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Chinchillas
for Sale
Chinchilla
(lanigera)
Keeping Chinchillas as Pets
Standard Grey Chinchilla
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Type |
The Chinchilla is in the Mammal
family (Mammalia). They are Rodents (Rodentia), and their family is called the
Chinchillidae (Chinchillas and Visachas). |
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Temperament |
Chinchillas are nocturnal, which
means they spend most of the day sleeping or napping. If there is something
interesting going on they will be more active during the day however.
Because they sleep during the day they need to be protected from a lot of noise
and disturbances during this time. The best time to play with your Chin is in
the evening. They will sometimes be ready to play with you in the late
afternoon. Intelligent and mischievous. Chinchillas are very social and need
affection and gentling. When you first acquire your chin, it will tend to be shy
and run, so you will need to spend some quality time with it. Chinchillas very
in temperament. For the most part, it is very hard to make a high strung
chinchilla calm or a mean chinchilla pleasant. Chinchilla temperaments are mostly
inbuilt. For the most part you get what you start with. Take this in
consideration when choosing your chinchilla. It is easier to assess an adult
Chins temperament and harder to tell with kits. For the most part they do not
care to be handled or petted, however when you gain their trust, they will hop
up on your hand for a scratch behind the ear. Chinchillas like to chew. It is a
natural instinct that you will not be able to curve. Chewing is necessary to
keep their teeth filed down. Since Chinchillas spend most of the day in their
cages it is important to provide them with things to keep them busy. Placing new,
clean cardboard in their cages for them to destroy will give them something to
do. Cardboard however, is not strong enough to do an adequate job at keeping
their teeth filed down. Also you need to monitor how much cardboard your chin is
digesting. If he appears to be eating a lot of the cardboard you need to cut
back on the card board play. Some Chins will allow you to hold them, although
they generally do not like to be held or cuddled. To hold a chinchilla use two
hands, supporting their back legs in one hand, and their front feet slightly
higher than the back with the other hand. Hold them up against your body to give
them a more secure feeling. Be careful not to squeeze them to tightly. It is ok
to hold a chinchilla by the base of the tail for very short periods of time.
Chinchillas like consistency and do not like changes and being moved around.
Chins have long memories, if they are frighten, they will remember it and will
reject whoever frightened them until their trust is regained. Chins can be
trained to some extent by consistently rewarding good behavior with a treat.
They will continue the behavior expecting the treat. Do not raise your voice to
or frighten the chinchilla unless it is for a wrong or dangerous behavior, like
chewing electrical wires. Chinchillas will bite if they feel threatened.
Chinchillas do not make good pets for anyone who has allergies to animal fur or
dust. They do not always make the best pets for children, as they do not like to
be held and cuddled, but may be ok for an older child who understands the needs
and temperament of the chin. Chinchillas are sensitive to stress and noise, so
approach them in a quiet way, handle gently and provide them with active
stimulation. Chinchillas make a variety of squeaks, squeals and odd sounding
barks. They do
not make vocal sounds often, but rather the noises they make come from their
chewing and rearranging of the things in their cage. Since they are nocturnal, these
noises usually occur at night. |
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Size |
About the size of a small rabbit
Height: 12 inches (30cm.)
Weight: 1.3-4 pounds (0.6 - 1.8 kg.)
The female is usually larger than the male. |
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Housing |
Chinchillas must be kept in a
wire cage, or it will chew its way out. Be sure the wire is not painted or
coated with plastic or the Chin will ingest this coating. The wire mesh should
have spaces no larger than 1-2 inches (2.6-5.1 cm.) apart,
½ - 1 inch (1.3-2.6 cm.) if you are
breeding. Some cages have wire mess bottoms with pull out trays which make
cleaning the cage easier. If you have a cage with a mesh shelf, be sure the
spaces between the mesh are no more than ½
inch (1.3 cm.) apart to avoid leg injuries. The chins cage should be big enough
to allow him to get adequate exercise. They enjoy running around and playing and
the cage has to be large enough for this, especially if you do not allow your
chin much time outside of its cage. A chinchilla who does not get to run and
play will be an unhappy chin. It is important to monitor the temperature where
your chin cage is being kept. In the winter months it should be kept in a draft
free spot. The ideal temperature for a Chinchilla is between 65-75° F (18-24°C).
Anything colder or hotter than this can cause your chin to become ill. In the
summer, if you do not have air conditioning it needs to be kept in a well
ventilated area. Keep the cage out of direct sunlight. In the summer the chin
should be kept in an area which is no hotter than 83°F
(28°C) and caution should be taken at temperatures
this high. If the temperature goes as high as 86°F (30°C)
your chin may be in trouble. Measures should be taken to cool your chin down. A
metal pan filled with ice cubes can be placed into the cage for the chin to lay
against and cool down. Be sure the chin cannot fall into the pan. Placing a lid
on the pan is a good idea. Since chins don't sweat, blowing a fan at them will
not cool them off, it will just blow hot air around. Chins sleep during the day
and it is not wise to wake your chin up during this hot spell, because if he
starts to run around he will make himself hotter and may cause heat stroke.
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Clean-up |
Cage trays need to be changed
once a week if you only have one Chin, more often if you have more than one Chin
in the same cage. If you have a cage that does not have a pull out tray it will
have to be cleaned more often. Pine shavings or newspaper can be used in the
pull out tray or in the floor of the cage if you do not have a pull out tray.
