Pet Chinchillas
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By :
Noel Swanson
Submitted
2008-08-26 00:00:00 |
You may wish to consider a chinchilla as a possible pet. They are of the rodent family, (but it doesn't seem that way).
"Chins" otherwise known, look like chubby squirrels with Mickey Mouse type ears. They are very clean animals so their cages do not tend to stink as many do. Although they are nocturnal animals, they do play quite a bit during the day and are very smart.
Our first chins we got were a proven breeding pair and although we really loved them, they just never really bonded to us, most likely because they were older adults already by then. Chins have 1-3 kits per litter and a pregnancy is 111 days, which is a very long gestation for an animal that size.
The babies are born fully formed, "ready to go" you might say. Fully furred, eyes opened, running around. They can even eat adult food almost from day 1, although they prefer to nurse.
Chins eat a pelleted food called chinchilla food. They should have 1 raisin a day as well which they love as a treat. Every couple days, give them a bowl with chinchilla dust in it and watch out! They roll and swirl and play like mad in their "bath". It is a blast to watch, always great for company to get a laugh.
We kept one of the babies from this pair, and she was the best pet we ever owned. We handled her from day one and she bonded to us very well. She was playful, sweet, never bit and had a cute little quiet bark. Tons of personality as well!
Chins aren't so much of a quiet, lap pet who will sit there quietly, but are more active on the move pets. If you can get a baby over an adult I believe they bond better.
Another very nice quality about chins as pets, is they have no claws or fingernails. They have these little soft pads on the bottom of their feet, so you don't get scratched. I wouldn't recommend them with small children however, as young children could easily hurt a chinchilla.
Chin's average life span is about 10-15 years, because of this be sure you're ready for that type of commitment. They need to live indoors. Standard gray is the most common color but there are other rare colors available as well, although you'll usually pay more for those.
When we were finding good homes for the babies, most people who were interested had never seen or been around chins before. The ones who did know something about them all had this in common; they either had owned one previously or knew someone close who did, which speaks very well of chins as pets.
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