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[Lo]

Hi everyone!

I'm Lo, and in about two weeks I will be adopting my first chinchilla. I am adopting him from someone's through Craigslist. They are giving me his cage and everything I will need to start, but I also went out and bought a big jar of blue cloud dust and a large bag of Supreme Charlie Chinchilla pellets, which is what he eats now. He is about a year old. Luckily my vet does offer chinchilla care!

I have read that Care fresh bedding is the best, and I know they also eat hay, and must always have it available to them. I also bought him a wooden chew toy. Can the hay be bought at Petco? What should I be looking for?

Also, any advice for a beginner would be great! I have two young cats, both about a year old. I will be keeping the chinchilla in a room where I can lock the cats out while I am at work and sleeping until they are used to him. I'm hoping it will only take 1-2 weeks. Any advice on that? They aren't big hunters, and are very affectionate with me and eact other. My hope is that they will be to the chin as well, eventually.

My apartment is kept anywhere from 65-70 degrees pretty much at all times. I don't like the heat so I keep it pretty cool. It only gets up to 70 if its really nice out and I open the windows.

Oh, and I am naming him Gizmo.

[GrayRodent]

Congrats on your pet and welcome to the boards. You have a beautiful pet there. The air temperature is perfect. Below 75 is perfectly acceptable. 73 is the recommended ceiling so he should do quite well.

I do advise to keep the cats out for two weeks. Chinchillas are typically pretty stressed during the first two weeks of relocation. I also advise you do not change your chinchilla's diet until then if possible. It can be harmful to switch rapidly.

I also hate to say that the food you bought is not good for chinchillas. There are ingredients in that diet that are actually detrimental to his health and his teeth. For the most part if a chin's teeth go bad it's the beginning of the end for them so please shop around. Make sure he has an endless supply of wood chew toys and shelves and loose timothy hay as well to keep his teeth healthy. Chinchillas should not have fruits, nuts, or seeds in their diet.
A proper pelleted diet will be alfalfa based and won't have a mixture of different things in it. Dried fruit such as raisins are often given as treats but treats are to be given very sparingly. They have no good nutritional value for them.

I just looked at Petco's website and I don't see any diet that I think is that great. If you have access to a Petsmart I recommend getting Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe which is what I've used in the past. If you can't find that you are probably better off ordering your food online. I order mine from tj's chinchilla supplies and I use Mazuri but you really can't go wrong with anything on her site. You'll save money compared to a pet store if you buy 10 pounds at a time. I recommend using seal-able canisters to store the food. 10 pounds will last months. (Same with chinchilla dust, about 2/3 the cost from tj's)

With cats be careful. It is going to be your judgement call on how your pets interact. Chinchillas have very tiny limbs and features and don't usually handle trauma very well. Treatment can be difficult or impossible.

For beginners advice I recommend poking around on our website and forums. There is tons of information here. We also have a member's area with even more. For new chins I recommend not letting them out of the cage until they demonstrate they are friendly to you and don't run away when you put your hand in the cage. This can take a couple of weeks. They are typically very shy animals that don't like to be handled. There are exceptions but taming is usually a process. If you move too quickly you'll end up with behavioral issues. Be very gentle but at the same time don't let your chinchilla dominate you or you'll have a different set of issues. You'll probably see some behavioral changes in about a week.

Blue cloud is the best dust IMO. For bedding be careful with carefresh. Most people don't have problems with it but it can cause bowel impaction if your pet decides to eat it. Also it can cause dry skin on the feet and I know of several owners who have problems with this. I think it is partly due to the carefresh absorbing the skin oils. If it looks like it's starting to become a problem you should go with kiln dried white pine or aspen bedding which is the safest. Treating cracked feet is not fun, bloody, and messy and chins usually don't like their feet being handled at all.

I recommend not using plastic items in the cage. Plastic can cause serious damage to your pet's insides. Also you don't need ramps in the cage. Chinchillas prefer to jump onto their shelves. They can jump 6 feet straight up.

Have fun.

[Lo]

Great, thank you! This is why I posted here before getting him, your answer was extremely helpful!

I definitely plan to be very careful with the cats. The introduction will be a slow process and I am thinking about borrowing my sisters old baby gate which can be shaped into different positions when I am ready to take him out.

As for the food, it hasn't been opened yet so I will return it and go to pet smart. They are right next to each other so that is easy. I have my cats on the best food on the market (nature's variety raw boost dry and wet) so I would like to offer my chin the same quality of food! She is giving me food to start him on, so I will use that to transition him. Should I change his food like you would for a Cat or dog, by mixing the foods together and slowly lessening the amount of the old food until its phased out?

