September 22

We took pictures of some of the available chinchillas today so that we could update the website. Take a look at the list of chins that we have available for adoption (www.chinchillarescue.org/rescues.html), to see some of the new photos.

Our little girl with the broken leg seems to be doing okay. We have to reapply vet wrap to her splint every few days because she is chewing on it a little. I think we are going to manage to keep the splint on for the full 4-6 weeks that is recommended. At least that is the goal!

This picture was taken the day that her second splint was put on two weeks ago, which is why it still looks so fresh and clean and the chin looks so miserable. The splint is a called "modified Schroeder-Thomas" splint. It kind of looks like a giant paperclip (oblong wire frame loop). The vet applied the splint after shaving the leg and giving the chin a general anesthesia. This made the procedure more comfortable for the chinchilla and easier for the veterinarian.

A Broken Leg

We have a young chinchilla with a broken tibia. We are not sure when or how it happened because it either occurred right before or right after she came into rescue. Although we don't know exactly which day it happened, we can guess that the leg broke due to an accident in a cage. She had been living in a tall cage with a couple wire mesh shelves and steep ramps. Our guess is that she broke her leg by catching it in the wire mesh .

Chinchillas love tall cages in which they can climb. However, make sure that the cages are arranged as safely as possible. I setup my tall cages so that there are no long falls, in other words so that the chin cannot fall from the top of the cage all the way to the floor, or on top of a wheel. Using an arrangement of shelves, ledges, hammocks, etc., you can make a tall cage a fun "jungle-gym" for your chins while trying to minimize accidents. If you have wire mesh shelves and ramps (bigger than 1/2" by 1/2" mesh), you might want to consider replacing the shelves with wood, covering them with tiles, small towels, or newspaper.

Note: The picture is of her first splint, which only lasted one day. :-)

August was busy!!

We currently have 36 chinchillas in foster care, with 12 more that may be coming soon. Of the 36 chins, only about 1/3 are currently available for adoption. The reasons for some of our current chins not being available are:
- possible pregnancy
- too young (less than 4 months old)
- need a veterinary check or recheck
- broken leg

August was a very busy month for us, with many more chins coming to rescue than being adopted. It is not unusual for adoptions to be slow during the summer months, so we are hoping that now that it is September that the adoption rate will pick up.