Chinchilla Care
by
Cheryl Graham
of Che' Chinchillas
(
17-Oct-2008
)
Getting Ready to Buy a Chinchilla
Before you purchase your chinchilla you will need to get a cage. For 1 chinchilla I like to have about a 24" x 24" x 18" cage that allows you enough room for their house, dust bath, feeding dishes and exercise wheel (chinchillas love, love, love their exercise wheel). Especially at night so keep a little vegetable oil on the turning joint of the wheel so it doesn't keep you up!) You will also need a water bottle that hangs on the cage. I use distilled or filtered water. Now, if you are going to breed a pair of chinchillas I like to have a 24" x 36" x 18" cage and wire openings no bigger than 1/2" x 1" so the babies can't get out. I like to use Martin's Cages. They are easy to assemble and have many to choose from. If you would like to make your own chinchilla cages you may want to try the klubertanz website. I would use 16 gauge wire that is galvanized after welding. I use heavy duty plastic bottoms for my cages from Martin's Cage. I do not like to use a wire floor because they can cause injuries and sore paws.
Your chinchilla will need a good quality pellet food and timothy hay. I use shoots chinchilla pellets, but I have also heard that tradition is a good pellet feed. I get my timothy hay from a farm and feed supply store . I find it's a much better value to buy the feed items from a breeder or a farm and feed store than a pet shop. I also give my chinchillas an alfalfa block every few days and a teaspoon of "supplement" (chinchillas love, love, love their supplement and they are waiting by the door excited when they know I'm getting ready to put it in their dishes). I use a separate tiny bowl for their supplement because they will throw out their pellets digging for the supplement if you put it in the same dish. You can make your own supplement or get it from a breeder. If you do a search engine for chinchilla supplement recipe it should pull up about 3 recipes.
Chinchillas take a dust bath about twice a week (or several times a day if you leave their dust house in the cage, which they will also use as a litter box if you leave it in the cage all the time). You can purchase a dust bath house online or at a pet shop. I change my dust about once a week. I like the blue cloud dust because it has a finer softer feel to it, but you can also use blue sparkle which is grittier, but I think is cheaper in price. Both of these products are real volcanic ash, which is what chinchillas use in the wild. This keeps your chinchilla clean and healthy. These you can get online from several companies or at pet shops. Your best value is to buy a large bag from a chinchilla breeder or chinchilla online supply company.
I use pine shavings that are kiln dried for their bedding, which I change once a week. I purchase a huge bag of these from a farm and feed store, but you can also get a good deal from a breeder. If you buy tiny bags of everything from a pet shop it will cost alot more. Do not use cedar shavings, they are toxic to chinchillas. Chinchillas like to munch on their bedding sometimes so make sure you use safe shavings. They also like stuff to chew on and it's good to keep their teeth wore down. You can get pine blocks, pine cones that aren't treated with pesticides, apple twigs that aren't treated with pesticides. They also like a small shredded wheat treat. Only give them dried fruit like raisins, dried mango, dried pineapple, dried papaya, dried kiwi, banana chips once in a great while and only a tiny piece. Their pellets and timothy hay are going to make them the healthiest.
My chinchillas also like to have a pine ledge to hop up on about 6 inches down from the top of the cage. The size I use is about 6" x 6" x 5". They also like little canopies to sit in that hang from the top of their cage, which they destroy eventually by chewing the fabric hangers. They will also chew on their wood house , your wood stuff, electrical wires, etc. so if you let them out for play time keep an eye on them. The easiest place for me to keep an eye on them is my half bath.
I think the best feeders are metal feeders that attach to the cage. You could use ceramic dishes, but chinchillas like to move anything not secured down and will often turn these over and dump out their food. They will chew plastic dishes up so I do not recommend those.
Buying a Chinchilla
You have decided to buy a chinchilla. What is the best way to go about it? I would buy a chinchilla from a reputable breeder. They keep track of their breeding lines and will be able to give you a pedigree. You can see the parents of the chinchilla you want to purchase. As with any pet you are better off to spend a little more money in the beginning to get a healthy, good quality animal than to impulse buy at a pet store and end up with heartache and expensive vet bills later. Plus if you eventually decide you want to breed a pair of chinchillas you know you have a good quality animal to produce good quality offspring. Be picky when you choose an animal. Look at pictures on line so you can decide which kind you want and look the animal over carefully. Check his eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, feet, etc. Make sure they are lively and alert not lethargic. Do you want a large or small chinchilla? At chinchilla shows (yes, they have shows just like dog shows) they like the animals to be on the larger size; around 600 grams. So, if you are wanting to breed or show eventually than you will want to keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that really large or over weight chinchillas can be slower to reproduce. In my experience the larger chinchillas tend to be more calm. I do have one smaller breeding pair, Baja and Bindi, that are very laid back and will always look like "youngsters" because of their size, which I love. Most all of the rest of my herd are large animals. So, if you are looking to buy larger chinchillas it's definitely a good idea to look at the parents so you can get a better idea of how large your chinchilla will grow to be.
Chinchillas as Pets
I do not recommend chinchillas for children under 10. One thing to be careful of is their tiny rib cage so you don't want to squeeze them too tightly. When you hold a chinchilla it's best to scoop them up from underneath. Hold their belly against your chest with one hand and hold the base of the tail with the other hand. When you go to get your chinchilla bring a small metal carrier, which you can get from a pet store or online store. Put some shavings in it and maybe an alfalfa block. On the ride home leave it in it's cage. They will be scared and unsure. Even if they have been handled previously they don't know you yet. When you get them home put them in their new cage in a quiet place and give them about a week to get adjusted. Just check on their food and water, but don't handle them until they have had time to adjust. If you start handling them right away this can stress some chinchillas out so much they can go into shock and die so be patient. Most chinchillas are laid back, but some are more high strung. After they have adjusted I like to take them out and put them in the half bathroom. I just sit without holding them and let them get used to me. (I take a book in with me so I don't get impatient). Chinchillas are curious so gradually they will make their way over to you and even climb on you. The more you can let them make the contact the better. You can give them a raisin that they will eventually take from your hand. If you give them 2 to 3 raisins the first couple of days you have them it may stimulate their appetite, but after that remember, only once in a great while. The more time you spend with your chinchilla the tamer they will become. My chinchillas will climb up on my shoulder and inspect me, even touch their nose to my nose. Each has their own personality. Chinchillas like to have a buddy so even if you don't want to breed you may want to get 2 brothers or 2 sisters, especially if you are gone at work all day.
Chinchillas Health
Chinchillas can tolerate temperatures of 64 to 72 degrees (the lower temperature is more comfortable for them). I keep mine in the basement. It stays nice and cool. There is plenty of lighting and windows. It is also a calm environment for them. Temperatures above 75 degrees are not comfortable for the chinchilla and combined with humidity can be fatal.