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Chinchilla Parenthood – It’s Ongoing!

Well, it’s official: this autumn has been incredibly busy for the human (that’s me!). However, that doesn’t mean that I’ve been neglecting my babies. Life is all about priorities: the people, experiences, and fluffs that are meaningful in your life will rise to the top of your to-do’s and will always be accounted for. So, let me catch you up on some of the fun changes ongoing in the world of LY Chinchillas! whats New Mitty

New DIY Goodies: I am a huge fan of DIY when it comes to the world of chinchillas: cages, toys, accessories, sourcing and preparing your own chin-safe wood (a list of safe wood can be found here), litter boxes, cookies, and more! Most recently, we’ve replaced our pine litter boxes, swapped out some older ledges for clean pine, and added in a slew of fun new hanging toys! It’s always great to make your own toys: it’s less costly than buying toys outright and allows you to be as creative as you want. I often dream up toy designs depending on each of my chins’ quirky personalities!

Always in Stock: While not such an exciting ongoing development, it’s important to mention that with chins, there come perpetual costs. Although pellets and hay are not that expensive if you buy in bulk, chinchillas are intellectual and emotional creatures that deserve (and need) a good deal of mental and dental stimulation. That’s why I always have a full stock of apple sticks, cholla sticks, pumice stones, rosebuds, rose hips, marigolds, shredder tape, and other delicious chew/treat options. Over the years, I’ve been able to curate a good balance of their favorite chew selections and make sure to award them for cuteness! This is all, of course, in addition to the plentiful hay and pellets included in a healthy chinchilla diet. Oh – it never hurts to remind everyone that I have two 26 oz water bottles per cage, and at least two extras on hand for replacement just in case. You never know, and water’s one of those fundamental necessities!

Muff Scratches New Fleece New Fleece: When the seasons change, so doth the fleece. While colors and designs bring a fresh new feel to their cages, it’s also important to discard fleece after a certain level of usage. Typically, when non-pill fleece starts to lose its original texture, that’s the sign to swap. Luckily, fleece ordered online is inexpensive and plentiful, meaning there’s tons of delightful – and affordable – designs to choose from!New Accessories: Not only have we re-stocked on some fun hammocks for Muff and Koko, but we’ve also been fortunate enough to have discovered a new chinchilla vendor – Whisking Woodworks! Creator Robyn is a young furniture designer and chinchilla lover in Seattle, WA, and Whisking Woodworks is all about creating unique chin-safe accessories for fluffy friends. Be sure to visit her website and check out the beautifully crafted octagonal furnishings – perfect for the contemporary, modern, or spunky chinchilla! 😛

As far as existing shelving and ledges, a super helpful tip for a super busy month: if you’re unable to make it out to refurnish your chin’s kiln-dried pine, simply flip your less-than-perfect ledges upside down and re-adhere! You’ll be set for at least a few weeks while you get ready to hit up the local lumber supplier. Over the years, I’ve found it’s much more convenient to buy large quantities of kiln-dried pine in bulk and properly store goods in a dry, clean environment until you’re ready to create some delectable chinjoyable structures! You never know, inspiration can hit you like a 50 lb. bag of blue cloud dust, so the basics are great to always have on hand.

Holiday Photos: Yes, it’s almost that time of year again, where the elves of the world ready their cameras for prime-time-chinchilla-photoshoot time! Fifi pumpkins While we’ve only managed to grab a few pumpkin and autumn-themed captures, we are keen on remaking horror movies and having some spooky fun (click the link – you won’t be disappointed by Mitty’s acting debut)! But definitely, be on the lookout for some Christmas-themed goodness headed your way, direct from the five flooferoos! 🙂 Have a wonderful month, fluffs and fluff-lovers!

LY Chinchillas Treat Donation

Donate healthy, delicious treats to LY Chinchillas to help keep our content going!

$5.00

Chinchillas and Cleaning

An often overlooked part of chinchilla ownership is the cleaning. Let’s face it: it’s not the cutest thing to talk about, but it’s an absolutely crucial part of caring for your chinchilla and maintaining their continued well-being. Everyone’s cleaning schedule varies depending on their own routines and lifestyle, but I want to share my daily cleaning routine with you. This is also a great post to help new or potential owners understand chinchilla basics a little better in order to best plan for chinchilla ownership.

Koko smiling joy joyous

It’s important to touch on why cleaning is important. It may seem self-explanatory, and it is, but it’s always good to revisit the “why”s of it all. Not only is good hygiene attributed to a higher quality of life, but cleanliness can often prevent illness and infection, leading to better health and perhaps even a longer lifespan for your chinchilla.

