• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pets Overload

Pet Care Tips, Reviews & Stories of our Pets

  • Betta Fish Care
  • Cat Care
  • Chinchilla Care
  • Hamster Care
  • Our Family
    • Betta Fish Stories
      • Blub
      • Flub
    • Cat Stories
      • Avery
      • Beau
      • Kalista
      • Walker
    • Chinchilla Stories
      • Gary
    • YouTube Videos
  • Reviews
    • Cat Products
      • Cat Food
      • Cat Grooming
      • Cat Litter
      • Cat Toys, Feeders & Misc.
    • Chinchilla Products
      • Chinchilla Toys & Chews
  • Instagram

Meet our New Chinchilla (Suprise!!)

May 14, 2018 By Johnny Salib 10 Comments

Hey Pet Parents & Pet Lovers,

I know, I know… I never told you guys I was getting a Chinchilla… well that’s because we didn’t really know we were getting a Chinchilla either!

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from my old boss saying that a customer had to rehome/surrender her longterm Chinchilla. My boss said the customer was looking for good pet owners to take him in and was too worried to put him up on Kijiji, or Craigslist. (I can understand why!) She said the customer seemed very caring for her Chinchilla and that I shouldn’t be too wary that I’d be taking home a sick or mishandled Chinchilla. Although we trusted that the Chinchilla was in good health, my hubby and I were a bit hesitant since we just moved into a much smaller apartment, and didn’t know if we would have the room for a Chinchilla.

We were also nervous that with Carrie/Kalista on the way, and Beau already in the house, that they would torture the little guy, so we got to thinking… how can we make sure all three of them will be happy and harmonious. I mean we already had Beau introduced to a hamster in the past (who kind of like the Chinchilla was surrendered at the pet store.) So what have we got to lose?

meet-gary-chinchilla-1

I quickly called the owner, who I will not name for obvious privacy reasons, and she was one of the sweetest people I have talked to! You could hear how important Gary, the name she had chosen for the Chinchilla, was to her. I soon learned that he was approximately 10+, and that she actually rescued him from the streets. This completely melts my heart as Beau was also a cat that we had rescued from the street. I made a joke a few years back that my home was going to be filled with rescues that I just couldn’t say no to… and it’s actually becoming true.

meet-gary-chinchilla-2

It took us a bit of time to plan to pick up Gary since we don’t own a car and I wanted to make sure I was prepped for his arrival, so I did a bunch of reading and luckily the sweet owner offered to answer any questions I had about his care and of course if any of you have advice on how to take care of a Chinchilla I appreciate it. I will share interesting facts about Chinchillas I learn, and little tricks we learn from him as I do with the cats, fish and hamster, but boy am I excited to start this journey!

meet-gary-chinchilla-cage-2

The kind owner also gave us a pretty big cage, and a bunch of hiding places, food, litter, hay etc! It’s quite big, so I’m not too worried about “upgrading” just yet, especially because I want to do some research in what his habitat needs, and what cages do well. He does have lots of things to climb, chew and a cosy place to sleep! So again, not too worried!

beau-and-gary-chinchilla-cat

Beau was immediately curious about Gary and came running into the room as soon as we put him in his cage. I’m glad the cage is big enough and that Gary has a place to run and hide so Beau can’t reach him, although I’m not super nervous because I can visibly see Gary from my office desk and Beau got along swimmingly with Twitch, Flub & Blub. He’s probably just trying to see who’s the new member of the family! I’m debating making a seat for him close enough to the cage so he can watch Gary, but far enough that he can’t stick his paws in.

bea-meeting-gary-2-chinchilla-cat

I mean we did find the tubser like this, but he hasn’t reached his paws in, which tends to be a good sign. Again, we’ve put his home way in the corner so when Gary needs to hide, he’s covered by a few walls. Will definitely monitor over the next few days to see how Beau does and my office is already a “no pet space” at night so Gary will be safe.

