Young Chin escaped from FN

[Spooky]

Today (Well, since it's morning I guess it'd be yesterday) I got my chinchilla, and she's adorable. She's very young (Around 6-7 weeks old) and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when it came to her behavior or how she'd be in a new home for the first few days. She's very sweet and has no problems jumping into my hand and letting me pet her and when I picked her up she didn't fight it.

So everything was fine in the cage, she seemed to enjoy her new things. At around 1 AM I decided to go to sleep. I ended up pulling the sheets over my head and a couple hours in, I wake up and feel something light with little paws crawling on my head. I turned on my lamp, and sure enough, she was sitting right there. It was easy to transport her back to her cage, but now I'm scared she'll get out again and go somewhere other than my head. My bedroom door is shut, but still, I worry.

I didn't think she was small enough to fit through the space of the bars. Does anyone have suggestions as to what I could do to prevent future escapes?

Also, maybe if I let her out of the cage to play a little she wouldn't be so tempted to come out and roam around? Any advice is appreciated! =)

 

[Stackie]

You can wrap the cage in chicken wire until she gets larger.

 

[Spooky]

Funny thing is, before I knew how old the chin that I got would be, I removed chicken wire from my FN that I had on for my rats. Maybe I should have kept it on! Darn it.

 

[Rickman]

Make sure you put it on every possible place, as they climb EVERYWHERE to get out!
Had one once climb to the middle of the top - took me a couple of escapes to figure it out!

 

[QTKirls]

I just bought a baby yesterday. I got it from a local pet store...I've seen too many babies grow up there in their pathetic tiny cage.

I have a FN cage also, and 3 bigger chins. I got a little cage for this guy to let him grow up before I put him with the others. My guy is really tiny. I've never seen one sold this small. They said he was 3 months old, but the last one I got from a breeder was 3 months, and about twice the size. Anyway, I just got a smaller cage for now. Only because I have others in the big cage. Also about the color...he's kinda gray/beige/brown color. I'm not familliar w the color. Does anyone have an idea? I don't know if I can upload a pic from my phone. Ill try tho

How big is your baby Spooky?

 

[RDZCRanch]

Spooky, I bet she is fitting through the cage bars. That is pretty young to be in a new home already and up until about four to six months they can squeeze out of the bars of an FN.

QTKirls, make sure you do a 30 day quarantine with your new chin. NO contact with your three existing chinchillas, different room, etc. We can't tell you color without a picture. There are many chinchilla colors that are variations of grey. When you get a picture, you can start a new thread and people will be able to look at it and give you an idea.

 

[Cuddlebug]

You need the spacing on the cage or wire to be no bigger than 1/2 inch by 1 inch. You can get hardware cloth that will do the job. Rickman is right, you need to cover the entire out side of the cage to keep little spider chins from escaping.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

I ended up pulling the sheets over my head and a couple hours in, I wake up and feel something light with little paws crawling on my head. I turned on my lamp, and sure enough, she was sitting right there.

Awww, she missed you!!! :hug:

 

[Laurie]

Spooky, until you cover her cage with wire she will get out again and again. They are big on learned behavior and now that she knows she can get it, she will continue to try it.