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1

Cages / Re: I want to make my own cage, any tips?

« on: March 19, 2010, 12:24:39 PM »

Wow! That was a pretty awesome link. I'm in the midst of making my first chinchilla cage now (I'll have pictures soon!). There have been somethings that I've learned that you might find helpful:

Making the whole cage out of melamine or plexiglass isn't recommended because it can trap the heat. The cage I'm making has a melamine back, but the rest is made if pine beams that measure 7/8" X 1 1/2" and it's plenty strong enough.

Also making the shelves out of melamine I don't think is recommended since it is a kind of plastic. I'm going to make my shelves out of cheap 1" X 12" pine boards and screw them in so that they can be easily replaced when they inevitably get destroyed.

Also I'm going to try keeping the chinchillas from attacking the cage by using cornerbead on the exposed wood. It's pretty cheap and I'm sure it'll be effective.

As for size, the cage I'm building is 2x3x4 and I'll be keeping 2 chinchillas in there. From what I hear, that's going to be plenty big enough.

Be prepared to invest some time in the plan and cage. I've been working on mine for about a week, but I'm almost done. It'll be so worth it in the end. It's only going to cost me about $50!!!

2

General Chat / Re: keeping chin in kitchen area

« on: March 10, 2010, 08:44:42 PM »

I don't really know anything about whether that's a good idea for the chins or not. I'm not quite an owner yet. But I do know that most refigerators offer the capability to switch the side the hinges are on. Usually it's really simple.

3

Q & A / Re: Soon to be owner with a few questions

« on: February 19, 2010, 09:34:42 PM »

Awesome lots of great advice everyone! But I have a few more questions...

Do they make alot of noise at night? If they do where does the noise come from? (squeaky wheel, cage rattling, etc) I'm a little concerned they'll keep me up at night. I've designated a room on the other side of the house for them, but I'm kind of a light sleeper. Would I be alright?

Do they need regular vet visits? Immunizations? I have a local vet for my other pets that would accept them, but what is the likelyhood that they'll need vet attention?

Just a few concerns. Thanks in advance

4

Q & A / Re: Soon to be owner with a few questions

« on: February 16, 2010, 07:01:56 PM »

Will do. Also thanks for that link to the cage website. Really helpful 

5

Q & A / Re: Soon to be owner with a few questions

« on: February 16, 2010, 06:33:57 PM »

Thanks for all ur input    !!!

You said something curious though. Don't use nails? why not? will they hurt themselves? And you said glue is OK? I haven't heard that before, but then again, i've only been researching for a couple weeks now.

I'll check out those wheels, but right now I don't know if I can afford them. Idk, we'll see.

And I will DEFINITELY post a pic of the cage when it's finished

6

Q & A / Re: Soon to be owner with a few questions

« on: February 16, 2010, 03:57:19 PM »

Interesting idea with the fleece. I've never heard of that before. Do you wash it every day? or like once a week?

And I have heard some things about the carefresh. Though, nothing specific. And the pet store I talked to was very adamant about carefresh. They said it's the best. I don't really want to go with pine shavings because i want to contain the mess if I can.

Also, do you guys have any ideas for shelves and habitat type things for the cage? like ladders made out of dowels, I know i need shelves; how big should they be? are there layouts I should be considering?

7

Q & A / Re: Soon to be owner with a few questions

« on: February 15, 2010, 04:59:31 PM »

Wow! Thank you so much for the advice  ! Yea I talked to a pet store this weekend and they told me they'd work on getting the chins accustomed to each other before we were able to pick them up.

As for the bottom of the cage, I was leaning toward getting a linolium or something like that bottom, but i might just go with the metal if it's not that loud. Also thanks for the idea for putting the ledges leaning inward, i never would have though of that

I'm really excited to start building now 

8

Q & A / Soon to be owner with a few questions

« on: February 12, 2010, 02:49:25 PM »

So basically my girlfriend and I are planning on getting a couple chinchillas coming up in a couple months and I had a few questions:

1) I want to make a cage for them and I basically have the whole thing figured out except the bottom. I don't want a wire mesh bottom because I don't want to hurt their little feet, but I don't know what to use for the hard bottom. I feel like metal is too loud, plastic isn't durable enough, wood isn't easy to clean... are there any other options?

2) We're planning on gettin 2 females from a breeder. So they'll be between 3-6 months old. Is it ok to raise them in the same cage from the beginning? I've heard that females can be territorial and I don't want there to be any issues.

I think that's it for now, I'm sure I'll think of more later.

9

Guestbook / Hey There!!!

« on: February 12, 2010, 02:43:26 PM »

My girlfriend and I are planning on getting a couple Chins once school gets out. I'm so glad I found this website; it's been so helpful!!! I look forward to hearing everything ya'll have to say and someday posting my experiences here too! Yay! lol