Information needed please

[tatymonster]

Hello my name is Katy. I'm researching information on chins before I go out and get one, I have to have the fiance okay first anyways.

I've been looking over the site, and other sites, and learning a great deal of things. I do however have a few questions.

Would a home made cage be better, or a store bought one? I know no plastic anywhere, but what type of wood should be used, and what gauge wire if I do make a cage at home? How big should a cage be for one chin? I want my new baby to be happy.

What items are needed 100% I've started a list and so far I have:

Dust
Dust house
toys..Can you use the wooden bird ones?
water bottle
hammock..can I make my own? What type of material would I use?
hay/alfalfa
shelves
box house
hay box
bedding..What kind do I need?
carboard tubes
food dishes. Should they be ceramic?

Thats all I can think of right now. Any and all help is welcomed.

Also i've been searching for a breeder around the Cincinnati Ohio area, if anyone is close please let me know.

Thanks
Katy

[sinfulcindylou]

Hi there and welcome! Good for you for doing research before committing yourself to a chin :high5: . I will do my best to answer some of your questions, but I am kinda still new so I'm sure you'll end up with plenty of more input.
As far as the cage situation-IMO it is purely your decision if a store bought cage or a handmade cage is best. You should definitely get the biggest cage you can afford/have space for right off the bat though (also just my opinion).(um... and I should mention the other reason for this.... chins are addicting... you cant have just one! :rofl: )
If you are going to make a cage you can do a search here for ideas and materials. If you are going to use a store bought cage and replace the shelves you will need to use kiln dried pine (untreated pine). There are also some great sites you can look at for cages. www.qualitycage.com and www.martinscages.com seem to be the most popular.

Your list seems pretty good. Just a couple of suggestions. Blue Cloud dust is one of the most popular dusts to use, and from my understanding also one of the best. Most toys safe for birds are safe for chins from what I'm told, but you want to still be careful about their construction. I was just reading a thread about unsafe metals that some of the toys are made with. I would also like to recommend getting a glass water bottle and possibly a bottle guard because, in my experience, they can still chew on the cap and/or bottle through the cage. :dunno:
Fleece is what I would definitely recommend using if you are considering making your own hammock. I haven't seen any other material ever used. There are lots of people on here that sell them too. I personally get mine from www.hide-n-sleep.com
As far as hay goes, most people will tell you to feed either timothy hay pellets and alfalfa hay or visa versa. We personally use Oxbow timothy hay and my boys love it.
There are several choices as far as bedding goes. You can use kiln dried pine, aspen or carefresh. I know that there are others that are safe as well but those are the only three I can think of at the moment.
We personally use ceramic crocks here because they are heavy enough that they wont get dumped over and they are sanitary and easy to clean. You can also get ones that attatch to the cage that are really neat.
WOW! I just realized how much I wrote. Craziness :spin: . Anywho, if I have made any errors with the information provided will someone please correct me? (Not that I really have to ask for that but oh well :lol: )

oh and here are a couple of other useful websites just in case you haven't run across them yet. www.chinworld.com www.petproductsbynature.com We get most of our supplies from these two sites and I highly recommend them. Sorry this was SOOO long. Hope some of the info is helpful.