I left the cage open :(

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sheri7

sheri7

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
496
Location
MD
I feel horrible about it.

Got home last last night after a long day, let my chillies out to play in their room (my office) for a while (I sat on the floor with them). When play time was over and they were back in their cage, I thought I shut the cage doors and went to bed.

At 3:00am I heard thump in my bedroom and woke up. Immediately thought "OMG the chins are out". I flew out of bed (along with my SO who was not at all happy - can't blame him). I see Anabel hopping down the hallway and into the spare bedroom, so I shut the door real quick and ran down to my chin room to check on Jezebel. The top door of my Chinchilla Mansion was wide open and no Jez in sight. Oh lord, what have I done.

I grabbed the dust bath and checked a few rooms and nothing. Made sure all the toilet seats were down (they were). I went up to the room where Anabel was and she jumped into the dust bath with very little effort. I put her back in the cage. Thank god, 1 down and 1 to go.

After just a few minutes I found Jezebel in the living room and luckily I got her in the dust bath and back in the cage pretty easily too. I was so scared that I would never find her or she would be hurt when I did.:banghead:

I feel so lucky that nothing bad came of it.....it could have been a disaster. I feel so guilty that I put my babies in danger. I am a bad chin mom.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?
 
I haven't done it but my boyfriend has. He woke up with Polo grooming his eyebrows from the head board of his bed! They had 2 dogs in the house too so we were lucky the chin stayed in the room and the dogs didn't come in.
 
Don't feel bad cherie!

My chin once got behind the sink, took me the whole night to get her out.

I forgot to close the doors 2 times, but none of them even ran out?!

It happens to everyone!
 
happens at least 3 to 4 times a year with me. Usually I find that I didn't close the door 'right' Once in a while I find that I have an escape artist and I have to double clip the doors then.
 
Trust me, you are not alone. I did that the very first weekend we got our little chin. I went away for the weekend, came home on a Sat. to check on her and forgot to secure the cage. Came home Sunday evening to find the room in disarray and my heart sank, but luckily chin was ok and the door to the chin room was left closed so I only had one room to search. *whew* I know neither one of us will make that mistake again :))
 
About a week ago I was getting Herby's breakfast ready for her and I left the cage door open and she got out and off the table her cage sits on and she was running all over the house with 3 dogs and 2 cats chasing her. Lucky for her and me, my hubby and kids were still home and were able to catch her before anything bad happened to her. And if that did not teach me a lesson, yesterday I let her out in my room to play before making sure the cats were not in there and ended up almost getting her scratched by one of them. (the other one ran when he saw her)

So, do not feel to badly about them getting out, we all make mistakes sometimes!
 
You're not a bad chin mom.

Leaving a cage door open happens even to the best of us.

The worst for me happened a few years with guinea pigs - could have been a downright disaster - young male piggie managed to climb out of his house (I previously didn't know they could do that) and onto the outside bars of my ladies' house. They were wheeking up a storm - causing the humans to come running. I nearly panicked when I saw young piggie boy clinging there like that. Gads!

I'm glad everything worked out okay for you and your gang. Bet you'll be on your toes for awhile to come!
 
thats happened to me too. He somehow opened his cage door by himself though ( not to make you feel bad ). chewed wood trim everywhere. Dang little things!
 
My chin's cage has a full time playpen around it so my one and only chin can come in and out of her cage as she pleases into a safe environment.

I did inadvertently leave my birdcage door ajar and the bird got out and was attacked by one of my cats and died. I felt so horrible and now constantly check the cage doors.

I am so happy your chins were ok and it was only a scare for you. Things happen, and you're not a bad chin mom. I'm sure it won't happen again :)
 
Guilty

When I first built the new cage, I didn't lock it right, and Misty excaped. To make matters worse, the front apartment door was left slightly open by my SO. When I discovered she was missing, I FREAKED out. I searched everywhere and couldn't find her all day. I was so scared she had gotten outside. Finally, I was in my bedroom and I feel and hear moving under my bed. Thank god she had made her way to my bedroom and spent the rest of the day relaxing in my bed. What a scare! I"m so glad you found your chins. I understand the relief.
 
When Mogwai was a youngster, I thoroughly chin-proofed the guest bathroom, took him and a book in with me. I sat on the floor reading while he went wild jumping in and out of the (empty) bathtub and bounced off the walls, played with the mazes and toys. This went on and on as I read andf watched. Suddenly everything got silent. I looked up and -- no Mogwai !!!!

