pants567
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2011
- Messages
- 161
Hello All!
I've been silently stalking in the shadows for a couple weeks now reading through thread after thread and doing more research than anything else... my boyfriend will see me on the computer and ask "Reading about Chinchillas" and I'm so engrossed that I just nod. Anyway, all is in preparation for my new little buddy who will be coming home next Saturday!
As the title says, I feel like I must be forgetting something because it would be very easy to after all I've read. Some background info: this is will be my first chin. He is a medium standard, he'll be 5 months old on October 18th (he was born on my birthday, so much in common already lol). I'm super excited and I feel like I've learned SOOO much over the past couple weeks. Anywho, here's what I have so far:
this is the cage I got:
http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Produc...MDKO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317407553&sr=8-2
I like it because it is all metal and the ramps and shelves are solid metal instead of mesh. It was a wire bottom on top of a plastic pullout tray. I'm planning on putting this ( http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753297 ) on the bottom level as well as a chinchiller and maybe a piece of KD pine to put his food bowl on so he has somewhere to rest his little feetsies on while he eats. I read somewhere on here about someone using a suet feeder to hold the hay so I was planning on doing that to keep him from peeing on it. As far as food, the breeder I'm getting him from sells Shoots, so I'll be buying that when I pick him up to keep him on the food he has been eating and maybe transition to Oxbow since that is easier for me to get since the breeder is 2 hours away. I'll be using Oxbow hay assuming it is available, if not I may have to resort to kaytee if it doesn't look too awful. As far as treats (obviously he'll have to wait a month or so since he won't be 6 months old yet) I have ordered dried rosehips, a box of apple wood (he can have that right away right?) and some compressed alfalfa from Ronda. For perches I was planning on getting some lava ledges and I also ordered a tube and cuddle ledge from Brittany (classychillas) as well as a hanging toy with lots of different chewables. For now I'll be using blue sparkle dust for his baths and probably using a cobbler tin or something until I feel it is safe to take him out of his cage.
I ordered this play pen (http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Zinc-...T2IE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1317408251&sr=8-5 ) and afterward read that zinc is toxic :wacko: so my question is will it be safe if I soak it in 50/50 vinegar/water mixture? Or should I just return it and get something NOT made with zinc? I got the 30" tall one and planned on setting it up in my kitchen for when he needs out of cage play time. His water bottle is glass. I haven't bought him a wheel because he isn't 6 months old (and the good ones are wicked expensive). There is an exotics vet a little less than an hour away.
For the ride home I'm planning on getting a little cat carrier and putting some fleece on the bottom and throwing some hay in there as well. I'm also getting a bunch of pumice stones from the breeder. After I run out of the blue sparkle I want to switch to blue cloud since I've found that it is actually pretty cheap online in large quantities.
In my head, he is named, but I want to wait until I have him to actually decide on his name. Sorry for the scatter-brained post, but I'm so excited! If you see anything wrong with the things I've bought or if I've forgotten anything, please let me know! I want to have everything ready for my baby when he comes home! OH! And I've attached a picture that the breeder sent me. It is blurry, but I'm already in love!
I've been silently stalking in the shadows for a couple weeks now reading through thread after thread and doing more research than anything else... my boyfriend will see me on the computer and ask "Reading about Chinchillas" and I'm so engrossed that I just nod. Anyway, all is in preparation for my new little buddy who will be coming home next Saturday!
As the title says, I feel like I must be forgetting something because it would be very easy to after all I've read. Some background info: this is will be my first chin. He is a medium standard, he'll be 5 months old on October 18th (he was born on my birthday, so much in common already lol). I'm super excited and I feel like I've learned SOOO much over the past couple weeks. Anywho, here's what I have so far:
this is the cage I got:
http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Produc...MDKO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317407553&sr=8-2
I like it because it is all metal and the ramps and shelves are solid metal instead of mesh. It was a wire bottom on top of a plastic pullout tray. I'm planning on putting this ( http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753297 ) on the bottom level as well as a chinchiller and maybe a piece of KD pine to put his food bowl on so he has somewhere to rest his little feetsies on while he eats. I read somewhere on here about someone using a suet feeder to hold the hay so I was planning on doing that to keep him from peeing on it. As far as food, the breeder I'm getting him from sells Shoots, so I'll be buying that when I pick him up to keep him on the food he has been eating and maybe transition to Oxbow since that is easier for me to get since the breeder is 2 hours away. I'll be using Oxbow hay assuming it is available, if not I may have to resort to kaytee if it doesn't look too awful. As far as treats (obviously he'll have to wait a month or so since he won't be 6 months old yet) I have ordered dried rosehips, a box of apple wood (he can have that right away right?) and some compressed alfalfa from Ronda. For perches I was planning on getting some lava ledges and I also ordered a tube and cuddle ledge from Brittany (classychillas) as well as a hanging toy with lots of different chewables. For now I'll be using blue sparkle dust for his baths and probably using a cobbler tin or something until I feel it is safe to take him out of his cage.
I ordered this play pen (http://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Zinc-...T2IE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1317408251&sr=8-5 ) and afterward read that zinc is toxic :wacko: so my question is will it be safe if I soak it in 50/50 vinegar/water mixture? Or should I just return it and get something NOT made with zinc? I got the 30" tall one and planned on setting it up in my kitchen for when he needs out of cage play time. His water bottle is glass. I haven't bought him a wheel because he isn't 6 months old (and the good ones are wicked expensive). There is an exotics vet a little less than an hour away.
For the ride home I'm planning on getting a little cat carrier and putting some fleece on the bottom and throwing some hay in there as well. I'm also getting a bunch of pumice stones from the breeder. After I run out of the blue sparkle I want to switch to blue cloud since I've found that it is actually pretty cheap online in large quantities.
In my head, he is named, but I want to wait until I have him to actually decide on his name. Sorry for the scatter-brained post, but I'm so excited! If you see anything wrong with the things I've bought or if I've forgotten anything, please let me know! I want to have everything ready for my baby when he comes home! OH! And I've attached a picture that the breeder sent me. It is blurry, but I'm already in love!