I will take the ramps and plastic house out of the cage when I get it. The fabric bed is okay I assume? Is the plastic dust house okay or should I get a different one?

As for the bedding, I have not bought any yet so I am open to any suggestions for it! I have read that some people also layer litter under the bedding... is this a good idea or not?

Thank you again, you have been extremely helpful!!

[GrayRodent]

Glad to be of help.
I always recommend kiln dried white pine. Aspen is equally as good. Whichever is available or less expensive. This is time proven industry standard bedding for chinchillas.

I do recommend mixing the food over 10 days. Chinchillas are actually more sensitive in changes to diet that most animals. They do best on a strict and bland diet.

The fabric bed is okay if your chinchilla does not show signs of chewing it up and destroying it. Typically synthetic fleece hammocks are recommend for chins but must be removed if you notice damage on it from chewing. Cloth is known for causing bowel impactions if enough is swallowed.

Be careful with child guard gates and don't overestimate them. A chinchilla can really jump six feet straight up. Mine can jump from the bathroom floor onto the sink. He normally doesn't but he can. Some owners say their pets can jump to their shoulder from the floor.

The plastic dust house is not really recommended. Again, if you notice chewing, it should be removed. I'm a little uneasy with harder plastic that these are made of because fragments can be extra problematic if swallowed but I haven't heard of anyone whose chin was injured on one. I recommend metal. I got mine from Lone Star Chinchillas online.

[Lo]

I will keep that in mind (the jumping) thank you!!

I'll go to petsmart tomorrow after work and replace the food, look for a metal duster and see if they carry that bedding! If not I will order some online. I'm feeling much more confident now about bringing him home, thank you so much! This is why I love these forums (I am on another for aquariums). People give much better advice than articles!

Edit: I see that oxbow also carries alfalfa hay in a 15 oz bag. Recommended? How long should that size bag generally last?

[GrayRodent]

If you find a metal duster please let me know. I've not been able to locate any except at Lone Star and they make their own out of scrap metal.
I'm glad you've come to our forums. We have some very knowledgeable breeders who frequent our board.

I recommend timothy hay since the pelleted diet is usually alfalfa based. Alfalfa is very rich hay and can be used. It is usually recommended if trying to get your chinchilla to gain lost weight. Some people will mix alfalfa and timothy. Personally I just use timothy. I get the 40 oz bag and it lasts a couple of months. I put it on the floor of the cage. There will be some waste so don't worry too much about it. Just make sure it does not get damp and discard any hay that does or you will end up with a sick pet. It does not matter what brand of hay just make sure it is fresh, green, and does not smell damp or foul. I recommend not using a hay feeder unless you know what designs are safe. Most are not especially the wire hay balls. Chinchillas typically pick one corner of the cage to urinate in. Just make sure the hay stays far away from that.

[Lo]

Great!! Thank you sooooo much for all the info!! I have a friend who works with metal... I wonder if I could get him to make me something!

[Silverflash22]

Congrats on your new Chin! As far as hay goes I get the Kaytee Natural Timothy Hay and they love it! (I think it smells like tea) however I wouldn't buy too much from petsmart or pet co because they over price a lot! i get a bag of it for 3.95 at a private pet store they sell it at petsmart for like 15!

[kageri]

You can get very high quality hay in bulk so it's much cheaper than pet stores from either a vendor off oxbowhay.com or directly from kmshayloft.com.  KMS bluegrass is usually some of the best in the country and less likely to cause allergies but her 2 nd cut timothy sells out fast as well.  Some use APD.  Hay is good for a year from cut if stored right.  No sun, no moisture, able to breathe...  A cardboard box on a dry surface, you can just flip the bag upside down back in to the box, works best.  In dry climates a dark Rubbermaid container with the lid not fully on or holes punched can work.

Pretty much the only accepted chin pellets are oxbow and mazuri.  High quality rabbit pellets from a feed store, not sugary pet store junk or byproduct filled Walmart stuff, is used by many people who can't find oxbow.  We often use manna pro rabbit.

Glass can work for dusting.  Fish bowls that aren't too high and old style candy or other kitchen glass storage containers with the side angled opening work well.  We remove our chins to a chin proofed room to dust and run so we just filled a cat litter box with blue cloud and watch for chewing.  Usually they are too busy bouncing to even think about it.