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Chinchilla's are originally from the Andes of South America, they are nocturnal, and are part of the rodent family. With an average life span of 10 to 15 years, you want to be certain that a chinchilla is a pet you want. They are up at dusk, playing and eating throughout the night, resting during the daylight hours. Although resting does not necessarily mean sleeping.

Chinchilla need special care, their environment, health and nutritional needs can be a major factor in having a chinchilla as a pet. One of the best things about having a Chinchilla is: they are basically an allergy free animal. Most people that have allergies to other animals can have a chinchilla and they don't get fleas.(unless you allow other flea-ridden pets to come in close proximity of the cages and get to close to your chin's and/ or your chin's health is poor - this could cause a case of fleas to occur. Please contact a vet for assistance).

You may have an allergy to their dust or to the "Timothy Hay" they love to eat. With sealed containers and hand washing you can still have a chinchilla as a pet.

They need to be bathed daily. Especially if you live in a humid area, in a special chinchilla dust, that keeps their coat dry and clean. Chinchilla's need a clean, bright, dry, large, but not to warm caged area to live in. A wire cage, approximately the size of a 10 gallon fish tank is about right for one chinchilla.

Never place any chemical treated wood or cedar chips with chinchilla directly in their cages! Both are highly toxic. They love to chew on untreated pine and apple branches. Their home should be cleaned out every 5 to 7 days. Watering bottles should be cleaned every week also.

You can allow your chinchilla to roam around your home, but we would recommend that you only allow them out when you are there to monitor their whereabouts. They love to chew wires this can cause a fire, or death to a chinchilla and they love to nibble on house plants, most are toxic to chinchilla.

Always check chinchilla droppings for signs of illness. A chinchilla's droppings will change in size and shape if it has become ill or stressed.

We now have 10 chinchilla's.

Most of our chinchilla's are of the "standard" gray variety. We have had them as our pets since 1985. We enjoy raising chinchilla as pets!

If you have questions about chinchilla, please Email us!

Links to other chinchilla pages:

• ChinNet Page
• Cleveland Chinchilla Connection