Hi all,

After 3 days I've finally been able to finish all 118 pages of this thread. And I must say I've learnt more from reading all this than from any of the other professional websites. That's probably bcos there's a human element to the replies, not just raw scientific facts.

I'm a Malaysian working in HK and after a year of research and careful deliberation I've decided to get myself a companion 3 days ago. The hardest part is to configure the proper conditions in my 540sq ft 2 room apartment (welcome to HK). Temperatures here range from 32 degrees in summer to 14 degrees in winter. Humidity ranges from 80% in summer to 30% in winter. As you can see the range is rather wide.

Obviously it's summer now in July, so I decided the cage which is 420x650x740(h), by the window sill which is raised 500 above floor level, in the living room. I figured one reasons for this: The living room is where I spend most of my time when I come home, and that means that the animal would be able to acknowledge my existence everyday, as opposed to putting it in the closet room, which is smaller but would be less costly to cool down with the A/C. The flat is facing west on the 15th floor, and with the surrounding towers there isn't any direct sunlight. The windows are shielded with blinds.

Introducing Furby the 4 month old male beige.













On the first day it was just exploring. I got him from a local breeder and I got to see the mother and father to discern their health. Mum is a dark beige and dad is a standard grey. When I held it in the shop it was so tame but when I put him back in the cage he starting jumping and redecorating. I thought that was a good sign of health and I chose him.

Last night after work I went to get a litter box and a bird handing wood toy with a bell at the end so it won't get bored. Had a bit of experience with swarf hamsters before, so I put the urine stained shavings into the litter box. My concern is that this litter box is the plastic one with the metal grilles covering it that I see some owners use on the forum as well. And also I realised that the hanging toy uses a fabric rope to string the wooden logs together. I only realised how these items would be a potential hazard when Furby manage to hop on one of the wooden perches and chewed the zip tie holding the thermometer to the cage. I have removed the hanging toy, and left the litter box. What do you guys think?

Furby had his dust bath last night, will try to post more pics in the weekend.

Keep up the good work guys. This thread is awesome.

Now it's the 3rd day It's a healthy little fella, and very very active.

Hi Chin,

Yes please I would love to get in touch with fellow chin owners here. I hope there are local forums in English as well as I am not proficient in Chinese.

As for the toys hahaha they were just for the picture. I have already taken them out. My gf will kill me if those toys get torn up. Thanks for the heads up though.

This post has been edited by JaoQuinz: Jul 15 2010, 05:28 PM

Spoken cantonese is fine. Is there a website? Thanks in advance.

Hi Chin,

I read that you keep your wonderful collection of chins in one room with the A/C on 24/7 and a little bit of the window open. As it's summer now here and with humidity levels very high (60-80%), I am following your footsteps and doing the same thing. I keep the A/C in my living room at 25C constantly in auto mode, with the door to the toilet slightly open and the exhaust fan on.

But now I have the "pet smell" that you get from owning a dog or cat in the apartment. I believe its from the urine odors. I use a generic pine shavings and everytime I see a stain i pick them up and throw them away or i mix them up with the rest of the shavings. I have also sprinkled baking soda on the bedding to help absorb the smell. I have activiated charcoal all over the place as well.

But whenever I return home from work, the smell is very evident once I open the door. I'm thinking of investing in an air purifier now. What are your tricks? Any tips?

Chipsi classic? Might go check that one out. OK so basically the smell if from the urine in the bedding, therefore I just have to take the wet bedding out everyday. Do you manage to control the smell as well?

Thanks for the tips!

Thanks angelz!

I saw something disturbing yesterday. Furby was standing there in the afternoon on his log, and all all of a sudden his penis extended out of his belly and he starting sucking it.

WTF.

Chin what does this mean??

Well I read that you have to do to hair ring check? If he's cleaning himself do I still have to do it?

yingtze how do you bring it to work?? Does pika run around in the office? I see that you work in a computer lab with lots of wires.

Furby is the one in the pic above eating.

Looks like fungus in the nose area, and fur biting at the back. At least the cage looks pretty big.