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Chinchillas

Family: Chinchillidae Black Velvet ChinchillaChinchilla lanigeraPhoto © Animal-World

   Chinchillas have great appeal, like cuddly little "balls of fur". Their exceedingly soft, dense coat has more fur per square inch than any other known mammal!

They make good pets and are very lively. Keeko loves to go outside in the long grass (on a leash) to jump and play. Pippin is actually Keeko's father! Pippin likes to be left alone more than Keeko, probably because he was in a breeding situation for several years.

   The average lifespan of a Chinchilla is 8 - 10 years, though in captivity they have been known to live up to 20 years.

For information about Small Animals and their care visit:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Small Animal

   See other Chinchilla color varieties below:

Geographic Distribution Chinchilla lanigera Data provided by GBIF.org Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Chinchillidae

Scientific name: Chinchilla lanigera, Chinchilla brevicaudata

Background:    The Chinchilla was named after the South American Chinca Indians .by the Spaniards in the 1500's. There are about 6 species in the Chinchillidae family and all are found only in South America. Originally they came from the Andes mountains in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Presently, they can only be found in the mountains of Bolivia.
   The Chinchillas seen today are the descendents of 11 little critters brought into California by Mathius F. Chapman in 1923 to be bred for their fur. All species have dense beautiful fur. The importance of the Chinchillas in the fur trade led to intense harvesting and today they are a relatively endangered as a wild species, though there are over 3,000 Chinchilla ranches in the United States raising the domestic species.
   There are two types of domestic Chinchilla, the Chinchilla lanigera and the Chinchilla brevicaudata.

Description:   Chinchillas are adorable animals with long ears, large eyes and bushy tails; they are also rodents.Their tail looks like a squirrels' tail and accounts for about one third of their length. The chinchillas' body is 22.5 - 38 cm (8 3/4 - 15 in) long. The tail is 7.5 - 15 cm (3 - 6 in) long. They can weigh anywhere from 18 to 35 ounces.
   The Chinchilla Lanigera is distinguished by a more pointy face, a longer tail, and a more slender body, while the Chinchilla brevicaudata is thicker in the neck and shoulders and has a shorter tail. Visually the C. lanigeria looks larger, but the stockier C. brevicaudata is actually a bigger Chinchilla. It is mostly thought that the pets are of the C. lanigera species.
   The hind limbs of the Chinchillidae are longer than their forelimbs, and the animals are good at running and leaping; they are also good climbers.
   Today there are different colored domestic chinchillas including blue-grey, white, beige, black, violet, and mosaic. Keeko and Pippin are called grey chinchillas.

Environment:    An indoor enclosure makes a perfect chinchilla home. In the wild where the ground is suitable, they dig burrows, but otherwise they shelter under rocks. The cage needs to be large enough for your pet to stand up on it's hind legs without bumping it's head, as well as being large enough to put in a little sleeping hut for the animals privacy (a cardboard box works great for this), a place for food and water dishes, and also have space for running around. Use absorbent bedding material on the bottom.
   Provide a good soft bedding that is clean, non-toxic, absorbent, relatively dust free and easily acquired. Use a natural bedding since the chinchilla will probably eat some of it, and make sure it doesn't contain paint, lacquer, or varnish resins! A good bedding is a pelleted litter which is is non-toxic, digestible, and draws the moisture inside leaving the area dry. Other litters include wood shavings and corncob. Avoid cedar or chlorophyll impregnated shavings as they have been associated with respiratory and liver disease.
   Chinchillas are a colder climate animal and cannot tolerate high heat. Keep the cage in a draft free place with a constant temperature between 60 to 80 degrees. Remove the animal waste everyday. Once a week change the bedding and disinfect the cage with bleach, rinsing it well.

Care and feeding:    Provide a water bottle with fresh water daily.
   Chinchillas feed on available vegetation in the wild, including roots and tubers. They sit up to eat, holding their food in their front paws. Their cheek teeth grow throughout life.They should be fed a Chinchilla pellet which provides most of their nutritional needs. Use a crock for its food as they are difficult to knock over and spill and they are hard to chew. They can be fed occasional greens, and they love dried bananna pellets for a treat.
   Chinchillas must be given access to a dust bath (available at pet stores) at least once every few days. Chinchilla teeth grow continuously so to keep them trim you must provide a block of wood for the chinchilla to chew on.

Regular Gray Chinchilla - "Keeko"

Social Behaviors:    Social animals, they live in small family groups which are part of larger colonies of 100 or more. It is better to keep pairs or families in captivity.
   Chinchillas are very sensitive and highly suseptible to stress when introduced to a new environment or new companions. Introduce anything new slowly, giving them time to examine it before making a permanent change. When frightened they will shed hair as a defense.

Breeding/Reproduction:    Female Chinchillas are larger than males and are agressive toward one another. They breed in winter, usually producing two litters of 1 - 6 young. the gestation period is 111 days, and the young are suckled for 6 - 8 weeks.

Common health problems:    Here is what most breeders recommend for common health problems:
      Diarrhea: give the chinchilla shredded wheat. Those little cubed 1" square ones work great.
      Constipation: Feed the chinchilla raisins.
      Runny eyes: Use a boric acid rinse. This may be a sign of other problems or infections, so if it persists for more than a day or two take your pet Chinchilla to a veterinarian.

