I'm helping a friend, but also needed help myself :)

[Evelyn]

My friend is getting a chinchilla from local craigslist ads. She is not that well of to spend a lot of money on that chin. But she wants to get him (which I totally agree) because the old family doesn't care about him for a long time.
The family ask $150 for him which come with everything... everything from petstore such as cage, plastic bowls, plastic water bottle, plastic wheel, plastic ball he can run in it. Only thing seems to be ok for chin is the fleece hammock. Also come with bad food that will last for 4 months. For my friend who never have chin before she thinks its a great deal. I told her you pretty much need to replace everything inside his cage. But she cannot afford more than that.

One of her argument get me a little confused. The old family said they have him for almost a year and have been in this cage forever. The wheel have the sign of heavy chewing. But he still looks healthy. What could be the reason for that? Could it be they smart enough to not digest them. The wheel i'm talking about is this one

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753360#prodTab1

Should I still tell her she needs to replace everything anyway?

 

[Marie5656]

I had a flag go up at the mention of the plastic ball. That is a definate no no for any chin. If your friend gets the chin..get rid of the darn ball. I am a bit concerned about the chewing of plastic, and would like to see what the others say here. But a metal wheel or flying saucer may be a nice new home gift for chinnie. Trixie has had her silver surfer wheel for about 4 years and she loves it...and it has held up quite well.

 

[Stackie]

If she can't afford to replace things in his cage then is she going to be able to afford vet bills should an emergency happen? If not it may be better off for your friend to wait until she is more financially stable.

 

[Evelyn]

they can afford probably one at a time deal. The family is so close to set him free. I don't know if its a trick to make a sell or not. They had been trying to sell him for so long. my friend probably can afford vet bills. She just dont want to spend money on replacing anything that it seems fine to her.

 

[StevieP]

If they are saying they are going to let the chinchilla go out in the wild, I think your friend needs to get it ASAP. Maybe she can talk them down on the price since their alternative to selling is letting it go.

With that said; The ball is garbage, the chin can go without a wheel until your friend can get a better one. The bowls are ok if they aren't being chewed, but the Dollar Tree sells ceramic bowls so those might as well be replaced. Glass water bottles are less than $10. the cage is probably ok and just might need plastic shelves replaced with wood. An 8' piece of wood is $11 at Lowes.

 

[Evelyn]

If they are saying they are going to let the chinchilla go out in the wild, I think your friend needs to get it ASAP. Maybe she can talk them down on the price since their alternative to selling is letting it go.

With that said; The ball is garbage, the chin can go without a wheel until your friend can get a better one. The bowls are ok if they aren't being chewed, but the Dollar Tree sells ceramic bowls so those might as well be replaced. Glass water bottles are less than $10. the cage is probably ok and just might need plastic shelves replaced with wood. An 8' piece of wood is $11 at Lowes.

Thank you! Your opinion is very helpful. Although, I have told her all this already. The argument still come down to she ask "he had them for a year and still fine with it, so why do I have to replace any of that". When I said he can chew through it, she said yes he already chew thru it and still perfectly fine.

And that make me question myself, if he has been doing it for a long time and didn't get sick or anything, what is that mean?

 

[3CsMommy]

if he has been doing it for a long time and didn't get sick or anything, what is that mean?

In my part of the world we have a saying: "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while". Basically, it means that luck is always present since the blind squirrel can't See the nut, he has to listen or smell for it, and hope he gets to it before a faster squirrel does. But luck cannot be depended on.

The chin not having an impaction or escaping his chewed up cage means that family is lucky. Some chinchillas in that situation are lucky for the whole 15 or more years they can live. Other chinchillas in that situation are lucky for their whole lives, which might only be 4 or 5 years instead. That's why my guy is in a metal cage with wooden shelves.

We have another saying here too, "Anything worth doing is worth doing the right way the first time."

 

[StevieP]

That just means that the plastic has not gotten stuck inside his intestines. Either he has not swallowed it, or it just happened to pass through. Plastic chewing doesn't always mean they will get sick (impacted), but it is not worth the risk. One day out of nowhere he can get a piece of plastic stuck inside his digestive tract. You just never know.

