Chinchilla Community Forums

1

General Chat / My girls and a new rescue

« on: March 08, 2011, 01:13:00 PM »

Hi all. I have my 3 girls together in one cage (they are all the same age, JB, Snowball, and Hopper). I rescued a poor girl who is suppose to be 4 years old and pregnant. This poor girl is in BAD shape. Her ears are tattered, her coat is icky. I named her scruffy.

Scruffy was in with other females and males so I am guessing she is pregnant. I have her in a small cage with one shelf. The cage seems really small (it is about 15"wide x 18"deep x 15" tall) Is this cage too small to keep her in till she delivers?

I am making a new cage for my girls and thought I would divide it so Scruffy could have a bigger cage of her own, but not in with my other 3 girls. Is this a good or bad idea? Do you think the scruffy would get along with my girls?

I put the cages close to let them see each other and scruffy bit JB's paw (JB had to try and touch Scruffy) I thought the cages where far enough apart but poor JB now has a sore paw for her troubles. Could it be Scruffy is just scared and irritated? From what I was able to tell she was in a large cage with many other males and females and was picked on a lot.

If scruffy delivers and has girls I will probably just keep Scruffy and her girls in one cage and the other 3 girls in another. If she has boys then I would like to put Scruffy in with the other girls and keep the boys in Scruffys cage. Now the cages are going to be close together (on top of each other with a solid floor between them). Will the girls and boys fight because they are so close together? I am assuming that Scruffy will have babies. If not will she be lonely being by herself? Should I try and get her introduced to my other girls?
Thanks for your help.

BTW Scruffy is away from my girls so there is no way they can touch or even see each other now.
This is scruffy. The photo is not good. This is after almost a week and she is looking 100% better than she did before I got her.

These are my girls

2

Health / Re: Just an update and a question

« on: January 20, 2011, 01:31:35 AM »

This is snowball

the twins

I am not a good photographer but the girls are so cute

They don't like their photos taken.

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Health / Just an update and a question

« on: January 19, 2011, 06:18:37 PM »

Well I have 3 baby chin girls. Mom and dad have gone to another home where they can live side by side but in different cages. I didn't have enough room for that. Poor old dad would have been all by himself in a different room. I was just going to re home dad but he was SO lonely I asked my friend if she could do 2 cages side by side so they could be as close together but apart. She fell in love with both and said yes. I kept the girl babies and a week after mom left I was approached and asked if I would be able to take a mosaic little girl (only 3 days older than my girls). I introduced them and they got along famously so I said I would keep her. She is stunning. I am very happy with the 3 of them and they are so sweet.

The little girl moasic girl (snow ball) chews everything she can get her paws on. I have a large piece of wood for them to chew on (and their shelves) I thought a cuttlebone would be ok, so I got them one today. Is it ok to give them it? Should I tie it up or just let it lay in the cage? Also JB (one of the girl twins) seems to be making a grinding noise a LOT. Everytime I come near her she does it. Sounds strange. Is this something I should be worried about? The others do it as well but not nearly as much as JB.

Also I would like to give them some cranberry juice in with their water, would that be ok? I feed Mazuri pellets, timothy hay (once a week or so they get some alfalfa). They also get a cheerio or a raisin or 1/4 dried apricot once a week or so. Does this sound like an ok diet?

I will post photos soon of them

They are so cute

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Health / Blackberrry stalks

« on: October 05, 2010, 02:14:38 PM »

I just cut down a mass of blackberry bushes. Do I have to dry them before I offer them to my chins? Or can I give them green? Thanks

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Health / Butterfly bush wood...safe?

« on: October 03, 2010, 05:29:08 PM »

Can chins chew on the wood from a butterfly bush?

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New Births / Re: What color are they?

« on: October 02, 2010, 02:51:02 PM »

This is dad

This is mom

What color do you call dad? I think mom is a standard gray (her belly is white). Thanks you.

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New Births / Re: Perdy's Twins

« on: October 01, 2010, 01:53:13 PM »

They are SO cute

Congratulations.

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New Births / What color are they?

« on: October 01, 2010, 01:52:20 PM »

Here are my two little girls

I think they are the standard, am I right? They are SO cute and they enjoy being held. Thanks for your help.

Jill is above Jan is below

9

General Breeder Chat / Kits

« on: September 26, 2010, 01:42:40 AM »

Hi. I adopted a pair of chins in July. I was told the male was fixed and that the female had not been introduced to an intact male. Well today I woke up and heard some funny noises from the cage. I looked in and found Gwennie on the bottom of her cage with two tails sticking out of her sides. Well she wasn't making any noise but under her something was making funny sounds. Yep she had two kits.

Should I supplement Gwennie's diet? She is getting Mazuie pellets and Timothy hay, with alfalfa once a week. The kits are noisy, is that normal? LOL The sound is so cute

What else do I need to know? Can I handle them right away? They are up and hopping around. I broke down and picked up and weighed them. Girl one was 54g and second girl was 58g, and mom was fine with it. Little girl already trying to climb up the side of cage and she is not even 12 hours old and SO soft

I only got photos of one girl and I can't tell them apart very well. I am going to do a proper photo session tomorrow. Should I weigh them every day?

Thanks so much for the help.

10

Q & A / Lots of chin questions

« on: July 18, 2010, 04:36:56 AM »

Hello. Two weeks ago I was surfing craigslist and there was an add for a pair of chins....free. Since I have always wanted chins I jumped at the chance and went up and got them. The person giving them away didn't know much of anything about them, not their ages, genders, nada. He said he was asked to give the chins away while the owners where away. He said that they had gotten the chins (he wasn't sure how long they had had the chins) for their autistic daughter and she was not taking care of them. They where in a small cage in a shed.
Upon a quick search I think they are male and female. I just got their new cage finished. It is 24x24x36. Their old one was 16x12x22.
Now for my questions. I have observed the male (Sir Lancalot) mounting the female (Gwenavier). She seems not bothered by this at all. Would he do this if she was pregnant? Is it possible to fix a chin? Do chins bond for life? They are so happy in their new cage. They are bouncing off the walls

Gwennie has me a bit concerned as she has fallen off the lowest shelf (6" off the ground) a few times. They both have jumped down from the highest level a few times.

I don't want to breed them, so can I have one fixed and not the other? Is it hard to introduce a new chin (if I separated them) They sleep snuggled up togeather every night/day. They are so cute. Thank you for your help.