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Author Topic: Going on holiday - home or away?  (Read 1903 times)

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Rachael29

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Going on holiday - home or away?
« on: July 29, 2015, 04:31:22 AM »

Hi Guys
I have a question.
We are going away to get married and have our honeymoon soon.
The situation is our family are going with us so there are 8-9 days where they cannot look after our chins.
My sister can look after them and let them out when she is back but as I said there are 8-9 days where no family can help.

So my options are a girl we work with who is on the same shift pattern which means there routine would be the same but she has no experience with chinchillas but is willing to come down and sit with us and them to get some experience before we go away.

The other option is taking them to the woman we got them from, she has experience with chinchillas and has ALOT of chins so will maybe feel a but more at ease on holiday because of her experience.

My questions about this if any-one has had any experience would be-
1) Is it advisable with the mounting issues we have to leave them with some-one who will have little experience in my house with them?
2) For 8 days going to another house being looked after by some-one else and then coming back to my house with my sister for about 2 weeks being looked after by someone else would this be too confusing?

I just want to do the best for them. So home with little experience or away with ALOT of experience.
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GrayRodent

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2015, 07:39:10 AM »

Congrats on your wedding.
If it were my pets I would prefer they stayed at my house. If your caretaker is good with any animals she should be able to take care of your chinchillas and learn quickly when it comes to handling them. Of course it is important she knows how to fill and properly assemble the waterer and ensure there is a constant supply of food. It may be a little extreme not changing the cage liner after 9 days for two chins but she should only have to change it once during that time. They shouldn't have to be removed from the cage for play if she is not comfortable doing that. 9 days really isn't terrible.
Considering other people's bad experiences that I know of (promising to take care of the animals but not doing it) it might be best to have someone check the others' work to make sure it is getting done at least every 2-3 days, perhaps rotating if possible.

As far as mounting issues I don't know. I've seen my chinchillas go after each other and they are fine but I'm somewhat new to having multiple chins in the same cage. As I've said there is always a risk something can go wrong at any time and it should be carefully weighed.

The big disadvantage of moving them to a different place is that it will cause a lot of stress, and after 10 days they'll be used to the new place and it's going to stress them again moving them back. I think this is to be avoided if possible.
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BLS Chins

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2015, 08:44:45 AM »

I advise keeping them at home if possible. It's much safer to not allow any out if cage pay time while you are not there. Ice heard stories of chins getting lost or not being able to get caught by pet sitters. Just fill the food and water and they will be fine till you get back home. Mounting is normal in groups as long as there is no hair being pulled. If you have doubts it might be safer to separate them so you don't have to worry while you are away
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BLS Chins
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Rachael29

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2015, 10:40:37 AM »

there has been 2 occasions where hair has been pulled from the same chinchilla ... hwta does this indicate?
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GrayRodent

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2015, 12:15:05 PM »

It indicates that the fighting is pretty intense. If it escalates beyond hair pulling the next step will be blood.
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Rachael29

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2015, 02:09:17 PM »

See they are all snuggled during the day leaning on each other sleeping next to each other it's just at play time onyx try's to mount and those 2 occasions when coco has been missing fur. What would you all suggest?
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BLS Chins

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2015, 07:10:37 AM »

If ANY hair is pulled or blood is drawn they need separated immediately. They can go from that to killing each other in seconds. Feel lucky you got a warning instead of coming home to a dead chin. Chins can decide not to like each other for no reason. Even though they cuddle during the day does not mean they are getting along
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Rachael29

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Re: Going on holiday - home or away?
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2015, 07:42:20 AM »

I have spoke to the breeder who sold us them explained the same she suggested I put them in a carrier together for about an hour and scrub their cage and change it around. I done this this morning so I will see how they get on for now.
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