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1

General Chat / Re: Does your chinchilla spill his/her food bowl

« on: May 30, 2011, 01:59:15 PM »

We us a coop cup too. We have it up about a foot from the bottom, with a ledge attached to the cage next to it. It gives them less leverage to pull it out of the holder. Mine are much happier throwing the hay blocks around and pushing the cooling tiles off the ledges!

2

General Chat / Re: Baby-animal thing?

« on: March 22, 2011, 09:52:14 PM »

From my experience, Chins don't have an odor like that unless something is wrong. I would make a trip to the vet to be safe, especially since the poos are softer then normal.

3

Cages / Re: Making a cage

« on: March 19, 2011, 01:36:42 PM »

I have a custom built cage that the breeder had made... we bought it off of them and will be expanding it as well (its currently 2'x2'x3' and we would like it to be 2'x2'x5 for ours 2 girls). It's made of UNTREATED pine(frame, doors, and shelves), Melamine (sides, back, and bottom) and 1"x1/2" mesh in the doors. We has a metal pull out pan in it for the bedding.

We are going to make the new section an open side construction for better air flow with 1/4" mesh.

4

General Chat / Re: HELP!! COMPULSIVE ITCHING?

« on: March 19, 2011, 01:22:13 PM »

Oh good! I'm glad to hear she's doing so much better!

5

General Chat / Re: Bugs

« on: March 19, 2011, 01:16:59 PM »

You can get the 'earth friendly' raid in your home and garden center, and use that to kill them. Cover your Chin's cage with a sheet, and spray the bugs. Make sure you wipe down the walls and surfaces really well though, because even though its natural pyrine oil (from the chrysathemum flower) it can still be toxic to animals. Soap and water will kill infects on surfaces too, but with flying ones it's not going to be very effective. One of the things that we do is treat our pellets. You can place them in a pan in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour and it will kill and insects and larvae that may be in your pellets. That is the most common 'point of entry' for insects associated with animals.

If you don't want to use a spray (which is completely understandible) you can use a vaccum with a hose to suck up the bugs you can see, and make sure you clean the cages throughly and remove any trash. Put your food and hay in an airtight container (I know this is not recommended for hay, but if you do it for a week it should still be fine), and change the bedding every other day until you don't notice the bugs anymore. Diligence is going to be your friend!

6

General Chat / Re: Bonding (or how to tell)

« on: March 15, 2011, 10:10:52 AM »

My girls don't like being picked up. Lily will let you hold her (if you can catch her) as long as you hold her facing you with one hand cupped under her tush and one around her middle. But she doesn't overly enjoy it. Dharma will sit in your craddled arms for all of 5 seconds before she's trying to jump off.

However, they will both sit in my lap and let me pet them on occasion. Try laying on your stomach on the floor while your chin is out playing. That's one of the things we did. Our girls decided if we weren't staring at them, it was ok to crawl on us and it went from there. It's like a miny Chinny massage!

We also got into the habit of giving them a treat whenever we went into the room, or took them out. And by treat I mean a flake of oatmeal. Something incredibly small. They only get one raisin a day, period. But the oatmeal flakes can be doaled out one bit at a time in small quantities. Now, they hear the oatmeal container or the raisin container and they are all over me. They also will come to the front of the cage if they hear us in the room, hoping for a treat (although at this point it's mostly scratches only).

7

General Chat / Re: My girls and a new rescue

« on: March 15, 2011, 07:50:18 AM »

I had a similar problem. When I got my two girls, they had been beat up durring breeding attempts. They were also undersocialized terribly, and my violet wrap, Dharma, was badly fur bitten. That is why the breeder was selling them, they were to stressed to attempt to breed again and she was 'reducing her herd'. Really, I think she had gotten over her head and didn't have enough time to spend with all of the chins that she had, and was good enough to recognize that the animals weren't getting th attention they deserved individually.

When we got Lily and Dharma, they were very stressed out and didn't want anything to do with us. If we even went near the cage they would freak out. It took us 2 months alone to get them ok with us being in the room and to get them to come out of the cage at all. After months of coaxing, treats, and patience they will now come out of the cage on their own, sit in our laps, crawl on our shoulders, and greet us when we come in the room. Dharma grooms my boyfriend's ears (its funny to watch), and Lily likes to play massage therapist. It just took alot of time.

8

General Chat / Re: HELP!! COMPULSIVE ITCHING?

« on: March 14, 2011, 08:21:39 PM »

Yeah, I dont recommend using any oils or chemicals in their cage (other then vinegar to clean when they are not in the cage) because they have such delicate body chemistry. Something that you think is perfectly safe (and may be for you) could potentially kill your chin. I dont give my girls anything that I haven't researched throughly and know atleast 2 other chin owners that have used it as well.

What kind of wheel do you use? Make sure it's not one with open bars or cross bars. they are a hazard and will break limbs and tails.

9

General Chat / Re: Random barking...?

« on: March 14, 2011, 08:07:57 PM »

That makes sense! I'm betting that it what it is. It's either Lily telling Dharma to get off of her, or Dharma complaining because Lily wont let her lay on her! But i'm still going to record them over a few days just for giggles.

10

General Chat / Re: Random barking...?

