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[cjdame]

OK, so we went to the pet store yesterday to buy a guinea pig.  We saw a lone Chinchilla and we were intrigued.  I went over to the book section and did a cursory pass thru of the book and two things stuck ... less odor and chins keep clean cages.  Considering that I have been pushing back on a rodent purchase for some time now I felt like the chin purchase was a no brainer. 

Unfortunately, I did not read enough within the book.  I managed to have the pet store attendant sell me a ferret cage that is as much plastic as it is metal.  He proceeded to sell me a plastic bath and a plastic litter box.

Needless to say, I will be making two trips to the pet store today.  The first trip will be to find a temporary home that will not hurt him.  Then I can move him into the temporary home, take apart and return the cage I bought yesterday, and order a suitable cage online.  Does anyone have a suggestion for a temporary cage that could be purchased in a pet store?  I assume it will take at least a week to get one ordered and delivered.

Finally, we woke up this morning and found approximately 200 poop pellets throughout his cage.  This cage has 4 levels and there was poop everywhere including 5-10 pellets outside of the cage.  Is this normal or is he nervous being in a new home?  We have had him for approximately 20 hours and there is 200 poops - do chins poop 10 poops per hour??  If so, I am going to sue the person who authored the "Animal Planet Chinchillas" book and made the following quote "Chinchillas are not messy pets, so it's relatively easy to keep their quarters clean."

Thanks for any advice that you can provide - the family has already grown attached to Paco and returning him, along with the inappropriate cage, is not an option (although one I have considered).

[cjdame]

I may have figured out the poop problem.  The person at the pet store told us that Paco likes carrot shavings (like those found in salads).  We purchased some and my son and daughter just informed me that they fed him many (maybe 25-30) shavings over the last 24 hours - there aren't many shavings left in the cage.  I assume this could have led to excessive poopage ... will he recover?

[cusunfireguy]

Congrats on the new chinchilla.  They do poop alot.  As far as a "clean" cage, that term is very flexible.  I guess it could be referring to the fact that the poop is really dry and doesn't smell.  Chinchilla's usually will poop everywhere but tend to pick one spot to pee in.  They should have an unlimited supply of Timothy Hay and plently of food to last until next feeding.  They don't typicly over eat but they will scatter the hay around and only eat the ones they want, haven't figured that one out!  Go real easy on the carrot shavings!  I do give them to mine as a treat from time to time since they have always had them.  Great alternatives are cheerios and dried apples, they go nuts for these!  Mine have never been raisin fans but alot of chins do love them.  Ferret nation makes a great cage although if you only have one, it would probably be too big.  If you are handy or have a friend that is, look thru the photo gallery and you could make your own cage out of wood.  I usually use a towel with little to no "nap" for bedding as it makes for an easy daily pick up and then just wash it every week.  Beach towels are the best at having no "nap" or "loops".

Other than that, they are fantastic pets and a whole lot of fun to watch.  Whatever part of your home you are going to give them out of cage time should be chin proofed.  Meaning wires out of reach and such.  If you do need more advice, please continue to post, the people here are very very helpful.

Steven

[jmdebb]

hi and congrats..

you did the right thing joining a forum to learn.  i'll tell you just a few things to get you started.. quality food and hay.. pet stores do not sell quality food, some do however sell oxbow and mazuri.. both good chinchilla foods.  you can find quality food online or at a local feed store. 

wheels--do not get them at petstores, they do no have any safe ones.. qualitycage.com has a great wheel. it is expesnive, but worth every penny.
kiln dried pine is safe.. you can make your own shelves or buy them off the web or buy the superpet ones.
they need to constanly chew.. lava items from super pet are great.. along with loofa, pumice and many more items.
ummm...when it comes to treating learn about the safe treats [rosehips, old fashioned oats .. to name a few]
my mind is really occupied with an incident that happened this week.. i hope that is an okay start for you..

get to enjoy many hours of joy.

jean

[Srqt]

This makes me so angry

Luckily you are the type to do your own research and managed to realize what awful advice you had been given.

It really is sickening that these companies can't be bothered to train their employees about the animals they are selling, there is absolutely no excuse for a pet store employee to recommend dangerous living conditions for any animal.

Thank you for being responsible and caring enough to educate yourself about yourpet and best of luck with your new chin (but watch out they're addicting  )

[eternalduck]

contratulations on new pet!
I've also bought a chin occasionally!
I came to the store for a degu (which is rather rare animal in shops) & saw the degu sitting together with a chinchilla! they were about 3month old, so friendly & cute! only there I discovered that chins have no nails to scratch us)) I fell in love & bought them both http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,2495.0.html))

[Debbie.nl.ca]

That's the second best this a chinchilla can do is poo 
The other is mate    in lighting speed.

When attaching shelves leave a gap between the cage sides and the shelf. This will let the dropping drop in the cage instead of being flicked as the chin is jumping around.
It won't stop it as it has to attach somewhere, but you can add a lip to the ends or an out side guard too. When possible I try to ever so slightly tip my shelves in, so the droppings roll off.

I have made most of my cages and used very small mesh. I also have plexie glass & cardboard guards.

Doesn't take long to figure out what doesn't work.

I guess it's a clean dirty, but they don't leave any odours  to speak of, you don't have to wash/bath them, clip their nails, or brush their teeth. They never get bad breath 

Your going to have a blast Congrats!