Considering a Chinchillas As a Pet?
by: RachelRae |
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Chinchillas are of the rodent family although they don't seem like it. If you've never had a chinchilla before you may want to consider one as a pet.
Also known as "chins" they have incredible velvety fir, and they resemble a chubby squirrel with Mickey mouse type ears. They are nocturnal, although they do get up and play alot during the day. Chins are very smart and playful, and I'm told can be trained. They are also very clean, so their cage area doesn't tend to stink as many other types of caged animals can.
I got my first pair of chinchillas, as adults, a proven breeding pair. They were nice enough but they never really did bond with us. We ended up having 3 litters total. They usually have 1-3 babies (also known as kits), and their pregnancy is 111 days (about 4 months), which is a very long gestation period 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.
One of the funnest parts of being a chin owner is bath day. Take a bowl and put chinchilla dust in it. They dive in, roll, kick, swirl and is a delight to everyone who watches! They eat pelleted chinchilla food and should be given a raisin a day.
The real joy for us came as we kept one of the babies. She bonded really well with us, as she was handled a lot from birth on. She has been one of the BEST pets I've ever had (of any kind of animal). She is playful, friendly, never bites, when she "barks" it's a quiet, cute kind of bark. A whole lot of personality and character she is.
Chins are a more playful active type pet, versus a sit down lap animal. I would recommend getting a baby if you decide to get a chinchilla. They usually run about $100. in the US for a pet, but that price can vary a lot.
Another great quality about pet chins is they have no claws or nails, but soft little pads on their feet so you don't get scratched. They are not recommended usually for small children tho as young children can hurt them easily.
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.
I found when I was trying to sell the babies that most people had no idea of what a chinchilla was, or had even seen them. That made it a bit difficult to find good homes at times, although with such few babies, this wasn't a problem. The people who did come to purchase a chin had one thing in common: all of them had either owned a chinchilla previously, or had a close friend who did and had been around them before. That really says something about this type of animal for a pet.
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About the Author
By Rachel Ray - It's so incredible to start to let our creativity flow, to relax and get back to basics and easier times. Too often we're out of balance on the whole work life balance , issue and need to relax and play more.
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