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Chinchillas generally live 10-15 years, but they can live up to 20 years. I personally know someone with a 17 year old chinchilla. He is completely blind, but healthy otherwise. He loves to be held and is as happy as any chin I have ever seen. Chinchillas are not “fragile”, but they are small animals. The rumor that their ribcage is “floating” is completely false, but squeezing them is still not a good idea. I really don’t recommend buying a chinchilla for a young child. Young children have a tendency to squeeze and chinchillas will bite if threatened.

Any high quality chinchilla food (ex. Mazuri or Oxbow) or high quality rabbit food. (ex. Purina Show Formula or Manna Sho Formula) The rabbit food comes in much larger bags, but it only costs a fraction of the price compared to chinchilla food. Never use any food that is full of treats..(sunflower seeds, dried fruit, dried flowers..etc.) Chins will pick through this food, eating only the “treats” and not getting the proper nutrition that they need. While high quality rabbit food is fine, other rodent foods such as rat, guinea pig, hamster and gerbil food is not acceptable.

Treats

Sparingly. Post mini shredded wheat (Ingles store brand is identical to Post- 0 grams of sugar), occasional raisin or craisin, Mrs. Pasture’s Horse Cookies, Alfalfa or Timothy hay (all Chinchillas want, preferably Timothy because the food is primarily alfalfa based. Be prepared…Chins will play with the hay….it will be everywhere!!!!) Hay cubes are a great alternative also…..less mess than loose hay!!!!!

Water

Filtered is fine, spring water is preferred. Straight, unfiltered tap water can upset chinchilla stomachs.

Wood

Chinchillas always need wood to chew on because they are rodents and their teeth are constantly growing, but some woods are toxic to them. Here is a great list to go by….. http://exoticpets.about.com/od/chinchillas/qt/chinchillawoods.htm

Pine or Aspen…..never use Cedar because the oils in the wood are hard on Chinchilla's respiratory system.

Use dust, not sand or cornstarch.(ex. Blue Cloud, Kaytee, Sun Seed….Blue Cloud is by far the best) Never use scented dust! Put the bath in the chin's cage for 15-20 minutes twice a week. Chinchillas should never need to be bathed in water.

Keep the room temperature at 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit…..preferably, below 72. For chinchillas, the colder…the better. Don’t worry about them getting cold. They are from the Andes Mountains and are made for extremely low temperatures. Low humidity….below 50%. Above 78 degrees is the danger zone where a chinchilla can have a heat stroke. Chin-chillers work great. They are a piece of granite that the chin will sit on to cool off. A chin-chiller will cost about $8.00 at a pet store or for about $2.00 go to a flooring store and buy a piece of granite tile. It is the exact same thing except it is about three times larger!!!

The bigger the better, especially height. Chins love to jump and sit on ledges high up. The taller the cage, the happier your chin will be. They love to have a place to hide. Wooden huts or chin houses are excellent choices. Don’t use the plastic igloos that are sold at most pet stores. Chinchillas will chew plastic and if they ingest any of it, it could cause serious problems. Don’t buy the huts made of grass either.(big waste of money!!) The grass huts are great and the chins will love it, but it will only last for a few hours before your little furry friend will have shredded it. If the floor of your cage is made of a wire material then please make sure that your chin has several flat areas to rest on. Ledges are perfect for this.

Anything made of “safe” wood is fine. Don’t get extravagant…..a chin is happy with a simple stick to chew on. Try to keep a pumice stone or a lava chew block in the cage for your chin to chew on. There are also hanging toys made of wood blocks, pumice stones and metal bells hanging from a chain. These are great!! Just be careful if you buy the ones for a bird. Some of those have the toys hanging from a string instead of a chain. Remember, chins chew everything….EVERYTHING!!!!!! If they were to chew up the string and ingest it, it could hurt them. Basically, for toys, keep it simple!!!!

Chinchillas love to go up..up..up!!!! So ledges are perfect. They love to jump from ledge to ledge, sleep on ledges and guess what?......chew on ledges!!!!! Ledges should be made of “safe” wood or pumice. A great brand to buy is “Lava Ledge” which can be bought at any pet store or online. If you use the lava ledge, remember to replace them when you can see the large bolt starting to show so your chin does not cut his mouth on the bolt. You can buy wooden ledges at pet stores, online or you can save some money and make them yourself. Check these links out to see…………….

Chinchillas are “jumpy”, so a quiet area is best for them, but they don’t like complete quiet. They love a radio or a television being on in the room with them. And yes…..they will watch TV at times. They love the colors and the movement.

The cage should never be in direct sunlight or near a heavy draft. Direct sunlight can cause a chin to overheat even if the room temperature is good.

Chins are social creatures….. they love the company of another chin, but there are rules to follow. 1.Multiple chins can live together as long as they are introduced at a young age (8 months or less normally) and all of them must be the same sex. 2.Normally, one male and one female can live together as long as you want baby chinchillas. They will breed!!!! No ifs ands or buts about it…they will breed!!! But, sometimes one male and one female will not get along and will have to be separated. 3.An older chin may be resistant to a young chin coming into his/her cage. It can be done, but the process takes time and patience. This will normally be easier with two males. Older females are very resistant to a younger female, especially if the older chin has ever been bred.