Question:
Hello, It's Heather, not Rob.
Rob's been asking me if I would mind having a Chinchilla in the family and thus far I don't have a problem with it. I take care of the ones at Pets Unlimited Saint John and find them to be quite the fun and interesting little cuties. However, I'm a little concerned with something that happened this past weekend while cleaning out their bin. Does anyone out there think that it is possible to be allergic to the Living World Chinchilla dust???
For awhile I thought my bad sneezing fits were due to the Chins themselves ... but thinking about it, it just doesn't make sense since I've been around them before and never had a problem, and don't have a problem with a different pet stores chin.
I was also wondering what kind of toys, if any, they like to play with. I know our Pet store is small compared to most and can't fit many of the products available for the smaller animals, and on top of that, Hagen owns most of the space in the store, so if they see stuff they don't like they take it away and fill the shelves with their products ....
anyways, the one's that are there have a fairly large bin, adequate to that of one of the small dog kennels, not that they're overly spacious and wonderful ... they get large PVC pipes to go through, and different logs from the reptile section to climb on. They have a litter pan, and a big dust bath thingie ... but quite frankly, they don't look like they have too much fun. I let them out often to just run and hop where they please and they always manage to find the cat section of the store ... would they play with any kitty toys?????
One more thing too .... Aside from how to care for a chinchilla, is there anything we should know about bringing one of them into our family? Feeding, caring ... we know that from work, we have to research the animals ... though ... I think we're the only branch that does .... but as to what they would play with or just enjoy having we aren't too sure, and if I do get Rob a chin for his birthday then I want to make sure everything is perfect for the little guy .....
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!


Answer:
Yes, you can be allergic to the dust-my husband is. For my chins, their favorite toys are little wooden blocks hanging from the top of the cage-they love those.


Answer:
Dust and hay allergies are quite common. There is a bath sand that you can get...made by Super Pet. It is less dusty and most people find that it helps with allergies. Pine toys are great for chins. Their teeth are constantly growing and they need to file them by chewing. A member here (Ticketyboo) makes great toys for chins. I have several for my chins and they love them! Chins chew on EVERYTHING so make sure that anything you put in their cage is safe to be chewed. I have hammocks in my cages and luckily, they don't try to chew them. If they did, I would remove it. That being said, I think that cat toys could be dangerous. You also have to look out for unsafe woods such as cedar or wood from pitted fruit trees.
I would strongly suggest investing in a wheel. My chins love their wheels and are on them constantly. There are a few different types...and depending on which cage you decide on, each wheel fits different needs.
There are several things to consider when bringing a chin into your home. The first and most important (IMHO) is cost. Exotic vets (as you probably know) are quite expensive. Common health problems in pet store chins include malocclusion...which is a genetic defect affecting the teeth. This ailment can result in monthly trips to the vet to have teeth filed and gets costly very quickly. Another thing to consider is life span. Chins live to be about 15...much longer than most small animals.
I hope that answered some of your questions...feel free to ask more!


Answer:
I've noticed malocclusion in one of the two chins there actually, and was contimplating how to fix it ... I know that probably sounds bad ... but conisder this for a moment ... I work in the livestock department there, and rob on cash. Everyday I have to clean the cages, give fresh food and water, and check the animals over for any problems. In one incident 2 underaged hedgehogs came to us, but i wan't told how old they were until after the vet check. Seeing one of them never touching her food I told the manager that something was wrong with her. So because I like to nag at him until the animal is taken he finally took her. When I came into work a couple nights later another employee approached me with the medicine asigned for her and it read " This male hedgehog is suffering from pneumonia and skin parasites" The employee happily told me that she gave him the medicine last night .... I was so angry when I read this ... I furiously told my boss that the hedgie wasn't even a male and it's "skin parasites" were nothing more then dry skin that washed off with a nice oatmeal bath. After that I've refused to take another animal to our store vet as they cannot tell any differences what-so-ever in gender of four-legged exotics and prescribe medicines that the animal doesn't need. I decided to take the matters into my own hands and just fed her good quality wet kitten food and she started eating on her own in no time.
Rob is making the cage himself and probably the wheel too ... he likes making things for the animals .... but when we get our chin it will probbaly from the new pet store up town unless we really approve of one that comes into pets unlimited .... Luckily when we do get ours, we have vets who sees every new hedgie litter, and we've gotten both of them interested in being better knowledgeable about exotics and show much promise.
Thanks for the advice on toys ... the ones that go to the kitty section seem to go after the cat-nip toys ... that's probably not good for them huh? We'll be getting lots of stuff for our little chin .... a hammok or corner thingie seems like a cute thing ...
Thanks too for the information about the allergic reactions towards dust ... just making sure I'm not crazy =P


Answer:
I wish I could take them, unfortunately the only animal I'm allowed to "sign out" of the store without buying is Big Momma ( a geriatric hedgie that was pregnant and blind when sent to us) and since I hate the treatment of her by the other employees, excluding rob, I'm buying her so the poor thing can retire. I actually got penalized for taking one of the other sick animals i had signed out to my vets. The manager got mad becuase head office is against the stores animals going to "out sider" vets, regarldess to how much more knowledgable they are. If ther's the slightest chance I can convince him to let me though, I gauruntee that I'll take the little chin to get filed.
Pictures of your cages would be very appreciated, at the moment we're expiramenting with different materials to suit the animals and we've actually never heard of melamine, from the sounds of it around the forum, it's a great cage material ... =)
As for the pet store chins, the one we're thinking about getting a chin from is a well respected, by us, self owned store. The guy moved from toronto where he owned his previous store, to be with family. His a professional breeder of exotics, and is getting a male stud from a breeder in nova scotia, she's pretty reputable. I'm not too worried about the condition of the chin. However, I believe you are right in saying that pet store aren't all that great. I personally like to know the background history of our pets, and getting them from our "up-town" guy gives us what we want ^.^


Answer:
How is the research going?