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1

General Chat / Re: Clumsy and Noisy

« on: January 27, 2013, 05:00:21 PM »

He's overly sweet when he feels like it. Other times you can really tell how he earned his nickname (Zeusifer, though my boyfriend occasionally comes right out and calls him Lucifer when he's being a terror.)...
I'm sorry to hear about your first chin, I know that losing a pet in incredibly hard on a person.

 We keep our house between 65 and 67, he rarely wants in his ball for more than ten minutes at a time and we watch him closely the entire time he's out of the cage.
 Zeus came to us pretty tame, he's just come to show more of his personality now that he's been with us for a few months.

As for the chewing... I suppose I might start ignoring it completely, I always feel bad to ignore him but it does seem to be what might be best. I know he just wants attention and to be let out, but he has terrible timing. He tends to start up as soon as we start watching a movie, or eating dinner, or getting ready to go to bed... or his favorite WHEN we are in bed.

When we got Zeus he was 6 months old, he has more than doubled in size since then and even though he looks like a pudgy monster it's not really fat (I've checked according to the vets guidelines of how they should feel when you pet them, looking for spine and ribs) he's just really fluffy (as are most chins). I am hoping he does stop growing soon, I feel like if he does grow to much more we'll have to get him a larger cage.

Zeus is never allowed out if we are eating anything more than a snack so he'd never actually have access to meat unless it was jerky but even then we prefer him to be away... Something about how there is no way to eat jerky fast and sometimes you have to toss whatever you might be munching on in your mouth as fast a possible to run and stop your chin from getting into something he shouldn't. We also know better than to let him near chocolate. I know that it's terribly harmful to cats and dogs so I just assume that it's deadly to all other pets as well. In fact the only thing we've had to eat with him out tends to be chips and dry cereal... Now it looks like that shall not be happening anymore.
 Thanks for the answers! It's always helpful to have someone to bounce things off of when you really need answers to the small questions.

2

General Chat / Re: stuffed animal

« on: January 27, 2013, 04:29:17 PM »

Aw! Zeus hasn't really started to clean either of us yet... But he does shove his little paws in my hair and proceeds to fluff it outwards... Right before chewing it of course. I'm always trying to explain to him that I don't need a haircut, he doesn't seem to believe me though. 
 He also chews my fingernails when they get longer, but he's usually right and I need to cut them.

3

General Chat / Re: Chinchillas, Anyone?

« on: January 26, 2013, 12:33:33 AM »

1. How many chins do you have currently? I only have one little boy for now.

2.What are some of your chins names? His name is Zeus and he's spoiled rotten

3. What do you like most about chins? Everything! Even when he's being an annoying brat cause he wants out and I'm not willing to let him out (usually because I can't at that moment)... I plan on having at least one more... Knowing me I'll eventually start breeding them.

4

General Chat / Re: stuffed animal

« on: January 26, 2013, 12:06:30 AM »

I've given Zeus two stuffed animals, he has a tiger that is slightly larger than him that he snuggles with when he sleeps. He also has a little blue moose that he carries with him. He doesn't chew on either of them but he does pick his moose up and swings it about, we call it his moose dance (it's quite adorable). We've also caught him cleaning his moose as if it were another chinchilla.

 As long as your chinny doesn't chew their stuffed animal then I'm sure it would be fine... It might take several tries to figure out what your chin might like, or won't chew.

5

General Chat / Re: chinchilla behaving differently when it rains?

« on: January 25, 2013, 11:58:55 PM »

Zeus flips when it's raining. I try not to let him out of the cage when it is raining, all he does is run and hide if I do let him out. 
My poor buddy is more reliable than the weather channel sometimes, his ears go down about an hour before it rains and it seems like the moment the first drop falls he's hidden.

6

General Chat / Clumsy and Noisy

« on: January 25, 2013, 11:53:33 PM »

 Hello all,
I joined awhile ago when I first got Zeus, sadly my computer died and I had no way to get back on. I'm back now (obviously) and I'm excited to say that we're doing even better than before.
 As the subject says, Zeus is a very clumsy and noisy little buddy. He's bonded to both my boyfriend and myself even more than before, still seems to prefer me over anyone else but "daddy" is acceptable if I'm not around now. 
I regretfully must say Zeus is spoiled rotten , though it was to be expected. We allow him to run free in our living room for several hours at a time (supervised) which seems to give him plenty of exercise... We have yet to get him to consider running on the wheel my dad bought for us when we first got him (which I don't mind, it might be chin size, but he's not a hamster). He still seems to love him ball though... We never put him in it unless he asks and when he does we let him run inside so it's never forced at all. When he wants out he starts bumping into our legs and we just take off the lid.
 Does anyone else have a chin who enjoys being in a ball? Zeus loves it and I really do not understand it.

He's taken to chewing his cage bars a lot, which as much as I love him is getting really annoying... is there any way to stop this from happening without stressing him? I usually poke his nose when it gets to be to much for me, but that only works for a minute or so (during which time he's glaring at me with this 'how dare you' expression).

My last few questions are... How large do chins usually get? What age do they stop growing? Zeus is very close to a year old and he seems to be growing still...

 My biggest worry and question right now is about food, more like treats really...
Zeus recently stole a fruit loop out of my boyfriend's bowl and ran off with it. It was a dry bowl of cereal being eaten as a snack. Until then he had never shown interest in human food beyond dried fruits so we didn't think anything of having him out while snacking. Before I could get the cereal away from him he had already chowed over half the loop, he freaked and barked at me when I took it away. I don't know if he should be allowed to have this from time to time or not. He's doing fine now, I watched him rather closely for a few days after the incident and he never seemed to have any problems....
 So what are your thoughts ladies and gentlemen? Anyone know if this is okay from time to time? Or should he just be kept in the cage when my other half is snacking?

