• Introduction
• Behavior
• Diet
• Housing
• Zoonotic potential
• Common Emergencies and Clinical Conditions in Chinchillas
• Surgical Considerations
• Health concern
• Rule out chart for Chinchillas based on clinical signs
• What about living quarters?
• Pregnancy information
• Postpartum nutrition/weaning
• Are they friendly animals that like to be handled?

CHINCHILA
Order Rodentia
Suborder Hystricomorpha
Family Chinchillidae
Genus Chinchilla
Species C . lanigera ( with a long tail )
                C . brevicaudata ( with a short tail )
            It is C . lanigera which is commonly kept in captivity today.
            C . lanigera is native to Northern Chile.It has a narrow neck and shoulders;the fur is very silky and medium to dark gray , with a white bluish cast.
            C . brevicaudata is native to Peru , Bolivia and Northwestern Argentina.It has a thich neck and shoulders;heavily furred with coarse hair that is light gray in colour , and is often tinged with a yellowish cast.its ears are shorter than those of C . lanigera and its nose is flatter, giving the animal a stocky appearance.
                Chinchillas are small furry animals, between a guinea pig and rabbit in size (range from 9 -15 inches, have a tail of 3 - 10 inches and weight from 1 - 2 pounds) Their body fur is very soft, hence their use in the fur industry. Their tail has wiry fur and is somewhat shorter than the rest of their body. The common color is gray, but colors range from white to black, including beige.
            Chinchillas were found by Europeans when the Spanish conquored the Inca indians. The royals in the Inca heirarchy wore chinchilla throws. Chinchillas were found in areas that now comprise Peru, Chile and Argentina. They were used to high rocky areas and lived in small cracks and crevices - some found above treeline at about 12,000 feet and others as low as 5,000 feet above sea level. By the beginning of the twentieth century they had been badly hunted, almost to extinction. The governments of these countries were trying to protect them and beginning to set aside areas to preserve them. An American engineer became interested in them and got permission [after a long time] to import some. He was able to bring 11 into the United States - 3 females and 8 males. On the way one died and one was born. It had been thought that they had become nearly extinct in the wild, and they are on the endangered species list.
            A chinchilla's average life span is 15 years, although they have been known to live 20+ years. We now have reports of chinchillas living up to 35 years. That is, however, an anomaly, and rare, but that is also possible.

            Behavior
            Most likes to be cuddled and carried.
            The chinchilla is active at night , but it can also be observed during the day at the entrance to its burrow. They love to run on wheels, especially at night.
            Basically nocturnal but can be active during the day.
             Chinchila rarely bite.
            Chinchillas make very little noise but do make a barking sound similar to a squeak toy.
            Chinchillas have no smell like the rat or guinea pig.
            Chinchillas hate change, prefer consistancy and do not like being moved much. If you move them, give them time to get used to the new surroundings.
            They make noises to let you know you are not paying enough attention to them. They are very social, and can be hand tamed to play and interact with you.
            Chinchillars are fast , agile , and seem to have a sense of humor as they entertain their families with their antics. They tend to urinate in their enclosure or litter box , but they are hard to litter-train with respect to their small , hard , dry fecal pellets. A vacuum or broom is all that is needed after playtime , however.

            Diet
•  Protein                                         15 % ( to increase during pregnancy and lactation )
• Carbohydrate                             35 %
• Fat                                                 4 %
• Fiber                                             30 %
• Minerals                                         6 %
• Moisture and trace element      10 %
            Because chinchila are native to cool,dry area of the Andes Mountain, they have adapt well to sparse food. They do well on a diet of hay and pelleted food , with some treats of produces.
            Chinchillas are vegetarians, primarily grass and seed eaters. They will eat alfalfa or hay.
            It feeds on roots , tubers , bulbs and mosses , which it holds tightly in its front feet and moves up to its mouth for a nibble.
            It will eat a wide range of vegetable food. In captivity a standard rabbit or guinea pig pellet is useful. If the pellets are made longer than normal this will enable chinchillas to pick up the food with their forefeet and eat while sitting on their haunches.
            Treat foods are given sparingly (small portion of any one item; total treat supplement per day not to exceed 1 tps./adult chinchilla): dried fruits , nuts , sunflower seed , various green vegetales , fresh carrot.
            Dried fruit (raisins , cranberries) and nuts are especially liked. Fresh carrot , cut grass and well washed green vegetables can also be given.
            Supplement chow with 30 - 60 mg/day vitamin E for breeding , pregnancy.
            Chinchillas should be fed regularly every day , generally in the early before their peak of activity and again in the morning. Some chinchillas may develop convulsions if fed long after their preferred feeding time and if fed late , they may become fur chewers.
                Chinchilas have relatively delicate digestive tracts that can be upset easily. They have a large rectum that is thin walled and coiled , which act like a rumen.

