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General Chat / Re: uh- oh :(
« on: September 11, 2007, 08:11:46 PM »
Dump the fiance, keep the Chinchilla! Just kidding. Sorry to hear about what happened. I'm sure your 'man' will be more sensitive next time.
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2
Q & A / Re: Reccomendations
« on: August 27, 2007, 11:34:21 AM »
Here's what my girlfriend and I use...
Food: Classic Chinchilla Food by LM Animal Farms (it's just alfalfa pellets - don't give them pellets mixed with raisins and/or other treats) Our breeder uses another brand. (I can't remember the name). Someone else will give you other brand names.
Hay: Western Timothy by Oxbow and a bit of Oat Hay sometimes by Oxbox. We occasionally give them alfalfa hay as well. Many companies make alfalfa hay.
Bedding: Aspen bedding by Living World. I keep hearing not to use pine bedding because it can be toxic to the Chins. We also use Hemp bedding by Life Mate sometimes.
There is tonnes of info on this forum about food, bedding and hay. You'll just need to spend some time perusing. TODD
Food: Classic Chinchilla Food by LM Animal Farms (it's just alfalfa pellets - don't give them pellets mixed with raisins and/or other treats) Our breeder uses another brand. (I can't remember the name). Someone else will give you other brand names.
Hay: Western Timothy by Oxbow and a bit of Oat Hay sometimes by Oxbox. We occasionally give them alfalfa hay as well. Many companies make alfalfa hay.
Bedding: Aspen bedding by Living World. I keep hearing not to use pine bedding because it can be toxic to the Chins. We also use Hemp bedding by Life Mate sometimes.
There is tonnes of info on this forum about food, bedding and hay. You'll just need to spend some time perusing. TODD
3
Q & A / Re: Suggestions on Building Trust
« on: August 27, 2007, 11:22:08 AM »
Being a relatively new Chin owner myself, I'm probably not the best person to answer your question, but...I can tell you want I've learned thus far...
GO SLOW - no need to rush trust issues. Chins need a lot of time for adjustment (and you'll learn that each one is completely different as well). In the beginning, my g/f and I would just slowly put our hand in the cage to let our Chins smell us and 'investigate' us. Do not try touching your Chin yet. Let him/her touch you. Hopefully you know about what to feed and not feed them (ie. pure pellets are desired over the pet store mixed pellets that contain raisins, banana, etc. - For food, Chins just need pellets and hay - everything else is a treat). Talking about treats...treats are a great way to build trust. Pick a dedicated time to give a treat (or treats, but not too many). We give our Chins a treat after playtime. It's our way of getting them back in the cage (shake the treat bowl and they come a' runnin'!).
We've had our Chins for over five months now and they still don't completely 'trust' us. However, we have made great strides. One of ours always comes to visit us by jumping up on the couch while we're watching TV, or he'll jump up on our lap as we are at the computer. Our other Chin is more tentative.
When you give your Chin playtime, just lay on the floor and let him/her 'check' you out. Don't give in to the temptation of wanting to touch your Chin. Let him/her control the situation. Your Chin will eventually come to you and climb all over you. Just lay still on your back or side (don't move as it will scare him/her). Eventually your Chin will be comfortable with you touching it - but only on their terms and only when they want you to. We have learned that our Chins only like to be petted from between their eyes down to their nose. They let us do it anytime. I guess it's non-threatening. We can fully pet them when they are eating or having treats - but that didn't happen in the beginning. Often, out-of-the-blue, they'll just decide that they don't want to be touched. Like humans, they have 'their days'.
I know that other Members will give you more advice. I hope that this is a small start. Just be patient. I know how cute and cuddly they look - we all just want to grab them and hug them. Go slow and you'll have success. TODD
GO SLOW - no need to rush trust issues. Chins need a lot of time for adjustment (and you'll learn that each one is completely different as well). In the beginning, my g/f and I would just slowly put our hand in the cage to let our Chins smell us and 'investigate' us. Do not try touching your Chin yet. Let him/her touch you. Hopefully you know about what to feed and not feed them (ie. pure pellets are desired over the pet store mixed pellets that contain raisins, banana, etc. - For food, Chins just need pellets and hay - everything else is a treat). Talking about treats...treats are a great way to build trust. Pick a dedicated time to give a treat (or treats, but not too many). We give our Chins a treat after playtime. It's our way of getting them back in the cage (shake the treat bowl and they come a' runnin'!).
