Congrats on your new pets. You've come to a place where there are a lot of good connections. Feel free to ask anything.
Sounds like we have some similar backgrounds. I also live in GA, learned a lot from farm animals, fell in love with rats as opposed to guinea pigs, and decided chinchillas had better life expediencies which was a big selling point for me. When I began researching them I really fell in love.
If you would have asked I could have given you some contacts for breeders that aren't extremely close to central GA but they're accessible. One of my pets is from Augusta, GA because his breeding stock from a friend of mine in SC. The other is from TN who is known for his white mutation chinchillas. His breeder makes frequent trips to Atlanta so we were able to meet him.
If your chinchilla does end up with congenital problems please don't let that discourage you from owning chinchillas. These problems are pretty rare with chins from reputable breeders. I wouldn't expect yours to have problems but breeding practices can make a big difference. The biggest thing to watch out for is tooth problems. If those develop don't let them drain your resources as they are rarely ever curable. My first chin was a rescue chin who came from a pet store in Woodstock. He had problems but he wasn't properly cared for by his previous owner and only lived for about two years. I've had Kulu for about 5 years now and he's very healthy. He did have to be treated for coccidiosis when he was a kit but there have been no problems since.
If you have a wire floor don't worry about bedding. As long as your pets can't reach the plastic you're good. In my cage I actually use puppy training pads. Of course under no circumstances should your chins be able to reach that but it's really convenient.
You do need to have wooden shelving in your cage especially with a wire floor. I see no reason to use felt.
If you use fleece lining for a solid metal floor there are people who have done this successfully but it does carry some risks and that depends on if your chins chew the lining. If you find either one does you can no longer use it. Urine can cause skin problems as well and they must be well maintained. I think your'e better off with a bare wire floor, something underneath to absorb the urine, and wood shelving in the cage for him to rest on, which really is mandatory for any chinchilla cage. If you have questions on how to build these just ask. It's in our reference section as well.
Your dark colored chinchilla is probably a standard grey and the lighter one may have a mutation color in him.
