Guide to Chinchilla Care

Items Needed to Maintain the Proper Health of Chinchillas

Chinchilla make good pets because they are very soft and cuddly. They can also be trained to sit on the couch with you. They are very intelligent and they remember bad events for a long period of time. Chinchillas need exercise to stay healthy so I would suggest buying your chinchilla a wheel to run in, inside of the cage. You could also buy a ball for the chinchilla to run in outside of the cage. Make sure to get one big enough and provide water and food in short breaks. You will also need to buy pellet food, timothy hay, a glass water bottle and a food dish. Chinchillas do not eat that much and one cup of food will last about 1 week. Timothy hay should be provided at all times. Timothy hay helps to keep the chinchillas teeth from growing too long.

Chinchillas go to the bathroom quite a bit. I could never get my chinchilla potty trained. It could be a possibility if you spent enough time with training while the chinchilla was young. If you are possibly thinking about purchasing two chinchillas you will need to buy them when they are babies. You should check with your local pet store and find out which breeds can go together.

You will not need to brush your chinchilla. They take regular dust baths on their own at least twice per week for no more than 15 minutes. The dust is actually volcanic ash and can be quite dusty. I would recommend putting the dust bath in the bathroom but not in the bathtub. This is because the bath tub might be wet. Chinchillas can never get wet! This will weigh down their fur and crush their organs. Its very important to close the toilet lid and keep the chinchilla away from water.