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General Chat / Re: My chinchilla is missing :(
« on: January 12, 2015, 06:16:05 PM »
I dropped food down there last night so that she could itleast eat that since she didnt want to come back out
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Another thing to consider is put food or water down there to lure her out. Not sure how well that would work. Extremely stressed chins often stop eating. If you can chase her from one side to run towards an open side you may have some success.im on mobile now laying here next to the vent here is the setup we are working with wish us luck http://imgur.com/iqHO6G5
If a chinchilla can get its head through, which, to me, seems likely, it can extrude the rest of its squishy self through the hole. I think it has escaped. Were any exterior doors to the house left open? If so finding your pet will be highly unlikely. If your dog is not good around animals it may have eaten it. My neighbor had this happen to his. I'm not intentionally trying to upset you but I don't want your hopes to be unreasonable.
If it were my chin I would get some help and do a systematic search closing each door to each room after it has been searched. Also turn off all fans or things that make noise and listen carefully for any noises.
I'm sorry you're going through such rough times. What kind of cage do you have? Does it have any flexible plastic parts? Are you sure the animal isn't hiding somewhere in the cage?
If the cage is totally solid and you have verified the latches are secure think carefully about who had access to your pet or had motive to remove it from the cage and call the police.
I recommend at the least to use those as a reference. These are safe cages for chinchillas. Foot fractures are a known problem with chins. Their long back feet can snap like toothpicks if they get between the bars when they are romping and then it's amputation time. Covering the floor with fleece may be an option for you if you cannot find a cage with an appropriate floor.
Both cages are a good size. The only thing I don't like about them is the floor. A chinchilla should have a maximum of 1/2" x 1/2" floor spacing or risk of foot fractures goes way up. If you can get one that has a metal cage pan you can remove the floor and just go with cedar chips. Some cages, like the Ferrent Nation, have metal pans available that are deep for chinchillas as a third-party aftermarket option.
tjschinchillasupplies.com has a decent selection.
Congrats on your new pet. Chinchillas take time to tame as I'm sure you know but the time is well worth the effort. They are very trainable animals too.
There's a couple of things you may want to consider. One is that you don't want plastic construction in a chinchilla cage. Plastic can be super harmful if it's ingested but even more likely is that your pet will chew a hole through it and escape through it. They chew constantly. Another thing is I think the cage is way too small even for a temporary cage.
Most cages will come with plastic shelves and ramps. These should be discarded, replaced with proper wooden shelves, and the ramps removed. Chinchillas do not use ramps and apparently they can be harmful. Wire shelves or ramps are extremely dangerous and should never be used for ANY rodents (rats, piggies, chinchillas, etc). You'll probably need to make your own shelves but it's not that hard if you have some basic tools and purchase some hardware. Your uncle may be able to help you with that. Shelves are a chinchilla necessity and keeps them off the wire floor. I feel that wire flooring is the best cage configuration for chinchillas but it must be a maximum of 1/2" x 1/2" spacing. Opinions may differ.
You are better off with something more like this one:
http://www.petsmart.com/small-pet/cages/midwest-wabbitat-rabbit-cage-zid36-5062727/cat-36-catid-600022 (just looking through the catalog with something in the same price range)
This cage should work well as long as your chinchilla is fully grown. If it is less than 350g the 1" bar spacing may be dangerously wide. An all-metal cage design is highly recommended but may more expensive. I strongly recommend having a look at www.tjschinchillasupplies.com as well.