Availability:   Although kind of a specialty pet, you should be able to find a breeder or a pet shop that can order a Chinchilla for you if they don't keep them at all times.

Common Chinchilla Color Varieties
Black Velvet	Violet
Mosaic 3 Photos © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough	White Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy Shana Giron

Lastest Comments on Chinchilla View all 115 comments on Chinchilla Add Your Comment

Betty - 2011-09-11 Hello I wanted to get a chinchilla for pet since a year ago. I'm living in a apartment with carpet floor. I'm not sure if the environment is suitable for having chinchillas. Also, is there any nice breeders in Vancouver Canada? Thank you:) Reply

mmtakn - 2011-04-11 I bought a Chinchilla two days ago. The first night at about 11 PM, I move him out for a walk inside my room. After a while he suddenly started shaking. It seemed like he couldn't breath. Then I saw some water coming from his mouth. It was like a gel. He puked little bit. Closed his eyes slowly. Then frozen for 2-3 min. long. I thought he died. After 3 min he started jumping like nothing happened. Next day, on the same hour he repeated it again. Same events one by one. Is there anyone knows the reason, or had the same situation? Click For Replies (2) Charlie Roche - 2011-04-12 Weird. Is there possibly something in your room that he quickly injests and then throws up? Animals can be allergic (very toxic) to some things us humans don't pay any attention to. Scented candles, Febreeze, aerosoles, perfumes etc. Big list and a chinchilla isn't a big fella. Deidra Lashan Gunn-Knight - 2011-07-07 I know this is pretty old, but sounds like your chin had a seizure. Some have them pretty often, but any chin can have them if they hit their heads or something. If he still does that, take him to a vet--if that's not possible, let him chill out in his cage, with only hay for a few days. No play time. Reply

Linda Clark - 2011-08-31 I raise and show chinchillas and, with attention, they do get along with other animals. I have one who sits on the back of my Seal-Point Himalayan cat and they watch TV. A cat and a rodent. Who would guess. I have one chinchilla, "Buddy" featured on YouTube "Buddy the Chinchilla Playing Dead" who is a certified therapy animal and goes to nursing homes, hospices, schools, etc. They can be wonderful pets with enough attention. Click For Replies (2) Toby Jungle - 2011-08-31 Awesome Rhonda Elliott - 2011-09-07 Hi Linda Clark, It's me, Rhonda Elliott, the owner of the Peace Corps chinchilla, Zoey, that you are caring for. I tried emailing you at your cascadechins email address but it didn't go through. So hopefully, I can connect with you this way. It's been about a year since I was last in the Seattle area, I really miss Zoey. I'm sorry I haven't been able to email you until now. I hope she is doing fine and treating you and your other chinchillas well. If you have taken any recent photos of her I would love to see them. I really want to see how she is doing. I miss her soooo much! I hope you are also doing well and staying healthy there. I have a little over another year here in the Philippines. I keep myself pretty busy here with work. Anyways, look forward to hearing from you. Take care! Reply

Anonymous - 2011-08-02 What is a good size cage, if i want to adopt 2 to 3 chinchillas? Click For Replies (1) Charlie Roche - 2011-08-04 You need a huge cage. Sorry it took me so long to write you back but had to do some homework and some thinking. Recommended size for 2 chinchillas, that I could find was 3 feet by 3 feet by 6 feet. They move around quite a bit. Obviously for three, you should go larger. Then I got to think about double decker bird cages without the divider used as they are usualy 3 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet. Then I thought about making one. Probably making one is your best solution for this large a size. You can buy wire and clips (Morton Jones has both) and just make one. You can use the legs that Morton Jones provides as well as a base pan. I think that would be the most economical way to go and get as large as you need. Where did you want to put it? Reply

Nadia - 2011-07-30 So I have been looking at different information the last couple of days... and one website stated that chinchillas are illegal in the US can someone please give me some correct information? Click For Replies (2) Charlie Roche - 2011-07-30 Chinchillas are legal inthe United States Per USDA (united States department of Agriculture)a Chinchilla is an "agricultural animal raised for the purpose of fur production" and not considered an exotic. I have no idea what site said they were illegal Nadia - 2011-07-30 thanks... I forget the website but i just wanna be 100% sure before I buy one. Reply

Cera Farringer - 2011-07-12 I am highly considering getting a Chinchilla, but I already have a million pets. So I have a few questions, Are they really high maintenance? Do they pee everywhere? How big do they get? Hahha.. Well reply.. PLEASE! Thank you, Cera [: Click For Replies (1) Charlie Roche - 2011-07-13 The Animal World article will tell you about their living requirements, food, cage etc. They are primarily kept in an enclosure with aborbin substrate. You take them out for play and cuddle and excercise but mostly in an enclosure with absorbent bedding. So you don't worry about whether they "pee a lot" as they are doing it in the pen. The chinchillas' body is 8 3/4 - 15 in long. The tail is 3 - 6 in long. They can weigh anywhere from 18 to 35 ounces. High maintenance, you need to keep the Chinchinlas pen clean and it would need to be quite sizable. Excercise and play outside the pen. Reply

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