my girl comes home Saturday! last-minute panic!

[danilinn]

the last-minute new-mom anxiety kicked in last night, and i was up til 5 am fretting and arranging and washing things. my dad and his neighbor are putting the finishing touches on her (enormous, much to my husband's chagrin) cage today, and we'll go get it on friday. it's all steel and pine, so no worries there. he added in another shelf near her door so she can come to us instead of us reaching in and getting grabby.
she has a hidey-house, hammock, pillow (all fleece), a wood & hay hanging toy from camphorchins.com, willow wreaths, willow and pine sticks, a lixit water bottle, blue cloud and a bath house, and two ceramic dishes. (why two?--in case she wants to pee in one, i guess.)
also, of course, 12 lbs of Tradition pellets (that's what her breeder feeds), pine shavings, a couple of yards of fleece just in case, velcro, temp/humidity gauge.
we have a Brita pitcher and i talked to the water guy for Downers Grove, who explained the giardia-filtering and testing processes that begin in Chicago and go on continually in town. our exotic vet (i already know him, which helps settle my nerves a little) stocks and uses Critical Care, and he's about 5 min. from our apartment.
we have a couple of competent, trustworthy sitters lined up--we both work at a university, so we know a lot of responsible jrs. and srs.--my first choice is coming over to meet her in a couple of weeks once she's settled in.
once we get the cage home, i thought we should wipe down the interior with peroxide+hot water (i get sick from vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide is supposed to be an acceptable alternative) before arranging her stuff inside.
i went with a soft carrier for an hour ride in the car--too much plastic on the metal ones we found). i lined it with four layers of fleece at the bottom for comfort, and i thought i'd bring her Chin-Chiller along just in case.
we have a window air conditioner in the living room, and a nice spot for her cage away from the heat vents and windows. the room is pretty quiet and not too bright. she'll be able to see the tv if she wants to watch, and if she hates that, we have an alternative spot where her cage won't face the tv. i've been watching our room temp the last few days, and even without the AC running, we stay at about 71-72.
what did i forget? i haven't had a pet in a few years, and i'm a nervous wreck!

 

[danilinn]

oh, and hay--she has timothy hay.

 

[ChinnyMom]

unless the cage got something on it during the construction process, i wouldn't worry about cleaning it with peroxide. just give it a good vacuuming to get any sawdust off/out of it.

the soft carrier could just be chewed through during that 4 hour car ride. i'd go with the plastic carrier instead, and keep an eye on her. if she starts to chew the plastic, distract her with a wood chew. from my research most chins will snooze during car rides. another good thing about a hard sided carrier is that it will stand up better should there be a car accident. a soft sided carrier will just get smooshed.

a few more hanging toys would be nice for her, since her cage is so big and you have lots of places to hang them. my Rhino has about 10 hanging toys in his cage currently, and out of all of them, there's only a few pieces on a couple toys that he doesn't care to chew.

even though your water supply has these giarda filtering measures in place, i would still get the PUR water filter. Brita does not filter out giardia, and chins are much more susceptible to giardia than us human beans are, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

one more thing i would definitely add to your chin supplies is lots and lots of apple wood. chins love the stuff (Rhino snatches apple twigs from me like you wouldn't believe! lol). and apple twigs make a wonderful substitute to a food treat, and you can give them as much wood as you want with no issue.

can't wait for pictures of your new little girl!!!

 

[danilinn]

ChinnyMom, you are so awesome for helping out all the new parents!
my dad suggested not overwhelming her with too much clutter in the cage to start, but a couple more probably wouldn't hurt with all that space she has. i feel safer ordering this stuff from a chin site than from petco--that would mean waiting for shipping, though. will it be okay to introduce new toys as they arrive.
i think the PUR does sound a lot better, probably for all three of us, not just her--does it matter if it's a pitcher or a faucet attachment? until we get one, should i boil her water then refrigerate it?
apple sticks sound exciting!--maybe i can get my husband hooked on them, too, instead of all those snacks (kidding).

 

[lauralynne]

I suggest having more than one water bottle. You never know when one will malfunction, break, etc.

 

[chinnychinchinchilla]

You can introduce as many new toys to her as you want. I'm sure she won't mind )

 

[ChinnyMom]

bahahahahaaa!!! i just envisioned a burly guy (have no idea what your hubby looks like, so no offense!) noshing away on an apple twig......... :rofl:

i don't think she'd be overwhelmed with more hanging toys. the more to chew, the better, i say. finding a local organic (no pesticides or fertilizers used) source of apple wood would be great for you. i just discovered a close neighbour that has an apple tree he grew himself that has never seen any chemicals, and he trims it twice a year, so i'm a happy camper. it's literally out my back door and across the parking lot, woo hoo!

boiling water can concentrate the heavy metals and other not so great stuff, so i wouldn't do that. the PUR filter should be available at your Aurora Walmart. they also should have the Dupont faucet one, and on the walmart site it says the Dupont one filters out giardia too.

 

[danilinn]

http://chinchillacity.com/supplies/toys/chinshroom/
this looks fun, but i thought hardwoods weren't safe?

