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[MarissaRelf]

I am 15 and my mom just bought me a chinchilla from a breeder. My parents are devorced and I  was wondering if transporting her from home to home every other week would be too stressful? And if I can what would be best, 2 seperate cages? 1 portable cage?  I can come to my moms house whenever I want but I know they require care and play everyday so I was just going to take it with me but idk?  Thoughts and opinions would help. Thanks

[Beccaleigh05]

To be honest, moving them especially in heat is stressful for them. We had a horrible storm here last night (friday night) and Ottis stays at my boyfriends place and I was staying with my parents for the weekend because I hadn't seen them in a while. I had to go get Ottis at 2am because the power went out.. trust me it was such a stressful drive because he doesn't understand what is going on, Its muggy outside (I had the AC on in the car) and then trying to get him set up temporarily here was a pain in the neck.

He is doing okay today and will go back to Andrew's on Wednesday in the early morning/late evening when I get off work and its much cooler.  I could tell Ottis was so mad at me yesterday and I would never want to put him through that stress again.  Where do you usually stay? Your moms or dads? Keep them at your main house, just make sure whatever parent that is takes care of it while you are gone. How far away do your parents live from eachother?

[MarissaRelf]

Thanks for the reply:) and during the summer the time is split equally every 2 weeks. (I would never leave her alone that long, even with parent care.) But during the school year my dad gets me 2 weeks and my mom only gets me that weekend and then I go back to my dads. But my dad doesn't like pets all that well and most likely won't take care of it the way she needs when I'm gone. And they only live maybe 10 minutes away from eachother. It's kind of a tricky question :/.

[Beccaleigh05]

the great thing is chinchillas sleep during the day.. so since your parents live so close.. keep your chinny at your moms in a nice quiet location and go play with him at night for 30-45 minutes (which im sure your dad wont miss you TOO terribly while you are gone lol) The only issue is he might complain because its "his time" with you... you know how parents can be after divorces. mine aren't divorced (im also 25) but most of my friends were growing up so I know.. You can always message me if you need anything

Take care!

Rebecca

[mojito]

I agree with Becca about not moving them so much all the time. The first chin I got didn't stress out when I had to take him to my boyfriend's house (he lives 5 mins away) bc of a gas leak at my house, but it was during the day (when he sleeps) and he's a pretty rare case. My other chin would probably stress out so I'd play it safe. If your dad says anything just tell him you're learning responsibility Do you have any siblings that could help play with them? If not you can always ask your mom to help let them out to play (maybe idk, my parents aren't pet people so they wouldn't want to do that haha).

 If your mom will help you could keep your chin at your moms during the summer, and when you're at your dads she can let him out (if she can't/won't help then I'd go over there every night to let them out). And then since you only see your mom every other weekend during the school year, I would move him to your dads while you're in school. That way you can let them out without having to worry about going to your mom's house while you also have to deal with hw and tests. This way your chin will only move two times a year, (which I would think is okay) maybe someone will have an opinion on that. Another idea I just thought of is to look into getting a wheel so if you miss a day or two he will at least be able to get exercise!
Hope this helps  

[Beccaleigh05]

The best place also to keep an eye on your chinny from getting into things is the bathroom.. put towels down in the sink and tub and let him/her have the run of the bathroom (toilet seat down too!) and this way they bond with you and this way your mom could play and bond too if she took him/her out in the bathroom to play.. I know Ottis was stressed after the horrible storm and moving him to my parents, and he'll come back with me to the boyfriends since thats where his disney land cage is (FN182) lol.. I know Ottis is pissed because i come home from work to poop thrown on the floor he throws his food bowl and his hay EVERYWHERE... but when we play in the bathroom hes as sweet as can be... Plus Ottis was stressed and made those awful barking noises at me the first night here at my parents. so for your sake and your chinnys i agree with mojito and limit it to two times a year

[GrayRodent]

Sounds like your chinchilla is very spoiled and is used to having more than a basic cage setup. Boredom causes animals to throw things around like too.

Some animals cannot stand to moved around but some can be tolerant. And some like our parrot might be fine one week but not the next. We are full time RV dwellers and the power at the park has not been reliable so when there are a lot of errands to run we leave him at my brother's house. Usually he does just fine but sometimes he will stop eating and show signs of stress when we have to do this several times in a week. We saw a significant weight decrease in him one week when we had to leave him there for a few hours a day for three days in a row. I imagine a chinchilla might not be too much different except when they don't eat for a day there can be more serious consequences than simple weight loss.

[mojito]

Just make sure to never downsize the cage; either move the whole cage with your chin or get two that are pretty similar; because if there is a big enough difference he might think he's getting punished (better safe then sorry!)

And about Ottis; my chins do that (really only one of them do it); try leaving a radio or tv on it'll make him feel less alone when you're gone that might help!

[Beccaleigh05]

well Ottis is back at disney land and boy was he happy... and unfortunately i can't afford to buy another FN182 for him at my parents when this was really an emergency situation from the storms... so Ottis had to deal with a basic cage with toys in it.. and i played with him a lot too...