This could not happen! The door was closed tight, there were no escape routes - where in the world did he go????? Just silence and no Moggie.

I was half crazed with concern - surely he didn't slide under the 1/2 " space under the door? I looked and looked and found - to my HORROR - that at the bottom corner of the bathroom vanity, the builders had left a 3 x 3 inch opening where the vanity joins the wall. Worse -- Mogwai was not INSIDE the vanity, he was between the enclosed vanity and the exterior drywall!!!!! Where there are, I am sure, more than one openings where the plumbing, electric, whatever come in. He COULD be INSIDE the walls.

Talk about panic!!!! I had only one hope == his love of Cheerios. I went and got his minibox of Cheerios and brought it in and rattled it. Out popped Mogwai!!!!!!

Not an experience I would want to repeat!
 
That does sound like a scare! Bet he saw some interesting things though.

MelodyR said:
When Mogwai was a youngster, I thoroughly chin-proofed the guest bathroom, took him and a book in with me. I sat on the floor reading while he went wild jumping in and out of the (empty) bathtub and bounced off the walls, played with the mazes and toys. This went on and on as I read andf watched. Suddenly everything got silent. I looked up and -- no Mogwai !!!!

This could not happen! The door was closed tight, there were no escape routes - where in the world did he go????? Just silence and no Moggie.

I was half crazed with concern - surely he didn't slide under the 1/2 " space under the door? I looked and looked and found - to my HORROR - that at the bottom corner of the bathroom vanity, the builders had left a 3 x 3 inch opening where the vanity joins the wall. Worse -- Mogwai was not INSIDE the vanity, he was between the enclosed vanity and the exterior drywall!!!!! Where there are, I am sure, more than one openings where the plumbing, electric, whatever come in. He COULD be INSIDE the walls.

Talk about panic!!!! I had only one hope == his love of Cheerios. I went and got his minibox of Cheerios and brought it in and rattled it. Out popped Mogwai!!!!!!

Not an experience I would want to repeat!
Click to expand...
 
Melody - I had the same thing happen....except my chin escaped under the kitchen cabinets. It was in an old apartment and I was terrified because I didn't know if they had put rodent poison in there. It took a couple days to get Thor out. That was horrible!

I don't know why they must get in those holes! Thor wouldn't come out for anything. I remember sitting by that little hole talking to him for hours and pleading with him to just please come out. "Mama isn't mad, I just want you to come out so that I can make sure you're okay!!"

Then there was the time that Sam got out into the ducts of our house and was gone a week. Just guess about how that was! Evil, evil Sam. I believe his new nickname is Osama now at his new home. :p
 
I had escapes 3 days in a row....different cage each time.... I have had pregnant escapes before. One was due any day and loose all day while I was at work. Luckily she waited and had her triplets the next day in her cage. It happens to the best of us
 
OMG melody, i LOVE your chins' names. i named mine gizmo but was thinking of mogwai for a while. haha seeing those names just now made me bust out laughing. love it!

and sheri, dont feel bad. youre NOT a bad chin mom. things like this happen. all too often, gizmo would escape to the kitchen/living room and hide under couches where food is often spilled. ive been lucky enough to always secure the doors, but things like this will/do happen.

BUT consider this, you DID close the door and your chinnies somehow used their little opposable thumbs and undid the latch! hey, we cant underestimate these critters!
 
Luci -- thank you for your comment about their three names -- I was afraid no one would "get it" - LOL. I LOVED those movies. I hesitated at first, but now I love their names, and it suits them. Mogwai and Gremlin are hyper and Gizmo is just a sweet and beautiful boy.

The funny thing is that the "naughtiest" is Gremlin, and he has a black Stripe on his tail ! Maybe I should have named him Stripe and saved Gremlin for later.

Chins really do look like mogwais!!!!!
 
Ugh, I left the door open once, and I couldn't find Dusty ANYWHERE! I thought he was gone forever, I was bawling my eyes out. Then, I saw his tail sticking out from underneath a cabinet in the kitchen. Somehow, he had found a gap where they didnt put wood, crawled UNDERNEATH the bottom row of cabinets, and gotten behind the board the put around the bottom. (hard to explain)
It took FOREVER to get him out, my boyfriend had to yank apart the board and we had to coax him out with raisins.
 
Well gald to hear I'm not the only one.....thanks everyone for making me feel better.

I'm going to do my best not to let that happen again.
 
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