my demon escaped

[WhiteTree]

We moved my two chinchillas into the basement for the summer to keep them cool. Well last name my dad comes in and says there's chinchilla poop on the stairs to make sure the chinchillas aren't loose. I went down simply to humor him and to give them a dust bath. I go to the cage and there's my little angel of a boy Andy sitting on the shelf asleep. I look and no Scamp, my demon spawn is gone. So I yell to my mom and she hobbles down the stairs (she's disabled) and she helps me look while my drunk dad says he's going to buy rat poison for down there. We have a futon mattress folded up in the corner with a bunch of boxes and bags in front of it, it seemed like the best bet. So we moved the boxes and bags onto the table carefully and picked up the futon mattress and what falls out of the urine soaked mattress but my Scamp covered in his own pee, completely unharmed just stinky. So I put him back in the cage and gave him a dust bath.

How did he get out? Well Andy's been in the cage for 2 years now and knows how to open it but never leaves the cage but as soon as I got Scamp I put clips on the doors. Well Scamp being pure evil learned how to take the clips off, all four clips were in the litter pan. So we got metal crimps we used when we built rabbit cages and we closed all but the two big doors (there's 8 little sliding doors and two big sliding doors) and on the two big doors we put metal binder clips. As we were crimping the doors shut he came over and peed on the pliers to show his disdain for us.

Of course it had to be Scamp who got loose because he hates people, if it was Andy I could have just called his name and he'd come hopping up to me to be picked up like he always does. It was scary so now their cage went from a minimum security prison to maximum security, with locks on the doors and bed checks three times a day. Now I have to steam clean the carpet down there, throw out the futon mattress and go through all the boxes and bags down there. How is it two chinchillas in one cage can be so different, it's like night and day. Andy's so sweet, loving and obedient and Scamp is the embodiment of evil. Yet for some strange reason I love him.

 

[iayla]

Cant you just steam clean the futon mattress? He couldnt possibly have peed in it enough to ruin it, could he? Mine have gotten loose for a couple hours in the past, and other than chewing up a few book bindings, have never managed to completely ruin anything. And thats in a Victorian style home full of antiques & collectibles. *shrug*

Either way - glad you found him at least, and are making sure it doesnt happen again. Lil stinkers that they are
~Barb~

 

[EnslavedByNinjas]

I completely understand your frustration and crazy-sounding love for Scamp. My Turbo is sweet, loving, I even accidentally left his cage open one day (!!!) as I was trying to take care of food/water while running late for work.... when I came home for lunch he was sleeping soundly in his tunnel. Until he gets interested in something, he'll hang out on my shoulder.

Nibbler, however, is my embodiment-of-evil chin. He will do ANYTHING to escape, hates but occasionally tolerates scritches in the cage, won't let anyone within 5 feet when out of the cage, and is just generally way too smart and misguided. Think Bond Villain Chinchilla. But yet I love him.

Aren't chinchillas stinkers?

 

[Sandi]

Wow, glad you found him! Maximum security cage with locks indeed!

 

[Leowyldemi]

My silkie was exactly the same way, the little stinker somehow managed to chew a METAL BAR off her cage! she came to see me in the computer room(luckily no wires were chewed!) and the chase was on, she NEVER liked to be picked up or held, and was way too smart for her own good, but i loved her just the same.

 

[WhiteTree]

Cant you just steam clean the futon mattress? He couldnt possibly have peed in it enough to ruin it, could he? Mine have gotten loose for a couple hours in the past, and other than chewing up a few book bindings, have never managed to completely ruin anything. And thats in a Victorian style home full of antiques & collectibles. *shrug*

Either way - glad you found him at least, and are making sure it doesnt happen again. Lil stinkers that they are
~Barb~

Well this is where I feel like a horrible owner. I was sick in bed for several days, I have a seizure disorder so when I'm sick I have to stay in bed or I black out, fall down and hit my head then have to go to the hospital and pay hundreds of dollars to hear there's nothing they can do for me. My sister came over filled their dish and water bottle a couple days ago and that will last them over a week. So I hadn't been down in a few days because of being bedridden and my mother is disabled and can't do the steps. So he could have been out for two days, my sister saw him in the cage two days ago. I believe he was out that long too because the mattress is soaked and he chewed it up to make his nest. I should have found a way to get down there, but I knew they had food and water and I really didn't want to chance falling down a flight of stairs. This is not typical, I'm usually down there several times a day but when I'm sick going downstairs is bad, I've passed out on the steps before and my sister found me. I'm just glad he's ok, thankfully it's a finished basement so no holes or exposed wires, and we don't keep chemicals and anything on the floor. The basement was my sister's room for several years there's a sink, cabinets, refrigerator, pool table, bed, work desk, and a piano. My room's more dangerous than the basement. He's not happy with the locks on the cage he's trying to get them off but unless he has wire cutters stashed in the cage he's staying in there. Now I'm trying to get the pee out of his fur, he's looking better after two very long dust baths but he'll need several more before he's huggable again. He smells like a porta-potty.