            Housing
            Chinchilla should be housed in large rabbit-sized enclosures(at least 4'*4'*3') as they are very active , acrobatic animals.
            They appreciate a chance to come out and run around as often as possible.
            Provide space in enclosure for dust box (sheet metal 6'*6'*9').
            Dust baths are offered 10 - 15 minutes daily or at least 4 - 5 a week.
             Dust should be 2 - 4 in. deep.
            Wooden nest box can be provided for sleeping.

            Housing
•  Life span                                     = 9 - 17 years
• Adult female body weight        = 450 - 800 grams
• Adult male body weight            = 400 - 500 grams
• Body temperature                       = 38 - 39 C
• Rectal temperature                      = 102 - 103 F
• RR                                                   = 45 - 80 /min.
• HR                                                    = 200 - 350 bpm
• Feces                                                = slender,brown pellet 2 - 3 mm. diameter, 5 - 12 mm. long
• Sexual maturity                              = 7 - 10 months
• Estrous cycle                                    = 30 - 50 days, polyestrous, postpartum estrus fertile
• Gestation period                              = 105 - 115 days
• Birthing                                             = > 4 hr.
• Litter                                                  = average 2 up to 5
• Newborns                                          = precocius , fully furred
• Weaning                                             = 3 - 6 weeks

            Zoonotic potential
• Trichophyton mentagrophytes
• Microsporum canis , M. gypseum
• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis ( LCM )
• Baylisascaris procyonis
• Fleas
• Listeria monocytogenes
• Bacteria to contaminate bite or scartch

            Common Emergencies and Clinical Conditions in Chinchillas
•  Malocclusion ,anorexia
• Parasites
• Fur , skin disorders
• Heat stress
• Enteropathy , diarrhea
• Trauma
• Rectal prolapse
• Dyspnea/pneumonia
• Seizure/convulsion/torticollis
• Eye irritation

            Surgical Considerations
            Castration . It is necessary to suture the cremasteric sac with its outer layer of internal abdominal oblique muscle , as they is no internal inguinal ring to prevent loss of abdominal contents.

            Health concern
            Chinchillas have rather delicate digestive systems and are susceptible to water-borne bacteria such as Giardia in concentrations that won't bother you or your larger pets like cats and dogs. It's best to give them purified water. [See health/diarrhea]. Chinchillas are also very susceptible to heat stroke, so don't allow their environment to get over 80 degrees. Chinguru's rule of thumb is that the sum of the humidity (in percent) and the temperature (Fahrenheit) should not exceed 150. Chinchillas are also susceptable to other problems, such as heart failure and seizures.
            There has been good evidence that chinchillas have died from enlarged hearts and blood clots in the decending aorta causing paralysis and death. There have been deaths from congestive heart failure.We also have seen seizures in chinchillas both from low calcium and from unknown causes. Female chinchillas who are pregnant should, therefore, have extra calcium during pregnancy and while feeding babies. We have also seen absesses and cavities in chinchilla teeth, some of which have been decreased by the use of high doses of vitamin C. Also, animals who have heart murmurs or seizures must not be bred! There is strong evidence that these problems are passed on.

            Rule out chart for Chinchillas based on clinical signs
 

Clinical signs	Differential diagnosis
Alopecia (small , scaly patches on  nose , ears , feet)	Dermatophytosis  T. mentagrophyteM. canis Microsporum gypseum
Alopecia (poor coat , broken , clipped hair , +/- cutaneous ulcer)	Barbering  Fur chewing
Alopecia (poor hair coat )	Dietary imbalance, deficiency (fatty acid , zinc) Hormanal stress Hereditary factors
Anorexia ( skin clean and smooth )	Furr slip
Anorexia	Malocclusion Overgrown incisors Teeth root abscess Genetic Enteritis Pneumonia Rhinitis , sinusitis

 

