Chinchilla Fun Facts You Need to Know

Bringing home a chinchilla is a welcome sight…

Bringing home a chinchilla is a welcome sight, but takes a lot of commitment and learning about chinchilla facts will help you make informed decisions.

Chinchillas originate from the wild and are skittish. They are cuddly creatures, but they bite when held tightly and irritated. They have varied characteristics and may or may not be suitable for children.
Chinchillas grow teeth so provide them with chew toys, pumice stone, and wooden sticks made of willow, apple and birch.
With a life expectancy of over 15 years, it will mean long years of putting up with costly and specialized care for the chinchilla. How you and your family cope with things that would spell the difference between pet and owner bliss?

Tempered in wild, cold climate and high-altitude environment, chinchillas do not sweat and are sensitive to heat. To disperse body heat, blood is routed to their ears to indicate overheating. If adopted as a pet in places with warm climate, you should buy a “chiller” to keep the temperature below 25°C, lest it would suffer a heat stroke.

Daily, a chinchilla consumes food and water in small quantity. It has irritable gastrointestinal tracts that cannot digest process fat or protein or fresh vegetables. Its stomach is well suited to desert grasses and hay or pellets.

Chinchilla facts

Chinchillas are rodents living in colonies known as herds. They live inside crevices and burrows of the Andes mountain range in South America, traversing the elevated places using their jumping skills. For a rodent its size, a chinchilla can jump 2 meters high and play hours on end with boundless energy.

As rodents, they are nocturnal and similar in size to the Guinea pig though their body can grow long from 9 to 14 inches with bushy, 6 inches tail. Chinchillas have distinct features such as wide round ears, hairy tails and dense fur. Fur colors vary from silver, black, bluish, gray or white. They typically weigh from 2 pounds or more.

A chinchilla can defend itself against a prey by spraying urine on the attacker or ward off a bite by releasing its fur.

A female usually gives birth to two “kits” after 111 days of gestation, longer than other rodents. This is the reason why a chinchilla kit has eyes wide, open and fully-furred upon birth.

More chinchilla facts

Chinchillas of the same gender and litter usually gets along well in the cage. However, fierce fighting can erupt between these little animals and draw blood in a biting match, especially when paired with an opposite gender or trio males in the cage.

Pet chinchillas have dense fur to protect them from fleas and parasites. They are not given water baths; their thick fur resists air-drying and retains moisture that could grow fungus. Chinchillas clean their fur by rolling in the dust bath made of fine pumice, which collects oil or dirt.

These lovable, furry little creatures have been driven to a point of extinction because they were hunted for their thick and exquisite fur since 16th century. The surviving and domesticated specie, Chinchilla lanigera, come from breeding farms as an animal model by research and pharmaceutical firms.

Chinchilla care and adjustment

Shopping list of needed supplies for care of the rodent includes: Housing (cage), food bowl, water bottle, “Chin-chiller” for places in warm weather and dust bath.

Chinchilla legs are designed for jumping and bouncing on jagged terrain and rocks high up in mountain slopes in their native environment, which may require a tall cage and with ample room for play.

For pet owners with sensitive hearing, sleeping in the same room with these playful, noisy nocturnal critters could be a nightmare.

Another potential spoiler would be allergic reaction to essential supplies of chinchilla. Many people are hypersensitive to dust and hay. Dust used for dust bath can spread around the house.

If your work takes a lot of your time, a chinchilla might be a good pet for you. They sleep almost the entire day until you return from work.

The animal needs an hour or so in personalized attention every day to check its condition or play with it.

Finally, if you’re thinking about breeding it, see your nearest vet or get to know more about chinchilla facts and proper care.