Hey I bought my Chilie Rose in mid august so ive had her about 3 weeks now. i set up a cage around 45x45x45cm for her but i have a few questions about her. as im new to this and havent owned any exotic pets before i'd like to know if shes okay.
1.) the most concerning thing at the moment is ive noticed white marks on her abdomen. ive posted a picture below so you can see. im not sure if this is just dirt from the cage but it would be nice to know if its someone worth getting checked out. shes had them since i bought her but there's considerably more white there now.
from endless hours reading up from books and the net i came to the conclusion that she might be starting to molt as shes currently rejecting any food i feed her (which ive now removed) and shes losing hairs on her abdomen. before now she was also very immobile although as im writing this shes started to move around the cage
2.) i put her in the cage thinking that i could later go out and buy more things to re-do the cage so i could take her out, improve the layout and then put her back.. but shes just started burrowing and if i move anything in the cage it will most likely destroy her burrow. should i just leave it how it is? or will she just dig a new one when i put her back in.
3.) im currently using half vermiculite and half bark chips on either side of the cage as an experiment to see which she prefers. i think the chips are causing mould to grow and im assuming that needs to be sorted out. what is everyone else using for ground cover.
4.) and finally.. the cage i have is quite tall (45cm) and i have only around 4 inches of ground cover in the cage as the door opens on the side. shes getting into a habit of climbing up the glass and sliding off.. the fall can be up to a foot and im worried after reading how fragile they are that she might hurt herself. is it okay to leave it how it is? or do i need to lower the hight of the cage somehow?
thanks for any input and reading
1.) the most concerning thing at the moment is ive noticed white marks on her abdomen. ive posted a picture below so you can see. im not sure if this is just dirt from the cage but it would be nice to know if its someone worth getting checked out. shes had them since i bought her but there's considerably more white there now.
from endless hours reading up from books and the net i came to the conclusion that she might be starting to molt as shes currently rejecting any food i feed her (which ive now removed) and shes losing hairs on her abdomen. before now she was also very immobile although as im writing this shes started to move around the cage
2.) i put her in the cage thinking that i could later go out and buy more things to re-do the cage so i could take her out, improve the layout and then put her back.. but shes just started burrowing and if i move anything in the cage it will most likely destroy her burrow. should i just leave it how it is? or will she just dig a new one when i put her back in.
3.) im currently using half vermiculite and half bark chips on either side of the cage as an experiment to see which she prefers. i think the chips are causing mould to grow and im assuming that needs to be sorted out. what is everyone else using for ground cover.
4.) and finally.. the cage i have is quite tall (45cm) and i have only around 4 inches of ground cover in the cage as the door opens on the side. shes getting into a habit of climbing up the glass and sliding off.. the fall can be up to a foot and im worried after reading how fragile they are that she might hurt herself. is it okay to leave it how it is? or do i need to lower the hight of the cage somehow?
thanks for any input and reading