24/10/2023
This is Artemis, he was born in December 2019, so is almost 4 years old. He is a very sweet Chinchilla, but he’s always been very nervous. We originally got him hoping he would be a friend for our other Chinchilla who is now 10 years old, but unfortunately Artemis is a fur chewer and cannot be housed with other Chinchillas.
We think the “breeder” we got him from was running a sort of puppy mill situation but for Chins, which is sad, and we think that’s why Artemis is a bit special. He is very sweet like I said, he’s gentle and never behaves aggressively or bites, he just needs a calmer house to live in. He doesn’t do well with other pets, he gets stressed and chews his fur.
He comes with a big chin spin wheel and he loves to run in it, it’s very cute, and it really seems to improve his anxiety. He may take some time to warm up to you, but he loves chin scratches. He also likes to come out of the cage and run around in a safe space, he does lots of wall kicks and will jump up on your lap, but he can be hard to pick up out of his cage so I usually transport him in his dust bath.
I am hoping to find someone who will love and care for him and give him a nice calm living environment.
He is used to drinking water from a dish not a water bottle, we had too many issues with bottles clogging and not working, and we’ve never had any problems with him spilling the dish or getting wet or anything like that. He eats oxbow chinchilla pellets and oxbow Timothy hay. For treats he loves plain rolled oats (you can get them at the bulk barn) and we give him oxbow natural science vitamin C cookies for his teeth.
We are rehoming him because we can’t handle the two cages anymore, and we think our apartment is just too busy for him, and he would be better with someone who could pay more attention to him and provide him with a calmer living space. He, like all chinchillas, needs to live somewhere with air conditioning or he risks overheating in the summer.
A couple behavioural things about Artemis you should be aware of: - He often wakes up at night and makes a loud alarm call. It doesn’t wake me up, but if you hear it don’t be worried. - He needs a nightlight, the alarm calls are more frequent if he’s left in the dark - His eye sometimes weeps and get stuck shut. We’ve taken him to the vet for this twice, but both times they cleaned his eye and said he was fine, so now when it happens we just clean his eye with a cotton pad and some water, or a doggy eye wipe we bought for our dog. - I do not think he would be a good pet for kids, he’s very nervous like I said and I think it would stress him out.
For supplies he comes with: - 2 story Ferret Nation cage with all the platforms and ramps (would cost $400+tax new) - Large Chin Spin chinchilla wheel. It’s very quiet but it shakes the cage which makes some noise. (Would cost $340+tax new) - A cat carrier for transporting him to the vet or wherever (would cost $50+tax new) - A glass dish for bedding that he’s used to peeing in - Food and water dishes - A wooden hay feeder - A chinchiller marble rock to help him stay cool - A chin buddy that I made for him. He really likes it but it needs to be washed periodically or it gets all covered in hair and dust and makes his eye worse. It’s non pill fleece with fleece stuffing so it’s safe. - Anything else visible in the photo as far as hides etc.
He does not come with a dust bath, or food or hay, because we need that for our other chinchilla, but we can give you a few days worth of food just to give you time to get to a pet store.
Please tell me a bit about yourself, I would like to know that he’s going to a good home. Thanks
