Chinchilla

[loulou111]

I really would love one as a pet but am looking for as much info as possible before I commit. Does anybody on here own one?. Can you give me some basic advice regards to care food and do they live ok on their own or better in pairs? Thanks in advance

[kvalidir]

Everything is better in twos in my opinion. We had two males, Humphrey and Maxwell and they lived very happily together in a large indoor aviary which we had built into a a large alcove. They were very tame, friendly and easy to keep, suffered no health problems of any note and as long as you are sensible and keep them draught free and enable them to have their dust baths I doubt you will have much trouble. They lived for a long time ( they were my older brothers) and having displayed no ill health died in their house ( at different times obviously). They are certainly a pet I'd happily have again.

[Clanad]

We have some friends that gave the little rodent a try as a pet… didn't work out very well… They're very cute little critters, but that's about it, as far as I can see.

Such as… if fed to rich of a diet, they tend to foul the fur around their rear end and it has to be trimmed by hand.

Here's a fair assessment:

http://www.2ndchance.info/chinchilla.htm

By the way, as with any exotic pet, a visit to the veterinarian can cost an arm and a leg, so to speak...

[Hypognosis]

They became popular in the USA, where typical suburban homes are huge, so it's no bother to them to turn a 6ft by 6ft section of a room into a floor-to-ceiling cage ('aviary', as kvalidir said, is an apt description).

In a typical British rabbit-hutch sized home, this would be an extravagant use of what little space you have. Some pet shop owners will not let you buy a large lizard without sight of the vivarium you intend to keep it in (better still, sell tou one!) so, if I ran a pet shop I'd be reluctant to stock chincillas because I'd insist on seeing the cage installation first and that's just impractical.

[Buenchico]

Click the links in the box at the top right of this page (Environment, Diet, etc) for loads of information:
http://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/pets/rodents/chinchillas

[chaptazbru2]

Great post kvalidir.

[lankeela]

They chew! Make sure any cage/enclosure is away from walls/furniture as they will shred wallpaper and chew anything they can get their teeth into. Stick rigidly to proper Chinchilla food or else they will become sick very quickly, provide dust for bathing in and clean water at all times.