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e.murphy518

I love my chinchildren!
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
278
Location
Illinois
Hi everybody, yesterday I got a white chinchilla kit :) I could not be more excited! He is perfectly healthy, as are his parents and all of the kits they have ever produced. I was concerned about the stories I have heard about babies crying for their moms or being afraid of people and needing a lot of time to settle in, but I must have gotten very lucky! He is 11 weeks old and he is SO interested in me, I was going to wait to let him settle in but as soon as I got him in his new cage he was trying to get at me through the wires (I have him in a 2 Door Chinchilla Mansion from Quality Cage that I got from a CL ad) so I opened up the door and put my hand in and he hopped right up on it and started crawling down my arm onto my lap! He is SOOO sweet, never makes a peep, and just loves being on me! I have him on Oxbow pellets and Timothy hay and I have already watched him eat a lot of pellets, drink a lot of water, and he ate almost all of the little pile of hay in his carrier on the way home. He is chewing wood, and hopping all around his cage. He could honestly not be more perfect. The only thing that scared him was our puppy being near his cage (my other chins are fine with her) but I immediately gated off his room so she can't get in there. I will attack pics but I do have a few questions.

1) what color is he? From what I have seen online I am guessing mosaic but he is almost pure white aside from a few grey hairs

2) I only have the shelves going less than halfway up the cage cause he's so little, but at what age can I use the whole cage for him? Also, is 6 months old OK for the wheel?

3) What about dust baths? Is it the same as adult chins, just a few times a week?

4) I know playtime should be restricted to maybe 10 min per day, but what about just sitting in front of his cage and letting him crawl on me? I also realized he likes to climb on my hand and let me raise him up to the top shelf and then come down and do it again. Is there any time limit I should put on that type of handling?

5) ANY other suggestions about young chinnies are more than welcome!! I am totally comfortable with my adult males, but he just looks so teeny and fragile I want to be an awesome mommy to him.

6) Any name suggestions also welcome! Right now my #1 choice is Butters but I am still open to other suggestions, preferably a B name

And now, for some pics!


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Hi! Cute chin <3

He's a mosaic. They can go from pure white to having all sorts of patterns. The general term for all "whites" would be mosaic.

As far as putting shelves higher, I'd probably wait until he's around 6 months old. The reason being, you want him to not be clumsy and fall and hurt himself. That's just my rule of thumb, others may use different timelines.

6 months is fine for a wheel. Before that, they'd burn off too much calories, but you're good after 6 months.

Dust baths are the same as a adult chins, few times a week. I usually try to do 2x per week regardless of age.

For playtime, what you described is not what I would tend to think of as playtime, so I think it'd be fine. But, I imagine opinions differ on that. The key is just to not let him wear himself out.

I really don't treat the kits any different than adults, they're just smaller, bouncier versions. I guess the main difference would be that since they tend to be more energetic, I will be more careful when they're out of the cage to make sure they don't go flying out of my arms to the ground and hurt themselves. But, as he gets older, you'll know if that's something he'll do or not. With the adults... I know which to watch for. Same with him, once you get to know him....

Lol I am horrible with names. I've had a few chins here 11 months and they have nicknames, but still no names, so good luck with coming up with one!
 
What a little cutie! It'll be interesting to see how his coloring changes over time. Marble was pretty grey when we got her as a kit and she is almost 9 years old now and is more white with a little grey here and there.
 
greychins said:
Hi! Cute chin <3

He's a mosaic. They can go from pure white to having all sorts of patterns. The general term for all "whites" would be mosaic.

As far as putting shelves higher, I'd probably wait until he's around 6 months old. The reason being, you want him to not be clumsy and fall and hurt himself. That's just my rule of thumb, others may use different timelines.

6 months is fine for a wheel. Before that, they'd burn off too much calories, but you're good after 6 months.

Dust baths are the same as a adult chins, few times a week. I usually try to do 2x per week regardless of age.

For playtime, what you described is not what I would tend to think of as playtime, so I think it'd be fine. But, I imagine opinions differ on that. The key is just to not let him wear himself out.

I really don't treat the kits any different than adults, they're just smaller, bouncier versions. I guess the main difference would be that since they tend to be more energetic, I will be more careful when they're out of the cage to make sure they don't go flying out of my arms to the ground and hurt themselves. But, as he gets older, you'll know if that's something he'll do or not. With the adults... I know which to watch for. Same with him, once you get to know him....

Lol I am horrible with names. I've had a few chins here 11 months and they have nicknames, but still no names, so good luck with coming up with one!
Click to expand...

Thank you!! All very helpful info, you definitely eased my mind a lot! As he gets more comfortable I am sure his behavior will change, and I am thinking that if he is already this outgoing in his first 24 hours with me, I have a feeling he will just get more and more bold, I will continue updating! :)


Chinmama: Thanks :) I was wondering whether his coloring would change or not but I guess we will see, I will most definitely be posting lots of pics as he grows up!
 
Haha Buddha is already one of my chins names! I have a bonded pair named Buddha and bubba and that's why I want another B name!! :)

Bubbles is one that I have on my list!!
 
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