Researching before buying

[pjcforpres2020]

A little about me: I am a 28 year old male who has wanted a chinchilla for a very long time. Discussing this with my wife after we saw one at a PetSmart over black friday (grabbing treats for her parents dog) we have agreed it is time to fulfill that desire (again, always wanted one, the trip was just a nice reminder and conversation starter).

I have been doing my due-diligence since and researching what ownership of a chinchilla entails (I am an avid salt water aquarium owner, as well, with corals, for those that don't know that takes a very dedicated and diligent approach to achieve properly).

So far I am looking at these core components:

-Critter Nation double stack cage (open to suggestions of any other options that would be better) with a safe wood house.

-Would like two chinchillas since it seems they do best in pairs (preference would be two males or two females from the same 'kit'?) I am not planning on breeding nor have a desire too since that takes a level of commitment I cannot make.

-Can't recall the brand name, but chinchilla specific pellet food that is free of random additives, like fruit, and timothy hay.

-I am curious to learn more about fleecing the cage (my internet wizardly isn't pulling up much specific information, so any links/insights would be appreciated on pros and cons).

-I have access to a reputable exotic pet vet and have a decent relationship with him.

My biggest roadblock right now is where to get my chinchillas from, and whether getting both at the same time is a good idea. I live in Eastern Iowa, which unfortunately does not appear to have a reputable breeder in my back yard (the closest I have found is Southern Wisconsin, which is about a 4-6 hour drive each way). Again, any suggestions on my idea of trying to get two of the same sex from the same kit as a good route? And any suggestions on more local breeders?

 

[AcornHill]

How about planning a vacation to the Nationals show in March...you would have to drive though as airlines don't accept chins. It could be still winter weather for you in Iowa - but its how I always start by going to a show, be it rabbits, dogs, or chinchillas.

 

[alooper19]

Cage: I have a Critter Nation and a Ferret Nation (both double stacked). Personally, I like the Ferret nation better as long as you aren't getting kits (babies). My friend who also has chins has 2 Ferret Nations. The bars aren't safe for kits but, grown chins are great for the ferret nations. Also, with these cages, you will need to either replace or cover the grate ramps as chins feet can get stuck in them.

Pellets: My boyfriend and I give our chins Mazuri for pellets and we buy timothy hay from our local farm supply store.

Paired Chins: Some chins do better in pairs and some don't. We had one chin who wanted nothing to do with any other chins and we had another who was sort of depressed without a cage mate. If you're looking to get a pair, it would be easiest if you get a pair that is already bonded. We have a pair of females and a pair of males in our household. They are separated in cages but, they get along outside of the cage.

Fleece: We have fleece in both of our cages. I personally love it! It's easier to clean than using bedding. My chins tend to flick bedding out like crazy. The fleece has to be washed often because it soaks up the pee unless you potty train your chins.

Breeding: If you're willing to travel to the breeder, then it would probably be better than buying from the pet store. They chins will be fine in the car but, you should be careful with what you place them in since they like to chew and could possibly chew their way out of the carrier. I'd suggest a metal carrier.

Two from the same chin: My best friend got two brothers from a breeder and they get along great. Some breeders may already have bonded pairs of chins which would probably work as well.

I can't help with breeders because i'm in Maryland but, I hope this helps

 

[Godofgods]

its always good to see someone doing there research before hand.

Personally i prefer my pets in pairs as well. But there are some chins that just don't like company. Getting a set of siblings is a decent idea. They already know each other and have grown up together. But its never a guarantee.

With two chins, even if they live together well, you need two cages in-case they need to be separated. Some times bonded chins can turn against each other, and you don't want to be caught without a cage if that happened. But if you looking into a critter nation or ferret nation type cage, then you already have a built in solution. If you cover the whole that connect the first floor and the second, then wa-la' you have two cages! - Its all for a 'just in case'

One thing i would suggest is to learn your differences between male and female so you can tell for yourself. With chins it is a lot harder then one might think. As a result, ppl often are mistaken. You don't want to take someones word that they are both the same gender, only to one day find a surprise waiting for you. It can cause a lot of problems if you are not prepared for something like that. So its best to check for your self to confirm the chins gender.

