $200.00 or more on them a month, and is specially because the food is so expensive here and I give them the best one, which is Oxbow, and they either carry Oxbow here or the worst feed, so I have to stick with Oxbow then.

 

[addictedtochins]

I spend about $35 a month for all 7 chins in total. A sack of PANR is about $20, that lasts about a month maybe a little longer before it gets stale and they dump it and throw it around big time. We live in farm country so we can buy a bale of beautiful Timothy for $10 and I make their houses, ledges and fleece things myself. They are not as pretty as the stuff sold but the chins don't care. I would enjoy spending more but I just don't have it. I do enjoy the time I spend looking for inexpensive safe chin things
ETA Did you know Lowes has a free wood out in the lumber yard by the giant saw? A lot of the stuff is no good and dirty, but keep checking and you will find material for ledges and houses.

 

[liewwan]

Kathiva: Wow that's pretty good with how much chins you have. I'm starting to buy things in bulk so it's not costing me around $500 anymore, but I'm always up for a good deal with their supplies as long as it's good. I'm just addicted to shopping for them is my problem lol. I go to the pet stores on my free time to see if I can find new wood toys for them lol, if I see a good one I'll get a bunch. All 4 are beavers, sish.

Addictedtochins: I never knew lowes has free wood scraps, I'll need to check that out when I get a chance. I go to home depot mostly, they have scrap cuts for sale between 51 cents to $1 and is decent shape. Only down side is you have to try to figure out which is kd pine, I've became pretty good on figuring out without help now lol. I usually sand the scrap wood down to make sure i get rid of those gunk.

 

[ChinnyMom]

Alena, i've done some research on how to tell the difference between pine, spruce, and fir (the three woods under SPF - most common lumber in a store), and other than looking at the freshly cut end grain under a magnifying glass, there is no easy way to determine the different woods.

as for how much i spend on Rhino in a month, i'd say about 40 or 50 bucks. due to only having one chin the hay, pellets, dust and shavings last for a while, and i don't have to buy each of those things every single month. as for toys and wood, well that's another story...... lol!

 

[Essentia]

If you clean your cage daily I would recommend either switching to fleece, or going to your local feed store or tractor supply and getting shavings by the bale. It's only around $6.00 for a huge amount of kiln dried pine. It will save you massive amounts of money.

 

[javachin]

$20-40 a month. If its near the holidays, more. LOL!

 

[Whimsy]

We just did our fiscal finance report.
It costs us 10K per year to care for about 70 animals...although that includes raw materials for our chew toy and cage accessories.
The monthly numbers vary greatly, so the yearly number is really more accurate.

 

[ticklechin]

I spend a couple of hundred a month not including vet bills. A malo chin can run 200-300 dollars a month for one chin.

 

[liewwan]

If you clean your cage daily I would recommend either switching to fleece, or going to your local feed store or tractor supply and getting shavings by the bale. It's only around $6.00 for a huge amount of kiln dried pine. It will save you massive amounts of money.

I already ordered the fleece lining from Allison. I can't wait for them to be done :thumbsup: I end up using 4 of the biggest bags from petco a month, it's crazy but I like to have a clean cage and clean chin room at all times.

 

[liewwan]

Chinnymom, yeah its hard to tell the difference on the scrap wood part. I would bug just about everyone back in the lumber area to help. Eventually it started to get a bit easier to pick out which is which, but sometimes I still ask for help.
I totally understand you on the toys part. I have 4 crazy beavers at the house.

 

[arf2184]

In an average month, I spend about $60 for ~20 chins. That includes the basics, hay, pellets, shavings and about $10 a month towards fleece, wood, and misc. items, though most of that I only buy once or twice a year, usually in bulk. I have two apple trees for wood, but I still buy some other types for variety every so often.

If you add in the cost of going to shows my chinchilla expenses double...but chins don't need shows...those are for me.

 

[Pikaia]

It really depends. This month I have spent around $300, but that is because I've purchased sticks, wheels and toys. It's kinda "Let's spoil the chins" time. This time was particularly expensive because of the two wheels. Seeing the excitement and joy the chins show makes it all worth it

I would say for three chins- I spend around $60/mo for the essentials (wood, pellets, hay and bedding)

 

[PEBBLES83]

approx $400.. cuz im crazy!

 

[ZachMan]

I spend around 100$s on my little guy

 

[KujoSutefanii]

It depends on what I need for them that much. However, minimum I spend monthly is $25 ish for their food. If I need to buy more stuff... well it goes higher. This month they cost me $50.

 

[Shenanigans]

i spend about $35 on 3 month's worth of Mazuri pellets and Dumor timothy hay. (usually with extra but this is my if Yuki eats a lot estimate) We have a pitcher that does fancy filtering things, but the amount of water Yuki uses doesn't really matter compared to the gallons my boyfriend drinks so no real water cost. chews i make myself from plants that would just get overgrown normally. Then I buy treats sporadically, but i can only give so many even getting rose hips and shredders and not just one box of organic cherrios it's no more than $5-10 a month averaged out. oh, and I do fleece liners for bedding. But he gets unlimited chews and good food, so i don't fuss too much about not being able to spoil him with the fancier stuff as much as I'd like to. Not buying chews is a big plus, otherwise I may be closer to that $150+ a month. It's also nice Yuki likes to eat his sticks and not chew shelving and that sort of thing as much.

 

[Lily&Lucy]

Mine really depends as well. I think if I average it all out, I spend $20-40 a month. However, I was thinking it about it today because my electric company now sends me weekly estimates for my power bill and we have reached the point where it is consistently in the 100s outside. If I factored in how much I spend to keep them cool...it'd be crazy. :cry3: