Bath Time!

This is Nimbus's favorite time of day.

Watch the video HERE! Blogger is currently being difficult with video uploads.

It shouldn't be a daily activity for your chinchilla, but it is an enjoyable experience for both of you. Although, I will say that filming this video of Nimbus has left me with an itchy nose and tight lungs. I typically try to stay away when Nimbus is taking his bath because of the dust, but this video moment was too cute to pass up. According to Pawnation, "Too much time in the dust bath can dry out your chinchilla's skin, which manifests with scratching and dry patches, and can possibly irritate her nose or eyes. Meanwhile, not bathing enough is stressful to your pet; it can leave her more vulnerable to illness as clumping fur saps the creature's body heat, and dirt and oil in the coat create fertile ground for skin disease. Dirty fur can lead to a chinchilla chewing on her own fur; if she ingests too much, intestinal blockage may result." The website recommends a bath "1 to 3 times a week." I offer Nimbus a bath about 3 times a week, especially after a short span of illness, which I'll talk about soon. You can also reuse the dust for a 3-4 baths.

Nothing will make your chinchilla's coat shine like a bath in brand new dust! It will become fluffier, softer and take out the oil better than the animal himself can do in his own grooming.

I've used a couple different types of dust, and I typically don't see much of a difference between the different brands. Currently, I'm using Poof! Blue Cloud dust made by the company Oxbow Animal Health. Blue Cloud, according to other chin owners, is a preferred type of dust, and I personally love the Oxbow Animal Health company. I use them for Nimbus's food and treats as well as my hamster's food when she was alive. According to their website, "The sustainable collection process for Poof! Blue Cloud dust involves no strip mining, explosives or tunneling. A layer of the dust is left at the harvest location, promoting revegetation of natural plant life. Recycle Blue Cloud dust as a soil additive in your garden."

Do NOT, however, use chinchilla sand. It's not the same as chinchilla dust and is harmful for their fur and lungs. In the wild, chinchillas bathe in volcanic ash in their natural environment. Ground pumice in chinchilla dust recreates what chins would use in the wild. Sand, however, is coarse and does not pull out the oil in the skin like the dust. However, there are some chin owners who say that sand is ok. According to Chinchillas4Life, a rescue whose "aim is to find loving 'forever' homes for our healthy chins" and "provide sanctuary for those that are too poorly or old to be rehomed," "the sand you use must be proper Chinchilla sand such as Sepioliate (no other types of sand)." However, Oxbow does not sell bath sand, and I really do trust their company. They've never let me down with their products, either in safety/appropriateness for the animals or their quality.

Image from Amazon.com

Baby's First Day

The moment I saw Nimbus, known as Jack at the time, I absolutely fell in love.

On the 2-hour ride to Georgia, my former boyfriend and I carried out heated argument after heated argument. We weren't doing so great those days, and after adopting Nimbus, our relationship went straight downhill for multiple reasons. We broke up 3 months later. During the drive, I kept flip-flopping back and forth about whether to adopt a chinchilla. My head was filled with worry. What if I killed it right off the bat? What if it just up and died like my guinea pig Nibbles? What if I hated owning a chinchilla? I couldn't just send him back to the rescue. That would be irresponsible and mean to this poor chinchilla being carted back and forth from the rescue to his new home to back to the rescue. 

But all those worries disappeared when I saw this little puffball jumping and banging in this old birdcage. His twitching nose. His bristly tail. Those big eyes. Little rounded ears. I was sold, and when the woman asked me if I wanted to hold him, my heart started racing. It was a miracle I didn't drop him. Fifteen minutes later, he was zipped into my cat carrier and away we went. 

