teeth and toenails

[Marc_H]

hey guys, I got my first chipmunk yesterday, she's not chilled out enough for me to get a close picture of her feet, but it looks like her nails are pretty long.
How long should they be, and do I need to trim them? or is there something I can get for her to do it herself?

She was also chewing the top of her wooden nest box earlier this morning, which I think is to keep her teeth sharp?

[tarcus/Kevin]

They will chew wood and nuts all day long as just like other rodents their teeth continue to grow through their lives so they need plenty of rough to help them. As for their nails, I have mine outside so never have to worry about them as they are for ever climbing the mesh or the branches and self pedicure/manicure. 

[pinkpill]

hi  give them some unshelled nuts like almonds and hazlenuts, u can also give them walnuts and brazils but these probably wont get chewed to the nut as theyre pretty hard, but they keep them busy

and for theyre feet, wrap a block of wood in some sand paper, and attatch it to the cage, they'll pedicure themselves

[Marc_H]

oh cool thanks 
She's taming fast. Well, faster than most of the websites said she would. I've had her for 2 days and she's already chill enough to sit on my hand while she breaks open a peanut.

She barely bothers with the 'chipmunk' food I got, apart from the sunflower seeds that are in it. She much prefers bothering me to give her nuts. I can't put my hands near her cage without her darting over to get a nut.

Also she doesn't bother with her water bottle, the first day I got her, she didn't use it at all, so I put out a dish with water in it and she drinks from that instead.
edit; now I've stuck a bit of sandpaper onto the roof of her nest box, she eats up there a lot.

[pinkpill]

thats a good idea with the sandpaper on the roof

she may just not be used to a water bottle but persevere as a water dish could get messy

and she'll eat the chip food when she's run out of nuts

try her with some cooked chicken n sausage they always go down well with my lot

also boiled or scrambled egg goes down well too

you'll soon have her tame by the sound of it

[pinkpill]

by the way what have you called her??

[Marc_H]

I named her Bubbie  I got the name from a cartoon whale.
Today I let her run around the room a little bit, mostly on my bed, but now she's going crazy chewing her cage trying to get out again  do you know how to get her to stop that? She NEVER did it until I let her out. she was tamely climbing up and down my arm earlier, but then she bit me while I was distracting her from gnawing her cage using a sock  no blood but she made it clear that she was angry

Also, I read a thing that said if I keep her in her cage the first week or two, she'll know it's her bit, and even if she's out running around she won't mind going back in. Is this true?

[pinkpill]

no i'm afraid she's got the taste of freedom but she should calm down after start letting her out for regular playtimes

about her getting back into her cage herself, i usually dont top up there food or give them any treats until after theyve had theyre playtime, then when its time to get them in i top their food up and put some fresh fruit in their cage (normally oranges or apple coz its nice and smelly for them to notice) and they normally just all go home themselves, apart from one bad boy that i have, who takes more cunning ideas but you should find that she'll get used to going back home when ur ready

[Marc_H]

she's calmed down now, so she must have just been excited.
She always follows my hands thinking I have food for her, so I can lead her around with a peanut 
Although I can't put my hand near her cage without her darting over thinking I have food, so if I'm moving something around I have to distract her on the top level of the cage with one hand, and move the stuff with my other hand. It's cute though. If I don't have any food she nibbles my fingers until she realises they're not food.
Also she started using her water bottle, and tossed the bowl over across the top floor of her cage.

Right at this moment she's packing some pine needles and ripping up tissues into her cheeks, and taking them into her nest box. (to make a nest with I guess) I put socks in there at first, but now it seems she wants to make it herself.

[pinkpill]

aww she'll get used to things, she just making her cage her home
an i said the water bowl might get messy
mine love tissues and also shredded paper, and one of mine has a few feathers of a feather duster she got hold of

[Marc_H]

update;
Got a chunk of a tree, which she claws and digs at, so I don't need to worry about her nails.
She is also very tame now, if she's running around the room, she'll run up me onto my shoulders or chest, expecting a peanut. She bit me again yesterday, but that was because I had to move her out the way of her cage door, and she was freaking out because we had people over.
I wonder why all the things say chipmunks take weeks/hours of patience to tame. Maybe it takes them longer to get used to kids or something?

[pinkpill]

yes a tree trunk will do it

as for new people, they need to get used to their smell, as mine hardly ever see anyone but me n my mum, theyre a bit freaked out when i sell the babies as i have more visitors than usual, but the babies adapt quickly, and as for my adults, theyre used to my new dog barking at them all the time, so theyve adapted to him great, even when loose they ont take much notice of him

[Marc_H]

her bites aren't even that bad really.
I don't have any dogs or cats, so she doesn't have that instinctive fear of them

[pinkpill]

some of mine give me "love bites" as i call them, but i think thats more of a grooming bite as they defo arent trying to take a chunk out of me, maybe just testing me i have been bitten by mistake when i'v had food in my hand and they smelt it on another part of my hand and got over excited and tried to eat me but other than that i'v been ok

[Marc_H]

some of mine give me "love bites" as i call them, but i think thats more of a grooming bite as they defo arent trying to take a chunk out of me, maybe just testing me i have been bitten by mistake when i'v had food in my hand and they smelt it on another part of my hand and got over excited and tried to eat me but other than that i'v been ok

That's exactly what mine does.
She nibbles everything new that she finds, I guess to work out what it is.
Oh, and she doesn't care about her running wheel at all, instead she's put a bunch of grass and stuff under it, and built a hideout