We've had our Chins for over five months now and they still don't completely 'trust' us. However, we have made great strides. One of ours always comes to visit us by jumping up on the couch while we're watching TV, or he'll jump up on our lap as we are at the computer. Our other Chin is more tentative.
When you give your Chin playtime, just lay on the floor and let him/her 'check' you out. Don't give in to the temptation of wanting to touch your Chin. Let him/her control the situation. Your Chin will eventually come to you and climb all over you. Just lay still on your back or side (don't move as it will scare him/her). Eventually your Chin will be comfortable with you touching it - but only on their terms and only when they want you to. We have learned that our Chins only like to be petted from between their eyes down to their nose. They let us do it anytime. I guess it's non-threatening. We can fully pet them when they are eating or having treats - but that didn't happen in the beginning. Often, out-of-the-blue, they'll just decide that they don't want to be touched. Like humans, they have 'their days'.
I know that other Members will give you more advice. I hope that this is a small start. Just be patient. I know how cute and cuddly they look - we all just want to grab them and hug them. Go slow and you'll have success. TODD
4
General Chat / Play time...
« on: August 22, 2007, 04:38:38 PM »
Hey fellow Chinchilla lovers...
My girlfriend and I (proud owners of two Chins) are curious about what some of you do with your Chins at play time. We pretty much let our Chins out of the cage twice a day. Being a teacher, I have the summer off and can spend a little more time with our Chins than the 'average' owner. Our Chins seem to like to be let out at around 11am or so. They run around for a while, then go back to the cage on their own and/or fall asleep under the cage, or in a closet upstairs. We have Chin proofed our whole house (3-stories), and hence, give them full-run of the place. After their dinner (usually around 5-6pm), we open the cage door and let them decide if they want to come out or not. Without fail, they'll come and visit us as we watch TV in the loft (our 3rd floor). They go back into the cage around 11pm with the incentive of treats.
As far as play, one of our Chins (named Baby) likes to be chased (as mentioned in another post - See http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,949.0.html). We discovered last night that they long for attention after play time when they're back in their cage. Both Baby and Chilli (our other significant other) enjoyed some tug o' war with us with the apple and peach wood sticks, as well as some other interesting play. And, they were both interested in climbing our outstretched hands and arms (and our shoulders as we hunched down by one of their platforms). This was all new to us, and we'll try it again tonight. We feel that they are becoming more at ease with us (they are 8 months old now, and we got them at age 3 months).
Please feel free to pass on play ideas or play situations that you find yourselves in with the little furry cuties.
TODD & FRANCES
My girlfriend and I (proud owners of two Chins) are curious about what some of you do with your Chins at play time. We pretty much let our Chins out of the cage twice a day. Being a teacher, I have the summer off and can spend a little more time with our Chins than the 'average' owner. Our Chins seem to like to be let out at around 11am or so. They run around for a while, then go back to the cage on their own and/or fall asleep under the cage, or in a closet upstairs. We have Chin proofed our whole house (3-stories), and hence, give them full-run of the place. After their dinner (usually around 5-6pm), we open the cage door and let them decide if they want to come out or not. Without fail, they'll come and visit us as we watch TV in the loft (our 3rd floor). They go back into the cage around 11pm with the incentive of treats.
As far as play, one of our Chins (named Baby) likes to be chased (as mentioned in another post - See http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,949.0.html). We discovered last night that they long for attention after play time when they're back in their cage. Both Baby and Chilli (our other significant other) enjoyed some tug o' war with us with the apple and peach wood sticks, as well as some other interesting play. And, they were both interested in climbing our outstretched hands and arms (and our shoulders as we hunched down by one of their platforms). This was all new to us, and we'll try it again tonight. We feel that they are becoming more at ease with us (they are 8 months old now, and we got them at age 3 months).
Please feel free to pass on play ideas or play situations that you find yourselves in with the little furry cuties.
TODD & FRANCES
5
General Chat / Chinchilla DVD?