Within the first 10 minutes of owning him, I made the biggest mistake since we've been together.  Back home, we didn't have any chinchilla supplies. Instead, we wanted to make sure that yes, indeed we were adopting a chinchilla and wanted to have him with us when we picked out the cage. Choosing a chinchilla cage can be difficult because you need to look at several factors: 

1. Is the cage material safe if the chinchilla decides to chew it? 

2. Is the cage material chew proof? 

3. Is the bar spacing small enough that he won't get his paws stuck when he's jumping around the cage?

4. Is the cage sturdy enough to handle a bouncy chinchilla?

5. And, of course, is it big enough?

So, to purchase our new friend's supplies and food we went to the local Petsmart. Horrible, horrible idea!!!! It was Saturday. It was crowded. It was a tiny store. It was dog training day. Mass hysteria!!! 

Finding the cage was the most difficult part. The food, the bowls, the toys, I already knew what I needed and what I wanted, but because I wanted to keep my boyfriend involved in the life of Nimbus, the process was dragged out in picking out items. Then, there was the cage. As Nimbus sat in the cat carrier in the bottom of the cart with the bright fluorescent lights, barking dogs and screaming children, my boyfriend battled with the different cages by pulling them out of their boxes to make sure they were the right size. We settled on the Chinchilla Starter, which comes with the cage, a sample of food, a wooden house and some other goodies that I believe we threw out because they weren't actually chinchilla friendly. What I liked were the different levels, all of which were made of safe wood.

After that horrible experience, we took off home, and I watched Nimbus on my lap become more listless and angry. I actually thought he was going to die before we even walked in the house. He refused to sleep and kept walking around with dull eyes and laid back ears. These are not signs of a healthy or a happy chin. By the time we walked in the door, I wondered how much more time we had left with him. I set the carrier in the bathroom, and my boyfriend got to work on building the cage. When it was finished, I said, "It looks kind of small."

And, it did. When we placed Nimbus in the cage, his ears brushed the top of the cage when he sat on the top floor. He couldn't stand on his back feet. I placed his Chinny Buddy (unfortunately, I can't find a link for this) in the cage with him, which he stared at, and closed the door. At this time, the cats were released from their holding cells in separate bedrooms. They sniffed and sniffed at this new animal, and we reinforced the idea that this new creature was part of the family with the squirt bottle every time claws popped out. Then, we waited. 

A very angry Nimbus and his Chinny Buddy

In proper etiquette when bringing home a chinchilla, you should wait 3-4 days before opening the cage and letting him explore. I thought this was a horrible idea since they need daily exercise and playtime. In his cage, there was no way Nimbus could do that. Instead, he sulked and squished himself between the bottom of the wooden second floor and the top of his rounded woven grass bungalow (see right hand bottom corner below). He just sat there. I didn't see him sleep for days. In fact, it wasn't until I did some more research and draped a dark sheet over 3 walls of his enclosure that Nimbus finally felt secure in his surroundings. I highly recommend doing so.

The day before his new cage arrived

By the end of the second or third day, I couldn't take it anymore. He looked on the verge of dying. I couldn't tell what was wrong. It wasn't heat exhaustion. It wasn't intestinal blockage. It had to be plain, ole misery. I took a large square piece of Tupperware and filled it with Blue Cloud chinchilla dust. Holding the dust bath up to the cage door, I unhooked the latch and whispered to Nimbus. After a few minutes, he started to come out of the door. As soon as he realized what was in front of him, he dove into the dust bath and began flipping about.  I've never seen a creature so happy!! In fact, he even gave The Squeak!

The Squeak is the ultimate goal. You want to achieve The Squeak from your chin. It means they are the happiest they can be, and it is usually accompanied by popcorning. You'll know it when you see it, and it comes with a huge sense of accomplishment. It's not the little grunts of foraging and exploring but a high-pitched little squeak. It sounds similar to their sneezes.

After that bath, Nimbus's level of activity and interaction improved, mostly. But, there was still something missing, and it wasn't found until we bought the new cage! 

