Chinchilla Community Forums

1

Health / Cracked feet.

« on: December 09, 2010, 07:34:17 PM »

Reuby's feet are looking a little chapped.. his toes are peeling a little and the back part of his feet are pretty pink... From what I've read, it's from wire bottom cages, which he has, but I have it covered in tile and/or fleece liners, and the rest are wooden and pumas stone perches.. so there is really only a tiny area where he would be standing on the wire...
A, what should I do to help his little feet?
B, what should I do to prevent this from happening again?!

2

Q & A / fighting chinnies! :'0(

« on: July 19, 2010, 07:04:38 PM »

Reuben and Vinnie have been getting along great until last night. Reuben (hes a few months older and i had him first) started chasing vinnie around their cage after playtime like crazy!! Vinnie was making all kinds of noise and flipping all around trying to get away i covered the hole in the middle of the cage and separated them one on the top half one on the bottom. This morning i tried to put them back together but they still were chasing, and then again tonight. Im afraid to let them out to play! what do i do??

3

General Chat / Re: Ferret Hammock

« on: February 27, 2010, 05:51:56 PM »

I made a few of my own as well! and i used these metal hooks from the "purse" accessory section in JoAnn Fabrics, and i bought a quarter of a yard of fabric and i think i spent 12 dollars on three different colors!

4

Q & A / help making friends

« on: February 22, 2010, 09:37:22 PM »

So Reuben and "BeBe" as the new baby's name has slowly become have been mingling a little each day, i let the boys play together and they last a good 20 minutes and then as soon as it gets feisty i get scared and separate them again... but then they sit nose to nose in each of their cages (which are side by side). So today, since i was off from school, i wanted to try to let them stay together all day. Usually Reuben tries to mount Bebe and then they run around, but today, i let them in there for an extended period of time to "fight it out" because they weren't being violent just chasing... but then i noticed that Bebe is now trying to mount reuben, and then i realized he was in that "spraying" position, and the fleece was damp when i touched it after, so he may have peed! Does this mean they will never be friends?

what can i do to help them be friends?

TIPS PLEASE!!! help!!!

5

General Chat / Re: Good place for cages?

« on: February 19, 2010, 06:42:09 PM »

Hi just browsing around, is it bad to have a cage that has like wire levels for them?? are they supposed to be all solid flooring?? I had no idea this was that case if it is!

6

Health / Baby has sticky poo

« on: February 13, 2010, 12:17:21 PM »

Okay so my new baby chinnie has small poops that are sticking to his bottom... Is it his food? We jut recently weened him to the food Reuben eats. Should we put him back on what he was eating? Also, isn't he supposed to know to clean himslf off?

7

Q & A / Missing whiskers

« on: February 11, 2010, 09:38:30 PM »

Hi evryone! Just a quick update first, Reuben now has a new little brother who is 2 months old. They get along for short periods of time, then it seems like reubes gets a little annoyed so we are taking it one day at a time.

The real reason I am posting is that something really freaky happened last night and we can't exactly figre it out. My boyfriend ( the chins are in his room) was abruptly woken up by a HUGe boom sound and opened his eyes to see what he called a "ball of fire" shoot across the room- I know this sounds too outrageous. He stayed up for 20 minutes trying to figure it out bt didn't see any problems, they still had power. So incame over today to see the babies and Reuben had what looked like dust stuck in his whiskers and my boyfriend said he couldn't get it out so I held him and mike tried to clean I off. Reuben got close to my face and he smells like burnt hair and we realized his whiskers have been seared it looks like. The ones on the right side right near his mouth are curly at he ends... Althought he didn't loose them all. Should we be worried? Will it throw him off balance? Can he smell right?? Help!! Any advice is great!!

Happy Friday in a few hours!!! ;-)

8

Q & A / chinny #2

« on: January 22, 2010, 08:44:00 PM »

I've been talking with a breeder in the area about getting a second chin, i just wanted to get some input before i commit 100%. i've had "reuby" since october and i've been doing my reading, and since they are quite social, they like friends. I would love to get him a cage mate and i have a baby waiting for me! but i just want to make sure i wont be totally upsetting reuben. Will he be jealous and mean to his new friend or will this work out and they will get along great. They would have to go in the same cage, but mine is definitely big enough for 2 chins.

Thanks for any input!!

:0)

9

Health / Help!

« on: January 11, 2010, 06:06:00 AM »

Hi, I am tring to keep this really pg. Reuben lately has become quite "inappropriately" fascinated with my foot resembling that of a dog if you catch my drift. I thouht it was an odd new behavior and he keeps peeking down belw the belt... Then his morning I checked and he seems to be a LOT larger down there and also pink instead of black which he was yesterday. Should I be worried? I've read about hair ring could he have this? Should I take him to the dr?? Please help!!!

10

Q & A / okay food?

« on: January 05, 2010, 11:07:04 PM »

When I got Reuben, He came with 2 bags of food, so I've been using that but I'm getting down to end of the second bag and with my reading I'm not sure this is okay food. I posted a picture of the bag from the petco website. When i give it to him, i pick out all the extras and use them as treats instead.... Is this okay? or should i wean him onto something else? and if so, Suggestions on what to get and where to get it??

http://www.petco.com/product/3124/LM-Animal-Farms-Vita-Vittles-Gold-Total-Diet-for-Chinchillas.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-ProductList_Chinchilla_4-_-LM%20Animal%20Farms%20Vita%2d0Vittles%20Gold%20Total%20Diet%20for%20Chinchillas-3124

11

Health / Re: folded ear

« on: January 04, 2010, 04:25:48 PM »

Thanks!!! :0)

12

Health / folded ear

« on: January 03, 2010, 09:30:00 PM »

not sure if this is in the right spot... But i've been doing a lot of reading and i read somewhere that chinchillas use their ears to help monitor their body heat. a, is this true, and b, my little reuben must have had an accident before he ended up with me, and his one ear is folded down, and when you take a closer look, you can see that there is some scar tissue there, which is what is holded it folded backward. Is this going to be a problem? should i be doing anything to help him?
thanks

13

Q & A / Re: Help me learn past the basics!

« on: December 07, 2009, 04:33:26 PM »

Quote from: Jo Ann on December 07, 2009, 12:38:12 PM

Never use bedding that has added odor controllers ... the fumes from the odor controllers can cause a major respiratory infection in chinchillas.

What about animal freshener for the bedding. my bedding does not have the odor controllers in it, but i have a bottle that says it is chin friendly, and you spray it on the bedding while they are playing and wait 15 minutes or so until it dries before allowing them back in the cage. Should i stop doing this?

14

Q & A / Nibbles

« on: December 05, 2009, 12:30:44 PM »

Hey! Reuben is doing great and he survived the trip home for thanksgiving break and is still happy. He is getting way more friendly with my boyfriend and i as well. He just started, a few days ago, getting into nibbling on us a lot. He'll grab onto our arms and really hold onto us and just nibble. It doesn't hurt but it is a new behavior. We aren't sure whether he's trying to tell us something or it's just a phase. Also now if he's in this mood and we put him back in his cage and we stick our fingers in to pet him he sniffs then tries to nibble them.
Suggestions on how to deal with this? or anyone know why he is doing this?!

15

Q & A / Re: newbie questions

« on: November 18, 2009, 04:37:38 PM »

Here is a picture of what the cage (i hope i posted it correctly) looks like. I know the bottom is plastic and he really shouldn't be in it, but that's what he came in. He hasn't chewed it yet. he's more interested in the bars for some reason, which he isn't making any marks on.
Thanks for the website with the cages, I'm trying to figure out where to go next!

thanks for the help about getting him home!