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[LeviStout12]

Hey guys, i have a couple of questions about my new baby, Grace. She's about an 8 week old grey chinch. Whats the best time to to let her out for play time? I'd really like to get a set schedule going. Where is the best place to keep them, during the day, should she be in a dark room or the curtains open letting her soak up the sun? How much should i feed her a day? Thanks for any answers and please give some tips, anything and everything will be helpfully

[kageri]

You can do playtime whenever is convenient for you.  They do tend to sleep late morning and early afternoon but they usually don't mind being woken up.  They are active within a few minutes. 

You should not let direct sunlight shine on a cage or it can over heat your chins but sunlight during the day is good.  Most animals need a day/night light schedule even if they sleep during most or all of the day.

Feed unlimited plain pellets and hay.  As long as your pellets are a good formula and not a mix with a bunch of treat junk in it they will not over eat.  Chins only over eat on rich treat type foods.

[LeviStout12]

You can do playtime whenever is convenient for you.  They do tend to sleep late morning and early afternoon but they usually don't mind being woken up.  They are active within a few minutes. 

You should not let direct sunlight shine on a cage or it can over heat your chins but sunlight during the day is good.  Most animals need a day/night light schedule even if they sleep during most or all of the day.

Feed unlimited plain pellets and hay.  As long as your pellets are a good formula and not a mix with a bunch of treat junk in it they will not over eat.  Chins only over eat on rich treat type foods.

Great information, mate. Thanks a lot!
So should i put a blanket over them or what to keep from sunlight?

[GrayRodent]

I think the best thing to do is just keep the curtains or blinds closed during the times of day when the sun is beaming through the windows. Overheating is a serious issue with chinchillas. They can die, in some cases, when the air temperature in the room gets up to 80F. It is very important to keep them out of direct sunlight for that reason and by keeping the blinds or drapes closed it will help you regulate the temperature in the room better. Of course what is important to monitor (once you've eliminated direct rays of light shining on your pet's cage at any time of day) is the actual temperature of the room near the cage and it should be monitored carefully. So if that stays within a healthy range you can have sunlight on other parts of the room but you will have to be ultra careful if you can't be there during the hottest part of the day making sure you have a way to keep that temp below 75F at all times.

By simply covering the cage with a blanket you may be inadvertently warming that cage up since the blanket will eventually heat up and it'll be right next to your pet.

In my case I really have no big windows in my room so I use artificial light on a timer (12 hours on and 12 off) because they do need a consistent day/night cycle to prevent certain behavioral problems.

[LeviStout12]

Thank a lot mate.

One more question, I have a cabinet i made of poplar with a plywood floor, if i were to keep her in that, would i have to worry about her chewing on it or should i just keep her out of it?

[GrayRodent]

Poplar I think is okay (although I'm not sure) if it's solid but plywood is not safe because of the resins they use to manufacture it. Plywood is not really a good floor for chinchillas because it can soak up the urine and mold and mold is quite hazardous to animals. You should try to find a way to get a metal pan as your floor. You can use 1/2" x 1/2" wire grid above that unless you plan on using bedding or fleece.

[kageri]

She will chew the heck out of it if she can get ahold of a wood edge with nothing to stop her.  Katsu would take about 4 months to escape a wood cage and Aika would take more like a year if you want personality extremes.  Any finish on it could be harmful and they shouldn't chew on plywood.  If there is not anything dangerous on the wood it might be possible to wrap the edges in hardware cloth and then there will just be little scrape marks between the wires before no more wood can be reached.  We have an oak coffee table with lines down one edge now because we backed a cage up to it and they chewed what they could between the bars until their teeth didn't fit any farther.

As mentioned wood is also bad for urine and other moisture.  Chins don't usually run around peeing on everything like some animals but the floor will see some pee in at least one area.  Some care more about peeing in the same area all the time more than others.  You might be able to train to a litterbox but it would have to be metal because like wood they will eat plastic and plastic can do a lot of harm.  Airflow is another concern with a solid cage.  Chins over heat especially easy and poor airflow traps heat, moisture, and ammonia from urine.