Chinchilla Blog

Chinchilla TravelTips

  

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As mentioned in previous articles chins do not make the best travel buddies. You should avoid traveling with your chin if at all possible. If absolutly necessary, as in you have absolutely no one to look in on your chinchilla or you are moving, here are some tips to make sure your chins traveling time is as pleasant as possible.

1. Buy a cat carrier or bunny cage

I have found that the small cute carriers that say they are for chinchillas and other small rodents are really NOT ideal for long trips. When we first made our move from Ohio to Massachussets we purchased a large one for my chin (at that time we only had 1). We ended up having to stop 1/2 way through the trip at a walmart and buy him a bunny cage. Chinchillas will chew anything they can get their paws on. Expecially if they go from a three story home to a small carrier slightly larger than a shoe box! By the time we finally stopped to get the cage he had chewn a hole through the nylon nearly large enough to squeeze out of. You can buy a small wire cage to put inside the travel carrier, but we found that it severly reduced the size and seemed way to cramped for a chinchilla. The bunny cage made him much happier and we could also hang a water bottle on the side.

2. Don't leave your friend in a hot car

This should be a golden rule for any pet and small children, but you always here of someone who thought they were just going to be a minute at a grocery store and the horrible aftermath. For chinchillas this is expecially true as they are EXTREMELY suseptable to heat stroke. The one thing we find the small carriers good for is taking your Chin in at a rest stop or  store. I even managed to take my chin into a truck stop restraunt and sit him on the seat with me at one place that told me it was ok. Also while you are driving make sure to have the AC on if it very hot or roll down the windows so your chin can get a breeze.

Best case senario you can get a friend to help out while you are away.Here are a cople tips to prepare your chins and y0our chin sitter.

1. Double up on water 

In preperation for our trips we have 2 water bottels on each cage. Though it is best to change water daily, it is nice to know that they have a back up bottle just in case they knock one off the side of the cage, decide to drink it much faster thn you anticipates or chew a hole in it (glass bottles are WELL worth the envestment. They are only a couple of bucks more, they are more sanitary and chins have a tendency to nibble a small hole somewhere in the plastic ones causing them to leak everywhere.)I have read that chinchillas can survivefor as many as 5 days without water, but I have never risked this and would not advise taking any chances. Even if your chin was able to get by, I doubt they would be healthyor happy.

2.Make Things Tidy

I always give my chins cages a thorough cleaning the night before we leave. It is a lot to ask to have someone clean your chins cage and letting it go over a week is not very sanitary. If you happen to be gone longer it might worth it to throw your friend a couple extra bucks for having to cage clean.

3.Stock Up 

Before I head out I splurge on my chins. I usually buy an extra bag of food...just in case, and alfalfa blocks a big bag of hay and plently of chew sticks. It is not necessary for your friend to check on your chinchilla every day. I usually have my designated chin watcher friend stop by every 3 days and fill their water bottels and food bowl extremely full and leave them hay and alfalfa blocks. Chinchillas will not gorge themseleves on food (though they would probably eat a whole bag of treats given a chance) so it is safe to leave extra chinchilla food in the bowls as they will stop eating when they are full. It is also nice to leave extra stock so your friend does not have to stop by the pet food store (a big sorry for that Jessi! I could have swore I grabbed extra food bag while I was picking up all that hay!) 

Extras 

Some extras I do for my chins are:

Tunes 

I like leaving a small radio on a peaceful radio station while I am gone. I like them to have human voices around so they are not freaked out when I get home.

Toys 

Since they are not going to be getting their usual out of the cage play time (unless your friend is willing to round your chin up)  I like to supply extra toys for my chin to keep them entertained. There are several parrot toys that seem to be pretty fun as chinchilla toys. One of them is  thick flat rope like shredable material that I usually hang from the top of the chins chages. I ask my friend to throw in something news on each visit.

good for long trips

small pet carrier good for short trips...only