New Chinchilla owner!?

[marinamayhem]

Hi! I've owned my two MALE chinchillas for about a month. I'm not sure whether they're charcoal, hetero ebony, or standard. I apologize, I do not know much about chinchillas at all but I've always wanted to own one and learn about them. I received my two male chinchillas FREE through a friend of mine's Aunt that couldn't look after them anymore. I'm lucky that I was handed them free. But I do have a few starter questions seeing as I've had them for a month now and haven't really done much besides refill their water bottle and food bowl. Please answer my questions as best as you can and PLEASE keep in mind these things about me: I'm almost 17 (28th this month, woo!), I have no job at the moment because I am currently in the 11th grade and it is very hard to get a job in my small town when you're busy half the day with school, and I can't really get side jobs (helping family for some cash) because I am always at home helping my mom watch my three year old brother and 6 month old sister. Also, I can't get "babysitting money" from her because she currently has no job due to having a 6 month old girl. So with that being said, and I do apologize for rambling, but keep in mind that our budget is very limited and chinchilla supplies is not my mom's first thought to spend money on when we've got bills and other things. Here are my questions:

1. My chinchillas don't have a name! If you'd like to suggest some MALE names, that would be absolutely wonderful because I've been sitting here a month with no idea what to call them.

2. I've read about the FN and CN cages but they are way too expensive for my family to be buying at the moment. Can you suggest some decent sized cages that can hold two chinchillas within a $50-$100 mile range? The cage that was given to me is made out of wood and chicken wire. Do not ask me the type of wood, because I have no earthly idea. I'll attach an image of the cage.

3. I'm currently giving my chinchillas Timothy Hay. Is there a brand better than this or is this one fine? Also, is there a limit to how much hay to give them? I only give them one bowl per day, but the bowl isn't too big.

4. What is the best brand of food to buy for my chinchillas? I am currently giving them Kaytee's Fiestamix Chinchilla Food. They've only finished one complete bowl of it and I've noticed that they eat everything out of it besides the sunflower seeds and shells.

5. How often are dust baths given? I've read somewhere that you can do it 2 to 3 times a week but I'd just like to know everyone's opinion.

6. What are the best toys, or really anything, that I can buy for my chinchillas? Their bath house, wheel, and little house is both made out of plastic and I've read a lot of places that say it's bad for them, so I understand that. What are the best types of house/shelters and wheels to buy and best object to give them a dust bath in?

7. Is pine bedding okay for chinchillas? We started off with red cedar bedding which is what is currently at the bottom of their cage, but we've got a brand new bag of pine bedding for when I'm ready to clean out the cage. And speaking of cleaning out the cage, what's the best way to avoid getting bedding and poop all over my floor? I know it can be messy sometimes but is there really any way to keep them from knocking so much out of the cage?

8. If you've got anymore starter tips / points, that would be absolutely wonderful. I hope this isn't too overwhelming to read and answer.

 

[Amethyst]

Ok where to start, first I would like to point out that chins are/can be expensive to care for if things go bad. If one gets hurt or sick the vet bill can get very high very fast, hundreds to thousands of dollars. I'm not trying to scare you, I just hate reading about people asking for at home advice since they have no money for the vet when the pet clearly needs to see a vet. Once set up aside from vet costs they are fairly easy keepers, but the cage, supplies, etc. is an average starting cost of around $400 to get properly set up.
I only see one chin, but it's a standard grey, so if they both look like that you have two standards. Ok now for the questions,

1. I find using name generators online seem to help me get name ideas, but to get you started the male chin's I've had over the years have been, Dweezel, Wally, Whiskers, Bubba, Chimpy, Crackers, and my two current ones, Bazil and Wicket.

2. I don't have any suggestions for so cheap, hopefully someone else does. I think you'd be better off trying to save up for a better cage, birthday money or holiday money. For two chins you are looking at about $100 at least for a proper size cage, the cage should be a minimum of 2'x2'x3' for 1-2 chins.

3. Chins should have unlimited hay, if they run out give them more. Timothy is fine, you didn't mention brand but for the most part so long as it smells fresh, isn't dusty or moldy, and the chins eat it it should work.

4. Pretty much all stuff from Kaytee is garbage, chinchilla food should be pellets only, no added seeds, fruit, or veggies, or colorful mystery bits. Good brands include, Oxbow, Tradition, and Mazuri, to name a few.

5. Baths 2-3 times a week is the average amount, if they look like they are getting too dry (flaky skin, itchy) cut the baths down to 1-2 or so a week.

