New Setup For Two Chins

[Lillybabe]

I have recently put down a deposit for two female kits who will be ready for pick up at the end of the month. They will be 8 weeks old and I am looking for some new gear for them. I am having a hard time narrowing it down to what I should get for these pretty girls. Does anyone have like a package for new chins?

I am looking for possibly a fleece cube, tube and/or hammock, perhaps all three. I am considering trying a fleece liner. They will be in a double FN which I feel they can grow into. I will be keeping them in just the top half until they are old enough to need additional space. I plan to use a chicken wire mesh for extra security. Any tips on where to get this and how best to secure it? I spoke to someone who had what they called "hardware cloth" installed on the inside with tight zip ties. I've also heard of people putting chicken wire on the outside but I worry about water bottle location and such with that.

Additionally I need to purchase additional wooden ledges and possibly a wooden house incase they would prefer it to fleece. Toys, hay cubes, dust possibly (I have some low quality stuff), and such would also probably be needed. I'm just not sure what to focus on or where to get it all. Are there people who sell the majority of this so I do not have to buy something from everyone?

Thanks for all your help. I feel like a newbie all over again even though I have had a chin for over five years.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

People use Hardware Cloth instead of chicken wire because kits can get out of chicken wire. They can no get out of hardware cloth. You might try Lowes or Tractor Supply for it.

I suggest looking at the master list of suppliers and checking out the classifieds. Should give you an idea of what each person sales.
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20384

 

[Brittany]

I will be driving through Champaign next Monday night, and again Wednesday morning. I can deliver fleece and chew toys if you want to save on shipping.

 

[Lillybabe]

Can young chins get through chicken wire? They will be 8 weeks. Can they get through 1/2 inch chicken wire? I don't have nor plan on having any newly born kits as I don't plan to breed. I haven't made it to the store yet so I do not know which one is cheaper/easier to get.

 

[Lillybabe]

Double posting because I have more questions....

It looks like I may have the girls for a few days without their fleece liners and some of their other items. Will a few days without fleece make them harder to train to go in a litter box and not pee wherever in the cage? Should I go out and get a cheap layer to throw down until my fleece liners arrive?

Also, these girls will just be about 8 weeks. If I have a glass baking dish as a litter box will they be able to use it easily or will it be too tall for them? Has anyone started litter training at this age? Should I just keep them on bedding for a few months? I just know with most animals things are easiest the younger you work with them on it.

Final question... with my little guy who passed I just put a pan of dust in his cage for bath time let him roll around for a bit and then pulled the pan. I found that this left layers of dust in the room he was in. Lots on the floor, cage, etc. Is there a method I could try with these girls that would contain the dust a bit more? I have heard that people use glass fish bowls but I worry they are too tiny to get in and out easily yet. What about the little plastic houses they sell for dust baths? Are these appropriate for a chin this young.

I'm a mess of questions.. I just want to do everything I can for them.

 

[greychins]

I don't know about the litter training because we haven't had much luck with it, but I wanted to let you know that they will have no problem getting in the baking dish. Kits can jump quite high despite their small size, so the glass baking dish won't be a problem for them.

I've seen people use glass cookie jars that cost like $6/7 at Walmart. I would think they would contain the dust rather well. We use open pans, so we just live with dust everywhere haha.

 

[Kalandra]

I've moved this thread to the chin housing section from the supplies wanted section. Since you have so many questions, I thought you would get better response in this section.

 

[Lillybabe]

Thank you Kalandra. I wasn't really sure where to place this thread as it is kind of... mixed.

 

[lauriane78]

A large Kerr, or canning jar, should work great for them to bathe in. You should be able to find one at a thrift or second hand store for a $1 or 2. Then you could upgrade to something bigger as they get bigger.

Congrats on your new babies

 

[Airyn]

To keep them from escaping, hardware cloth is definitely what you want to buy, as BooBoo said.

A few days on bedding shouldn't make any difference in chins that young. In all honesty, I'd be amazed if they were litter trained within the first few months. Everything is going to be new, shiny and scary to them, so it's going to take time for them to adjust. They'll need to understand that you're mom and they're home before they'll understand that they're supposed to urinate in a particular location.

From what I've read on here, you just need to put the soiled bedding in the baking dish so that they smell it. Then don't wash the urine stain off the dish so that they continue to return to the same location. If you notice them urinating in a particular corner, move the dish to that spot. I'm actually about to transition from bedding to fleece with 2 younger chins and 2 adults, so I'll let you know how that method works out in a few weeks. )

Nixi and Buddha were both taking dust baths in the plastic house at 10 days old, so 8 weeks is definitely fine. You'll just need to correct them when they "taste test" the house. It's a good opportunity to start teaching them "no", actually. Of course, the English version of "no" didn't work at all with my guys. Instead, I had mimic their kack and then shift to a clucking sound, which they all respond to immediately for some reason. It's really useful during playtime when they attempt to eat the ever-popular baseboards. I cluck twice and I have little chinnie soldiers standing at attention with the "I didn't do nuthin'!" look on their faces. Very cute. Anyway, once they realize that dust is MUCH more interesting than chewing the plastic, you won't have any issues.

I hope that helps! )

 

[Lillybabe]

Do you have an example of this chinnie mom no sound? I mean... I've got the teacher stink eye about mastered but I have no clue how a chinchilla mom tells a chinchilla kit no, lol. Somehow I don't think the teacher look will work on a chinchilla. With my little guy who passed he usually rolled in the dust and didn't bother with the plastic. I didn't leave it in there that long so that he wouldn't get overly interested in the plastic once he grew bored of the dust.

I definitely plan to set up the hardware cloth. That is my project for Saturday. I don't want the girls escaping and exploring the rest of the house. No good can come of that!

I won't stress if the girls don't use the pan and pee on the fleece. I am ordering two liners just for that reason. If I need to I'll just replace them if they get worn out.

 

[Airyn]

lol The teacher stink eye is no match for their "cute juju". It's hypnotizing and incredibly unfair. When you hear them groom each other and one kacks too hard to announce that it hurt, that's the noise you want to try and imitate. I usually make their sound and then my sound to build the word association. Their retention is nothing short of amazing once they get older. When they're under 6 months, it's really rough to teach them more than their name and "no". It's a lot of fun to try though! )

My "no" cluck...

That works on all four of mine. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else's chins react similarly.

 

[Lillybabe]

Okay so I got a pyrex baking pan as people have suggested for litter training chinchillas. I of course am not expecting a high level of success since these girls are so very young. However, I put the pan in there as soon as I got my fleece and when they peed in there I left some of the soiled bedding and replaced the rest. I think the girls are actually using it. I am rather... shocked. I know they peed on the liner a bit the first day it was in there, and the peed in their fleece cube again the first day they had it. After washing the pillow in the fleece house, they have not peed in it again or peed in their tube or hammock. It's hard to tell if they have peed anymore on the fleece or not but I have nice absorbant liners so it's not a big deal if they do. Today I am washing the fleece liner and have put in a fresh one. I am curious to see if they pee on it. My question is, what size of pyrex pan have you guys used? At what age did your chins start having success with being litter trained? Currently I am replacing the bedding about everyday as well as cleaning up poos left speckled on the fleece. Overall I am very happy with the fact I switched to fleece. I was getting tired of all the bedding I was finding everywhere and I think it was flaring up my allergies. Also if I replaced the bedding, the next day it would smell whereas so far with the fleece things don't have much of an odor.