Chinchilla Care

As for any pet, you should have prior information on how to care for one before keeping it in your house. There are certain characteristics and conditions that are you require to know before keeping a chinchilla, in order to know whether keeping a chinchilla as a pet is a good choice for you or not. Some of the striking characteristics of a chinchilla are that, they are nocturnal, thus, most active during the nighttime and that they live for about 20 years! You should also know the fact that chinchillas have very weak bones, because of which they cannot be handled by young children.

How to Take Care of a Chinchilla

Temperature, Bedding and Housing

Chinchilla care basically consists of providing it with a comfortable habitat which mainly consists of maintaining suitable temperature, giving it a proper housing and bedding. Chinchilla are very sensitive to high temperatures. They cannot survive in temperatures over 75 degrees fahrenheit. If you have mistakenly kept your chinchilla in a temperature over this, you should immediately cool it down, otherwise, it can die. If where you live it is always over 75 degrees fahrenheit, you must keep your chinchilla in an air-conditioned room. For emergency situations where the chinchilla gets overheated, you may consider keeping Terra cotta pots or marble tiles in the freezer, so that you can place your chinchilla on it, if it's overheated.

As far as housing is concerned, they need to be kept in a small cage, usually 2 x 2 x 3 feet in size. The flooring should be taken special care of because of chinchilla's very small feet, as they may get caught in the flooring. A flooring that is ½ by ½ inch in dimensions is perfect for your pet chinchilla. The cage of your chinchilla should be airy enough. Make sure there is no wood or plastic in its cage, as these substances are not safe for it. You must, however, keep plenty of chinchilla toys in the cage, so as to let it chew on it to grind its own teeth.

Chinchillas needs a proper bedding, where you must ensure that cedar is never used as its bedding, for it is very harmful for its respiratory system. Bedding recommended include Aspen, CareFresh and Kiln dried pine. You must change its bedding at least once in a week. Here's a surprising fact - chinchillas do not stink, so in case you notice a bad smell, you should probably clean or change its bedding!

Food and Water

Special chinchilla foods like fresh and mold free alfalfa, timothy hay should be fed to chinchilla. Make sure that you keep toys and cubes of hay in its cage, so as to encourage chewing since its teeth will be constantly growing. Keeping hay and toys for chinchilla will prevent its teeth from growing too long. There are several varieties of chinchilla food available in pet shops. Whatever food you choose for your chinchilla, make sure that you supply it fresh and consistent. Large amounts of food are not at all needed for chinchilla. For the pet's dietary needs, feed it either once or twice a day, but try to keep the consistency. If you consider changing the food, make sure you gradually introduce the chinchilla to its new food for a few weeks, by increasing the ratio of new to old.

As far as water supply goes, they must never be given tap water, as it might harm them. A filtered or purified water is what you should be feeding your chinchilla with. Water that has been purified using reverse osmosis, is the perfect one for your chinchilla.

Bathing, Health Care and Other Factors

Unlike other animals, chinchillas require a dust bath instead of a water one! This is because chinchillas originated from dry and deserted areas with no water. Thus, you need to give your chinchilla a dust bath twice a week. Make sure the chinchilla is not allowed to take a dust bath for more than 15 minutes. Commonly used dusts include Kaytee, Blue Cloud, and Blue Sparkle and are available on Internet or in pet shops. Some of the dusts are also available in scented forms. You may use that once in a while because otherwise the fragrance in those dusts, may harm your chinchillas respiratory system.

For health care you must ensure that a permanent vet near your house who is highly knowledgeable about chinchillas. It is wise to take your pet to the vet once every month or two. I would highly recommend a total health check up of your chinchilla at the vet, the day you get your first chinchilla. It helps in knowing whether your chinchilla is healthy or not in the first place. It will also help you and your chinchilla build a bond with the vet. With these tips taken into serious consideration, you should have no trouble at all when dealing with your pet chinchilla.