« on: March 10, 2011, 09:31:04 PM »

Well, they have been with us last since last August, so if they aren't used to the place by now, they never will be!    However, the only other animal we have is a turtle so I don't think it's him that is making them bark. And no, it's not every day... just about every other though.

I'm thinking it's either them dreaming, or Dharma overcrowding Lily (she tends to sleep ON Lily, rather then beside her).  Neither of them seem particularly distressed when we come running in, but its hard to tell with them sometimes.

You're right, I'm not going to worry to much about it. Dharma's fur biting has improved (she's looking shaggier every day in the back end, which is much better then the bald patches she had a month ago), and Lily is a booger as always. However, I think I'm going to borrow a friend's static nightvision camera and record them for  day or two, just to be sure.

11

Cages / Re: My Cages

« on: March 09, 2011, 10:24:08 AM »

The metal that you used around the 'enterances' of the different levels and rooms... what was it and how did you bend it? I dont have access to a metal brake, but I want to expand the 2'x2'x3' custom cage that i have to 2'x2'x5' and I want a 'floor' between the levels. I was going to just put some pine around the 'enterance' but figured metal might be a more durable investment.

12

General Chat / Re: HELP!! COMPULSIVE ITCHING?

« on: March 09, 2011, 08:42:29 AM »

They absolutely can get fleas, although it is rare because of the fact that they are inside pets and have such dense undercoats. Have you been offering you chin a dust bath regularly? I would dust him every other day (you can do it every day, but I worry about dry skin and itchiness that way). Is there fur loss? If there is you could have a ring-worm problem, and you need to see a vet immediately. Ringworm can be fatal to chins, and is transferable across species (you can get it, dogs and cats can get it, etc).

However, if it's fur biting only (although it doesn't sound like it) you wont be able to stop it completely. Some chins just chew their fur. My girl Dharma is a fur biter. We try to keep her busy and minimally stressed to MINIMIZE the amount of fur chewing she does, but she never completely stops the chewing. As long as she doens't have bald patches, or has chewed half her fur off, we figure it's just her little tick.

Regardless, it's sounding like it's Vet time for your little friend.

13

General Chat / Random barking...?

« on: March 09, 2011, 08:34:21 AM »

Ok, I'm stumped without getting a video camera on my chins...

We have had a barking issue ever since we got our girls from the breeder. Considering that they both had horrid breeding experiences (the males beat them up pretty good, and the breeder decided to take them out of the herd due to the stress), I figured at first it was just a fear thing, or the fact that it was a new environment... but they will randomly bark durring the day and evening hours (it doens't happen every day though).

We took them both to the vet, and Dharma had a nasty ear infection. We got drops, as well as arthritis meds for her, and i chalked the barking up to painfulness. But the infection is long gone, and we stopped the arthritis meds to see how she would do, and she's fine (she was fur chewing excessively, and she's doing that minimally now as well as moving around much more freely even without the glucosamine). But we still get the barking.

The minute it happens one of us goes to check on them. We don't have a dog or cat to terrorize them, and we keep loud noises to a minimum. Temp is usually 71 F, they have pleanty of stuff in the cage, and they don't fight. Anyone have any ideas? My boyfriend made a remark about it being a ghost.... and I'm starting to wonder (silly though it is). Does anyone know if chins dream? I'm wondering if it's nightmares...

14

General Chat / Re: Chinchilla not chewing...suggestions needed

« on: March 09, 2011, 08:24:49 AM »

Another thought... did you try a willow ball? something small that they can carry arround? Did you try maybe giving them something new after they have had some out of the cage play time?

After play time seems to be the prime time for my girls to go at their chew toys, especially if I've put something new in their cage. or try some natural bark apple sticks. See if your chin will strip the bark off (even if they don't chew the actual stick). You may also want to change the type of hay your offering your chin. If it's alphalpha, that it usually the main ingrediant in the pellets. Change to timothy ( or if you are offering timothy try a 1/2 1/2 mix of both).

I've also heard of some people taking popsicle sticks and soaking them in fruit juice. I haven't tried it myself, but it might be worth trying if someone else has had any experience doing it?

15

General Chat / Re: Fun (and boredom-alleviating) accessories!

« on: March 09, 2011, 08:16:15 AM »

I buy from Jean's store myself, as well as make a few things of my own. My girls LOVE the Pine and Pumice chews from jean's store. they take them apart immediately, but the pieces usually last a week or more. I also have a couple of hanging toys from her store as well as vine balls and wreaths. I get apple wood branches from our local orchard and dry them myself, and they tend to strop the bark off them over night, and chew them over several days. We have a willow out back, and i'm going to try drying some of those branches this summer as well.

Also, we are soda drinkers here, and we let them have the pop boxes. Lily sleeps in them, and Dharma like to play peek-a-boo out of the holes.  However, if your chin likes to eat cardboard you might want to consider giving them something that doesn't have a ton of dye on the outside. My girls just shred up the pop boxes, but they don't eat them. We will also occasionally take a TP tube and stick their favorite treat in it, and tuck the ends in so that they have to chew it open to get the treat. That usually keeps them busy for a while. Since our girls dont like the wheel (the breeder never had wheels for them, and they never showed any interest in either of the styles we had for them) we've had to get creative with their toys.