Chinchilla’s aren’t as common to own as a hamster or guinea pig. In fact, you may not even know someone who has personally owned a chinchilla before. This makes it hard to judge how good or bad owning a chinchilla will work out for you and the way your family is set-up.
The truth is chinchillas may not be the perfect fit for every lifestyle. Some people may be fine with owning a single chin, but if you work a lot like me, you will need to buy them a partner. Others will be surprised to find out just how much of a mess chinchillas can make.
Chinchilla’s As Pets (All You Need To Know!)
Are Chinchillas Good Pets? My Own Personal Experience
Personally, adopting three chinchilla’s was one of the best decisions in my life. The animals gave me a whole new challenge to overcome. I got to learn things I never expected about these delicate creatures and like most anybody I had a few hiccups along the way.
There are a lot of resources online about chinchilla’s, but many of these resources shy away from some of the more frustrating topics I wish I would have known about my pets. Below I will tell you about the topics I wish I would have known before adopting my first chinchilla.
Show Vs. Store Adoption
When I first decided I want a chinchilla I had been looking at the pets in pet stores. I had no clue that this would end up being a hassle when I actually started trying to purchase my pet. The truth is a pet store isn’t the best place to buy your chinchilla from.
Chinchilla’s are prey animals and are born scared of anything other than another chin. Many pet stores don’t properly socialize their chinchillas making it difficult for them to adapt. This becomes more of a problem the longer the chin stays at the pet shop.
Some pet shop chins will even become so stressed that they will start to bite at anyone who tries to pick them up. This can make the chinchilla hard to adopt, and even harder to break of their bad habit once you finally manage to get them home.
On the other hand, buying a chinchilla from a breeder can be a much easier experience. Chinchilla breeders socialize baby chins so that they are used to being around people. These chins are easier to acclimate and are generally healthier than pet store chins.
Many breeders will even offer you a discount if you buy a pair or trio of chinchilla. This makes life easier on those interested in the mammal who work a full-time job. Breeders also have both pet and show quality chinchillas whereas stores only have pet chins.
Additionally, many pet store overcharge for chinchillas especially if the chin isn’t colored gray. These stores act like black, beige, and mosaics chinchillas are rare. This isn’t generally the case as many breeders produce non-grey chinchillas often.
If things don’t work out you can also return the chin to the breeder where they will rehome them. This gives many owners who are worried about their pets future piece of mind.
Chins are Destructive
I humbly admit that I underestimated just how crafty these little guys are. A chinchilla can find a million different ways to chew up their hammock and hideaways. It doesn’t matter what you hang the hammock with, it will eventually have one side chewed up.
The same goes for chin hideaways. Many hideaways are made out of plastic and your chin will chew on them anywhere they can. In fact, companies now seel edible hideaways so that you chinchillas stomache won’t get upset when they eat them.
My chinchilla’s even started to chew on the parts of my hay pin that connected them to the cage. Even the thick plastic food bowl eventually had to be replaced thanks to my chins nibbling habits.
Worst of all your chinchillas will start to chew on the plastic ledges they use to jump on. Eventually, you will have to replace pretty much every part of your cage. This can be frustrating and can take a bit of money to properly upkeep your chinchilla’s environment.
Chinchilla’s Get Very Lonely
If you go out and buy a chinchilla from a pet store you will notice that they are housed alone. In all reality chinchillas don’t do well on their own, they are herd animals and thrive off of companionship. If you work a lot then your pet will get lonely.
To avoid a lethargic chin I had to bring home Chin Chin. Luckily for me, I found a breeder who had babies ready to go. This combined with the fact that Chin Chin was a bundle of happy energy made the bonding process easy for me.
Introducing Onyx was a whole other story. Onyx was a rescue chin and when I picked her up she was already a year old. She had been previously bonded to another chin making her reluctant to get along with Teddy Bear for the first few days.
This experience taught me that is better to buy two chinchillas together and let them adapt to the environment at the same time. While I lucked out with Chin Chin, even baby chinchillas can be seen as a threat to chinchillas who are used to their cage.
So Much Hay and Dust
The primary component to a chinchillas diet is hay. I never expected to have so much hay on though. As it turns out many chinchillas will pull the hay out of their bin for fun and it will fall into the trey below their cage making it out of reach.
Even worse my chinchillas had a favorite part of the alfalfa hay I supplied them. Once they ate the top of the hay they where done chewing on it. Because of this I would go through a large pack of hay every two weeks and had to keep a spare on hand.