There's No Excuse for Not Adopting

I didn't know better as a child, but the reptiles and small mammals I owned growing up came from pet stores. During my college years, however, I discovered petfinder.com, an extremely useful website to find "the pet of your dreams." If the local animal shelter doesn't have the type of dog or cat you're looking for, Petfinder will show you where to find that pet who needs your love. Search by location, type of animal, breed, age, gender and characteristics (house-trained, size, child-friendly, special needs, etc.). There's no excuse for not finding the animal you're looking for, even pure breeds are found in animal shelters.

Right now, there are chinchillas all over looking for homes outside of pet stores.

For instance, I went to Petfinder just now and searched for chinchilla, San Francisco, California (a random pick) and young. And, Petfinder found 37 chinchillas.

Raider - 3 years old, located in Culver City, CA at STAR Eco Station rescue. He needs special attention because he's a biter and hasn't been properly handled in the past. He coat is fluffy and white with gray smudges. His adoption fee is $50.

Paprika - young, located in Red Oak, TX at the ChinChildren Chinchilla Rescue. She's the normal gray coloring with a chubby face. Her adoption fee is $75. 

Chilli - born May 1, 2013, located in New Market, MN at the Windmill Animal Rescue. His owners were forced to give him up to allergies. His adoption fee is $100, or he can be sponsored.

Chilli

Poppy and Clover - young, located in Greensboro, NC at the Red Dog Farm Animal Rescue Network. They are a bonded pair and would not do well if separated. The rescue said that they are a perfectly behaved pair of sisters.

I didn't post these few random choices to convince you to buy a chinchilla because of the adorable photos but to show how diverse in color, age and personality in chinchillas available for adoption.

You may ask, "Well what about the poor chinchillas in a pet store? They need homes, too." Yes, you're absolutely right, but buying from a pet store supports the industry of constantly breeding animals in order to make merchandise or products... a.k.a. pet chinchillas for pet stores across the world.Consider this:

1) When I was young, my mother bought me a guinea pig from a chain pet store, which shall remain anonymous. Nibbles the guinea pig died in my arms seven days later because she had been sick the whole time. I believe that pet stores care for their animals to the best of their ability. However, there can't be enough employees to constantly check and play with each animal. Chinchillas require 1-2 hours, at least, of playtime outside of their cages every day. Where would they even play in a pet store?

 2) Pet store chinchillas will not be used to human company because they haven't been played with as stated before. This can lead to biting and grumpiness. A good rescue will work and interact with the animals on a daily basis to ensure their happiness and health.

3) You're going to pay a much higher price than you want. Nimbus's adoption fee was $44. A chinchilla at PetsMart is $139. Ouch! Your new pet is already going to cost a lip-biting amount when first starting out. Why make it worse for yourself by paying a ridiculous price demanded by pet stores and chinchilla breeders instead of adopting one that was abandoned at a rescue?

 4) Once again, you're supporting an industry that uses animals to constantly reproduce, go through pregnancy, go through the process of labor and birth, have their babies taken away, and then they're thrown back in so that they can reproduce some more. That's pretty brutal, in my opinion. One of my friends is a psychology graduate student in Virginia. For the clinical trials, he and his fellow students test their experiments using live rats. Let me wholeheartedly say that I do not agree with testing on animals, although some of my friend's arguments make me weigh the scales in harm vs. help and so on. However, if you don't believe in testing on animals, how can you support a system that treats them like pet assembly lines? Just think about it.

Now, if anyone would like to counter me in my arguments with statistical proof, please do so! I'm not being sarcastic or sardonic. I'm 100% serious. If I'm wrong, I want to stand corrected.


Anyway, I demanded to myself that I was going to adopt my pet chinchilla. Now, I love Petfinder, but because I live in a small town where the nearest urban city is an hour away, (but I wouldn't consider it as big and diverse a city as Charlotte where I grew up), I had location limitations that Petfinder couldn't overcome. One chinchilla I found was over the state line in Tennessee. However, the rescue admitted that this was their first time having chinchillas and asked for an adoption fee equivalent of that to a pet store. I was shocked and discouraged. It was a price I couldn't afford. But, I refused to give up. So, I began searching the rest of the Internet and discovered the Georgia Chinchilla Rescue in McDonough, Georgia on Facebook. A major stroke of luck!! They were only a couple hours away, and the manager of the rescue had a selection of about seven chinchillas. There was Jack, Mary Kate and Ashley, Paris, Nicole, Gracie and Max. As I was searching through the pictures, I kept coming back to Jack. In every one of his themed photos, he struck a cute little pose like he owned that camera. Sitting on his hind legs, little front paws crossed, he was the picture of perfected adorableness.

