I'm new and have some questions.

[BarnabyJones]

i'm not so sure how old my new chinchilla is. i got him from a friend who had to get rid of him. she believes he's about 8 years old.

1. he doesnt eat the pelet things in the food. only the colorful (what i'm guessing treat like items).

2. i'm not sure how often he should take a dust bath and/or how much dust to put in the box (right now i just left the box on the floor so he can go whenever he wants).

3. i read people said no to plastic shevels. may i ask why? (Sorry he came with a cage with plastic shelves.


-thanks, i have more questions but i'm being rushed to leave.

 

[tunes]

. he doesnt eat the pelet things in the food. only the colorful (what i'm guessing treat like items).

He's going to continue to eat only those items as long as you offer them to him. It's kind of like giving a kid a choice between brussels sprouts and candy bars. They will take the candy every time. You need to get a good feed like Nutrena, Oxbow, Mazuri, Tradition and stop the treat filled kind. Some you can find in pet stores, others you can order here through the classifieds.

2. i'm not sure how often he should take a dust bath and/or how much dust to put in the box (right now i just left the box on the floor so he can go whenever he wants).

Unless you are in a super humid area, 2-3 times a week is plenty for dust baths. More than that and you can dry out his skin, and cause flaking and itching.

3. i read people said no to plastic shevels. may i ask why? (Sorry he came with a cage with plastic shelves.

I'm not an anti-plastic person. I've had chins in plastic bottomed cages with plastic shelves and they never bothered them. If he doesn't chew them, don't worry about it.

 

[Stackie]

1) Any food with 'colorful flakes' or anything other than pellets is not a good food for your chinchilla. If you had chocolate mixed in with vegetables, which would you rather eat? I'm betting chocolate. That's how your chinchilla feels. He would rather eat the yummy, bad stuff than the good, healthy stuff. Good chinchilla foods include Oxbow (which can be found at PetSmart), Tradition, PANR, Nutrena(which you can buy from others on here). Chins also need an unlimited supply of timothy hay.

2) I give dust baths every 3 days. More often if the humidity is high. I put about an inch of dust in the bottom of the dust pan.

3) Because most chins chew on them. There is some debate as to whether or not chins ingest the plastic and that can be harmful.

 

[ABBY W.]

Food:
Colorful treat items are bad! You need to switch him to a different food, like Mazuri chinchilla pellets or Oxbow Chinchilla diet. The treats are just that. Letting him eat that all the time is like feeding a child a diet of ice cream and french fries...not good.
You should do a switch gradually, over a week or two, to avoid upsetting your chinnies stomach.

2. Dust baths can be given once ro twice per week, more often if your chinchilla is handled frequently. You don't want to do it every day though, or your chin's skin will get dry and itchy.

3. Plastic is debatable. If your chinchilla is chewing on the shelves then you need to get rid of them. The plastic can be ingested and doesn't break down in the digestive tract. It can create a blockage and your chin will die. Personally, I don't like the risk of plastic and so never use it. But some people are ok with it, as long as you keep a close eye on your chinchilla and remove the plastic immediately if it's being chewed. If you decide to change the shelves, replace them with untreated pine shelves, or 1/2" x 1/2" wire mesh.

Good luck! Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[Sheri]

Plastic can and will stop up a chin if it is injested in a big enough peice or is collected in the gut. I have talked to someone who had that situation and I choose not to take the chance.

If it were me (and it's not) I would replace those shelves with not only untreated but kiln dried pine shelves. Home depot or any lumber yard has them. Not expensive. I pay like $3 for an 8 foot length. And no worries about chewers. I personally would never use wire.

 

[BarnabyJones]

thanks guys.

i usually leave the cage open all the time so he can run around and not be couped up in the cage. the only problem i have found is i have to hide my remotes otherwise he chews the buttons off.

and the brand of food i use is Nutriphase gold. my friend who owned him for two years fed him hartz wholesome select (gunie pig food).

and for the cage, it actually isnt chewed up. and hes been in it i guess 2 years or more, so do you think it is fine to just leave him in there?

also, he doesnt make sound alot like most people have been saying theres does. and he will deal with holding but when i set him on the growned he doesnt like us petting him.

-mariah

 

[Siylvat]

thanks guys.

i usually leave the cage open all the time so he can run around and not be couped up in the cage. the only problem i have found is i have to hide my remotes otherwise he chews the buttons off.

I'd be really careful about this and make sure he is only out when you are there to watch him. There is a lot more he can get into besides remote buttons.

 

[searchand_dstry]

If you want to let him run around then do it during a playtime in the bathroom or other chin safe area. I would not leave the cage open & let him free roam the house. That is just a really bad idea IMO.

I only have one chinchilla who will chew on plastic. The other three won't bother with it even if I left them with nothing else to chew for weeks. If your chinchillas hasn't chewed on it in two years, chances are he won't. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

As tunes said, switch him to a better feed. Until you get a good feed, take out all the little treats. They aren't doing him any good at all by being in there!

 

[ABBY W.]

Yes, please find a safe area for him to play in. Unsupervised roaming can be very dangerous. Chins will chew anything, furniture, walls, and electrical cords. You don't want a crispy fried chin!

 

[Jenn]

I use 2 playpens, attached together, which are attached to my chin's cage. That way she can come in and out of her cage as she pleases, but she has a safe area to be in where she won't come in contact with something that could be harmful to her. Even when you are watching your chin, they are so quick and can nibble cords and walls and furniture before you can stop them.

I would transition your chin to a healthier pellet, as mentioned above and hopefully you are freely feeding hay as well and your chin needs chew toys or apple sticks to keep it's teeth from getting too long.

I live in a very humid area and give my chin dust baths every other day. Only leave your dust available for around 10 minutes so it doesn't get used as a bathroom. And then replace your dust after a few uses to keep it prime.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

There was recently a thread titled "I killed my chin" on here either on general topics or emergency topics. Short story is, chin was out unsupervised and was killed in a closet when a shelf crushed him. I would under no circumstances allow them out free range without supervision...

 

[soqrbrad]

I transitioned my chin off of similar food (Charlie Chinchilla) that had those little treat pieces. He would always dig through the bowl and eat those first. I was planning on adding some Mazuri pellets to his food slowly over the course of the month, but as soon as I added them to his food he would eat the new Mazuri pellets even over the treat items.

Go figure.

So now after about a week he is eating nothing but Timothy hay and Mazuri and the occasional oat and rose hip.

 

[BarnabyJones]

lol, yes of course. i dont planning on having him running around when im not hear.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I transitioned my chin off of similar food (Charlie Chinchilla) that had those little treat pieces. He would always dig through the bowl and eat those first. I was planning on adding some Mazuri pellets to his food slowly over the course of the month, but as soon as I added them to his food he would eat the new Mazuri pellets even over the treat items.

Go figure.

So now after about a week he is eating nothing but Timothy hay and Mazuri and the occasional oat and rose hip.

It is likely he preferred the new pellets because they are usually fresher than the Charlie crap...