CHINCHILLAS

You may wish to consider a chinchilla. They are in

the rodent family, (but it doesn't seem that way).

Chins have incredible velvety fir, and they resemble

a chubby squirrel with micky mouse type ears. They

are nocturnal, although they do get up and play a

lot 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 do.

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 ususally have 1-3

babies, and their pregnancy is 111 days

(about 4 months), which is VERY long for an

animal that size. The babies come out 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.

Chinchillas eat prepared chin food that comes

in a pellet form. They also need 1 raisin a day

(which they LOVE!). Every few days it's a good

idea to give them a dust bath, you can purchase

"chinchilla dust" at a pet store. You put it in

a bowl and they dive in, roll and kick up a fuss,

a pure delight to watch. Company always love to

watch "Ittle bittle" take her bath.

The real joy for us came as we kept one of the

babies, we later sold mom and dad. She bonded

really well with us, she was handed 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, she "barks" its a quiet,

cute kind of bark. A whole lot of personality

and character she

Chins are more playful type pets, than a sit down

and lap type 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 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.

They have a life span of about 25-30 years.

They do need to live indoors, or climate type

controlled setting. Chins come in a variety of

colors but the standard grey color is the most

common, and the other, more rare colors will cost

more usually.

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 homes at times, although with such few babies,

it wasn't a problem. The people who did come to

purchase the babies had this 1 thing in common:

all of them had either owned a chinchilla previously,

or had a close friend who did and had been around them.

That really says something about this type of animal for

a pet. You can check out your local pet store for chins

possibly, or the internet.

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