Chipmunk world - Housing

Fresh extra bedding should always be available in the chipmunks environment.
Chipmunks are clean animals as they will clean and sort out there own sleeping boxes, but they still need a clean out several times a year especially after baby have left the nest, but don't disturb winter stores or new born baby.
I leave the chipmunks to make there own beds after I have cleaned them and inspected them, I will put a small amount of bedding bake in the box but then leave them to sort out the rest, this has two effects:
1) Gives them something to do and thus helps to enrich there life as they would have to sort out bedding them selves in the wild.
2) They like the beds in different ways and thus They can do this better than I can.

We use a large earthen ware flower pot to put extra bedding in.

What type of bedding should be used? this depends on the animals taste. Never use man made fibers as these can irritant the lining of the mouth, pouches and eyes.
I tired different types of natural nesting materail.Hay, straw, leaves, shredded paper (both long and short type shredding). Our chipmunks always seem to prefer shredded paper of any length if it is too long they just chang the length themselves. Even thaw I know they like paper I still give them chose from time to time to see if there tastes change so far it has not.
Cardboard tubes the type you find in the centre of toilet roles and kitchen towels are also good to be given to the chipmunks use them to both running threw (play with) the they strip the cardboard out of them some time add the cardboard to the bedding as well.

There should be more nest boxes than chipmunks in the cadge, they may not all be used but this will help reduce squabbles from braking out over dominance also if you put enough for all the chipmunks to use at a high level then there is no highest box (usually occupied by the most dominant and will be fort over). but also put some at floor level is also good they may only be occasionally used for sleeping but they can also be used for storing food. The chipmunks will chose where they want to sleep, it could be that more that one sleep in the same box.
A gap between the nest boxes is also a good idea as when I had them all next to each other as one chipmunk passed another nest box the other one could jump out at its neighbour and attack it. Giving them some separation and different way of getting to the nest meant that it was easer to enter there nest box without upsetting the neighbours.

Some times it has been known for our chipmunks to be lazy and not bother to take the bedding from the plant pot that i use to provide extra bedding in, they can just move in to the plant pot instead. Well whey move the bed.

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