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1

Cages / Cage for 2 sets of chinchilla, shipping to Ireland

« on: October 25, 2015, 05:04:09 PM »

I'm looking to buy a new cage for my chinchillas as one of the cages is getting a bit shabby after many years of use. I have 2 girls and a boy (family) so they are currently in 2 separate cages. I would like to get a really nice, really big cage with a separator to save on floor space.
Would any of you who breed be able to suggest a good cage and where to get one? I would need it to ship to Ireland which has been a problem in the past.
Thanks

2

Health / Re: Water deprivation

« on: October 08, 2015, 03:14:46 PM »

Cheers folks. He's doing great :-)

3

Health / Water deprivation

« on: October 05, 2015, 04:27:54 PM »

Realised today that my chinchilla's water bottle wasn't working. I guess it's been blocked since I refilled it about 36 hours ago.
He's now trying to drink loads, I'm wondering should I let him self regulate how much he drinks or give him little bits?  Is just be worried about the guzzling hurting his little tummy.
He seems active and his usual self apart from desperately trying to drink all the water. It's not that warm or humid.
Appreciate advice, thanks :-)

4

Q & A / Re: Chinchilla acting odd

« on: September 26, 2012, 06:04:16 AM »

Cheers for that. I've just never seen her do that before and was worried after the incident where she caught her neck. I'm a worrier anyway!

5

Q & A / Re: Chinchilla acting odd

« on: September 25, 2012, 11:31:43 AM »

Well, food intake, weight, droppings and activity level remain unchanged and she's happy being cuddled as much as usual so I'll take it she's just found another way to be her crazy funny little self! <3

6

Q & A / Re: Chinchilla acting odd

« on: September 24, 2012, 04:28:27 PM »

Thanks for your reply.

It kind of looks like it could be a game she's playing. She literally scoots along under her food dish on her back, wriggling her feet in the air then jumps up and bounces around. I tried getting her attention when she was doing this and she was immediately over to me, sniffing to see if I had treats. Same with the arching her back and neck and looking up, she can be distracted very easily and doesn't seem dazed or in any way off. I suppose I'm just concerned because of the incident that there may be some lasting damage to her neck. The other two don't do this and I've never seen her do this before about a week ago. I've gently checked her neck and there's no lumps or strange bits and she doesn't seem to flinch or be uncomfortable.

If she was in some sort of pain or discomfort, she'd probably lose her appetite or her poos would be abnormal, right? Am I worrying for nothing when she's probably just found a fun new game?!

7

Q & A / Chinchilla acting odd

« on: September 23, 2012, 03:25:52 PM »

Pixie has started doing this really weird thing, she crawls under her food bowl which is attached to the cage and wiggles along under it on her back with her paws in the air. She has only started doing this in the last few days. She has also started looking up and arching her back and neck for a few seconds. Anyone else's chin do something like this?
I'm hoping it's nothing to do with her getting her head caught in her hay ball a few weeks ago. She is still eating loads and pooing normally and very active and everything else normal.

8

Health / Re: Hay balls not safe, chinchilla soiled, not sure what to do

« on: August 14, 2012, 02:15:00 PM »

She's still okay and her poohs are coming back to normal. It's been a nasty 24-odd hours checking on her and worrying.
I mentioned I contacted the internet shop I bought the ball from and suggested they add chinchillas to their warning of animals that it is unsafe for. I got a very clipped response that they would not entertain a refund as the 14 day money back time had passed. I never even mentioned a refund, only warned them of the possible dangers! Very cross with them 

9

Health / Re: Hay balls not safe, chinchilla soiled, not sure what to do

« on: August 13, 2012, 02:40:45 PM »

Guys thanks for the quick response. She is acting 100% normal. We have picked her up to examine her for cuts, she has none and she has been bouncing around the levels of her cage the way she normally does. If she is carrying an injury, she really doesn't seem it. I get confused with the lifeline and the dyne, is the lifeline the probiotic? Is this okay to give her? I haven't given her anything yet, just watched her and she has access to her pellets, hay and water as usual which she is attacking with her usual gusto!

