Caring for a Chinchilla

1 Chinchilla Care: Selection, Housing and Feeding

I. How to Choose a Chinchilla

1. Choose one 4–6 months old: too young is hard to keep alive, too old is hard to bond with. Pick a calm temperament, which is easier to tame. Place a candidate in your hand — if it urinates or bites, it is usually bad-tempered.

2. Check for health: avoid any with diarrhea, sparse or stiff coat, bald patches, exposed flaky skin, missing ears, heavy eye/nose discharge, red swollen eyes, drooling or missing claws.

II. Cage Choice and Setup

1. Size the cage to the number and size of chinchillas and arrange it sensibly.

2. Never put plastic items in the cage — a chinchilla may chew them and develop serious digestive disease.

III. Feeding Notes

1. Chinchillas are vegetarian. Young ones should eat mostly alfalfa with some timothy hay and no treats. Adults can eat mainly chinchilla pellets plus timothy hay and a little dried vegetable and fruit. They also need to wear down their teeth, so offer chew sticks such as apple branches and sweet bamboo.

2. Chinchillas fear heat, not cold; 8–25°C is ideal. In summer cool them down and move them to an air-conditioned room if needed to prevent heatstroke. In hot weather add a little salt to the drinking water to avoid dehydration.

3. They are timid and easily startled — keep the cage away from TVs and speakers and the home quiet.

4. Clean a chinchilla with chinchilla-specific dust bath, never water. Pour the dust into a dish and the chinchilla will roll in it to clean itself.

5. If you already have cats or dogs, avoid keeping a chinchilla, as it will be under great stress.

IV. Common Disease Prevention

Diarrhea, enteritis, constipation, mange mites, convulsions and heatstroke are common in chinchillas — prevent them routinely. Diarrhea usually comes from spoiled food; enteritis often follows diarrhea. Chinchillas heatstroke easily in high heat, showing poor appetite, slightly red ears, inability to stand and exhaustion — cool them at once if you see this.