There are a few chin foods that i hear are most used. Mainly Mazuri and Oxbow. I have heard of mazuri giving a few chins diarrhea, but ive never tried it so i don't know. Anything with 'treats' in them is usually a bad idea. Any type of dried fruit, nuts(?), or corn product, you do not what you chins having. And sadly there are food products for chins that are advertised as made of corn ><

A select few rabbit foods are acceptable for chins as well. But you have to be careful because not all are. They have to contain the proper ingredients and meet the chins health needs. I personally use Select Series Pro, a Manna Pro brand rabbit food. My chins love it. They wouldn't even eat the 'treat' food when i mixed it to ween them off it. - Another reason for me is the 1lbs bag of food at my local pet stores are like $20 a bag. Select series is only available at a tractor supply which sucks, but they are around $9 for a 25lbs bag. For me, with 5 chins, that's a **** of a deal. But each person has there own preferences with chin food.

Oxbow western timothy hay seems to be a general consensus for a good brand. Ive used it for quite a while. Of course down here, there is only rly oxbow and kaytee.

Fleece can be a great option or it can turn out to be a bit of a waste. There are a few variables with it.
First, it needs to be the right kind of fleece. Chins chew everything, and sometimes even ingest it. That can cause obvious problems. Most fabrics are generally easy for the to grip onto with there teeth to chew, or they fray out a lot (like store ferret hammocks). So most fabric needs to be avoided.

Now fleece is no different. If a chin chews it a lot then it has to be taken out. Its still as problematic as anything else if ingested. But Anti-Pill, or Blizzard fleece does not pill much. It makes it harder for a chin to chew it. (But definitely not impossible) Its pretty much the safest your gonna get with fabrics, but you still have to watch out. Any chewing up or ingestion and it needs to go.

That being said, every chin is different. Some will go right after the fleece. Other will ignore it completely. I have two cages; one boys, one girls. My girls tear up there fleece and i had to take it out. My boys almost never bother with there's, so they still have it. It just depends on the chins.

Fleece is not only more comfortable for them, but fleece liners can be used for litter as well. Some ppl use a sheet of fleece on the bottom, others make thicker fleece liners to absorb more. Every so often they have to be taken out and washed, and you'll need another one to put in there in its place. How often depends on how many chins you have and how thick the fleece liner is.

Also some ppl try for the best of both worlds with litter. They will have a fleece lining but they will also have a litter pan with just the pan filled with litter. (for wood shavings; aspen or kiln dried pine are safe. Do Not Use Ceder. That contains oils that are unsafe for chins.) If you chin uses the pan then your pretty lucky in terms of clean up. And it will make the fleece lining last longer between washes.

One last thing for fleece linings as litter, you wont be able to just lay a sheet down and that's the end of it. If they can scrunch it up and move it about, then they will. It needs to be either thick enough, heavy enough, or items holding it down, so they cant throw it about.

Obviously, you'll need a small animal carrier. Avoid any cloth or mesh types. You don't want something a chin could chew through. A general rule of thumb is never use anything plastic, but this is one thing that could be an exception. Only because they would be in there a short time. But if they chew on it, then you would need a different one. Ive never seen them myself, but there are metal carriers ive heard. As long as its safe and not a wire mesh (little wire squares) then they should be good.

Dust baths - you'll there special sand for. Blue cloud is generally a good brand to use. You can probably get them form a vendor online here for a better price then you will get in a pet store.

The most convenient treat (At least for me) would be the twigs. Chins eat the bark on them. Many vendors here sell them. Fyi: they have to be grown and prepared a certain way for them to be safe. So order from a vendor, don't go out in your back yard or something and pick them off the ground.

I have two Ferret Nation cages myself and just bought two more recently. They are great cages if you have the room. Just take out those ladders and add some (safe) wooden ledges for them to hop around on. They also double as a chew object for them. Since there teeth are always growing, they need safe things to chew on all the time.

Another option for a CN or FN cage is bass pans. They are from a separate vendor. Not the cheapest things, but they will last a long time. They are trays for the bottom of each floor in the cage. Since they come with plastic one standard, many ppl replace them. One because plastic is bad for them to chew on and they risk ingesting it. Two because they have no real edges. The bass pans are metal, so no chewing, and they sides are a few inches high. It helps keep any mess in. (Helps, not solves) Of course i recommend a single sheet of fleece between the tray and the cage. Only so you don't have a loud metal tray on metal cage clang when they jump about.

 

[Godofgods]

Boy's FN Cage

That is my boys cage. Just an example of a FN cage and what ive done with it. There is a whole thread somewhere on these forums with nothing but FN cages and different designs ppl have used. Some of them are rly interesting to see.