 

[Chinniechantel]

Ok, I know you are sick, but you cannot only feed and water a chin once a week. They need fresh food and water daily, not to mention at least visally checked for illness and or other problems like a leaky water bottle, broken a/c unit, etc. I would not go more than 24 hours without having someone check on them. You are chancing bloat, stasis, and worse without fresh food and water, and do you give him timothy hay daily? They need that as well.

Is there any way you can keep him up with you? You need to find a way to keep the cage closed so he cannot escape, and need to find someone to watch him if you cannot. I use these key shaped clips that there is no possible way they can get open. I use them as back-up on a lot of my cages since some chins are very sneaky! I just go to home depot and look around for the best looking clips. You have to have ones that work well but are also easy to remove otherwise you have a harder time doing it every single time you open the cage. Once they escape once they will try try try again until they get out. Even wire would work, thin wire you can easily bend to remove, like the inside of a twisty-tie. Even a key ring will work.

 

[WhiteTree]

Ok, I know you are sick, but you cannot only feed and water a chin once a week. They need fresh food and water daily, not to mention at least visally checked for illness and or other problems like a leaky water bottle, broken a/c unit, etc. I would not go more than 24 hours without having someone check on them. You are chancing bloat, stasis, and worse without fresh food and water, and do you give him timothy hay daily? They need that as well.

Is there any way you can keep him up with you? You need to find a way to keep the cage closed so he cannot escape, and need to find someone to watch him if you cannot. I use these key shaped clips that there is no possible way they can get open. I use them as back-up on a lot of my cages since some chins are very sneaky! I just go to home depot and look around for the best looking clips. You have to have ones that work well but are also easy to remove otherwise you have a harder time doing it every single time you open the cage. Once they escape once they will try try try again until they get out. Even wire would work, thin wire you can easily bend to remove, like the inside of a twisty-tie. Even a key ring will work.

It was a one time thing. They're only down there for the summer usually they're in my bedroom. I was really sick and couldn't get down there and my mom couldn't do the steps. Me passing out and falling down the steps to the cement floor wouldn't do them any good because then I'd be in the hospital, probably have broken bones and be unable to go down for weeks and my sister would have to take care of them which no one wants. So two days without me or several weeks? Like I said earlier I go down several times a day. There were two days where I wasn't down there. They do get fresh food and water, they get hay everyday too I was saying that they had enough to last them that long even though it was never going to be that long just a day or two, it ended up being two. I've never left them alone before and it was because I didn't have any other options.

I also wrote in my post that the cage is now secure, there's metal crimps on all the none essential doors and the two doors I use have metal binder rings on them now. There's no way for him to get out unless he can cut through the wire bars. It was something that happened and the situation has been corrected. Like no one else has ever made a mistake, at least I did something about it.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I am sorry I misunderstood. It really sounded like you gave them a bunch of food and water and thought that would last them a week. I just don't want anyone that just joins the forum to think that is ok. I am very sorry you are sick and of course do not want you to get hurt, you can't do them much good if you are not around! We ALL have made mistakes, there are threads around here to prove it! By coming here we all know you care about your chin and hope the best for the both of you.

And I wouldn't be suprised if an evil chin could cut through the metal wires! Haha! Viva las chinchillas!

 

[WhiteTree]

I am sorry I misunderstood. It really sounded like you gave them a bunch of food and water and thought that would last them a week. I just don't want anyone that just joins the forum to think that is ok. I am very sorry you are sick and of course do not want you to get hurt, you can't do them much good if you are not around! We ALL have made mistakes, there are threads around here to prove it! By coming here we all know you care about your chin and hope the best for the both of you.

And I wouldn't be suprised if an evil chin could cut through the metal wires! Haha! Viva las chinchillas!

Thank you and that video is awesome. My boy would be right there writing "viva las chinchillas" on the wall in urine. lol.

 

[addictedtochins]

My boy would be right there writing "viva las chinchillas" on the wall in urine. lol.

:laughitup: And my boys would be shooting it up