6. The best things to get them for cheap toys is safe wood (check the safe wood list) chews. Check the classifieds here since most pet store stuff is not safe (just because it has a chin pic on it doesn't make it safe), and you get more for you money with the vendor online here anyway. My boys are spoiled but I spend about $100+ a year on toys and chews, just to give you an idea. The house should be made out of wood, the wheel should be metal with a solid surface and at least 15" (they cost around $100 +/- so your best bet is to check out classifieds for used for cheaper) Good wheels include the Chin Spin, Flying Saucer, and the Silver Surfer. The dust bath is fine being plastic since you should be watching them so they don't chew it, and it shouldn't be in their cage all the time, another option a lot of people use is glass candy or fish bowls. I'd also replace the water bottle with a glass one, chins like to chew on the plastic ones which gets annoying fast. I can't see the food bowl but metal or ceramic are best. Really all plastic should be removed, having to take the chin in for surgery to have plastic removed from it's gut can be at least a couple hundred, plus after care.

7. Pine shavings are fine, cedar is actually poisonous. Unfortunately there is no real way to reduce mess, chinchillas are very messy critters. You can build or buy wood pieces to make poo guards but they only work to a point.

8. The best advice I can give is to read/study this forum, there are threads for new owners with tons of useful info. I've owned chins for about 20 years and I still spend hours here, lol. It's best to keep up to date on the latest info.

 

[marinamayhem]

Ok where to start, first I would like to point out that chins are/can be expensive to care for if things go bad. If one gets hurt or sick the vet bill can get very high very fast, hundreds to thousands of dollars. I'm not trying to scare you, I just hate reading about people asking for at home advice since they have no money for the vet when the pet clearly needs to see a vet. Once set up aside from vet costs they are fairly easy keepers, but the cage, supplies, etc. is an average starting cost of around $400 to get properly set up.
I only see one chin, but it's a standard grey, so if they both look like that you have two standards. Ok now for the questions,

1. I find using name generators online seem to help me get name ideas, but to get you started the male chin's I've had over the years have been, Dweezel, Wally, Whiskers, Bubba, Chimpy, Crackers, and my two current ones, Bazil and Wicket.

2. I don't have any suggestions for so cheap, hopefully someone else does. I think you'd be better off trying to save up for a better cage, birthday money or holiday money. For two chins you are looking at about $100 at least for a proper size cage, the cage should be a minimum of 2'x2'x3' for 1-2 chins.

3. Chins should have unlimited hay, if they run out give them more. Timothy is fine, you didn't mention brand but for the most part so long as it smells fresh, isn't dusty or moldy, and the chins eat it it should work.

4. Pretty much all stuff from Kaytee is garbage, chinchilla food should be pellets only, no added seeds, fruit, or veggies, or colorful mystery bits. Good brands include, Oxbow, Tradition, and Mazuri, to name a few.

5. Baths 2-3 times a week is the average amount, if they look like they are getting too dry (flaky skin, itchy) cut the baths down to 1-2 or so a week.

6. The best things to get them for cheap toys is safe wood (check the safe wood list) chews. Check the classifieds here since most pet store stuff is not safe (just because it has a chin pic on it doesn't make it safe), and you get more for you money with the vendor online here anyway. My boys are spoiled but I spend about $100+ a year on toys and chews, just to give you an idea. The house should be made out of wood, the wheel should be metal with a solid surface and at least 15" (they cost around $100 +/- so your best bet is to check out classifieds for used for cheaper) Good wheels include the Chin Spin, Flying Saucer, and the Silver Surfer. The dust bath is fine being plastic since you should be watching them so they don't chew it, and it shouldn't be in their cage all the time, another option a lot of people use is glass candy or fish bowls. I'd also replace the water bottle with a glass one, chins like to chew on the plastic ones which gets annoying fast. I can't see the food bowl but metal or ceramic are best. Really all plastic should be removed, having to take the chin in for surgery to have plastic removed from it's gut can be at least a couple hundred, plus after care.

7. Pine shavings are fine, cedar is actually poisonous. Unfortunately there is no real way to reduce mess, chinchillas are very messy critters. You can build or buy wood pieces to make poo guards but they only work to a point.

8. The best advice I can give is to read/study this forum, there are threads for new owners with tons of useful info. I've owned chins for about 20 years and I still spend hours here, lol. It's best to keep up to date on the latest info.

Thank you so much for all the tips! I don't usually get birthday money, but anything that I do get will definitely be all spent on the chinchillas! Thanks for the name suggestions, they're very creative but earlier I decided on Diesel and Roo. I am very aware that vet bills can be expensive and I do plan to (hopefully soon) take them to a vet as soon as I can find one around here that cares for Chinchillas, just to make sure they are currently healthy and nothing is wrong. I thought Kaytee was a good brand, oops! Thank you so much for that, I'll probably remove all pieces from the food that aren't pellets. I didn't know Cedar was poisonous until after I added the last bit of it into the cage, but it will be switched out before the end of this week. Thanks for all the help!