Kippo

I was just wondering, is it safe for chinchillas to chew on fabrics? i.e. a little teddy bear companion thingy, or is it a nono (hair balls, choke on an eye, etc.)

Solarsis

Not really a good idea since the thread and fabric could cause impaction. I've seen a few people give their chins some littl efleece bears with no eyes or anything else that could be chewed off and they seem ok. Of course, my chins actually chew through fleece so I can't give them those. Your chin might be ok with them though. You'd just have to watch to see if she chews the bear.

Here's a vendor that has those bears and some other neat toys. She's great to deal with.

http://fuzzbuttchins.com/catalog.htm

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RainKiss

i was wondering if i could put a cloth as flooring instead of wood shavings?

Kippo

hello!

in my experience, putting towels/cloth for flooring is bad idea, my chin went pee EVERYWHERE and even forgot or something where her litter pan used to be. i DO however give her a towel in both her sleeping areas, she doesn't really chew on the fabric, kind of like those hammocks you can get. they don't really treat is as a toy rather than like a bed

RainKiss

what is a litter pan... sorry i am pretty new with all this chinchilla thing... i've done a lot of research but all it tells me is good/bad wood, good food n hay, filtered water, not too many treats n so far... but i have no idea about where it shoudl litter and stuff..
do you know the cotton like bedding they sell at pet stores? is that good for their beddings?

Kippo

I used to buy that stuff (assuming you're referring to the hampster-like bedding stuff) but it wasn't worth the cost to me when towels work just as well. She did chew them a BIT but not very much at all.

You don't technically need a litter pan, it just makes it easier to clean up after them. It is where I put her aspen and trained her to go pee. Remember they can't control when they go poo (as far as we know...haha) but they CAN be pee-trained.

Basically you can just use litter as a cue for your chin as where to go. Keep putting her poops and stuff in there until she starts going there.

I use aspen for litter. I think that's pretty standard for litter

RainKiss

aspen... is that a brand name?

Kippo

nope just the type of wood shaving that is very commonly used. smells nice too in my opinion

RainKiss

okay i will go buy that from the pet store tomorrow... i actually made a list of what to buy to welcome my baby chinny to the house i'm not sure if i have everything though...
-timothy hay
-pellets (kline diet, tradition, oxbow, american pet diner)
-water bottle
-oxbow papaya/ pineapple tablet
-wood (apple, pear, hazlenut, yucca, cottonwood, beech, manzanita, cholla cactus)
-chinchilla bath dust
-aspen --> litter box

I'm not sure about the specific brands thats good for the chinchilla though, because i read on the other fourms that some brands can be harmful for the chinchilla expecially for chinchilla bath dust, i read some brand cause soemthing to grow on the corner of the chinchilla's eyes?
Please suggest any good brands i can use?

suzoo

You'll need a dustbath HOUSE (or some people use a round glass aquarium) to give their chinnies a bath.

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Manuel ~Pablo ~Lucia