Since Gary is still adjusting to our place, we let him rest in his cage and haven’t taken too many more pictures. I will definitely be updating you all and have actually come up with a bit of a schedule for the site to keep me regulated. My hope is to get 5 posts out minimum a week, one for each type of pet we have, and one photo dump/update about all of them to send you off for the weekend. That way everyone gets fair representation since I noticed the website was pretty heavy on kitties as of late (don’t worry we still love kitties!) Let me know what you think about the new rotation, and as always can’t wait to share our pets lives with you <3

Filed Under: Beau, Cats, Chinchilla, Gary

Related Posts

  • My Cats Have Started Fighting over the Cat Tree (Video)My Cats Have Started Fighting over the Cat Tree (Video)
  • REVIEW: Petstages Tower of Tracks Pet ToysREVIEW: Petstages Tower of Tracks Pet Toys
  • Why Are My Cats Eyes Watering? What Can I Use to Clean My Cats Eyes from Tear Stains?Why Are My Cats Eyes Watering? What Can I Use to Clean My Cats Eyes from Tear Stains?
  • What is Pica in Cats & How Can I Help My Cat Stop Chewing?What is Pica in Cats & How Can I Help My Cat Stop Chewing?

About Johnny Salib

Johnny is a twenty-something-year-old pet blogger and the proud pet parent of two cats and a chinchilla. He also writes music directly aimed to help keep cats chilled out and stress free.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Meezer's Mews & Terrieristical Woofs says

    May 21, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    Happy Greetings to your new furmily member!
    Wow a Chinchilla! What a cute furball he is!

    Whatever you decide to post and how/when is fine with us, we only get to come at intervals ourselves…which is why we went from 2 blogs to one. MOL! Back in the days of Catster/Dogster, I had 8 kitty pages, 3 of them active, and 2 doggy pages…don’t know how I kept up! LOL!

    Reply
    • Johnny Salib says

      May 21, 2018 at 10:40 pm

      Oh man that’s nuts! I feel you. I do really enjoy writing for this blog though. It really brightens my day!

      Reply
  2. Eastside Cats says

    May 16, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    Gary is so cute! Congrats on your new family member!

    Reply
    • Johnny Salib says

      May 16, 2018 at 3:10 pm

      Isn’t he though? I’ve fallen in love with him and have been snuggling him whenever I can! <3 Thank you for the congrats

      Reply
  3. Ellen Pilch says

    May 14, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    Nice to meet you Gary. Chinchillas are cute.

    Reply
    • Johnny Salib says

      May 14, 2018 at 4:46 pm

      They really are! I never thought I’d have one before!

      Reply
  4. da tabbies o trout towne says

    May 14, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    welcome gary; we R sorree yur mom had two re home ewe; but we hope ewe noe …yur in de best home ya could hope for…may bee sum time… yur mom can vizit… if itz knot two hard two due sew…..we haz never meeted a chinchila bee for !! 🙂 ♥♥

    Reply
    • Johnny Salib says

      May 14, 2018 at 4:46 pm

      Yes! We would love to have his mom visit! And we even let them know if ever their circumstance changes we would be happy to give him back, although we are falling in love with him quickly!

      Reply
  5. Crystal and Daisy Mae says

    May 14, 2018 at 11:29 am

    Congrats on your new Chinchilla. Hope beau and the Chinchilla get a long. MOL Good Luck. Happy Mother’s Day.

    Reply
    • Johnny Salib says

      May 14, 2018 at 4:45 pm

      Thanks Crystal! So far so good! Gary is coming out to play a bit today, which is great to see 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

About | Friends | Advertise | Contact
Pets Overload is a personal blog run by a twenty-something year old pet owner from Toronto, ON.

LIKE WHAT YOU READ?

You can use the form below to receive an e-mail whenever we have a new update.

Do Cats Eat Roaches? Is it Safe For Cats to Hunt & Kill Cockroaches?

Top List of Our Favourite (And Inexpensive) Chinchilla Cages

REVIEW: Meowfia Premium Cat Cave Beds

© 2016–2023 Pets Overload.
Written by Johnny Salib brought to you by Kispow OÜ

Privacy Policy.