Plastic ingestion and Dust bath questions

[Marcham93]

Hope everyone is having a good week! Two questions today!

1) I just received my new Critter Nation cage and am loving it for the most part (will post my review later). I'm waiting for the metal pan to arrive this week, so I can replace the plastic one that was included. I did notice this morning that Gizmo was picking at the pan a bit and it is obvious that he "scraped" it with his teeth. I don't think there will be an issue since it was just small scrapings and not a chunk, but could you please make me aware of what signs to look out for?

2) I was reading about various methods to get a chin back into his cage and the one I like the best is the idea of using a dust bath. I read an idea to lure him into his dust bath then pick it up and place it in his cage while he bathes. After the article said to give him a small treat. They said that this shows the end of playtime is fun and rewarding. I let him out everyday though, is a dust bath okay everyday? Most people seem to say 2-3 times a week, but I'm not sure if that's just a minimum. Can I use the dust bath every night?

Thanks guys!

 

[chocochin]

1)I believe the signs of plastic ingestion would be pretty severe--a block would cause stasis so you would see your chin stop eating/drinking/pooping, acting lethargic.

2) Over use of a dust bath will cause your chin's skin to dry out and he will be itchy. Think of it like if you over washed your hair--all the oils are taken out so there's nothing to condition the skin. However, I have heard of many people transporting their chins to and from playtime in a carrier as well; I believe you put a treat in the carrier so that they will bounce in and you can pick up the whole thing. I've never personally used this method so someone else can chime in here.. Just make sure you are comfortable and fully able to pick him up quickly if necessary! If there's ever an emergency you can't waste time with him not wanting to be picked up.
Good luck! Gizmo's a cutie!

 

[ChinChiq]

Luna quickly learned that the dust bath coming out during playtime meant the end of playtime, so she refused to go in! She also does not let me pick her up during playtime, so I have had to cut down on the amount of out of cage time she gets. I don't want to stress both of us out by having to chase her down to get her back into her cage. She has a wheel in her cage that she uses all the time and she lets me scritch her and pick her up from her cage so we get lots of bonding time too.

 

[Godofgods]

Since i keep the cages in the same room that they play in, i used my legs as a ramp to let them out. Then when it was time to go in, i placed a ladder covered in fleece down. After a little while they learned that going back in on their own like that when it was time, get them a nice twig as a treat. So it worked pretty well.

 

[Filia]

My chin(s) ate a whole 8th of a plastic wrap I put on my wall to protect it from any...staining substances...which might not be contained in their cage...I have no idea how they got te wrap into their cage, it wasn't touching the cage at all! Anyway...It didn't effect them in the slightest. I'm sure mere scrapings of plastic wont hurt them.