            What about living quarters?
            Cages should be all metal, since they will gnaw their way out of a wooden cage. They need room to run around and climb, so a cubical cage 3 feet or more on a side, with shelves, is ideal. Wire mesh should be no bigger than 1x2 inches, smaller when you have babies. The cage should have a removable bottom tray to aid cleaning. Leave the mesh bottom of the cage clear - don't cover it with bedding or litter as you would for a hamster. They really enjoy a wheel, but the largest wheel commonly available in pet stores is 12 inches in diameter and is really too small. Try to find a 15-inch wheel if you can. Provide a wooden or cardboard house for them to hide in. Four-inch PVC drain pipe T- or Y- joints are also dandy to hide in - they chew on them a bit, but it doesn't seem to bother them. Line the bottom tray with newspaper and clean the cages on a weekly basis. They need a certain type of cement byproduct called blue cloud, to dust in as they bathe in dust, not in water. They have such a thick coat that they put out a lanolin type of oil and it mats their fur. They love their dust bath and would do it daily if you let them. They are chewers and anything that you put into the cage will be chewed, so choose things that are not poisonous. Plum wood is poisonous, as is ceder, so if you build a house, make it out of pine.

            Pregnancy information
            To see if a female is old enough to get pregnant, check under the tail for a small soft spot, the pelvic opening. If it is the size of an adult thumb she should have space for baby to pass. Gestation is about 111-120 days. [Duplicating and validating research needs to be done.] Babies can be felt at around 90-95 days, It is not good to go mashing around to feel if mom/chin is pregnant as you can cause miscarriage.
            Leaving mom in with dad depends upon whether or not you want mom to get pregnant right away again after baby is born. Mom goes into esterus within a day or two after baby's birth. This is a common practice for breeders, but their does do not have more than a few years of bearing under this regime. My personal bias is to remove mom from dad about 20 days before baby is born. I put mom into a small mesh one story cage with an open mesh bottom and put newspaper on bottom of cage. I call this my maternity cage.
            Mom usually tears up newspapers for the rest of the pregnancy. The newspapers are to protect babies from the mesh [they can break a leg on open mesh], and for ease in changing the papers every 2 or 3 days. This keeps the area clean and cleanliness is important for health of mom when vaginal canal is open and she is susceptible to infection.
            Sometimes the mom is very nervous and will not let you handle babies after they are born, but most moms do not mind. You might want to check babies in the first 24 hours to be sure there are no problems. For the first few days cover the cage with an old sheet or large towel to give mom some privacy, but keep a close eye on everyone. We have had reports of dad savaging and killing babies [when left in] within the first 48 hours, of mom doing likewise, and of "post-partum blues" where the mom's milk dried up and mom curled up and would have nothing to do with babies. These problems are admittedly rare, but they do happen. It is indicative of the myriad of personalities we have in our little furry friends.
            The one story cage is so that babies will not hurt themselves. Babies are born with eyes open and able to crawl and move. By their second day they can climb. But they are, as yet, unable to discern danger and can fall and hurt themselves. If you prefer a two story cage, make sure the bottom places are well padded.
            If mom has boys, I usually remove the baby boy at 8-10 weeks. We have had experience of babies of as young as 10 weeks impregnating mom again, and babies as young as 8 weeks trying. Too close a breedback can cause very interesting deformities. If mom has girls, I leave everyone together [all females] for as long as I want mom to rest after pregnancy. I keep her from dad for that reason, birth control. There is, as yet, no birth control products for chinchillas. Males can be neutered, but it is a tricky surgury, much trickier than with dogs and cats for instance. Females can be spayed but that too is very difficult and I personally, recommend against it for now. I feel that general anesthesia might be dangerous for a chinchilla if it is not necessary. Further research needs to be done.
            I find that cages with somewhat larger mesh and multiple stories [suitable for large other rodents like rats] make good homes for adolescent chinchillas, especially males. This allows them room to romp and play and work off all that excess energy that all adolescents seem to have. Mom appreciates the extra space too, and if it is boys who are removed, she seems to appreciate the respite.

            Postpartum nutrition/weaning
            All other breeds of animal have a weaning formula. Chinchilla breeders do not feel that chinchillas need extra nutrition during gestation, after birth, or with the young. I personally disagree. In all mammals, gestational females have extra demands upon their bodies and need extra nutrition, lactating females tend to need more calcium, and the young need higher amounts of really good nutritional foods. [Again, we need good research done here. Rabbits have their own text just on nutrition, why not chins?] For that reason I personally feed my pregnant females extra doses of nutrical/nutristat and calf manna in their food. I feed my lactating females extra nutrical and even give them soy milk and tums. I have heard of one female having lactation seizures [also known as calcium staggers or calcium fits] and one of my older females suddenly had white incisors which is an indication of lowered calcium. Soy milk is also good enough for babies and some will lap it up too. I always feed my animals good loose alfalfa. Alfalfa is common in California but not as common elsewhere so good hay is fine. But alfalfa is a high protein food and is fine for chinchillas. Some research shows that the higher protein in the food for even the wild chinchilla is ok, but that more water is necessary for proper homeostasis. For my adolescent chinchillas I tend to feed calf manna and alfalfa and rolled oats. I have found that they prefer those to chinchilla pellets anyway, and will pick them out of their dishes.