« on: August 17, 2007, 11:58:01 PM »
Does anyone know if there are Chinchilla DVDs available? I'm more interested in documentaries about wild chins. I have three books about caring for chins, and am interested to see them running around in their natural habitat. Anyone know of some DVDS? Nothing came up on eBay, Amazon or Google. Thanx in advance - TODD & France (along with Chilli and Baby)
6
Q & A / Re: Droppings are linked together
« on: August 08, 2007, 04:44:41 PM »
Thanx so much for the info. His droppings were back to normal within 24hrs. I did change back to Timothy Hay (the pellets we feed to them are alfalfa based - can one buy other chin pellets that are not alfalfa based?). I had been giving them alfalfa hay every day for a couple of months - they seemed to prefer it over the Timothy. The little guy chomped and chomped when I gave him the Timothy. I guess he needed a change. Now I'm going to primarily give them Timothy with the odd alfalfa hay thrown in the mix (unless I can find non-alfalfa pellets here in Toronto). TODD
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General Chat / Re: Chin likes to be chased?
« on: August 08, 2007, 04:39:41 PM »
thanx to all that responded (two at this point in time). I'm glad this is normal. It seems like a game to him, and he's getting cheekier and cheekier about it! I love it!
8
General Chat / Chin likes to be chased?
« on: August 03, 2007, 06:55:33 PM »
One of my chins (his name is Baby) seems to like to be chased. It's bizarre, he'll make a lot of racket in a room I'm not in (chewing, running around, crashing into things, etc) as if to get my attention. When I come in to check on him he immediately runs out of the room. He'll often wait at the top of the stairs until I walk around the area, and then he'll high tail it down the stairs. At first I thought it was because he was afraid. I've come to the conclusion that it's a game to him - make noise, get my attention, run like hell! I'm now making a little 'getcha, getcha, getcha' sound and putting the run on him. He high tails it down the stairs, then stops just before his cage until I catch up. He then bounces off the wall and watches me 'till I put the next run on him. I dunno, it truly appears that he's playing a game of chase with me. Any thoughts? Please note, I'm very careful about over exerting him. TODD
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Q & A / Droppings are linked together
« on: August 03, 2007, 06:07:33 PM »
Hello everyone (my first post!),
I just noticed that one of my chins (his name is Baby and he's about 8 months old) is leaving droppings that are chained together. What does this mean? He's eating as usual. I haven't changed his food at all (chin pellets with various foods added ie. one day I add a few sunflower seeds, next day some rolled oats, next day sesame seeds, next day shredded wheat, etc, etc - all in very small amounts and always alternating the cycle). Both my chins prefer the alfalfa hay (which is always abundant for them). Each night I've been giving them some treats when they go back in the cage. Again it various, but treats given include: a raisin (or other dried fruit including apple, banana, cranberry, papaya), alfalfa cookie (never more than half of one), small animal donut (made by Living World), rolled oats, shredded wheat, and once in a while a very small piece of Dandelion Drops. I almost always give them three treats each: one piece of dried fruit, oats or shredded wheat or a donut, and a piece of Dandelion Drops or Alfalfa Cookie.
Can anyone help me diagnose why his dropping are linked together? Thanks in advance - TODD
I just noticed that one of my chins (his name is Baby and he's about 8 months old) is leaving droppings that are chained together. What does this mean? He's eating as usual. I haven't changed his food at all (chin pellets with various foods added ie. one day I add a few sunflower seeds, next day some rolled oats, next day sesame seeds, next day shredded wheat, etc, etc - all in very small amounts and always alternating the cycle). Both my chins prefer the alfalfa hay (which is always abundant for them). Each night I've been giving them some treats when they go back in the cage. Again it various, but treats given include: a raisin (or other dried fruit including apple, banana, cranberry, papaya), alfalfa cookie (never more than half of one), small animal donut (made by Living World), rolled oats, shredded wheat, and once in a while a very small piece of Dandelion Drops. I almost always give them three treats each: one piece of dried fruit, oats or shredded wheat or a donut, and a piece of Dandelion Drops or Alfalfa Cookie.
Can anyone help me diagnose why his dropping are linked together? Thanks in advance - TODD
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