 

[Pleiades]

Look at it this way: would you rather spend $8-11 bucks on some nice pine for shelves which your animal will love to perch on and chew, or $500+ for vet bills resulting from an impaction? Not to mention the suffering the animal would go through if that were to happen.

Chins can do just fine without a wheel provided they're given a daily, supervised playtime. I'd talk to the family and see if you can negotiate the price.

 

[Chinmama]

Maybe you should refer your friend to our forum? Maybe if she comes here and reads up on owning a chinchilla, she can see the bigger picture.

When I got my first chinchilla, he had a horrible wheel, was eating crap food, was getting hard candy and peanut butter for treats, and would go outside in a cage for a period of time during the day. The people who owned him before I did didn't know any better. And, when I got him I didn't know any better either.

We all started out not knowing at some point, and if we did know it was because some people may actually research before they buy (not me...lol). You are doing the right thing by trying to guide your friend in the right direction, and she is doing the right thing by wanting to help the chin. But, if she really wants to help him, she needs to be open to some changes.

If he wasn't chewing the plastic, I would say it may not be a big deal to leave it in there and keep an eye on it, but if he's chewing it I wouldn't want to risk an impaction.

 

[Sugarised]

my tip as a new owner who read all the contradictory things, (chin owners were saying what i now consider all the right things and books were saying otherwise) i think your friend should see how it goes, in the sense of getting to know her chin.

I bought a ball (the book said itd be ok) but even though folk on here say no to it, he doesn't like it anyway...no need to replace, he just sat in it like "what do you expect me to do?"

I bought a flying saucer (plastic) but he kept knocking it over...so i thought ok ill get a solid wheel, and he used it as a perch- didn't chew them though, just lazily blobbed in them.

All of those things are now void (well for him, i'm planning on rescuing another chin at some point, or rats) so there was no need to replace it.

My cage has a plastic base, but he doesn't chew it. I think the most important things are what members have posted here, she needs to get him lots of chew things, so that if she did replace the wheel there would be more exciting things to chew instead. The chin obviously wanted a good gnaw, and the wheel in the past was the best option, tempting him with apple twigs will be a nicer way to get him off the plastic.

Plastic bowls? You can get earthernware ones in the uk for £1 so i'm suure they are cheap in the US, my chin knocks his over regularly through force, so plastic would mean food would fling everywhere!

Water bottle, mine's plastic but on the outside of the cage so only the metal spout can be accessed, so that should be fine. For now she can easily make it hospitable but safe, she just needs to get creative i.e. looking for second hand bits, replacing plastic with kiln dried pine.

I cover my plastic base with a couple of inches of wood based cat litter, and he has wooden shelves and chew toys- the plastic isn't as appetising!

She needs to realise though that in time she should save some money aside for the chin, i'm already saving for the next cage (my cage was a rat/chinchilla/ferret cage, though i have NO idea how a ferret would fit in) as hes under a year and will probably get a little bit bigger in time, and want more room (chin was a last minute adoption). But also for vet care, I took starrkey the vets today for a checkup £15 but i now know that if i just make sure his teeth are good, eats well etc, nothing will be a surprise, but if something does happen i'm prepared. Its better in the long run to pay out for stuff to save on vet bills- e.g. ive taken out the wire rack from the base of my cage as i dont want him to get sore feet (he has other levels, but i dont want him to avoid the base) it means i will have to clean him out more, but itll save on any vet bills for if he got sore feet!

Hopefully though you've mentioned this chin was kept caged all the time, maybe his chewy behaviour inside will change with love care and playtime with your friend- though she obviously needs to well chin-proof the room if its such a chewer! Deffo recommend her here, i found it the night before i was to receive my chin and its still helping me no end as i try to learn the ways and personality of my own as ive never had one before. There are some long term chin lovers on here who will have seen all sorts throughout their large collection of chins and the years of owning them, a little guidance is priceless!