Chinchillas eat and digest desert grasses and cannot efficiently process fatty foods, high protein foods, or too many green plants. A high quality, hay-based pellet and a constant supply of loose timothy hay will sufficiently meet all of their dietary needs. Chinchillas have very sensitive GI tracts that can be easily disrupted so it is important to maintain them on a healthy diet. Avoid chinchilla feed that includes a mixture; chinchillas may avoid the healthy high fiber pellets in favor of items like raisins and seeds. Fresh vegetables and fruit (with high moisture content) should be avoided as these can cause bloat in a chinchilla, which can be fatal. Sweets and dried fruit treats should be limited to one per day, at the very most. Chinchillas also eat and drink in very small amounts. This can lead to diarrhea, or in the long term, diabetes. Nuts should be avoided due to their high fat content. High protein foods and alfalfa hay can cause liver problems and should be limited.

Housing your Chinchillas

Chinchillas must be kept in a wire cage or it will chew its way out and can easily overheat in something like an aquarium. Be sure the wire is not painted or coated with plastic or the Chin will ingest this coating. The wire mesh should have spaces no larger than 1-2 inches (2.6-5.1 cm.) apart, ½ - 1 inch (1.3-2.6 cm.) if you are breeding. Some cages have wire mess bottoms with pull out trays which make cleaning the cage easier. Mesh bottoms are not recommended for chins because they have delicate feet and toes that can easily become caught in mesh of almost any size. If you do have a cage with a mesh shelf, be sure the spaces between the mesh are no more than ½ inch (1.3 cm.) apart to avoid leg injuries. The chins cage should be big enough to allow him to get adequate exercise. They enjoy running around and playing and the cage has to be large enough for this, especially if you do not allow your chin much time outside of its cage. A chinchilla who does not get to run and play will be an unhappy chin. It is important to monitor the temperature where your chin cage is being kept. In the winter months it should be kept in a draft free spot. The ideal temperature for a Chinchilla is 68 degrees. One owner reports, "I keep mine at a constant 58 and they love it. I find they are more active at this temperature than at 60 or higher. They can stand it to just about freezing just fine." In the summer, if you do not have air conditioning it needs to be kept in a well ventilated area. Keep the cage out of direct sunlight. In the summer the chin should be kept in an area which is no hotter than 75°F (24°C) and caution should be taken at temperatures this high. Anything hotter than this can cause your chin to become ill. If the temperature goes as high as 86°F (30°C) your chin may be in trouble. Measures should be taken to cool your chin down. Since chins don't sweat, blowing a fan at them will not cool them off, it will just blow hot air around. Chins sleep during the day and it is not wise to wake your chin up during this hot spell, because if he starts to run around he will make himself hotter and may cause heat stroke.

What is a Chinchilla ?

A Brief Chinchilla History

Chinchillas have been kept as pets in Western Europe since Approximetaly 1980. Before then, they were only found in fur farms and zoos. Individual enthusiasts were approached via adverts to breed Chinchillas for the fur industry at home. They were asked to invest approximately GBP 800.00. For this, they received a wire cage with a male and three female animals. For every young, the breeder received approcimately GBP 30.00. The numbers may have looked good in therory, but in practice only the dealers earned money with this scheme.

However, this development meant that Chinchillas became better known and that increasing numbers of people fell in love with these beautiful animals. A pair could be bought for approcimately GBP 40.00 to 80.00. The fur traders soon noticed that live Chinchillas earned them more money than their coiats alone did and the Chinchilla thus started its career as a pet. As more and more people started to breed these valuable animals, the prices dropped. However, the Chinchilla still has always been a rather expensive pet. Despite the high purchase price, these exotic animals became a 'fashion item', with all the consequences. Obscure dealers started mass-breeding, without paying attention to the health and welfare of the animals. Individuals also started offering increasing numbers of young animals for sale, which meant that the market soon became saturated. Chinchillas spent far too much time in small cages in pet shops and eventually sold for as little as GBP 7.00.

Luckily, the market has stabilised. A large number of dealers have stopped breeding and many private owners castrated the male animals or keep them separated from the females. However, the Chinchilla is still a popular pet. And it should be, as a pair or a group of Chinchillas make pleasant companions. The Chinchilla doesn't smell, can easily be tamed and is particularly active during the evening, when you are at home. Luckily, so-called Chinchilla farms will soon be a thing of the past in most European countries, as an increasing number of European countries pass animal welfare acts banning fur farming and many other countries will follow.