This amount of hay was even gone through with the addition of adding hay cubes to the cage. While hay won’t cost you a fortune, you’re going to need extra storage space for all the bags. These generally went right next to the containers of dust.
To keep up with my chins bathing needs I had to have two to three containers of dust on hands. My chinchillas loved to use their bathhouse as a litter box. This caused me to have to change the dust every 2-3 days in order to keep things clean.
My Overall Experience
Although some days with my chinchillas could be tough I loved them. They all ran to greet me when I came near the cage and would sit on my hand or shoulder when it was time to play. They loved solving great puzzles and always could put a smile on my face.
Best of all, they got along well together a majority of the time making late nights at work less of a worry. The food was also cheap to buy and while they needed some daily cleaning it wasn’t too strenuous on my schedule. This is my overall experience with Chinchilla’s as pets. Below are some other commonly asked questions about Chinchillas.
Other Things To Know About Chinchillas
Are Chinchillas low maintenance pets?
While chinchillas aren’t as high maintenance as some other exotic animals, they can still be a handful. Chinchilla have unique needs compared to other rodents that may catch new owners off guard. From diet to cleaning routines a chinchilla has very specific needs.
Chinchillas have a very specific diet that can be detoured from. You are going to be buying them a lot of hay as I stated above. You will also need to keep a bag of hay based pellets on hand that you must feed them daily along with filling the hay bin.
The cost of setting up for a chinchilla is high. A chinchilla cage that can give your pets proper exercise will cost upwards of $100 to $250 depending on the model you choose. Along with this monthly supplies can cost anywhere between $25 to $50 depending on what needs replacing.
Chinchilla’s will also need to be taken out of the cage for exercise mutiple time a week. This exercise time will have to be constantly supervised and needs to last between 30 minutes to an hour.
Do Chinchillas like to be petted?
How much or little a chinchilla likes to be petted depends on a number of factors. For starters, every chinchilla has a different personality regardless of their background. Some chinchillas prefer to be interacted with in just about any way other than being touched.
If your chinchilla is store bought then it may take some time for it to accept being petted as a positive thing. In this case, you should start out by letting your chinchilla investigate you and slowly start to rub on your chinchilla then increasing the amount of time you are touching them.
If you adopt a rehomed chin or get them from a breeder chances are they are used to being loved on.
Are Chinchillas Messy?
One of the biggest problems I had out of my chins was trying to keep my house clean. Chinchillas may be a small animal, but the messes they make are huge. One chinchilla alone can make enough of a mess that you will have to clean up after them daily.
A chinchilla will not only use the bathroom in the cage, but they will also throw hay and pellets all over the place. Chinchilla’s tend to excitedly hop around when they want to play which can send droppings flying out of the cage onto your floor.
Dust baths are also particularly messy even if the bath itself is done in a bathhouse. Once the chinchilla leaves the house they will spread the dust everywhere making a mess of both their cage and the surrounding area.
Many days I would find myself coming home only to sweep up the area around my chinchilla cage immediately. This was even more of a nightmare if I had given them a toy that was shreddable. At times I even had to use a mop to properly clean the floor.
Do Chinchillas Cuddle?
Like with petting a chinchilla, a chinchillas willingness to cuddle with majorly depend on their upbring and personality. Cuddling a chinchilla does come with some risks due to the delicate layout of their bodies. Chinchillas can also overheat if cuddle for too long.
Holding a chinchilla for too long can actually lead to them overheating. Chinchillas thick fur combined with their need for cold tempatuffres majors holding the small creatures close for too long a health risk.
If you’re holding a chinchilla and they start to act lethargic then give them some space. You will also want to put your chin down if they begin to cry.
Can you play with a Chinchilla?
Yes, you can play with your pet chinchilla in several different ways. You can also choose to play with your chinchilla both in and outside of the cage using different methods. Many chin owners highly recommend having play time a few times of week to get your chinchilla properly moving.
If your chinchilla is in their cage you can get them to work for treats. Place treats on different levels of their cage or even hide the treats so they have to look for them. You can also alter your cage and set up an exercise course for your chinchilla to play within their cage.
For out of cage play you will need to do some work. An area needs to be set up where you chinchilla can freely move around without any safety hazards. Make sure the area is clean of any items that your chinchilla can eat and block off any exits that may lead to another room.
One of the best areas I had for playing with my chinchilla was in my master bathroom. It was easy to close off and clean up so my chinchilla could run around without worry. She also enjoyed jumping around on the counters.
Just make sure to wipe everything down after playtimes over. Chinchillas can make quite a mess when playing. Hopefully this guide on Chinchilla’s as pets had been helpful for you!