Milo thinks she Spider Man! Shes discoverd that she can climb her cage!!

[Milo10]

Lastnight I went up to my room to discover Milo running around in her cage like a maniac. She fell off one of the ramps so I took them both out redid her whole cage set up. Added her hammock back in and she started to climb the cage walls. Tried to get some pictures, But everytime I tryed to get some she would jump off.

 

[addictedtochins]

Chins are so entertaining! Enjoy your baby

 

[KristinC1983]

Yeah, Sunny will seriously leap from a sitting position up like 3 feet onto the wall of his cage andd just sit there for a minute. Then hop down and do crazy laps. You know how they ran against walls in the movie The Matrix...Sunny thinks he's Neo, lol. He is a serious maniac, too. I was soooo worried for the first few months after I brought him home, but now after over 8 months, I've relaxed. He bumps and bangs and falls, but hasn't gotten hurt thank God. And it's just what they do! I also added a couple pumice ledges which he adores, but the first night in the cage with them, he smacked into one, I guess forgetting it was there. I freaked, but he just shook it off and went wild again, remembering after that about the new ledges. Now they're a part of his lapping and jumping. He sometimes uses them to help him up to a shelf, or he just ignores them and jumps the height by himself. He shocked me the other night when he jumped from a ledge to the door, farther then I though possible cause it was straight up and he didn't use the wall aas a boost.

Good thing you removed the ramps, though. They're uneccassary and I once read can actually make chins a little lazy. Without ramps, they have to jump, even if they don't want to. Plus they're aa hazard for a carelesss jump if the chin falls on it. They take up so much room, too.

Maybe try making a video of her. Just sit on the floor and put the camera somewhere where it looks like you aren't using it. That always works for Sunny, but the moment he sees me holding a cammera, he freezes and waits for me to put it down, lol. Or put a timer on it so it'll go off without you holding it. I wish I had a camera where I could watch him from anoother room just to see if he's different when I'm not there.

 

[Milo10]

haha.. I know right? I wish they had cameras for that purpose. I'm acutually going to go get a Critter Nation Cage at Petsmart they have them on sale for 145. My boyfriend wants to go get another chinchilla tomarrow so we're going to pick up a bigger cage. So they will both have room to jump and play and run and all that good stuff!

 

[KristinC1983]

Oh, make sure you research on here about introductions if you haven't already. Some chins will fight BAD! It has to be done carefully. They can seriouslly help on here with that. Plus if they don't mesh well. And make sure you get another female. Many petshops will make mistakes on sex so you need to know how to check yourself or you'll end up with a boy for your girll and some babies!!!! Also, if you aren't 100% sure, make sure yours is truly a girl. You can actually find pics on here to help you make sure of that. I know males have a 1/2 inch piece sticking out (Sunny's is light pink-I'm not sure if theey all are), but I don't know what females look like. And you seriously want to be sure so you don't have an accidental pregnancy.

And a nanny cam would work, but those things are probablly expensive, lol. I should look into it though. I'm so curious Plus he rarely lets me see him run on his wheel. I still haven't gotten a pic of it yet and he's had it for a couple months! He sees the camera and just jumps right off!

 

[Milo10]

Milo did that shelf to the door thing lastnight too.. She thought she was slick and because I didn't shut the door to her cage all the way (Because I was redoing eveything in there) That she would try to be sneaky and try to get out..lol

 

[Milo10]

Thanks, I will make sure I check to see if its a boy or a girl. I just need to get some more ledges for them both. She just started jumping and stuff lastnight. I was shocked when I saw it. I knew they did it. But i didn't expect her to start right then and there...lol

 

[proudmom25]

Chins are well known for figuring out crazy ways to bounce around. Just yesterday I had one do a kick off the TOP of his cage. LOL!

 

[Milo10]

Thats funny. I have to go get a chin spin for mine. But I'm a little worried Milo is just now 10 weeks old and last week she had 2 seizures I changed her food and have been keeping her in her cage for the past week to see if she does better and shes been doing fine. I don't wanna get the chin spin and have her run on it and then start having seizures. Someone told me that babys need all their calories. So I'm not so sure yet.

 

[KristinC1983]

Yeah, I'd wait a while before adding a wheel just in case cause yours is still young. A Chin SPins a great one, though. It's the one I have. Unfortunately, Sunny likes to pee on it and it got into the wood. That can be hard to get out, so if you have a big peer like me, you may wannt to consider an all metal wheel. I think the Ed Wheel is all metal-the Silver Surfer is. Oh, and of course the metal Flying Saucer I've heard great things about, but I also heard its a little harder to learn for chins who haven't ever had a wheel before.