I contacted the rescue, which was a out-of-her-home organization run by one woman. Sadly, due to time constraints and financial difficulties, she had to stop rescuing chinchillas for the time being back in July. She adopted out the rest of her chinchillas, except for one. I was so nervous contacting her. After weeks of researching and learning the ways of chin ownership, I wanted to impress upon her that even though it was my first chinchilla I would care for it so that it lived a long and happy life. She provided me with a questionaire that inquired about different aspect of chinchilla ownership and how I planned to personally accomplish them. Also, my answers would reflect, in her opinion, which chinchilla would fit my lifestyle the best. Here are some questions... questions you should ask yourself before adopting a chinchilla:

1. What is the size of the cage you will be using?
Answer: We are have our hearts set on purchasing the All Living Things Deluxe Chinchilla Kit from our local PetsMart. It has two platforms and a bottom tray for lots of climbing and room. Its dimensions are 31" L X 17.5" W X 28.5" H with 7/8" bar spacing, which will be covered by wire mesh (except for the top). Here is a link for this product: http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752703.

That cage is a no-no, by the way! We never ended up buying that cage! 

4. What type of bedding are you planning on using?
Answer: We love the CareFresh Natural bedding. We used it for our hamster, and the package says it is also a good fit for chinchillas. It is completely safe and does not harm small animals' lungs.

6.  How much research have you done about chinchillas? What do you know about their basic needs and care?.
Answer: Right now, I am waiting for my library books on chinchillas to come to our local branch. However, Stuart and I have done some research, but we wanted to do in-depth research through a book rather than the somewhat untrustworthy Internet. We know that small children do not mix well with chinchillas and that we must handle our new pet very carefully. We also researched their very sensitive dietary needs. They should not receive a lot of treats, especially ones with sugar. They also need wood chews for their constantly growing teeth. Also, we know that chinchillas require a lot of attention because they can get lonely. We wish that we could adopt a pair, but right now, we have room for one. Because of this, we will give it as much attention and love that it deserves.

I couldn't have been more excited when I got her reply: "Everything looks great! . . . I know you're wanting to meet them before you decide, but from what you've told me, I recommend thinking about Jack or Gracie."

Gracie was the calmer one, the rescuer said. She was a slightly older chinchilla, although not considered old by any standard. Her coloring was beige with brown spots on her ears. But, if you know me, I like to do things the hard way, and I had completely fallen head-over-heels for little Jack, the sweetest-looking chinchilla in existence. In fact when the rescuer wrote "Jack is a little more high energy than Gracie" I didn't realize just how much energy she meant!

Little Jack became my beloved Nimbus. I guess I was drowning in the cuteness because I missed that mischevious glint in his eye... and I brought home a little devil!

Nimbus's adoption photo

Why a chincilla?

Why indeed?

In February, I lost my hamster Nutmeg. I'd had her for a year and a half since she was about 6-months-old. In hamster years, she was 75 when she died. It was a quick process, as are most rodent deaths. One minute, she was completely normal, and the next I was feeding her water every few hours through an eye dropper for three days, sleeping on the floor beside her cage at night. On a Tuesday morning, I pulled up her plastic igloo house for a water feeding to find her gone to a better place. My former boyfriend and I buried her out by the fence in the backyard. I put one of her chew toys in the shoe box with her.

