Infolific » Chinchillas

General Chinchilla Care: Tips for Keeping Your Furry Friend Happy

Chris Celnar — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 02:10:41 +0000

To care for a chinchilla is actually a lot of things. Chinchillas need correct feeding, fur caring and cleaning of the cage. But it also needs your care and that you'll devote some of your time to be with it. Caring Like all living creatures chinchillas needs attention and love. [...]

Chinchilla Health: Diagnosing Sickness and Other Ailments

Chris Celnar — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 01:57:30 +0000

If the chinchilla is given some good food, stress-free surroundings and lots of love they will typically have a good health. But of course sometimes they will get sick and the sooner you discover the problem the easier it will be to treat it and the chinchilla will avoid unnecessary [...]

Introduction to Chinchilla Genetics

Chris Celnar — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:56:49 +0000

How Genetics Work One of the things deciding what a chinchilla will appear like (what color it gets, how big it gets, the quality of the fur, etc) is the genes. The genes always appears in pairs. If the two genes in a pair are the same the chinchilla is [...]

Getting Another Chinchilla... Or Two

Chris Celnar — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 18:34:37 +0000

Sondra asks... Pikachu is my one and only chin. My husband said that one of the girls at his work has a friend who is moving and can't bring her chinchillas with her. Also, the female is pregnant and so the owner said I could have one of the babies. [...]

Ideal Environment for Chinchillas

Chris Celnar — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 05:02:18 +0000

Chinchillas will be happiest when you provide an environment that meets their needs and doesn't cause unnecessary stress. By their nature, they don't like loud noises or a lot of movement. Such things will scare them causing them to remain in their cage. Even something seemingly innocent as a rain [...]

Chinchilla Toys

Chris Celnar — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 11:19:58 +0000

An entertained chinchilla is a happy chinchilla. So you'll want to provide as many toys and accessories as you can while being reasonable with the costs. Over the years we've tried several products with a few of them emerging as favorites. Hide 'n Sleep Chinchilla Hammock We were familiar with [...]

Can Ferrets And Chinchillas Play Together?

Chris Celnar — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:35:03 +0000

I have four ferrets (3 males and a female) that play together great in their playpen, but I am going to be adding four chinchillas to our family soon (two males and two females). Will they get along or will I have to keep their playtimes separate? Any information you [...]

Chinchillas are Prone to Heatstroke

Chris Celnar — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 14:57:33 +0000

Chinchillas have fur for a reason. In the wild they live in the Andes mountains where it gets cold. Their fur is what keeps them warm. However, domestic chinchillas are prone to over-heating since most people's homes are much warmer than the Andes. The ambient temperature where chinchillas are kept [...]

Emergency Cooling

Chris Celnar — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:44:30 +0000

If you live in a warm climate, it's important that you have a backup plan to keep your chinchillas cool in case your A/C unit fails. We keep a couple of frozen jugs of water in the freezer during the summer months. So far, doing so has come in very [...]

Water Bottles and Food Dishes

Chris Celnar — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:46:37 +0000

Water bottles and food dishes come in all shapes and sizes. We've tried a few, but have now settled on particular models. Lixit Quick Lock Flip Top Water Tank This water bottle is larger than what's needed for a chinchilla. However, we like it because it has a very secure [...]

CareFresh Harmful to Chinchillas?

Chris Celnar — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 13:30:45 +0000

We received a note from Dez the other day regarding some possible problems with CareFresh bedding... My Chinchilla recently went through a bout of digestive bacterial infection. It was the first time in 6 years that anything like that had happened and it was right when I decided to try [...]

Fighting Chinchillas Need Help

Chris Celnar — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:07:23 +0000

barbackz asks I bought two new more beautiful chinchillas: one male ebony and one female mosaic. The male is 10 weeks old and is being housed with my 9 month old Gizmo. The cage is rather large since I built it that way. My problem is Loki, the youngest, keeps [...]

Breeding Chinchillas - Mating and Pregnancy

Chris Celnar — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 09:06:57 +0000

In this second of three articles in the series on breeding chinchillas, we look at the mating process along with the actual pregnancy. Mating We're assuming here that you are working with a pair of chinchillas that has already been well socialized. When the male is ready to mate (which [...]

Chinchilla-Proofing Your Home

Chris Celnar — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 02:56:18 +0000

Your chinchilla will be happiest if let out of its cage every evening and allowed to run around in a room. However, because they like to chew on things like furniture and wires, you need to cover these things to protect them and your chinchillas. Baseboards and Furnishings Baseboards and [...]

Chinchilla Colors

Chris Celnar — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 04:03:25 +0000

Over the years through selective breeding, chinchillas have taken on a variety of colors. Here's the most complete list we've come across. Standard Grey This is the original color of the chinchilla i.e. the color of a wild chinchilla. A "good" standard grey chinchilla will have a dark grey back [...]

Chinchillas on TV

Chris Celnar — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:23:29 +0000

There aren't too many TV shows where you're able to see chinchillas in action. Although Martha Stewart has many of them as pets, they don't make appearances on her shows very often. The best TV show we've found is PetKeeping with Mark Marone (coincidentally this show is produced by Martha [...]

Are Raisins Safe for Chinchillas?

Chris Celnar — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:47:50 +0000

L Miller asks... I have heard different descriptions of how raisins affect chinchillas. One pet store person said that toxins from too many raisins can build up in a chinchilla's system and kill it. Our chinchilla loves raisins but now we are afraid to give him any. Is there a [...]

Do Chinchillas Kill Each Other?

Chris Celnar — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 23:53:33 +0000

Sometimes things don't go well for chinchilla owners. Such was the case when we heard from Jennifer. Does anyone know if it's common for chinchillas to kill each other or act violently towards each other? I don't know if my chin killed the other one, but we came home and [...]

Chinchilla Care While You Are Away

Chris Celnar — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 13:07:46 +0000

It is inevitable that you will need to leave your chinchillas unattended while you travel. The ideal is to have someone come to your home and check in on them as well as to replenish food and water. But for short trips, you can do without a babysitter. When you [...]

How to Adjust to a New Home

Chris Celnar — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:16:34 +0000

One of our readers recently moved and describes the following situation with her chinchilla: We have had our Chinchilla for about 6 months, and when we brought him home everything was normal. We recently moved and now he is making noises at night. The first 2 nights after making sounds [...]