 

[danilinn]

and my brother-in-law has an apple tree! yay!

 

[liewwan]

Sounds like you got everything in just about. Yeah the soft carrier isn't ideal for a 4 hour car ride. Chins can easily move them around. There are safe toys from petco and pets mart, the price is much higher than what you buy online. Graychins has a list of safe products from pet stores, this is the link http://www.nwichinchillas.com/safepetstoreproducts.htm.
As for the water bottle, yes get extras. Tinker the stinker goes into kill mode with water bottles! She broke 4 already. Now we have glass ones.
I buy online and at pet stores, just for variety.
You know now that you mentioned filtered water, I actually give my chins bottle water. Is that ok? They normally drink colligan water but I just got a big jug of Ice mountain.
Oh WE'LL NEED PICS HEHE

 

[liewwan]

I just have to say this: "Everyone grab your saw, her brother in law has a apple tree. Let's go at 1am to make sure no one is awake and bring ski masks"

 

[ChinnyMom]

I just have to say this: "Everyone grab your saw, her brother in law has a apple tree. Let's go at 1am to make sure no one is awake and bring ski masks"

:laughitup:

 

[ChinnyMom]

http://chinchillacity.com/supplies/toys/chinshroom/
this looks fun, but i thought hardwoods weren't safe?

i use those same wood wheels on Rhino's toys with no problem at all.

the toys on that site are cute! only one i wouldn't buy is the one with the wooden spoons, because they can be made with balsa wood, which is soft and splinters very easily - don't want your chin getting a balsa splinter in the mouth!

 

[Sandi]

You are going to have 1 spoiled chinnie for sure )! Looks like you have all your bases covered and that is great. You mentioned she is going to have a large cage and I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this before but if it's a tall cage I'd put in a fleece hammock or 2 in the middle for "just in case". Meaning she'll need to get accustomed to her new cage and sometimes they may have a slip or two in all of their excitement of running and jumping. Also as mentioned above, I'd get the faucet type pur filter. I bought mine at home depot for under $30.

ETA: just in case you didn't know, I thought I'd throw it out there that the apple tree that your brother-in-law has should never have been sprayed with any pesticides if you decide to use the wood for your chin. Even if he hasn't and the tree is close to a street, the city could have ended up spraying it if they were doing some type of treatment for the ones on public streets/roads.

 

[LoveBug]

Yay for getting your chinnie, can't wait to see her
Make sure to show us your cage and her

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

i thought we should wipe down the interior with peroxide+hot water (i get sick from vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide is supposed to be an acceptable alternative) before arranging her stuff inside.

unless the cage got something on it during the construction process, i wouldn't worry about cleaning it with peroxide. just give it a good vacuuming to get any sawdust off/out of it.

I believe cages should be washed before housing chins in them. A little liquid dish detergent and warm water on the metal parts then rinse. Peroxide and water is wonderful for the wood.

Before you got the cage/cage parts it could have been placed in an environment where pesticides were sprayed or exposed to toxic manufacturing materials or any number things not good for chins or any animal. Why take a chance with your chin's health? :thumbsup:

 

[danilinn]

no, no--she's only going to be in the car for an hour! i'd probably be packing a giant diaper bag if it was going to be 4 hours.
i like the bottled water idea, if you use a good brand (not Dasani, which has sodium or something weird like that in it). maybe a jug of baby water?
i will get on that 2nd water bottle, and i've convinced my husband that we're all guzzling toxins until we get a PUR or a DuPont--our building is +100 yrs old, and the faucets are original. (which means the pipes might be too--eek!)

 

[danilinn]

bahahahahaaa!!! i just envisioned a burly guy (have no idea what your hubby looks like, so no offense!) noshing away on an apple twig......... :rofl:

you got the exact right image, ChinnyMom--he's +200 lbs. and he was a sgt. for DePaul Univ. before he fell for social work. we've been working on pressure-sensitivity since we decided to get our chinchilla, as he can crush all 110 lbs. of me giving me a hug!

I just have to say this: "Everyone grab your saw, her brother in law has a apple tree. Let's go at 1am to make sure no one is awake and bring ski masks"

i might NEVER stop laughing over this one. we'd look like soccer moms gone wild or something.

 

[danilinn]

but if i find out it's safe, the nieces can harvest a bunch for me. i'll look into it.

 

[danilinn]

i don't want to freak her out by taking a bunch of pics right away. i'm hoping Andy (aka mr. dani linn) can get one with his phone sort of off-guard--he is less of a spaz than i am!
i thought if she's chill enough, i'd borrow my department's ipad next weekend and get more photos and footage of her and her palace than anyone will ever want to see.

my dad and i did clean the wire parts with vinegar and hot water before he started working with them. we can blow off the sawdust with one of Dad's many compressors, and it won't take long to wipe the wood and the pan, just to be on the safe side.

before i order any more toys, what's the deal with the rose petals? are they treats? are they just for grown-ups? are they healthy herbal supplements? any special type/color of rose, or can i raid my parents' flower garden?