Baby Nutmeg - the day we brought her home

The ache of losing a pet is a difficult one to process. You can't express your goodbyes in a way they understand. Nutmeg probably thought being roused from her exhausted sleep throughout the day for water was torture. So, what can you do? For a hamster, you hope that he or she isn't suffering or in pain and watch them fade away. For dogs and cats, you are usually left staring at them, going back and forth in your mind about how much longer you'll wait before taking them to the vet and saying good bye. This past week, I watched my current boyfriend struggle with that decision when he learned the horrible news: his sweet yellow Labrador Honey at 7-years-old had pancreatic cancer, and there was nothing the vet could do.

Personally, I have a connection with animals shown through a deep respect and love for them. I grew up in a household where Steve Irwin was a hero because of his conservation efforts. Now, his methods were a bit extreme, although entertaining, but his message was clear: Animals are worth protecting. Since I was little, I surrounded myself with wildlife and pets. My mother raised monarch butterflies and saved baby bunnies from the outdoor neighborhood cats. She was my personal Steve Irwin, teaching me about ecology and biology. The family dogs and cats were rescues. Piddy Paws and Remington came from kill shelters. Sanibel needed a home because the neighbors couldn't care for him. Sparta was found under a car at a gas station in the rain. Candy was adopted from a humane society. Only Luca was taken from a pet store after my mother lost her beloved Sanibel to feline leukemia. She always had a soft spot for long-haired cats, and an adorable black and white, long-haired kitten sat in a cage at the pet store where we purchased turtle food. In reality, he, too, was a rescue. The pet store did not purchase puppies and kittens, but sold those brought to them because their owners couldn't care for them.

Like my mother and Luca, I, too, have an urge to fill the hole left by the death of the previous pet. At the time of Nutmeg's passing, my former boyfriend and I owned two cats - Binx, who was abandoned and walked up to our porch one day, and Sparta, who I mentioned earlier. I wanted another pet to add to the family, but my landlord hates dogs and  I couldn't handle a third cat. I began researching other small mammals like Nutmeg the hamster. We'll start with just the hamster for this post.


Hamsters:
Pros - The joys of having a hamster, for me, fell on the vast variety of food Nutmeg could enjoy. She, of course, had her normal blended hamster diet from the store, but I enjoyed feeding her all the extra goodies she was allowed as well. Carrots. Willow branches. Apple slices. Kiwi. Cucumber. Sweet peppers. Broccoli (her favorite). Corn-on-the-cob. It was a plethora of fun to watch her stuff her cheeks and enjoy her different snacks.
It was also simple to own a hamster with cats. That may sound like a ridiculous notion, but by using a hamster ball, Sparta and Binx took little notice of the giant plastic rolling ball after about a week. In an aquarium tank, Binx and Sparta couldn't get their claws through any holes. Now, I do not suggest putting a hamster in an aquarium unless absolutely necessary (like owning cats with no safe place to keep the cage out of their reach). This is because hamsters need air flow. To fix this problem, I bought a high rise, also known as a "habitat expander." This incredible contraption sits on top of a standard aquarium with two clamps. Press in the clamps, and the high rise (which adds two climbing levels for your little hamster) provides air flow and more play space. The cats learned through the power of the water bottle that Nutmeg should not be touched when in her high rise. During the day when I wasn't home, I took out the ladder that connected the tank to the high rise. This way, Nutmeg couldn't leave the safety of the glass, and I didn't have to remove the high rise and replace the tank lid every day
Finally, hamster care is easy to learn.  The hardest part about owning a hamster is cleaning the cage.This takes time to do, and if you use a tank, it means heavy lifting. It needs to be cleaned at least once a week, if not more depending on the cage type. Hamsters love, love, love being clean, and their cage is part of that. And, it must be done in a way that doesn't shock them when they return to a clean cage with all their belongings rearranged. The first task Nutmeg would perform after her cage was cleaned was put her snacks back in their preferred corners and tidy up her igloo. She was very meticulous that way! Otherwise, care is simple. Since hamsters never recognize their owners as playmates, although they can be clicker trained to do simple tricks, there is no need to spend hours interacting with your hamster. In most cases, they don't want to be handled in the first place. Instead, make sure they have a safe place to roll around in their exercise ball, provide them with fun toys and snacks and buy a hamster wheel. A hamster is set to go. Every so often, I'd provide additional exercise and mental stimulation buy building mazes and obstacle courses for Nutmeg out of toilet paper rolls, books, cardboard boxes, her wooden log toys and other safe objects to keep her entertained. Cage boredom is a horrible thing to suffer from. Think of when you were a child stuck inside the house for three days of straight rain. By the time the sun came out, you're ready to run like Forrest Gump. In the same way, sitting in a cage all day and night is not an enjoyable experience, so make sure to stimulate a hamster with both physical and mental activity. Hide their food. Let them crawl across your shoulders. Decorate the high rise with dangling chew toys and fluffy bedding.