Cages should be totally cleaned and disinfected once a month. The chin should be
removed from the cage during this cleaning. It is especially important to do
this thorough cleaning if your chin is sick. If kept
clean, chinchilla cages have little odor. Chinchillas tend to pee in one corner of the
cage. This corner should have more bedding to help absorb the waste. You can
also sprinkle baking soda in that corner to help absorb any odors. |
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Grooming |
Chinchillas are pretty much odor
free. They like to chew and they need things to chew on in order to keep their
teeth filed down. They should be given something to chew on such as Chin blocks
(or pumice blocks) which can be found at your local pet store. If a chin does
not get enough things to chew his teeth will grow too long preventing him from
being able to eat. If this happens take him to a small animal vet to get his
teeth filed down. A chinchilla's coat can become very oily. Chinchillas bathe in
dust. They require a dust bath to keep the oils down. A special type of sand
which is extremely fine is used for the dust bath. This sand can be found in
your local pet store along with the bathtub. You can also use another medium
sized container as the tub if you wish. Normal sand should not be used as it has
sharper edges and will bother the chinchillas skin. The sand must be spot
cleaned every day to remove dirt such as droppings, hay or urine, etc. It should
be completely changed once a week. If you have more than one chin they should
have their own separate baths to reduce the risk of spreading diseases. |
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Feeding |
Chinchillas need to be fed a
consistent diet of pellets, alfalfa hay, timothy hay calf manna, and rolled
oats. Nuts and raisins can be given in moderation as treats. Any changes in
their diet needs to be done slowly, mixing the new food in with the old.
Chinchillas should have a heavy dish that is not easily knocked over. A 2 inch
(5 cm.) high ceramic bowl will due nicely. You can also use medal feeders which
attach to the side of the cage. These feeders are nice because it avoids the
chin from peeing in its food. Peed in food should be changed right away. Water
should be given in a gravity driven bottle with a medal spout that hangs on the
side of the cage. Since Chinchillas will chew, if the bottle is plastic, it
should be hung on the outside of the cage with only the medal spout sticking
through the cage. If any of the plastic is reachable by the chin, it should be
protected with something such as wire mesh. Water bottles should be changed and
cleaned daily with soap to avoid bacterial build-up. Be sure to thoroughly raise
the soap out from the bottle. |
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Exercise |
Chinchillas need exercise to be
happy healthy pets. Your chinchilla will enjoy a
large exercise wheel, if your cage is big enough to accommodate one. Take caution if you have very small babies in the
cage to make
sure they do not get their feet caught in the wheel. If you do have very small
babies in the cage, it is best to take the wheel out until they get bigger. Even
with a big cage, a chinchillas should have at least an hour a day outside their
cage to run and play in a chinchilla proofed room. Remove all items that could
cause a potential danger to your pet such as electric cords, poisonous plants
and cleaners. Take care that your chin does not chew anything you do not wish
him to chew such as your couch! Any time spent outside the cage should be
supervised. |
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Life Expectancy |
Up to 10-20 years - in captivity
10-15 years in the wild |
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Health Problems |
Chins are prone to uneven teeth,
overgrown teeth, spurs, fur biting, fungal infections, diarrhea, constipation,
heat stroke and seizures. |
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Gestation |
Male chinchillas are sexually
mature at around the age of 5 months and females at about 8 months to 1 year.
This does not mean a chin cannot get pregnant before this time however. When
females are about 6 months old they start to go into heat about every 25 to 35
days. A female can generally have about 3 litters a year, giving birth to about
1 to 4 kits per litter. The chinchilla's gestation period following a successful
mating is about 109 to 120 days. |
| Origin |
The Chinchilla originated from
South America. In the early 1900's the Chinchilla was almost extinct because
they were killed for their fur. It takes 80-100 chinchillas to make a single fur
coat. In 1918 a gentleman by the name of Mathias F. Chapman was working in Chile
when he saw his first chinchilla. He set out to save them from extinction.
Chapman and 23 other men spent the next 3 years trying to trap the Chinchillas.
Because they were so scarce they were only able to capture 11. It took 12
months to bring these 11 Chinchillas down the mountain of Chile. They took every
precaution necessary so they would not lose any to the temperature changes they
encountered on the way down. During the shipment to the US one chinchilla died
and a new one was born. These eleven chinchillas were the beginning breeding
stock for all of the chinchillas in the United States today. By the middle of
the 1960's, thousands of chins were being raised throughout the United States
and Canada. The name Chinchilla is Indian for "little chinta".
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"This is my two in a half year old chinchilla "Techo" (In this picture he just turned 2). He is standard grey chin. I put him on a ferrets leash for the first time and after getting use to it, he loved it. I took him outside and when he ran around in the grass, I could not resist I had to take a picture and it's been my favorite picture ever since! Techo has an awesome personality!! It's been a lot of work, even getting him at eight weeks old; it took about a year for him to get totally comfortable with me. Now he gets all excited when I get home, the first thing I do is open his cage and he runs up my arm to come say "hi". He does have his days where he doesn't want to see me, but everyone has bad days and it only makes it his personality more awesome!"
Note: Some chinchilla owners do not suggest putting them on a leash, stating, "They are dangerous to chins and can break their ribs which are smaller than tooth picks."
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Silver Chinchilla - "The coat of a chin should look soft and dusted... not greasy looking."
Silver Chinchilla
Silver Chinchilla
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Snowball, the Pink White Chinchilla.
Snowball, the Pink White Chinchilla.
Snowball, the Pink White Chinchilla.
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Skittles, the Chinchilla.
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Standard Grey Chinchilla.
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Standard Grey baby Chinchilla, Lia. Her name is Irish for "Gray" and Spanish for "Rose".
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Chiquitita, the pink white chinchilla having a little run
around.
Chiquitita, the pink white chinchilla in
her cage. Chiquitita's owners bought her a marble slate to help her keep
cool during the hot summer months. She loves it!
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