Prospective chin owner here!

[KittyKatMe]

I've already attempted typing this twice, so fingers crossed that third time's the charm.

I've never owned chins before, however I am the slave to a dog, two rabbits, four hamsters, and three cats. I've been doing research on chinchillas for (two?) years now, and the time has finally come to when I am able to fully commit to chinchilla ownership. I am an avid member of the Hamster Hideout forum, and this forum was recommended to me by a member there, so here I am!

A few questions- one, how do I get an avatar? I'm still trying to figure out the layout of this site.

Second, are Critter Nations or Ferret Nations best? Or perhaps an even better cage that I don't know about? I was planning on a double unit for two chins, which I assume is enough for two chins with ample floor time, but I wanted to check in case my information is out of date. Also, is it best to take out the levels, or just the ramps?

From what I've heard/read about diet, keeping it simple is best. I always have a few types of grass hay available for my rabbits, and Oxbow chinchilla pellets are readily available to me. My only issue is wood. How much variety is recommended, and what are some good sources I can get them in bulk from?

My third concern is the fact that they will most likely be housed in a room with two rabbits. My bunnies aren't vaccinated for pasteurella, but can if need be. They will never come into direct contact; 2-3 inches away at most. However, the safety of both animals is my priority. There are also hamsters, but I don't know of any issues with chins and hamsters being housed in the same room.

I remember reading on a forum somewhere that chinchillas should not be spayed or neutered due to the risk, but recently, I have seen YouTubers/local rescues recommending the procedure. Thoughts?

Lastly (lots of rambling), are there any differences between genders? I plan on acquiring a pair from a breeder, if that makes a difference.

I apologize for all of the rambling and possibly redundant/obvious questions. I really don't want to do what I did with my first bunnies and join a forum AFTER getting the animal.

 

[Cass C]

I cannot help you with the rabbits, but I will tell you from personal experience it is not worth the risk to neuter or spay a chinchilla without medical cause. Most good vets will not preform a chinchilla spay without medical issues requiring it and they recommend against neuters, because it is far more invasive than spay or neutering other animals. I neutered my chinchilla and it almost cost him his life due to post op issues like pulling stitches and infections.

Also I notice no real difference between my male and female pair other than personality quirks of being lazy or biting, but they alternate behaviors so I don't think it's a gender thing.

 

[Amethyst]

If I remember right you can get an avatar when you have done enough posts to go from new member to member status, somewhere around a dozen.

Personally I think the ferret nation is better then the critter nation, the bars are stronger and wider so you can pet the chin. However the critter nation does give you more bars total so you can put more shelves and ledges in the cage if you are careful not the snap the bars. Also with either you'll need to remove and replace or cover the plastic pans otherwise the chin will most likely chew them. The ramps are not needed and pose a safety risk, it's up to you if you want to remove the levels, just keep inmind if you do you need more overlap of shelves or hammocks, a fall of more then a foot can hurt or kill a chin.

As for wood it depends on the chin really, but they need things to chew all the time, if you check out the vendors on here several sell wood by the pound. Ronda's seems to have the best selection I've seen, and the wood is great, she even has sampler packs so you can find out what your chin likes before buying lots of it.

As for housing chins and rabbits in the same room I wouldn't, as you mentioned pasteurella is deadly to chins. I wasn't aware there was a vaccine for that for rabbits. If it's effective then great that isn't an issue, but rabbits can carry it (and spread it) without symptoms (tests for it in an apparently healthy rabbit can be inconclusive) so I don't know how effective a vaccine is if the animal already has/is a carrier of the bacteria.
As for hamsters I don't know of any issues, I had my chins in the same room as hamsters, gerbils, rats, and guinea pigs for years with no problem. Obviously though if one of them is visibly sick it'd be a good idea to quarantine the sick one away from the healthy animals to be on the safe side.

As said spaying or neutering a chin for no reason is a bad idea, there are no health benefits. Any time a chin goes under they are at a high risk of complications including never waking, they are so small even a tiny miscalculation on the anesthesia can prove fatal. Also the post op care involved can be bad too, pulled stitches, infections, having to force feed a chin that wont eat every few hours round the clock, etc. If you get a vet that has done them a lot the risk is a lot less but most vets, even ones that have treated chinchillas, have never fixed a chinchilla.

On a similar note, I strongly advise you to find a vet (or ideally a couple as back up) that treats chinchillas NOW before you even get a chin. Not all vets will even see chins let alone know how to treat them, and it's heartbreaking to read someone posting asking what to do with a sick or hurt chin since they don't know any vets that know chins. Unfortunately it happens frequently as you can see if you read the chin emergency threads.

As for differences in the genders there is only a couple things, females can spray pee when mad or threatened (some accurately up to about 5 feet!). Males try to spray but normally just dribble, but they do require a hair ring check, shed hair can form a ring around their penis that cuts off blood supply and needs to be removed. It's pretty obvious when there is a problem, it will be swollen and hanging out, you can either do it yourself or take the chin to the vet. Hair rings are more common in breeding males, and most males do take care of themselves down there. I've had chins for about 20 years and only had one hair ring that needed my help to remove.
As to behavior it really is like people, every chin is different, it doesn't really go by gender. However in my personal experience the females I've had tend to be moodier then the males, but that could just be the chins I got.
Oh also, chins have way more personality then any other rodent I've ever known, they are more like a parrot in intelligence and do require a similar level of daily interaction and mental stimulation.

 

[KittyKatMe]

As for housing chins and rabbits in the same room I wouldn't, as you mentioned pasteurella is deadly to chins. I wasn't aware there was a vaccine for that for rabbits. If it's effective then great that isn't an issue, but rabbits can carry it (and spread it) without symptoms (tests for it in an apparently healthy rabbit can be inconclusive) so I don't know how effective a vaccine is if the animal already has/is a carrier of the bacteria.

The vaccine is fairly new, but from the people I've talked to (including the breeder of one of my rabbits), it's effective as a prevention/cure. There are also specific antibiotics that are proven to kill the bacteria. I can get them tested just in case the answers aren't inconclusive. The only reason I'd like this to work is because they are in a room of my house that is quiet, dog/cat free, and temperature-controlled. I spend a lot of time in there as well, which would give the chins more free range opportunities.

That brings me to another issue if the chinchillas were to be in a separate room, and that's temperature. We have AC in my house, but in the summertime, it's often very hot and the circulation doesn't get to certain rooms of the house. Are there any suggested methods of additional cooling for chin rooms?