Kirby gets a new house

Kirby, up close and personal

Kirby arrived fully set up in the way of housing: two plastic houses, plus a third for bathing (chinchillas have to take dust baths on a regular basis). One of the two houses in the cage had been subjected to Kirby's teeth, and the entire back end of it had been nibbled away. I left it in the cage at first, because he seemed comfortable with it, and I didn't want to stress him out too much.

Kirby takes a look at the nosy neighbor with a camera.

Last week, I noticed that he was starting to feel more at home with me, and (here's the important bit) he was starting to gnaw on everything in his cage again. (I presume he was still in a bit of shock before, because he was only attacking the cardboard tube up until last week, ignoring the wooden chew sticks I provided). This included his house. Now, I don't know about you, but if I avoiding plastic cooking utensils because they are bad for my health, should I really allow my chinchilla to eat it? No, of course not. So, this weekend, Kirby got a new, wooden house. As you can see, if you look closely at the roof, he has already started chewing on it. I left one of the plastic houses in because he hasn't shown any inclination to chew on it yet, and because I wasn't sure he'd like the new one. Since he does, that house may go next.