Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => General Chat => Topic started by: Chins4Life089 on February 25, 2014, 05:15:55 PM
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Ok I am new hear and very grateful I found this place, I will most likely be getting a pair of chins in May sometime. I am wondering if I have to get a house for the cage or I was going to get 2 hammocks for them, will that work or should I get a little home for them. Just so all people know I have wanted a chinchilla for the last 2 year and done research ever since and still learning new things. Just wondering since I was told on they need a hiding place ::)
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That's great. I hope you get some young ones from a breeder that you can tame well. I've had a chinchilla that was put to sleep last year that was basically a rescue chin from a pet store whose owners didn't know how to care for him. He was a year old and had dental problems. He was not very tame although he was slowly improving to the end but with a lot of work. My new chinchilla is about 1.5 years old. I got him from a reputable breeder at 3 months and he is unusually tame now and was very easy to work with.
I used to think the same thing about the hiding place but my current pet does great without one. What I've learned is that some chinchillas like to hide and sleep in a wooden house and are less stressed. For an older chinchilla that is not very tame and easily frightened I think it is good for them. For a young chinchilla that has a calm disposition I think it is easier to tame if you don't have a place where it can hide from you. In my experience putting a wooden house in a chinchilla's cage can make it very territorial until you remove it, but it will depend on the individual. I have also used a chinchilla hammock in one cage but my pet didn't use it very much. Some chins really like them though so again it depends on the animal. When using cloth items be careful that your pets don't chew or shred them. It can be dangerous for them if they get tangled in it or if they eat it there is a danger of bowel obstructions. Most chinchillas won't do that but just check the cage daily for signs of that if you have hammocks.
The most important thing for your chinchillas is going to be appropriate shelving. They need to be able to jump inside their cage and sleep on the solid shelves.
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Yeah this is a full on rescue that a family started and it is wonderful. I will most likely be getting a ferret nation cage 2 story or a modified 3 depends on the money they said they have many young chins since people get them and don't think of how much work it is. Also it is a private rescue u have to have appointments to come and adopt, this is because there rescue is there house. Don't blame them :2funny: you can buy a fully outfitted cage from them but they don't ship which kinda sucks but I guess I will get the cage when I come and get the chins and they have a friend finder were they find chinchillas that seem compatible and see if they bond but they have to have your babies for up to a week or more.