What do chinchillas need if you have them as a pet?

Answer 1

Chinchilla's are nice pets to keep but need a few things:

1. A good quality chinchilla cage, I recommend the Ferret Nation Cage (142) or the Critter Nation Cage (162). The difference between the two is just the Critter Nation has smaller bar spacing!
2. A nesting box is an essential, it is best if you get a wooden one but an animal safe plastic one is good only for journeys in the carry cage!
3. Wood based litter, I recommend using Care Fresh bedding mixed in with this also, make sure that the bag you have of wood/care fresh litter doesn't have dusty litter in!
4. Hay, a good quality supply of Timothy hay is essential, top it up every day
5. Chinchilla pellets, chinchilla "mix" wont do as chinchillas' can be selective and have a poor quality diet
6. A sturdy food bowl, either a heavy crockery dish or a stainless steel "Coop cup" to clip onto the side of the cage, DON'T get a plastic dish as it will be gone quicker than the food!
7. 150-320 ml (4oz-8oz) plastic or glass water bottle with an easy to suck sipper, never get a water dish as it will be soiled quickly!
8. Lava stones/pumice stones, these help file teeth down as chinchillas chew allot. You can buy pet safe pumice stone ledges at pet shops
9. Mineral stone/chew, you can easily purchase a rodent safe mineral chew/stone at pet shops
10. Large tubes, you can go to a carpet store and ask for the cardboard inner tube that carpets are rolled round. Chinchillas also like to chew loo roll tubes. You can also but tubes that are made of vegetable parchment and rodent safe plastic in pet stores
11. Dust bath, I recommend buying a metal dust bath with high edges from a pet store or you could use a large (metal) family size sweet tin, e.g Quality Street tins. The plastic dust house's are good when chinchillas' are small but a fully grown one may find it a bit of a squeeze and may overheat
12. Chinchilla Dust, buy chinchilla dust from pet stores, DON'T use anything else! Sand is horrid to use for them.
13. Wooden toys/chew/sticks, if you use sticks from your garden/yard then don't use sticks from pine or citrus fruit trees. Before you give the sticks to the chinchillas' put them in boiling water for 10-15 minutes as this destroys germs and bacteria
14. Treats - dried apple with no preservatives is good for a treat
15. Cage cleaning spray and wipes, get special safe cleaning spray for pets to spray shelves and toys down. Use wipes for wire bars and smaller toys. Another option is to put dilute vinegar in boiling water and leave the stuff that needs cleaning to soak
16. A carry cage, I recommend getting a very well ventilated carry cage that's for cats and small dogs as "Small pet" carriers are too Small normally. Or if you don't have this believe it or not a medium sized hamster cage with no accessorises, tubes or shelves is good as they are well ventilated. Make sure the cage is about 20cm high, 20cm wide and 30cm long, the bigger the better!
17. A book on chinchillas, you can get books on Amazon, in book shops, sometimes in library's and also in pet shops

Answer 2

A Chinchilla mostly needs food and water to survive and their fur helps them survive to because when its cold outside the chinchilla wraps himself in the fur to keep him warm.Thank you for choosing my answer on wonderful answers.com

Answer 3

A nice spacy cage with lots of things to jump on such as little ledges you can get at the pet store, chinchillas love to jump. Get a dust bath with chinchilla dust you can get at the pet store. Get timothy hay and natural benefits from kaytee, chinchillas love those. Get a few unsalted almonds or other nuts from the chinchilla food section for a treat. Get a small litter box with carefree bedding. You should be good after you get a large pet rodent water bottle.

Answer 4

Chinchillas are not the average house pet. If you plan to get one, you need room for it to roam around. So they need lots of room. And you need a room that doesn't have alot of wires. If you do have a room with a whole bunch of wires just cover them up when you let them out. And chinchillas need to be picked up like you would pick up a dog, if you pick them up by the fur you will just end up with a handful of fur. And if you are planning to get 2 don't get a male and female pair unless you want babies!! NEVER EVER FEED CHINCHILLAS VEGETABLES!! If you feed chinchillas vegetables it will cause a build up in their stomach and can cause them to die. And also remeber they need a dust bath once a week! Treats you can give them are raisins, cornflakes, dry oatmeal, etc.

by the way i know all this cause for my birthday in april i will be getting a chinchilla my self.

Answer 5

needs to have a weekly dust bath. and food, water, and beeding(can not have any smell) a cage. perferivley more than two stories... they like to jump.

Answer 6

a huge cage, lots of food, lots of water, a bowl of sand and another chinchilla to keep it happy.