I got my first chinchilla! (not really planned)

[Z.chu]

I posted here a while back about meeting my first Chinchilla, Feifel.

He was just the cutest thing ever! So I started planning on getting one.
Well I got a text from the lady that bred Feifel saying his Brother needed a new home.

She had sold him to a co-worker. It was suppose to be for his daughter... but after just one week she lost interest and he became the caretaker.

They had him almost 2 months and did not even name him...

The first thing the man said when I called was how much he disliked "it" and tried to convince me I did not want it. It poops a lot, its messy, its noisy at night, it chews everything... and I am thinking YUP sounds like a chinchilla Dx

He was being fed rabbit food from walmart(a seed and dried fruit mix!!), using Cedar shavings for bedding(or so he said), completely plastic interior cage, plastic dishes/water bottle ect. NO HAY, no toys, no chews (save one urine soaked tiny cube of wood at the bottom). When I went to see him there was not even bedding, he was just peeing on the bare plastic bottom.

We immediately made plans to get him home. The guy brought him and his things to my house today. When he was leaving I assured him the chinchilla would be loved and cared for, he then said "I honesty don't care. Well Maybe you will keep it longer then us." Yeah i'd say so!

Tomorrow I am getting him some essentials at petsmart, Oxbow food and Oxbow Timothy hay. I already had some paper pellet bedding so he has that in a glass pan for potty.

I scored a Doube Ferret Nation off craigslist from a nice lady. It was really dirty but polished up good as new!

I am not sure if I want to put wood bottom in, or order some Base Pans from Bass. I wander how they hold up rust wise?

Its close to 3am now, I am just so excited and a bit nervous since I need so much.


So about the Chinchilla =3

He is about 5 months old, Solid white, pink ears, dark red eyes. SWEETEST thing EVER! His first night home and he is already crawling all over me and letting me hold him! He loves to get scratched behind the ear and jaw line. He runs up to me when i go to his cage and wats his paws at me for attention.

He is very active and seems pretty healthy.

He is a bit dirty from the bare cage with no bedding pan.

I am completely in love! I can't wait to get all his proper gear. I feel so unprepared!!

 

[tunes]

You do not want a wood bottomed cage. You can't guarantee that he will be completely potty trained at all times, and wood will absorb the urine, eventually making it rot and certainly making it stink. Also, if his water bottles were to spill or leak, that would get soaked up and could start to mold. Get the metal pans.

Congratulations on your new chin. You've got a pink white, if you're wondering about color.

 

[Jenn]

Aw, I'm so happy you could take this chin. He sounds so sweet and he really does deserve a good home with someone who will care for him properly.

Congratulations! Can't wait to see pics!

 

[momenteller]

So happy this little guy is now in a loving home! I bet he will do great under your care.

I agree, the Bass pans are the way to go. After a few years, my pans do have a few rust stains, but I just use shavings and not fleece so that is maybe to be expected. There are a few other things that are okay at PetSmart to buy--lava bites and Ware has some willow sticks, etc-- so he has something to chew until you can order better wood from one of the vendors here (or prepare your own). Also, I think you can put a small amount of cornstarch in his dust and it will help his dirty fur. If its really bad you can use unscented baby wipes, but you may not want to fuss with him that much and just let him settle in.

Enjoy your new friend and keep us posted on his progress!

 

[Z.chu]

DOH I think i posted this in the wrong section. Not sure actually.

That makes sense with the wood getting icky. I am gonna order some bass pans today, but I don't know what to do with his housing in the meantime. I did make some fleece liners for the Ferret nation plastic pans already, will that be safe for now? He has not chewed on the plastic in his current little house, surprisingly.

Thanks everyone, i will post pictures in a bit.

 

[chilethechin23]

my chin actually had an "accident" my girlfriend was eating something with ranch and she put the plate down and Chile decided to hop through the ranch...we were unsure how to clean cuz we had heard that they cant get wet, but they can. if you wash him make sure to use room temp water and a wash rag and just lightly rub him and the dirt out of his fur. when you dry him off make sure to use a clean towel and a hair dryer to make sure you get all the moisture out of his fur or it can mess it up.

good luck with ur new chin sounds like u will provide a loving home!

 

[ticklechin]

she put the plate down and Chile decided to hop through the ranch

YUMMM, chin-kin with ranch dressing, LOL

 

[greychins]

I am not sure if I want to put wood bottom in, or order some Base Pans from Bass. I wander how they hold up rust wise?

I used to use shavings in my bass pans, and within a year or two, they were on their way to rusting -- and that was with cleaning the cage about once a week, maybe give or take a few days. Not rusted yet, but the pans had changed color and were noticeably moving in that direction in the corners where the chins peed.

But here's the thing -- I found a company by us that manufactures and powdercoat's children's playground equipment. Not a powdercoating company in itself, but a company that has the ability to powdercoat. Called them up and asked if they do powdercoating for the general public -- they are charging me $10 or $15 per pan ($15 for the ones that are rusted [some pans we got used with a FN and they are in bad bad shape] and need some sort of spray down before powdercoating) to powdercoat these pans, and they have all sorts of fun colors (for the same price as black or gray). Even the rusted ones, they say, once powdercoated, should give me years and years of use.

Now, I use fleece liners in my FNs, so I do think these will last longer, partially because of that, but also because now it's not raw metal as the pan, but rather, a glossy-coated pan.

And they look nice and add color to the cage. I say if you can find powdercoating reasonably priced like this, I would go for it.

 

[Aridan]

Oh yes, those pans look awesome!

 

[Rockka]

Welcome to the chin world. Be careful they are addictive.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[partygirlha]

congrats on youre new boy. Bass pans are great if you use fleece. I can't waitt o see your set up

 

[Anna35]

Congrats on your new baby I am so glad you got him away from those people...

 

[rachel28johnson]

I also obtained my chinchilla from a rescue... I heard he was kept in bad conditions, I am just glad I didn't see it. Good luck with your chin!!!