You may llike this website: http://mistywaterwoman.webs.com/cages.htm

And I always seriously reccomend the pumice ledges (lave ledges). My chin LOVES chewing on his, plus it actually helps file nails so you have to clip them less often. And on websites online, you can find better, cheaper ledges than at petshops. Plus supporting petshops less is always a plus, since they're so money hungry and sell many horrible products!!!! Buying all products online is honestly cheaper anyway If you don't know already, you can find most on this website.

 

[Milo10]

I have one lava ledge in her cage and she loves it. I was thinking about getting a metal flying saucer. But not just yet. Just curious what food do you feed yours?? I'm just gonna buy chinchilla stuff online from now on. Petstore items are so expensive!!

 

[KristinC1983]

Sunny eats Mazuri. It's alfalfa-based, so some chin owners have tto measure it cause their chins will eat too much, but Sunny I can free feed cause he doesn't over-eat. But he does love it. When I first brought him home and started weaning him off the breeder's food (she gave me a small bag of it), he acted like Mazuri was a treat. Just remember to go very slow when you're switching foods. I just added a few more peices of Mazuri everyday, like one day I'd give him 3, then the next 5, and the next 7.... There digestive systems are really delicate so any quick changes will cause issues like diarehea. After he started getting mostly Mazuri, though, he completely ignored his old food. Thank God it didn't affect him in any way!

Food is actually the one thing thats cheaper to buy in a petstore or feedstore because of shipping. I actually asked a question on here about it. Let me see if I can find it...

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18128&highlight=mazuri

It gives advice on how to find cheaper food and bulk. Now I'm actually going to donate 10 lbs to a rescue in Virginia Beach cause 25lbs for 1 chin will last forever. But a 25 lb bag at a feedstore close to me cost me $19!!!! Petsmart and Petco were a lot more per pound. I also love the idea of helping one of the rescues that need it. I'll be sending it next week.

And applewood and other things can be found on this websiite, so you don't have to look too far. I beleive even hay can be bought on here, but I use Oxbow Timothy hay and Orchard Grass and its good stuff. Kaytee was my original brand but once it got moldy (my fault, not Kaytee's), I switched and SUnny loves the new stuff. And you can get bulk for cheap off the internet of Oxbow as well, but I'm paranoid wiith hay since the mold problem I had about a month ago, so now I'm actually getting it from a petshop in small quantities, but even aa small bag lasts him awhile. I used to keep it in one of those plastic storage totes with a cover on it because on Yahoo Answers, 3 people said it would be perfectly fine (before I joined this forum), and it was fine for a couple months. But then I found a huge bunch of black mold, I asked on here, and one person said to keep it in the original bag because it has holes in it for ventilation, and another said to find a good bag with very good ventilation, which you can find on this website, lol. I LOVE this forum. It should've been obvious that a plastic airtight tote wasn't a good place to keep hay, but we all have our duh moments, so this forum helps stop them, or fix them quickly And they're the ones who also told me to not get Kaytee hay anymore. It is soooo green-some people actually believe it's dyed, lol.

 

[Milo10]

I Switched her over to Mazuri at first she was on sunseed subscription diet, But then I learned more about chinchillas and found out they can't digest sugars. Petstore told me they could so of course I bought that food and some treats for her. Stoped the treats because she started having seizures and changed the food slowly. Shes doing fine now The only thing with hay is my brother is allergic to a whole bunch of different grasses. So I can't get Timothy and i'd have to find out what other grasses he's allergic to. I have Alfalfa cubes. But I want to try something different with her since she already has the alfalfa based pellets. But I don't know what else to try.

 

[KristinC1983]

I actually wouldn't give her alfalfa at all. Maybe like once a month, just a tiny bit as a treat, but with the alfalfa based food, its too much. I bought him a big bag before I got him, plus the Mazuri, and got a lecture on Yahoo Answers for all the alfalfa I was giving him. I believe it's fattier thhan other hay.

But hay is a VERY important part of their diet-its basically their entire diet. Hay cubes are good, but actual whole peices of hay hellp keep their back teeth worn down because wood and pumicee doesn't get back that far, so cubes are great for the nutrrition part, but not the very important dental part of it. Also, its important for I believe digestion...something like that lol! I've heard of people just giving hay, no pellets, but with other supplements added in-I don't know how this forum feels about that (I trust the people on here more than anyone else including vets) but the chins seemed very healthy. So I'd ddefinitely get Timothy hay, Oat Hay, Orchard Grass, and/or some others in there asap.

 

[KristinC1983]

Oh, the alfalfa I bought for Sunny, I give him a pinch once a montth as a treat still or a couple stems, but other than that, I've stopped it. I may just throw it outside for the deer or something-they need it more thhan him to fatten up for the winter.

 

[Milo10]

well... today I'm gonna head over to the store to get some hay for her!! thanks for all the help!!