Need to leave light on/Cage addition

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iagirlsmom

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Joined
Jul 14, 2011
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21
We are new to chins. Picked up the girls yesterday. I have 2 questions please.
1. We are keeping them in the utility room as it's the coolest room and the dog and cats can't get in there.
Usually when we aren't in there the lights are off. Is that OK for them all night - esp. since they would be up then? Or do you think they need a light left on all the time?
2. OMgosh they poop all the time! And everywhere, the wood ledges, the top of the hidey house, etc... Also, they knock all the bedding out of the cage too. So I would like to find something (not cloth) to cover the ledges for easier cleaning and also something to make a higher barrier around the cage bottom so there is less knocked out. Can I use vinyl flooring material around the cage sides - or will they eat that? Or, for the ledges, kitchen tiles?
Thanks so much. They seem to be doing fine...
 
Chins don't need lights on at night. They see just fine in the dark. If you want to leave a light on in there, and not mess up their day/night cycle, use a plug in night light.

They will chew vinyl flooring material. You can order cage guards from several places, one being Bass Pans. You call in what you want and they custom make them. You shouldn't need bedding on the shelves (am I reading that right?), just the bottom of the cage. What kind of shelves do you have? A lot of people use fleece to cover their shelves or the bottoms of their cages. I do know of a few who use tiles on the bottom of their cages, but I believe it's ceramic tile, which they can't chew.

No matter what you use though, there is going to be poo on the floor. I think they throw it for entertainment. If you let them out of the cage for supervised, safe, run time - every step they take, they are going to poop. It's normal, it's healthy, and if they didn't poop like that they would be very sick chins.
 
As a note, also, chinchillas don't have control of their bowels, as it were. They don't choose to poop everywhere,they just do. However, if their poop is healthy (dry, firm pellets) then it shouldn't be hard to clean up with a vacuum or small broom in the cage. I personally try to vacuum the ledges everyday, so the poop stays under control.

They do seem to love throwing/kicking/moving their poop around. Chalupa's ledge have poop guards and she STILL manages to get it all over the place.
 
Thank you for the info.
The ledges we have are the kiln dried pine. I was hoping to put something on them (maybe the chinchillers, or a granite tile) so that they don't stain them and so we can remove them to wash 'em up.
I won't get vinyl for that then.
I found some wire mesh to put around the cage bottom to make an edge - we cover it in fleece. We've read fleece is OK?
Their poops seem healthy as you described.
@tunes: what do you mean not to mess up their day/night cycle. We are in and out of that room when there isn't school or a weekend often. Should we not do that during the day? Seems if we go in there they get up and investigate. Not sure if you mean they should only be up at night?
Thanks so much.
 
Are you worried about the poop staining the shelves? You know they chew on the shelves and eventually you'll need to replace them anyway. Poop won't stain them.

If you get a vacuum it is easy to clean up poops. I usually clean up the cage at least once a day. Vacuum poop from cage and surrounding area in the morning and restock food, hay and water. It takes about 15 minutes.
 
Some people think that chins constantly need a light on or they won't be able to see. Chins are used to a day night cycle just like a person is. I doubt they would appreciate having the light on constantly 24/7. I am in and out of my barn all the time and the chins don't care, but I don't leave a light burning all night long.
 
Are you planning on introducing the dog/cat to the chins, or are they going to stay in the utility room all the time? I find my chins thrive where they are in an area of the home where they can have interaction with people. You would find out quickly how affectionate your furries become with you. Good luck and welcome to CnH!
 
I wouldn't risk introducing the chins to your other pets, my cat is gentle and leaves our chins alone (she doesn't come around the cages and isn't allowed in the room where they have playtime), however, if your cat is interested in them (even if it's just curiosity) she could spread disease to them. And I personally just don't trust dogs.

If you want to have them in a room that is more often frequented by humans, you could have them in say your bedroom and then make that room off limits for your other pets. That way the chins can get more interaction and also feel safer. In my experience (a dog came through our part of the house on a leash one time) dogs and in many cases cats seem to be all too intent on chins, and my chinchillas become very territorial and agitated.
 
Thanks so much everyone for your replies.
We just got these babies about 1 1/2 days ago. Still so new to us. The youngest was born May 16 and the other is 3 weeks older.
Maybe eventually we'll introduce them to the dog and cats, but right now we want them to get comfortable with their cage and with us. In the long run we thought we'd have a cage in the kitchen area too (the most frequented area of our house) and when we're home in the evenings they could be upstairs with us.
We're keeping them in the utility room since it's very cool in there. When the kids are in the basement, they wheel the cage out and spend time with them in the family room there. They shut the door so the dog and cats can't get in there for that period.
The pooping is kinda gooning me out. We changed their bedding yesterday to what the breeder had (was using paper pellets - yesterday news - and changed to pine shavings) and honestly within 6 hours there were 30 - 40 poops in there. I had no idea!
I'm still confused about the lights though? So - do you think it's OK that when we're in there to have the light and when we aren't turn it off? So - overnight all night it would be off, when they are mostly awake? Whenever we are in there they get up.
Thanks so much for all your help - still so nervous with them.
 
