chinchillas

[crazy4cute]

My mate has 3 mega cute chinchillas and since I met them I have fallen in love with chinchillas!!This christmas she said they will be breeding therefore there will be some chinchillas up for grabs!!! This is the perfect oppotunity for me to have my very own chinchillas and I talked to my mum and eventually she agreed that it was a good idea!!! But when I asked my dad he said NO and I kept asking him but the answer was still the same. I REALLY love these animals and would hate to see this chance to have my own go away. Does anyone have any tips on how to convince my dad to agree and realise that I am responsible enough to care for them myself!! PLESE HELP!!!

[Morrisonker]

no.  Basically.  If your dad doesn't think it's a good idea I'd be very very surprised if you can convince him.  Nothing to do with you and your abilities, only because as we all know fathers can be damned stubborn.

You could look online and try and find articles on the care of chinchillas and let him read them.  Unfortunatly I remember hearing that they require lots of special treatment.

[woofgang]

you have a cat, as I recall, the cat would want to hunt the chinchillas which would terrify them I think your dad has a point

[desertrat]

The best way to understand their requirements would be to do a lot of research on the internet. Basically Chinchillas have a very specialised diet and the food is quite expensive. They will become ill if you give them too many snacks. They sleep pretty much all day and  only seem to come alive late at night. You would not want to sleep in the same room as them as they are very active. Ours have a large cage approx 6ft high, 3ft wide and 2 ft deep. This lets them run about if we are away for a few days and means that our friends only have to worry about feeding them. They also poo all the time. Although the poo is very small and very dry it bounces an amazing distance out of the cage. They also need to chew constantly and will need to be very well supervised when out of the cage. They definately need a lot of chewable items inside the cage. If you have a cat as has been mentioned then there is a good chance it will attack the chinchillas. Having said all of that they do make nice pets and if your family decides that having chinchillas is a good idea then you should make sure that you get at least two as they really like compnay all of the time. Two females would be the best bet.

[Kingaroo]

Perhaps you could convince your dad and friend to let you care for the chinchillas in your home for a week. This would let you and your dad see what it is really like to have them around the house and how much work/fun they are., and whether your cat will be a problem.