Thank you for your time!
 XxXMaysieXxX

7

General Chat / Re: A Special question for the Ladies ....

« on: January 25, 2013, 11:30:12 PM »

I read this post back when I first got Zeus, I never though anything of it until more recently.
 Zeus is terrible around that time of the month, at least until I let him out of the cage. He chews his cage and barks at me! As soon as he's out he wants to be social with everyone (at least more than usual, he's always a pretty social guy) but me especially!

8

General Chat / Re: Our first vet visit

« on: September 27, 2012, 04:34:42 PM »

Yes, I live in St. Mary's County, Maryland.   
  Born and raised here in fact. Have you been here or do you live here?

9

General Chat / Re: Our first vet visit

« on: September 24, 2012, 09:26:47 PM »

He only stayed on the scale for a moment. My boyfriend read it before Zeus hopped away again.  The vet we did get seemed to really know chins well, of course she's the only one that treats them there so I expect her to be at least a little experienced.
 She also mentioned that Zeus isn't overweight at all and we should expect him to keep growing for a little while... I'm curious how big he's going to get, but whatever the size he's going to be over loved and spoiled rotten.

10

General Chat / Re: Carefresh food

« on: September 22, 2012, 03:13:49 PM »

I don't know about the food, but I've spoken to several vets on the phone and oddly enough most recommended care fresh as the first option 

11

General Chat / Our first vet visit

« on: September 22, 2012, 03:08:52 PM »

Well I've heard so many things that pushed me to get Zeus his first check up, I'm very glad I did... Nothing is wrong, he's a perfectly healthy little guy.
 But I found a vet I trust and I now know for a fact that my baby is healthy. We had to buy a carrier last night, which he hates if it's shut but plays in when it's open. I've found that it seconds as a out of cage play hut... and it has stopped him from hiding under things that we would prefer he didn't.
 He hated the ride, he didn't bark at all but the whole way he grunted, groaned, and threw himself about. But hey, at least he had a/c.
 The funniest part was that he seemed to enjoy the vet. He bounced around the room making a nuisance of himself for the vet tech (who was pre-warned that if she let him run around there would be little poops everywhere and she wouldn't be able to catch him). After the Vet tech gave up trying to weigh him (she left the scale in the room and we managed to do it ourselves, 1.5 pounds) she practically ran away. I do not feel to bad for her, as I said, she had been warned.
 The actual vet was amazing. She handled him so well and when he wouldn't sit still (I swear the little guy had adhd, even for a chin he's hyper) she "burrito'd" him in a towel to check his ears, teeth, and eyes. He hated it but things were done way faster than if he had his way. All in all if you live in the St. Mary's area I so recommend the St. Mary's Animal Hospital over any other vet in our area. I've had so many grand experiences. The service is amazing and they truly care for the pets.

Zeus also mentions he feels violated.   

12

General Chat / Re: quick question about toys

« on: September 22, 2012, 02:54:59 PM »

I've been warned so many times against it... If you trust the person then go for it, sadly I don't know anyone who makes the toys around here and most of them are just mass marketed petco products so I'm very, very cautious when buying mine.
 You're very lucky to at least kinda know the person. But as I said... Our chins don't care, as long as it's chewable. 

13

Guestbook / Re: Just a small hello from Maysie and Zeus

« on: September 21, 2012, 03:53:30 PM »

Very quickly and carefully. 
 Our cage has two doors on the front that open very wide. The top door, where his picture was taken, is the best for pictures since he stands back for a moment as if saying "what are you doing? I come out of the bottom door." He hasn't had to much interaction with the camera yet. XD

14

General Chat / Re: What color is my little guy?

« on: September 19, 2012, 07:57:55 PM »

I must say once again, thank you GrayRodent! I love that you always reply! The pet store was selling a female beige for about 280 and Zeus was over a hundred cheaper... I really don't care all that much about the colors, I love him just the same. I picked him for his personality, all chins are adorable.  Both his back and his belly are getting darker, I'm wondering how dark he's going to be when he's done.
 I feel bad for the female though, I went to get more bedding for Zeus today and she's still there all alone. I don't want to have a male/female pair since I'm not experienced enough with an adult chin to even think about having babies. I live in a small apartment so we don't have room for another cage either. I'm thinking about putting word out that she's there. She's such a shy little girl though, I've only seen her out once or twice and she quickly ran away when she saw people coming.

 

15

General Chat / What color is my little guy?

« on: September 19, 2012, 04:57:57 PM »

I'm sure people are sick of hearing this question from all the newer owners, but I would really like to know. I picked up Zeus from a local pet store and they sold him to me as a standard. It didn't set right with me, but I wasn't about to let them jack up the price for something they only think they might have. ((As much as I love this pet shop I refuse to be bullied or ripped off because I pointed out something as trivial as color )) As far as I know a standard chinchilla has a white belly and for the most part is much lighter that Zeus.
 I'd like to know what others might think he could be. His belly is the same color as the rest of his body except in the very center where is is a shade lighter. He's not all black but his gray is very dark as well. The picture I have of him makes him look a bit lighter but you can tell his belly is the same as his body. As the days go by I could swear he's getting darker  ... So could anyone solve my mystery?