I just want to point out too, utility room generally means washer and dryer. If that is the coolest room in your house, then you need to consider moving the chins to a room with air conditioning. Running that drier with them in there is going to cause the room to get hot and humid in a hurry, neither of which is healthy for your chins. A chins environment should never go above 70 and the humidity, ideally, should be around 35 if you can.

I also have to wonder how much interaction they will get if they are in a utility room? Most pet owners prefer to have their animals in a main part of the house so they can interact more with them. Are they going to get a lot of human time in the utility room?

ETA: (We posted at the same time.) You can turn the lights on and off if you need to go into the room, leave them off at night, and use a night light. I have to ask though, is there no natural light at all for them? No windows?
 
I seen you were planning on putting chinchillers or ceramic tile on the ledges to keep the chins from peeing on them? I personally wouldn't because they are strong and will knock them down and could potentially hurt/kill themselves. Keep the ceramic tile on the bottom of the cage unless you have a shelf made with a wood border all the way around so it can't get knocked down, even then you still have to keep an eye on the wood border cuz they will chew it off. Some chins pee on there shelves and some don't, if they do just wipe it up and sand it down with some sandpaper then replace when needed. Wood is fairly cheap and you can make your own shelves easily. Congrats on your new addition though!!
 
The light can be on all day to replicate the daytime , if you want a bit of light at night a nightlight will be fine, I use one and call it the chinchilla moon!
 
Hello everyone -
We don't have a washer/dryer in the basement utility room. It's air conditioned and the dog and cats can't get in there. No windows though.
We have a 2 story and the upstairs for sure would be too warm even with the AC. The main level is an open floor plan and so no where to have the chins that the dog and cats wouldn't have access.
I thought if they sleep during the day that the dark utility room would be good and cool and calm fo them. Then in the evenings the kids wheel their cage out to the family room in the basement and they get interaction then.
We would love to keep them upstairs but with the other animals I don't think that would work for awhile at least. We've only had them 3 days now and one is still pretty skittish.
I didn't think about the tiles being knocked off the shelves. We have one of those chinchilers there too. Ugh, so much to think about.
 
I have had chinchillers on my shelves for almost 2 years now without problems. But it may depend on the chin.

I think you are doing the right thing by putting them in a quiet place for now. There may be more adjusting though when you move them to a more permanent spot. We also have an open floor plan; the chins are in one of those rooms. The dog and cat don't bother them, but I am still very cautious with the cat. We lock her in my daughter's bedroom (where she likes to sleep) when we leave the house.

Don't worry-- I know there is a steep learning curve on chins when you first start, but once you get the basics down it gets much easier. :))
 
As for the staining of the shelves, mine do that. I clean them with 50/50 vinegar water mix. You can also use peroxide to get the stains out. If it gets back you can just sand it down a bit and tada new wood again haha.

I also have fleece on some of the wooden shelves.
I have velco sewn onto the fleece, and stuck on the bottom of the shelves where the chins cant reach. That also might be an option for you.

As for the light as tunes explained, you can put the light on when you are in the room, but if you are not leave a night light on for them. Then you know there is still light to be visable but wont disturb their natural sleep cycle

Hope this helps! :)
 
Chalupa's only peed on a wooden ledge a couple times, but I cleaned it with a bit of hydrogen peroxide and the stains came out fine.
 
my chins will throw anyhting and everything around that isnt bolted down. Even things that are so light its hard for me to move, they will get lose and thrown around. Iv woken up many times to find them all over, even on other floors of the cage. So somehting like a chinchiller should only be on the bottem. THey are very heavy and could easly hurt them if it fell.
 
I'm glad to see others use a vacuum as well, I thought I might be the only one. I think they should have a definite day/night cycle and think you should find a way to keep your chins in a area were they can see tha activity in the house. There are some nice cages with pull out bottom trays that can be cleaned easily and with a light coat of bedding just enough to absorb urine with a corner or two left bare so they might have a cool spot to lay down. We have a dog and we are training him to stay 3 foot or more from the cage and he is learning quite quickly and we have 3 kits that sound like squeaky toys and bounce around like a ball, these are both things the dog loves so it's hard for him to understand. Everytime he get too close to the cage we call him back and make him sit which is followed by a "good boy" praise, praise, praise good behaviour it works very well, along with some treats. Just try to refine you systems with all the pets so the chins can be apart of the family they will reward you for it.
 
chin2heart said:
Are you planning on introducing the dog/cat to the chins, or are they going to stay in the utility room all the time? I find my chins thrive where they are in an area of the home where they can have interaction with people. You would find out quickly how affectionate your furries become with you. Good luck and welcome to CnH!
Click to expand...

I agree I keep my girls in my Office/Den so they can keep me from doing my job when Im trying to work cause they stare at me like stop working and play with us!
 
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