How old until baby chins need/can be taken out for exercise/play?

[Justin5609]

I have two kits just about 7 weeks old, and I was wondering how old before they need to be / can be taken out of the cage for play time / exercise?

I read somewhere 6 months but I figured I'd check here

 

[Amethyst]

The general rule is 6 months, for play time, they need their energy to grow. If you are really set on playtime earlier, and some people do, then 5-10 minutes max per day. By 6 months most are near full grown and know better when to stop, young kits can actually play to death. That doesn't mean you can't take them out and hold them though, or play with them inside the cage allowing them to climb on you and stuff like that. Also I just wanted to add no treats until at least 6 months either, once again they are growing and need good food not treats.

 

[Godofgods]

if i may inquire, you said just about 7 weeks old. This implies that you took the kit home at 6 weeks old?

 

[Amethyst]

if i may inquire, you said just about 7 weeks old. This implies that you took the kit home at 6 weeks old?

His female had kits last month, I'm assuming these are the same ones.

 

[Justin5609]

Yes same ones!
I play with them in their cage every night, including picking them up and weighing them ever few nights, usually while mom is out running around!
Definitely no treats, but I do give them apple wood sticks (pet store bought ones) and they do have lava blocks - assuming these are safe though right ?

 

[Justin5609]

While on the topic of my kits, they are closer to 7.5 weeks old, we only got the 2nd cage for the male last night due to having to wait for the pet store to order us one in,

The male is big and eating plenty of pellets and hay on his own so we put him in his own cage night, pushed up against mom's and sister's, he was clearly pretty upset by it so I tried putting him back in for a little bit to try and ease the stress of moving cages and his mother is suddenly extremely aggressive and attacks him? She made the sharp chirpy aggressive noise and chased him away and did it a second time when he tried to come back, I obviously moved him back to his own cage and he's sitting on his house which is next to the bars and is squeaking very loudly (I looked him over and felt him really well he's not injured or anything, im guessing just freaked out) and she comes over to the same corner sniffing through the bars all concerned-like,

This really took me by surprise I guess he won't be visiting anymore but anyone have an explanation? She isn't aggressive towards the female kit at all. Everyone is acting completely normal besides this.

 

[Amethyst]

Sticks and lava chews are fine, and even good to give kits and adult chins all the time. You might want to look into one of the vendors on here for wood though, most chins don't really like the store bought ones and they are very expensive, you can get a whole pound of sticks for the same cost as a handful of pet store sticks.

Male kits are generally weaned at 8 weeks, otherwise they can breed the mother or his sister (yeah I know, young!). I'm not sure on the proper weight, but from the sounds of it he might be big enough. He will be upset, he has to leave his family, but it's needed, and the mother could sense this and that is why she is attacking him, telling him it's time to go away. You do want to make sure the male is at least 6 inches away from the females though, they can breed through the bars if it's less then that.

 

[Justin5609]

Thanks for the info, I'll pull the cages a part a little bit to be on the safe side.

My girlfriend works at a pet store so we get them for about $1 for 10 but we were looking into getting bulk since our chins have tripled, do you know of that in particular that ship to Canada?

 

[Amethyst]

Well I was buying from Chinchilla Park Place in BC, however she isn't doing wood at the moment due to personal health reasons, but I think she will be back up and running in the future, so for future reference. Zoey and Lilo's Toy Box in Ontario also sells wood, but last I looked they were out of apple. One place I was also looking at for wood, that is in the states but ships up to Canada, is Ronda's Chinchillas, it has a large variety. I'm sure there are others that will ship to Canada if you ask, shipping is just the killer, check out the classifieds on the forum and/or the ads on the top for vendors.

 

[Justin5609]

I'll check them out! Thanks for your help it's appreciated

 

[Godofgods]

His female had kits last month, I'm assuming these are the same ones.

oh ok. Thats good then; had me worried a bit for a sec.

Its a shame that mommies being aggressive towards the son, but seeing as he needs to be separated permanently to avoid breeding, one could say its lucky (severe lack of a better word) At least she is still getting along with the daughter.

I had to separate my two daughters from mommy at 8-9 weeks to make sure they could survive on there own before letting them join mommy again. I was scared that she might not accept the daughters after being away. So i know how that feels. Luckily the three get along.