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[chicosmama]

Does it seem I am taking care of my baby well?


Here's how Chico lives:

He has the two tier chinchilla starter cage from petsmart as that is where I bought him.

I give him alfalfa bay hales and a little bit of timothy hay.

I have a pet shop near my house, 2 mins, that special orders Zupreem and Kaytee Plain(no treats) that is tinier and he likes the smaller ones the most.

I have rolled oats from the organic section of kroger to put into his food(with flax).

I use spring water but Im not sure if it has minerals. I will check that soon.

I change the water every 4-5 days.

He has a pvc pipe(checked with JoAnn to see if it is okay) that he absolutely loves to hide in.

He has lava bites and wood sticks and the occasional toilet paper roll to play-chew on.

He has a lava ledge, a wood ledge, two hanging wood toys and the bowl that came with the cage to keep his food in. LUCKILYYYYYYYY he never chews on the plastic. He must not like it so I haven't changed to stainless steel just yet.

A marble tile in the bottom of his cage to keep him cool. Not quite granite but I did that because my house can get really cold (68 is the coldest ever) and I dont want it to get TOO cold as granite is usually 10 degrees cooler than the room.

Plastic Dust bath with the dust brand from petsmart until my shipment comes.

He comes out of the cage itself once a day, not to run around but to be held and checked for health. He comes out to run three times a week as he runs a lot around his cage as is. I don't want to over-exert him as his weight was down at first and now it's back to normal. (= He is talked to every night and scratched under the chin before I leave for work and when I go to bed. My computer is in his room so he gets plenty of baby talk!

What's on my list now:
Multivitamin Drops
Chinchilla Wheel
Grooming Brush $$$ Gotta find a good inexpensive one


Things I have ordered for him:
Hammock - Chinchilla John Deere Fabric  Single Side with Matching Color
One Ounce Sticks (Mixed between mulberry grape etc)
20 Pumice Stones
One Round 3" Bitty Bagel
Sticks & Blocks - to make him toys
2 oz Rose Hips
Seagrass 6x6 Matt
Corner Ledge
4 pounds of Blue Sparkle Chinchilla Dust
Whole Oats
Timothy Cubes
Apple Pellets



I always seem to spoil my animals, even my snake lol.

I will NOT be offended if the comments are via the health of my animal. 

[chinclub]

It sounds like you are doing great!  Two things, though.  Not a good choice for food.  Tradition is my ultimate choice from first hand use with my large herd of 100 chinchillas.  Second choice would be Mazuri.  Your pet store should be able to get Mazuri.  Tradition can be bought online from www.chinchillas.com  When you feed a good feed like Tradition you don't need extra vitamins.  I do not suggest putting vitamin drops in his water - better to feed a complete diet of pellets instead.
 
Stay away from Chinchilla Sand (which comes in the Dust Bath houses in pet stores.  It can not remove the oils in the fur and can actually damage the fur.  Also stay away from scented dusts. This will RUIN the fur. 

[Abby W.]

I actually bought the scented dust once.  Within a week I had three chinny eye infections.  Last time I'll ever touch that stuff!

[chicosmama]

It sounds like you are doing great!  Two things, though.  Not a good choice for food.  Tradition is my ultimate choice from first hand use with my large herd of 100 chinchillas.  Second choice would be Mazuri.  Your pet store should be able to get Mazuri.  Tradition can be bought online from www.chinchillas.com  When you feed a good feed like Tradition you don't need extra vitamins.  I do not suggest putting vitamin drops in his water - better to feed a complete diet of pellets instead.
 
Stay away from Chinchilla Sand (which comes in the Dust Bath houses in pet stores.  It can not remove the oils in the fur and can actually damage the fur.  Also stay away from scented dusts. This will RUIN the fur. 

The Kaytee seems to do fine as well, it has all the vitamins. He doesnt touch the zupreem =/. At all. so I am not sure if I will give it to him anymore as it was a waste of money. I have two bags I need to dispose of, not sure if I can give it to someone with a rabbit or not.