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[texchin]

I have a standard gray male chinchilla that was born in June 2010. I've weighed him every few months and his weight has settled at around 616 grams. Is this a good weight for a young adult male?

I realize from this forum that his diet needs improvement. I went with the breeder's recommended pelleted food: ZuPreem. He also gets an alfalfa/timothy/unknown grass hay mix. The hay comes from Standee company. It's bagged for livestock, but seems fresh and not dusty or moldy. He also gets an occasional alfalfa cube stolen from my horse's bin. 2-3 times a week he'll get a raisin or a chinchilla treat made from apples, alfalfa, raisins and molasses. They are little wafers. I give him 1/4 at a time.

He lives in a Feisty Ferret cage. On the bottom I have plexiglass and oak slabs over the wires. On the top, I have a cut out piece of cardboard that I change when it gets overly soiled. He has a hammock, waffle block house, wheel lava ledge and hanging toys. Anything I could be doing better?  Anything outright dangerous?

My main concern with him is that he is shedding and the fur on his haunches is matted (looks similar to a dog shedding). He is NOT keen on being brushed or having the mats worked out with my fingers. Any advice?

Thank you. I'm glad to have found y'all. I've been fumbling along with a lot of misinformations and down right wrong advice.

[dianah]

weight's good they do vary greatly, this is a good weight and the main thing is that it is stable.

i don't know the pellet but hay sounds ok. i would cut down on treats though.

plexiglass may not be the best idea - it may create too much heat and it's plastic so if you chin could get to it, he could have a nibble and that would not be great. i'm not sure if oak is safe for chins - someone will no doubt know! you could add a cooling stone, few more ledges - mine love theirs. what sort of wheel does he have? 

a chin should not really need brushing - as far as i know, i think they only get brushed for shows. how often does he have a sand bath? perhaps it would be a good idea to change the brand (i've had some that were really rubbish!) or give him more sand baths? he shouldn't really shed, some do during the summer, it's sort of a horse shoe shape across the body going gradually from head to the tail - not all of them do this though. is that what it is? apart from that, they should only shed when scared or wet etc.

[chinclub]

It sounds like you are doing a great job!  Dianah is right that too much plexiglass can trap heat, however if you have short pieces you are using as a "splash guard"  to help keep pellets and shavings in that is fine.  I had a cage with a shallow pan for awhile and I also used about 5 inches of plexi-glass around the bottom to keep the room cleaner.

Chinchilla will go through prime every few months.  During this time they will shed more than usual as old hair gets replaced with new hair.  I'm also familiar with the matted hair.  Some chinchillas just tend to get knots.  If they are really bad a comb would only pull them out anyway.  As they go through prime the fur loosens.  During this time I find I can just gently pull those mats out with my fingers.  Whenever you are holding him just gently tug at each one.  Some will give resistance you know those aren't ready.  Others will just slip right out and the chinchilla won't even feel it.

Do be sure you are using chinchilla DUST and not chinchilla SAND and stay away from the ones that are scented and colored.

[texchin]

Thank you! I really appreciate the feedback.

I’ll pull the Plexiglas out and replace it with more cardboard. I also have some natural slate floor tiles that I can possibly use. I didn’t think about the Plexi retaining heat. It covers a good 2/3 of the cage bottom.

I do have a Chin-Chiller (piece of marble) in his cage. He likes it! The wheel is a 12” Silent Spinner. He loves the thing—he not only runs in it, but he also sleeps and lounges in it.  I’ll add more ledges. He does seem to enjoy hopping on and chewing them.

I went out today and bought some Oxbow chin food. I’ll phase it in and the Zupreem out.

I use Blue Cloud dust. Maybe I’ll dust bathe him more often. I think the shedding was in a horse shoe shape over his body—it just stalled out over his hips. It’s been that way for a while now. It’s unsightly, but doesn’t seem to bother him—except when I mess with it. He’s gone through that horse shoe shaped shed a couple of times now so the area on his hips is wide—two sheds wide.  I’ll work at it some more with my fingers. He semi tolerates a rubber curry type brush for cats.  Mr. Oliver is only semi-tame. He is cute and comical, but pretty reserved. He wants attention on his terms. He'll sit on our laps, but we can't pick him up or restrain him in any way. He's come a long way--way quite the wild thing when I first got him. I didn't know they could be otherwise. Oliver and I have fumbled through his care and our relationship!

Thanks again for the suggestions and advice. It is appreciated!

[dianah]

they're pretty much all semi tame! even the ones that like being picked up only want that to happen on their terms!

the silent spinner is quite possibly a little small for him now that he's fully grown. i had one for my first chin and he loved his too, slept in it and all, so cute! some chins eat them but some don't. however, for a full grown chin, especially one at over 600g, you really want a 15in dia wheel as a smaller wheel can cause problems with their back. so if you're getting a new one, it'd be a good idea to get a metal one - i have the flying saucers http://www.shelfridges.co.uk/flyingsaucerwheel/ - they are expensive but they are very good. i know there's also a large 15in dia metal upright wheel available, somewhere.

do be careful to do the food change gradually, ideally over a month period. this is because the bacteria in chin's gut takes this long to adjust.

chinchi did shed one year and i did brush him - i bought some chinchilla combs from germany and he hated them but would tolerate the soft metal bent spike cat brush. actually quite liked it! he only had matted bits by his tail and i pulled them out.

[texchin]

Thanks again, dianah!

I'll replace the wheel with a larger one when I get the funds. Yikes! but they are spendy. The SS wheel was $29.00, so I wasn't expecting a 3" larger wheel to be so spendy! He'll get one, but not today! He does like the saucer type wheels as well. He destroyed his plastic one by running on it so much the plastic that held the spindle wore out. I tried a cardboard bandaid but it didn't last long.

I'll keep any eye out for any dietary upset. I'm going slow...

[dianah]

just keep an eye on the poo! it should be perfectly fine but i have a rescue with serious gut problems and i'm super paranoid.

as for the wheel, yeah.. plastic ones are rubbish. my chin broke the silent spinner! i have three metal flying saucers and my oldest one is three years old and there's no real wear so i think they last and last!

[chinclub]

Here is another link for wheels if you want to shop in the states. 

http://qualitycage.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=129_142_143_144

[texchin]

Thanks!