Settling in New Chinchilla

[Beanacre0]

Hi,

A couple of days ago I bought a Chinchilla from a local pet shop, his name is Edison, or Eddie. I'm trying to settle him in but I've had to make a bit of noise atm because of setting up his cage. He was okay the first day when we got him back because he was straight out of the box and handled while I set up the cage. He was very inquisitive and walked across my housemate and I, and even fell asleep on my housemate. I'm just trying to keep his stress levels down and help him settle in.
At the moment he's in my bedroom. I have a bearded dragon in my room and the light from his heat lamp and normal day light are very bright. I was wondering how that would affect Eddie's sleeping patterns. At the moment he's dozing on a shelf behind his dust bath so that doesn't seem to bother him too much, but at night there's still a bit of light. It's like I've got a lamp on, but obviously I can't turn it off. Will that upset his sleeping patterns or not?
I also noticed he was awake when I got up, and I got up about half eleven. I don't know if he slept like that yesterday as I was out getting the last few bits and pieces I need. But is that normal that he's up when I get up?
Also he's on his own. Is there anything I can do to help him settle down some more on his own? He was alone in the pet shop so I think he's used to it.
Sorry for the multitude of questions. I'm always anxious about my pets well being until I've gotten used to them and they've gotten used to me.

Thanks

Beanacre0

 

[Chinderella]

No worries

Beanacre0,

Congratulations and welcome to chinchilla-ownership! First off I would like to let you know that Eddie sounds like an overall happy chinchilla. I got Mick Jagger (M.J) from a pet store and it took me about two weeks to get him to be comfortable around me. The thing is, captive chinchilla sleeping patterns are crazy. I've seen M.J awake at 4 AM, 3 PM, and 9 PM and he is a healthy, happy chinchilla. M.J just likes to nap a lot, as do all small mammals. Humans are actually kind of weird because we are able to sleep for so long.
Anyways, as long as when he is awake he doesn't seem drowsy, Eddie should be okay. As for the light, just make sure you have some dark hiding places (wooden critter huts, shade, that type of thing) so that when Eddie wants to be in darkness, he can find it.

I hope this helped!

Happy Chinning!
*~*Chinderella*~*​

 

[Pikaia]

I don't think the light will affect Eddie. As Chinderella said, just make sure there are some dark hiding places he can go if he chooses. Also, I don't know how close the chin and bearded dragon are, but make sure the heat lamp doesn't affect the chinchilla's temperature. They require completely different environments as one needs warmth and the other needs cool. I've never had a lizard or anything like that, so I have no idea if this would make a difference or not, just something I wanted to mention.

Eddie will be fine on his own. Just give him lots of interaction and playtime. Chins are fine by themselves. Spoil him with toys (you can find some great suppliers in the "Chin supplies for sale" section). They do wake up sometimes during the day too. I will often come home at lunch to find them eating or just sitting on a shelf awake. Nothing to worry about.