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[Moxie]

Hi I'm new here. I currently own a chinchilla named moxie (my username). She's a beige chin just over a year old, and she's cuddly yet she can be feisty and mischievous...
So yeah, I'm new, if someone could give me advice or pointers or whatever that would be great! Thanks

[GrayRodent]

Welcome to the forums. How long have you had her? What kind of cage setup do you have?
If you have any questions please ask.

[Moxie]

I've had her for a year, a little over a year. I just have a couple questions. First of all, are there any vitamins I should give her? I sprinkle benebac plus on her food which helps with digestion but are there actual vitamins she needs? My next question, I am not sure if she is spayed. There aren't any male Chins that I own, but I was wondering if it's healthy just to get her spayed if she isn't already, or doesn't it matter?

She also has a very large cage with plenty of room and space and four levels I got it last year; I really love it.

[GrayRodent]

Chinchillas have very little requirements but that which is required must be quite specific. If your feeding high quality loose hay and pellets that is really all you need for a pet. Vitamins and other suppliments can be extremely harmful if misused. I advise against spaying or neutering chinchillas. It is dangerous and post surgical recovery is usually very difficult. Spaying is worse than neutering and very expensive. I would assume she is not spayed as it is not common practice. Chinchillas die easily from stress and trauma so any surgery is risky. Be very careful with her around your other pets.
I also recommend weighing your chinchilla once a week and monitoring weight as an indicator of health. Fecal output, food consumption, and water levels should be monitored daily.
If you have any other questions ask away.

[Moxie]

Thank you so much. This really helped. She is very accustomed to other animals, and this sounds off but she loves playing with my dog who would never harm her. I would never let them get too close because even though I trust my dog, you never know what will happen. Moxie never gets stressed by the other animals. The only thing she's honestly scared of that I know of is cell phones.

Also do you know what the average weight for a female chinchilla should be?
Thanks

[GrayRodent]

Unfortunately chinchillas' weights can differ greatly depending on the animal. Good quality female chinchillas will weigh around 800g. Males are closer to 500. A small or low quality chinchilla may be 300-400g at a healthy weight and some mutation colors tend to be smaller as well. At two years your pet should be fully grown.
A good baseline weight can be obtained by averaging 3 measured weights over about three weeks with your chinchilla being healthy. This is an important diagnostic tool. When someone asks about a sick chinchilla and weight comes into question usually I'll recommend they get a vet exam. The vet can tell if the animal is generally underweight.

If there is a problem you'll typically see a downwards trend from there. Weight can fluctuate slightly. In mine it's about 5% and it varies over the year. A 15%-20% variation should be checked out especially if it is downwards.

As far as pets go I know there are others who do let their chinchillas play with other animals like dogs and cats and have no problems. Personally I don't recommend it but I don't tell people what they can and can't do with their pets. Each animal is different and has different personalities and behavioral traits. Chinchillas are no different. It sounds like you have more sense than some and sounds like you have a friendly and well adjusted pet.

[Moxie]

Thank you this helped a lot

[LYChinchillas]

Hi Moxie and owner  Nice to meet you! I have a chin-blog if you'd like to read up on my personal experiences - perhaps it can help you with your chin moving forward! www.LYChinchillas.com 

[Moxie]

Thanks! I'll look into it