            Are they friendly animals that like to be handled?
            Yes tey can be handled, but they need affection and gentling. They are very shy and have long memories. If you frighten them they will remember that and can reject you until you regain their affection. When children have chinc hillas they need to remember to be gentle and affectionate and not frighten, or squeeze them too hard. For that reason children under the age of around 10 years old are not mature enough to have chinchillas. The age is not as hard and fast as the maturity, and the ability to understand another's needs -- eg learning empathy which comes with maturity. Sometimes children don't have that even in high school.
            Letting chinchillas out of their cages is something that is done only after they are no longer afraid fo you. Because if you have to chase them that only increases fright and mistrust. The room you let them into should be free of dangers: no open wires, no holes to hide into, no poisons or chemicals easily found, furniture you don't mind being tasted, nothing that if run under or around can cut or scratch or they can catch a small foot in and break a limb.
            Get down on the ground and look around with your face on the floor. What do you see? Is it dangerous? Wrap all loose wires in PVC plumbing pipe. Bathrooms are good, but remember they do taste toothpaste tubes too. Bedrooms are good, if the kid has cleaned it up, or you haven't a lot of clutter in the room. Kitchens are ok if you block off the refrigerator and stove. The problem here is that small holes they can get into are smaller than you think. They can get into spaces around 1.5 inches around. Be very careful too, of the under the sink spaces. We all usually keep soaps and things there, poisons. Utility rooms are ok if the washing machine, dryer, and hot water heater are made off limits. Block off those areas you do not want your chin to run into, use a baby gate with small mesh. If you have a room that is primarily family but has old furniture and not much they can hurt themselves on and you have gotten on the floor and looked at it with your face on the floor, and crawled around looking for small spaces they can get wedged into and really checked out the dangers; that is chinproofing a room. Then if you feel comfortable, let it out. Usually it is best to be consistant about the times each day you let it out. At the same time daily and for the same amount of time and in the same area. The chin will soon learn the routine and even be willing to get back into the cage with the same prompt [bath, special treat etc.] after the same amount of time. DO NOT chase it around to get it back into the cage as it will become increasingly afraid and mistrustful of you and will be harder to catch each time. Gentle the chin first. More on that later. Remember, that chinchillas are animals who prefer the same routine. So they like being fed at the same time each day, and like being let out at the same time each day for the same length of time. Consistancy is the key here. You can build mazes for them to run in, it does keep them busy and they are curious and intellegent animals who like challanges.
            They are nocturnal and tend to want to play at night, but will arouse in the day time and play and nap, and then play and nap at night too. Noisy is a subjective quality. They do not bark like a dog but the do have barks and squeeks and squeals and other noises that they use periodically. They run on wheels and if the wheel squeaks that is noisy. They tend to move furniture around and rearrange their cages. That can by noisy. They tend to chew on whatever is in the cage to chew on, including the domicile you have for them to hide in. So between chewing on it, and moving it around they can be noisy, and they do . If all of that is considered by you as noisy then they are noisy. As for chewing on cages, they will chew on cages if the parts of the cage are wood. They will chew on anything that seems to be chewable. They chew on walls, woodwork, wall board, electric cords, books, pumice stones, branches, chew blocks, what ever is chewable. They will even nibble on you to see if you are chewable or edible. So if you make the cage out of wood, then they chew on their cages. If you let them out they chew on furniture, appliances, whatever. One member of the internet family stated that his chin got out at night [unsupervised] and tasted each piece of antique furniture in the house. The suggestion I have is that you have an all metal cage, a wheel, lots of chew toys [wooden blocks, pumice stone, parrot toys, branches, mineral stones, etc] to allow for chewing. Give them a house of wood, or cardboard [they will chew it too] and a PVC 3-4 inch in diameter pipe joint from the hardware store [both to hide in and to chew on]. I also suggest that unless you can chinproof a room or supervise them or both, that you not let them out.
 

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