Cons - Hamsters live for a short amount of time. I knew that beforehand, but when looking for a new pet, I knew I couldn't handle the trauma of falling in love with a new hamster and losing it after only a year. To me, that's the only con.
If you have children, however, that's a different story. When I was a child, I went through three different hamsters before my mother decided that children weren't meant to handle hamsters. And, she was right. Young children and hamsters do not mix. However, according to Paw Nation, hamsters are known as "starter pets" for kids because they require significantly less work. I would recommend that if you choose to use a hamster as a starter pet, have your child wait until at least 10, 11, 12-years-old. With the right amount of supervision and instruction, your son or daughter will learn the proper and safe way to handle the delicate animal.
If you're not a night owl, then most small mammals are not in your best interest, including hamsters. They are a noctural mammal, and the squeaking of Nutmeg's wheel was enough to drive me mad. I had to vigilantly keep the wheel oiled with vegetable oil in order to get a good night's sleep... and that was when the cage was kept in another room and I had a fan blowing all night. Also, the sound of their sharp teeth grinding against the metal of their water bottle could wake the dead. So, be sure to consider how important your sleep is or if you have a place to keep your cage where you wouldn't be disturbed.

Nutmeg in her exercise ball

Meet the Guest of Honor

This is Nimbus. 

He is a two-year-old chinchilla I adopted from the Georgia Chinchilla Rescue. His past is a questionable one. All I know is that he used to be a stud chinchilla for a breeder then ended up at the rescue. He had very little human interaction growing up and even less during the months leading up to his transition to the rescue. The breeder's mother became ill, and all the chinchillas were neglected. I adopted him in February and have become a member to the very bizarre, fascinating and frustrating world of chinchilla ownership.

Let me set a disclaimer. These blog posts will be full of funny stories, opinions and recommendations about and for owning a chinchilla. I am not a specialist. I am not a veterinarian. I am a just a young adult who owns a chinchilla offering advice, recommendations, opinions and a good tale or two about my personal day-to-day experiences with my beloved Nimbus. Take any product promotion as my own 

favoring of particular products due to failures with others. No companies have asked me or pay me to promote their food, cages, etc. Most of the information I relay about temperature, care and sickness can be found elsewhere on chinchilla rescue and care websites. I particularly trust Forever Feisty Chinchilla Rescue, which has a rigorous adoption and volunteer process in order to own or work with their animals. They also provide very detailed advice and care instructions for this very picky and delicate exotic animal. 

That being said, I hope you enjoy this rather overwhelming adventure with me. Apparently, Nimbus and I, if he remains the healthy, robust chinchilla that he is, have at least a decade more together as owner and pet. Perhaps, it will help your endeavor with your chinchilla(s) or persuade/dissuade you from owning your own. Honestly, with all the stories I've already racked up after Nimbus came into my life, I wonder if it is a good idea for anyone to own a chinchilla. I can tell you that they will teach you responsibility, time management, to make time for the simple things, how to lift a washing machine, how to bribe using raisins, the true meaning of "animal care" and endless amounts of patience. 

So, here we go!