 

[EternallyCynical]

I won't remark on most of your criteria since you've got some good advice here already, but I will go over some pros and cons of fleecing, at least from what I experienced. I have a single male chin in a 2 level Critter Nation and when I got him it was on sort of short notice - as such I didn't have time to put liners together and had to use bedding (CareFresh, that was what I had) for a short time.

Pros: Unlike bedding, fleece can't be flung all over the place. When I had the bedding in the cage, even though it was only on the main floor pan of the lower level, it got chucked EVERYWHERE. Fleece is not hard to change and isn't fussy to clean - sweep off any poop/hay/other debris off the top, fold it up, swap for clean fleece, shake the old stuff out outside and pop it in the wash! I find that cleaning my guinea pig's cage which is full of CareFresh to be much harder - the bedding gets everywhere sometimes. Fleece is easy to spot clean, since you can just sweep off the surface instead of removing soiled bedding spots and putting in clean stuff. Fleece is also fairly cheap in the long run since bedding costs aren't ongoing - get a few sets of liners to swap out and they'll last quite a while if looked after. Additionally, its very easy on the chinchilla's feet. With a layer of towel between the fleece, I find it doesn't tend to smell either.


Cons: Some chins will destroy fleece, try to chew it up, or will just dig it all up and not leave it to lay flat - this may just prevent it from doing its job, but could be dangerous if the chin constantly tries to chew it as ingesting it isn't good. Some people find fleece to be very smelly/messy - if your chins will use a litter pan, it shouldn't be, but if you have multiple chins who do their business all over the place, the liners may require much more frequent changings, and some people find this to be too much of a hassle. Additionally, if you aren't a sewer, fleecing CAN be tricky, although this little hassle can be overcome as there are people and companies out there that sell liners for FN and CN cages (one of the reasons that the FNs and CNs are great is because its super easy to find custom items like liners for these cages!).

In my situation, the pros outweigh the cons and fleece is an easy option for me as its less mess and easier to manage. I can sew my own liners with some fleece and a few old towels, and my chin is a good boy and leaves them alone. A lot will depend on your individual chins - My advice would be to stick to shavings at first, or bare pans with a litter tray. With all shavings, any time they pee on them you can move it to the litter tray and some will pick up on the fact that that's where pee goes. Also, some chins will avoid peeing on bare pans and will then use the litter pan since they don't like pee where it won't be absorbed. Put a smaller fleece item in the cage like a hammock, maybe, to see whether or not they chew it. If they leave it alone, fleecing the cage may be a good option! In my opinion, its easier to know whether or not you've got fleece eaters before you either buy a bunch of liner sets or buy a bunch of fleece to make your own liners.

 

[pjcforpres2020]

Wow! Thank you guys so much! That is a lot of really good information that is doing a great job confirming what I have been finding and shedding new light for me. Thank you very much.

I also think I found a breeder that is only 2 hours away and looks to be very reputable, active member of both breeding organizations (can't recall their acronyms), and appears to be very dedicated to doing things the right way.

 

[Godofgods]

glass water bottles are a much safer option then plastic ones too. Since chins will mess/chew them if they have access, they often poke wholes in plastic one and get them selves covered in water, which is not a good thing. For the same reason i personally like one that attach form the out side of the cage.

You also want to make sure the water is cleaned. I use Pur filters myself. It not only covers a large spectrum but is specifically list Giardia (a microbial cysts) as something it filters out. But there are many different options that ppl here use.

 

[e.murphy518]

Regarding water: agreed, definitely use a glass bottle to avoid chewing, and if you don't want to invest in a water filter, you can purchase water jugs with a spout that are purified by reverse osmosis (it will say that on the jug) at the grocery store, and some pet stores may allow you to fill your own container with reverse osmosis water as well. That type of water is clean and safe to use for chins

 

[alooper19]

Yes, as everyone else stated... NO PLASTIC. Avoid it if possible. Chins will pretty much chew on anything and plastic is horrible for them. Try glass for the water bottle, metal food dish, and wood for houses/chews/ledges etc.

 

[akane]

There's a good breeder in ankeny. We just got a little ebony white from her and spent an hour talking and seeing all her chins. There are often rescues listed from chicago. If you want to wait 6 more weeks we'll have ebonies available. Hopefully a father and son pair. We are in North Liberty.