Both hay balls in her cage and in Buddy's cage were in the bin withing about 0.5 seconds of the incident. I sent a message to the internet shop I bought it from to let them know that this is not safe. Hopefully they can put a warnign on it and might prevent further unecessary chinchilla injuries.

I shudder to think what may have happened. So so glad she's okay as it could have been worse. She was at the edge of her shelf, could have been very bad.

10

Health / Hay balls not safe, chinchilla soiled, not sure what to do

« on: August 13, 2012, 01:39:54 PM »

I came home from work to find Pixie with her head stuck in the hay ball. The poor thing, I was gone all day. It makes me sick to think how long she could have been stuck like that. I really thought she was dead the way she was hanging.
My boyfriend took her out of it carefully and she immediately went for a really big wee then ran over to her hay and started eating. It took about five minutes for her ears to come back up and her tail to curl up. I immediately let her out into the hall where she plays to have a look at her. I gave her a pile of hay and she was eating loads and making her quacking noise. She still looks a bit shell shocked and her poo isn't great, it's a bit softer than nomal and it's big round pooh balls. I'm going to give her a little dyne (chinchilla probiotic) to ensure her stomach stays working properly but I'm unsure whether I should wash her or not? She soiled herself very badly. She is grooming herself so maybe she has that sorted? She also doesn't like being handled so I don't want to cause her more stress than I need to.
I'm going to monitor her for the night and if I need to, I'll bring her to the vet when it opens tomorrow. Hopefully this is just me over-reacting again, I'm looking at her now and she's bopping around her cage as usual.
If any of you reading this have hay balls, throw them out!

11

Q & A / Re: Chinchillas and hamsters

« on: July 23, 2012, 09:05:47 AM »

Thanks for your help. I couldn't say no to an animal in need if I can help but it's useful to know what I'm expecting. I won't get my hopes up about taming him but I'm just back from the pet shop (I bought everything!) and I'm still excited to have a new pet all the same!

12

Q & A / Re: Chinchillas and hamsters

« on: July 23, 2012, 01:00:08 AM »

Thanks a million for that, really appreciate the advice.
I've agreed to take him. He and his 3 brothers were in a pet shop that closed down and the guy who ended up with them was going to drown them and dispose of them. Sounds like they were quite badly neglected when my friend's boyfriend bought them off this guy to save them but he can't keep them so it would make me feel quite good about myself to give one of these little guys a nice home. She suggested I take 3 but I hear they're solitary creatures so I might only take the one.
I don't have cats so that shouldn't be a problem. I'll see what kind of cage he comes with then decide whether to buy or make a better one or not. I have a really big hall with no places for even an ant to hide so he should be okay running around there, unless they can get under doors?

13

General Chat / Re: More on HRH (His Royal Henry!!)

« on: July 22, 2012, 01:53:33 PM »

Ah, he is so cute!

14

Q & A / Chinchillas and hamsters

« on: July 22, 2012, 01:48:02 PM »

My friend has asked me to adopt a hamster from her local pet rescue. I don't know a lot about hamsters but a quick google check and they seem like good pets, similar in care to chinchillas. I was wondering if this is true and if I could accommodate this little guy without much trouble to my 3 chinchillas. I believe they have slightly different dietary requirements so he would have his own cage of course. I would quarantine him carefully, washing hands between contact of him and my chinchillas.
If I agree to take him, how long should I quarantine him? Would he be allowed to play with my chinchillas? Is there anything else I should know before I agree to take him on?

15

Q & A / Re: Chin accidentally went without water for an unkown amount of time.

« on: July 13, 2012, 03:05:50 PM »

I'd say he'll be fine. Mine accidentally went about 36 hours with no water when I was away and my dad forgot to refuill it. He drank like crazy when I put water in his bottle but he was fine. Like Gray Rodent said, mark where the level of water is in the bottle (I use sellotape for this, just make sure he can't reach the sellotape) and keep an eye on his droppings for constipation. I was worried out of my mind too but he was absolutely fine too. I'd say your one will be grand. Keep us updated