The Chinchilla originates in Chile and Peru, in the higher regions of the Andes mountains, Nowadays, these animals are almost extinct in the wild. For thousands of years, Chinchillas only had two enemies in the wild: birds of prey and Indians. For the birds of prey, they were tasty snacks, for the Indians, their coats were materials for clothes and blankets. The natural balance of the Chinchilla population was kept in check through these enemies. This was particularly due to the fact that the Indians would never kill more Chinchillas than they needed and they usually caught the older or weaker animals.

The conquest of South America through the Spanish caused a turn of affairs. The Europeans were amazed at the sight of these ''wool mice''. Reports from the seventeenth century tell us about colonies of hundreds of animals, which even climbed over the rocky hillsides during the day and lay outside their burrows sunbathing. The animals were so bold that they ran around the legs of the horses.

Unfortunately, its unique coat became the Chinchilla's downfall in the wild. The Spanish brought the coats to Europe, where the rare fur type soon became a very popular material for the most expensive coats. When Chinchilla coats became increasingly popular, Indians were hired as Chinchilla hunters to be able to sell as many of the valuable furs to Europe as possible. In the nineteenth century, Chinchilla furs became, together with coffee and tabacco, the most important export products of South America.

Around 1910, there were hardly any Chinchillas left in the wild. Barely any Chinchillas arrived in the European harbours, which caused the prices to increase sharply. Those Chinchillas which had survived the slaughter, escaped to the most inhospitable areas. Only the smartest and shiest animals survived. As extremely high prices were now being paid for the furs, hunters were willing to go to extremes to catch the last 'difficult' specimens. Around 1920, there were virtually no Chinchillas left in the wild.

The man who eventually saved the Chinchilla from extinction was an American called Chapman.

Feeding your Chinchilla

Feeding your chinchilla

As a general rule people either feed chinchillas with a mixed food (e.g. something like Charlie Chinchilla), or they feed them on chinchilla pellets. Fresh water and fresh hay should be available at all times, e.g. Timothy hay and Alfalfa - giving hay is important as it helps wear down the teeth and keep them in trim. It is also a good idea to provide a cuttlefish bone to chew on as this provides calcium which is essential for healthy teeth.

Although both mix foods and pellets are formulated to provide a good balanced diet many chin owners and breeders prefer to use a good quality chinchilla pellet rather then the mixed food. Problems that become apparent when feeding a mix food are:

Most mix foods contain treat foods.

Given the choice chinchillas will pick out their favourite food and choose not to eat the rest. Chinchillas can become picky - they will tend to eat more treat foods and less of the other ingredients.

A diet rich in treats is not considered a good diet for a chinchilla.

A mix food is formulated to provide a good balanced diet based on the assumption that all ingredients are eaten.

Feeding Treats

Pellets and hay are all that are necessary however treats can be given. All treats offered should be low in salt, sugar, fats and oils, therefore commercial foods, e.g. biscuits, crisps, crackers etc. should be avoided. Nuts and seeds should also be avoided or given only occasionally as they are high in fats and oils, for example pecan nuts contain approx. 70g of fat per 100g. All treats should be given in small quantities, and only one or two each day as too much fresh fruit, veg, and grains can cause digestive problems.

Treats which can be given are:

fruit, try fruits with seeds, not stones or pits, e.g. raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, dried rose hips, a banana chip, or a piece of apple, pear, grape, or kiwi. My chins also like dried strawberries and dried pineapple.

veg, e.g. piece of carrot, flaked peas, parsley, chard, romaine, a dandelion leaf (small and washed). Avoid anything gas forming, e.g. broccoli, cabbage.

dried herbs, if available you can pick herbs, then after washing them, hang them upside down (in bunches) in a warm area until they have completely dried out. Herbs suitable for chinchillas include: oregano, comfrey, mint, nettle, dandelion, and raspberry leaves.

grain, e.g. rolled oats, oat grouts, healthy cereals low in sugar like Shredded Wheat or Cornflakes.

nuts and seeds, very sparingly - e.g. almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds.

commercially prepared, e.g. chinchilla crackers (produced for chinchillas and available in the UK), a small piece of dry toast, or an alfalfa-based animal treat.