To start, I have tried different cleaning routines and techniques, depending on the cage structures and how busy my life gets. Luckily, I work remotely and am able to spend a great deal of time around my chins, which has allowed me to streamline the techniques I use to care for them. Once your chinchilla routines have been developed and well-practiced, you can be confident of your ability to do your job as a chin-parent regardless of the type of day you have. Not everything will work right away, and sometimes you’ll need to step back and reevaluate your ratio of energy input to cleanliness output, but that’s all part of being a parent and doing the work it takes to make your life easier, minimizing effort and maximizing reward.

Muff sleepy ish

My chinchillas are the sleepiest from 11 AM to 3 PM, making that window of time the best for cleaning. My first step is to assess the damage and complain with a seasoned acceptance of reality. I’ll remove all loose chew toys and cuddle buddies to make sure they are safe from the cleaning process. Then, I’ll use my paws to gather and discard all loose hay that has fallen on their cage floor, as pieces of hay aren’t part of my vacuum hose’s vocabulary. The last in-cage step is to vacuum out all poop to the skeptical pirate eye of a half-sleeping chinchilla. I use a bagless upright vacuum with a stretchable hose, although shop vacs work just as well. I advise against handheld vacs, as I’ve yet to find one able to adequately accomplish even one session of light cage cleaning. Finally, I’ll sweep up the floor around the cage, collecting fallen poop and hay. This also a great time to replace litter box bedding or refresh hay and pellet supplies. For all four cages, this process takes roughly 45-60 minutes a day. While it seems like a lengthy process, it’s much more preferable to me than allowing a larger mess to accumulate, both due to my unwillingness of having to tackle a larger mess and because I truly believe this daily cleaning routine is a chore of parental responsibility that I owe to my chins (although I do dream of them one day being able to clean their own spaces. And talk to me. And fully comprehend a chin-mama’s struggle).

Before Cleaning: The Daily Mess

After Cleaning: The Restoration

If I’m not able to make this time bracket, I’ll schedule in cleaning at a time that’s more convenient for that day. I have a smaller cage space with a running wheel that the chins use for exercise sessions, time outs, or these types of cleaning sessions. It’s a brief 10-15 minutes in which they can enjoy (or abhor) the smells of the other chins that have occupied the cage before them, burrow under an excess of bedding, or go for a jog. I also keep a water bottle and bowl of pellets adhered to the cage, just in case someone wants a quick bite or sip.

Ladies running wheel cage

On a weekly or bi-weekly timeline (depending on which chins are litter trained), I’ll wash out their fleece liners with hot water and vinegar. I hand wash and air dry, as I don’t have my own laundry unit (this is New York City, after all) and I’d rather be hands-on with the chinchilla maintenance process. During this time, I also clean the steel pan foundation of each cage with a water, vinegar, and lemon mixture (50% water, 40% vinegar, and a splash of lemon). Lemon and citrus on their own are harmful to chinchillas, but the acidity in lemon juice can be great for getting out the grime – it’s necessary to thoroughly rinse and dry all items that use this mixture, rendering the mixture chinchilla-safe. It’s important to maintain all cage items, including fleece, pans, platforms, ledges, and accessories – it’s the surest way to get the most value out of your cage investments!

ladies cage

It’s my theory that the time spent with my chinchillas is never enough, and that bonding practices are forever tasks and never a lost energy. As a chin-parent, your work is never done! Don’t get overwhelmed or discouraged; this is all part of the beautiful journey of chin ownership. Cleaning is a really amazing time to check your bond with your chinchillas, building trust and allowing your chins to familiarize with your presence. This ritual can also be critical to build a baseline level of interaction; over time, you’ll become familiarized with daily behaviors and potential aberrations that require further observation or attention. Eventually, you’ll even bring comfort to them with your shared routine. You’d think that a screeching vacuum and clanking human would illicit a greater reaction than a slight eye peep, but all my chinchillas are so comfortable with our daily routine that they are happy to slumber luxuriously on despite their maid’s – err, I mean mom’s struggle. 🙂

Muff Skeptical Pirate

LY Chinchillas Treat Donation

Donate healthy, delicious treats to LY Chinchillas to help keep our content going!

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Custom Pet Portraits!

So, are you guys ready for this? It’s time! I’ve opened a shop on Etsy for custom chinchilla and pet portraits!

In an attempt to encourage everyone to celebrate their respective pet love, I’ve combined my passion for visual art and my sweet, lovable pets to create these art pieces for your space.

I use largely natural materials to create my artworks, which are mixed media pieces created with linen paper, homemade herbal paint, fire, charcoal, watercolors, acrylic paint, graphite, and ink. They are carefully created with lots of time and lots of love, and produce an awesome effect that is perfect for any home or apartment!

Celebrate your adorable pets with these unique artworks, which are centered beautifully on a 4-ply white archival mat board. The final size is 8×10″, with your pet’s likeness approximately 6×8″. Names and text can be inscribed in ink beneath your pet with a little linen paper plaque. These pieces ship fully assembled in a sleek black 8×10″ frame, and come with a pair of white cotton gloves for handling and care.