CHINCHILLAS- The Basics.
This article original started out as a project for AcmePet website. This site has now become a part of the PetSmart Website. With that change, I now use this forum for all future updates and additions. I hope you find this accurate and informative...as always, comments are encouraged.
What I would like to say about these Silly Fur Balls... The chinchilla is an inquisitive, friendly pet. More outgoing than a rabbit, begging for attention, easily spoiled, something of a living Furby. The coat is softer than any other fur I have felt on any pet. But.... You may start reading this and think I want to discourage some one from getting a chinchilla. There is nothing further from the truth, but I have found so many sites that tell the cute stories, show the goofy pics, sell the needed dust bath and pellets. Many sites describing colors, breeding information, genetic theory, etc. I found very little about the practical topics, so a new or potential owner of a chinchilla will need to know. I hope that you are a new chin fancier upon reading this, go out and arm yourself with knowledge on chins. Then be prepared to decide on whether a chin is the right pet for you. They are addictive.. like salty chips- you can't have just one! Well, you CAN have just one, if you you take a lot of time with your single chilla. But they are happier with a cage mate. Same sex pairs may be, in the right conditions, kept together successfully and live a long and happy life. Some opposite sex pairs may not get
along well enough to mate, but live together for years.
Chinchillas are a large South American rodent like animal related to Cavies (guinea pigs) and Degus. They are totally herbivorous with the majority of the diet consisting of grasses and plants, with very little grains. Chins live a long life compared to most rodents, up to 12 to fifteen years. Records have indicated longer life spans on some individuals. Chinchillas are most active at dusk and into the early evening, during the night, and up again until sunrise and maybe slightly after that. They are relatively odorless, quiet and easy to keep, as long as certain need are meet. These include diet, housing, temperature / humidity control and general good maintenance with veterinary care. Breeding is not extremely difficult, but requires special care such as housing, vigilance, with extra care in diet and vet care. Litters are small and infrequent (compared to rabbits, hamsters, mice, rats, gerbils or even guinea pigs) and the potential breeder must be prepared for anything including the death of mother and offspring, fostering or hand feeding babies and many health issues which may not be relevant to the pet owner. Also there are a number of genetic pitfalls, some with the advent of color mutations, which must be addressed if one is to pursue breeding.
Chinchilla are great pets, however they may not be the best pet for everyone. Small children may not be suited to handling a chin. The extra care needed in routine care is best supervised by an adult or older child (10 years or older) and some one that has been familiar with the feeding, housing and general care of other smaller rodents or rabbits. Our chilla friends are smaller and weigh less then their initial appearance may show. Limbs and ribs can be crushed and broken very fast if a person is not aware of their own actions. Tail tips can be stripped off the the bone and will never grow back. But the up side to this is Chilla's are quiet for most of the time, inexpensive to feed, odorless when properly cared for, housing can be small and simple to care for, and will live for much longer than other small pets.
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