Schedules

I was thinking about this, and realized that maybe someone would like a glimpse into our lives. It's important to note that this rescue is my primary job. My life revolves around the critters in my care. I do 24-hour observations when a chin has a seizure; I do handfeedings; I get up in the middle of the night when someone cries.

Our Daily Routine:
 
I stay in the bedroom til about 3, because Wubbzy needs me there. He likes to see me.

At 3 I go out into the living room where all the girls are (and Gus).

If anyone cries anywhere in the apartment, I go to comfort them.

I make sure the right channels are on the tv (we do Disney all night, then Nick Kids from 8 am til about 3, then the chins in the living room watch HGTV or some little informational thing).

I check all the hay, food, water, toys.

At lights on, I give everyone a whole or half an acidophilus tablet. If they don't like it, they get a rosehip.

I chat, we watch tv, I sing to them for the commercials, etc. Go around giving scritches.

Our pets Pepper, Mei-Mei and Mundo/Johan get to run around for an hour each per day.

Kjell gets home and we take out the first rescue chin(s) for playtime. They run around for about 2 hours (pairs for 3 hours), then the next chin(s) come out. We have playtimes until about 3 a.m.

At bedtime, which is usually between 3 and 4 a.m., we go around and do pellets and hay. Then water and rosehips.

We give out the scritches and tell them each how special they are and how glad we are they're with us now and how much we love them, etc. 

If anyone cries at night, or has a seizure or anything, we get up to offer comfort. 
 

Our Weekly Routine:

On Wednesday nights, we clean the chins' cages that are in the bedroom. We play with whoever's cage is being cleaned. 

On Sundays, we clean the cages in the living room. 

We do hair ring checks every Friday for the boys that regularly have them, or once a month for the boys that have them infrequently or never. 
 
Weekly cleaning is:
Shelves (sweeping, sanding, replacing if necessary)
Litter boxes (dump out, bleach, dry, fill with fresh shavings)
Fleece (sweep it off, shake it off, wash it, dry it)
We switch out liners every week.
We wash the water bottles in near-boiling water with dish soap and then rinse them til they're very, very clean.
We do the same for the crocks.
Replace all dust for the chins that have it.
Empty hay boxes completely (as opposed to pulling out hay every day) and refill.
Wipe down pans with bleach water, bars with bleach water, etc. 
We sweep and vacuum around and under all the cages.
 
 
Every Friday, I pass out new toys. It's to establish the routine further, and it's to encourage the chins to chew rather than hoard their toys. Plus, it's Shabbat, so I figure it's how they can celebrate. 
 
 
This is our monthly routine:
 
We weigh everyone.

We clean out the playtime toys and replace them.

We rotate/remove/switch around hanging toys.

We totally remove everything for the water bottles and run it all through the dish washer (except the metal hardware).

The same for coop cups.

We wash snuggle buddies on an as-needed basis (Pep's, for example, is every week, but Eva's is once a month).

We inspect all fleece for wear, tear or damage.

We inspect all the cages and shelves extra carefully to make sure they're all in order.

We pay special attention to the litter boxes and replace any that may need it.

We check feet, hands, ears, teeth (if possible, for color and for any bumps under the chin). I do it every day, but this is special attention.

We wash all the sheets one at a time, and I dust the furniture. (It's way to much to dust every day).

I take stock of all our supplies and we get more of whatever.

We get fresh food every month. We actually go through about 50 pounds/month. 

 
Our Yearly Routine:

We celebrate birthdays and Jewish holidays here. Everyone gets a Chinnie-Oh in his/her preferred flavor, and the birthday chin gets about 3 toys or a couple toys and a fleece item.

Each chin goes to the vet once a year (or more if necessary).

What We Feed:

**Manna Pro Sho rabbit pellets. It is the best, better than every diet except maybe Kline. Unlike other feeds, it does not have corn. It has probiotics in it, but I give acidophilus every day to support a healthy digestive system, and it also helps some chins gain weight. The pellets are dusted with calcium with alfalfa and rosehip powder.

**Orchard grass/Clover 90/10 percent mix and alfalfa.

**Water is filtered (no microbials, etc).

**Treats are: rosehips, acidophilus, and then for birthdays everyone gets a Chinnie-Oh in their preferred variety. After hair ring checks, everyone gets a raisin. I know raisins have led to liver toxicity in other animals, so I make sure to give small pieces according to weight. 

**For chins that have seizures, we give basil and occasionally chammomile.
 
**We do not ever give oats, wheat, wheat germ or grain hay. We avoid corn because of it's potential to grow toxic mold. For underweight or malnourished chins/rabbits, we give Calf Manna until weight is gained, otherwise we don't give that, either.

Playtime Schedules:

Six days a week, Monday through Saturday, our pet chins play an hour a day. This is the one area where our pet chins are distinguished from the rescue chins. Well, and our pets get to have bits of apple pellet, whereas the rescues do not. Our pets are Pepper, Mei-Mei, Cheel, Thaddeus, Earnest Anselm and Johan. Everyone else is a rescue.

On cleaning days, each chin plays while his/her cage is being cleaned. These do not count as their play days.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays are the days the rescues play (plus the 30 minutes it takes to clean their cage either on Wednesday or Sunday). Each solo-chin is guaranteed 6 hours of playtime a week. Each pair of chins is guaranteed 9. For a solo-chin, playtime is 2 hours at a time. For pairs, it is 3 hours at a time.

Playtimes are always supervised here. That means either Kjell or I am always available and aware of where the chins are. We're on the floor with them 99% of the time. We have dust out, a communal litter box (some of our chins try to hold it otherwise, and others have learned to use theirs in their cages from the playtime one), a willow house, a 4' tunnel and two 1' tunnels, and we also have a willow basket that's full of toys that anyone can take out and chew up or whatever. I often toss a ball or two down. If anyone's particularly attached to a toy, they can bring it back with them to their cage after playtime. 

Playtimes are in addition to personal one-on-one times. For example, take Chilli. Every other hour, I go to him and give him scritches and undivided attention for 15 minutes at a time. He also gets to play for 2 hours, three days a week, and 30 minutes while his cage is cleaned on Wednesday nights. 

Or, take Wubbzy. I stay in the bedroom for him until 3 p.m. every day. I sit and talk to him, or sing to him, give him scritches, reassure him that I'm there, etc. I do it 7 days a week. He also gets to play for 2 hours, three days a week, and on Wednesdays, he also gets to play for 30 minutes while his cage is being cleaned. (Chilli and Wubbzy are both in our bedroom).

Sage and Gus are another good example. They play for 3 hours, three days a week. Every day I also chat with them, give them scritches, snuggle Gus-Gus, work with Sage to gain her trust. Then, on Sundays, they also play for 45 minutes while we clean their cage.

Each chinchilla has a set of goals for behavior and/or health. We work intensively with him/her every day to reach those goals.