I probably have missed some stuff in this video, if you can think of anything else please comment below. Lets all help each other out and provide the best care as we can for our little fluff balls 🙂
Im glad you brought up letting the chinchilla out. It is important for any highly sociable animal like a chinchilla to be out. They are very social pack animals with high intelligence. Especially if you only have one as they really tend to bond with their owner. I typically make sure they have a room to be free in with nothing they can harm themselves in if i have to work alot. It is crucial and i find it makes them even more intelligent and trainable. They understand what "NO!"means and seem to know to get excited and popcorn if we say dust bath so we spell it. Truly the chinchilla is an underrated animal. They are more like prairie dogs/ puppies than rodents socially at least i think. They just like quiet time to get to know you and their home. I once had a friend chinchilla so tame he liked to sleep with me in bed when it was cold. Or at least that was how it started one winter. The forever afterward he wanted to sleep with me with a breif nightwalk for food. It was annoying sometimes cause he woukd wake me going back to bed! I miss him still he lived 12 and got into salted sunflower seeds and died. They live a LONG time. My three girl chinchillas are still young at around 13, 10, and 9, but the drawback of letting them out like this is the danger of them being unsupervised killing them or them running away and getting lost. The more supervision the better because like four year olds they are just intelligent enough to get into serious trouble sometimes lik toddlers with powe cables and eating things that can harm them. They can go down quickly and die if sick within a day and need to get to a vet the day you notice symptoms like an emergency (not the next day) or you will find them dead in the morning. Other than that the only bad thing about myy chinchilla that slept with me was the poop pellets in the bed when i woke up! They are such sweet animals and even seem to get depressed if you ignore them and leave them in the cage all day after you get them to the point where they think your friends in their pack. I personally think they have intelligence like parrots at least. They seem to like different programs showing on the tv. Dateline NBC puts them to sleep in their cage. They popcorn and highfive to guitar music on the other hand. They like listening to normal shows or like visually watching animals shows or whatever seems to interestt them. They learn how to open doors and cage doors and everything just to have fun and go back to sleep in their cage when done(unless the area around was too loud and they are trying to sleep...then youll find them under your bed). Chinchillas have a large language of their own we have yet to fully translate. They just communicate with subtle gestures rather than more vocal animals because they are prey. Chinchillas use nonverbal communication for 98 percent of what they say. Mine wink at me ;) with one eye when i come home cause i do it to them sometimes when telling them they are too cute petting them. Someone said no animals but humans could do this until he saw it happen in his living room. The only thing holding them back is their nervous nature being so small.They even wag their tails, bark, and laugh out loud with chirps! Enjoyed the video! For example My chinchillas approved of this video because they popcorned when they heard your voice playing off of my smartphone
I got a chinchilla back before the internet was filled with info and their average life expectancy was thought to only be around 6 years. He lived to be 20. He had 6+ hours of human interaction for the first 2 years of his life. He was never pressured to interact, but was given the opportunity to do so. And he turned out to be an amazingly social animal that genuinely enjoyed human interaction. Key points: 1. He interacted with adults; he only saw children when in the presence of an adult who would provide guidance on how to pet or handle him; 2. Of the entire litter, he was the boldest and most curious from the outset - that was actually the criteria by which I selected him; 3. The only time he would try to jump out of my hands was once he came to recognize female boobs. He would go crazy to try to jump into a woman's arms. Fun fact: by the time he was about 12 I could actually get him to sit on my lap and he'd watch an entire feature-length film with me, asking for nothing more than occasional head scratches. BUT, lest anybody read this and think you can have a chinchilla like this, consider that he spent almost 4,000 hours, uncaged, with humans around him in the first two years of his life. Like with any pet, in the long run, you get out what you put in.
Great video. It’s so hard to cover everything when it comes to chinchilla care but you’ve mentioned many very important points. I also agree that they are social animals and should have a partner and should get time out of the cage.
I think it’s just people being helicopter pet parents which is why they say no tap water. But US tap water is fine. Unless they can’t have the fluoride in it? But that’s in bottled and store bought water too?
Love watching your video's ❤️. What is your advice about using parfum sprays/burners/candles? We have our chinchillas in our living room but have no walls or doors to our kitchen (open kitchen). I'm used to occasionally using a Lampe Berger after cooking dinner which leaves a strong smell afterwards to neutralize / parfum the air in our house.
Hi, I would avoid using aerosol, airfreshners, candles etc. around them as it is not good for them, (it's actually not that good for humans either). It's not going to cause them to die instantly like it does with birds but long term exposure could cause some issues , if you are able to move them to another room when using them or keep the room very well ventilated it would be better. Years ago I did used to use scented candles quite often but my chinchillas were in a different room, no harm ever came to them but honestly I probably shouldn't have done that. I don't use anything at all now as I also have birds and they are so sensitive to anything like that. Hope this helps 🙂
Ally's Animal Antics Hi Ally, several chinchilla owners adviced an air purifier so I bought one. I think it's healthy for both chinchilla's and humans. So no more parfum candles and Lampe Berger needed anymore.
They tend to pee in the same place, normally in a corner but they poop everywhere they dont stick to one spot. They are happy with company of other chinchillas as get are social animals. Same sex pairs tend to di really well.
Do you mind telling me what you feed your chinchillas? I'm doing a lot of research on their nutrition and I know it's basic but I'd want to feed my chinchillas the best basic diet and I'd heard mixed things about alfalfa being in a male chinchilla diet
Hi I feed my chinchillas Duggins Chinchila Pellets , you can find ingredients for them online. This is a brand that a lot of the top show breeders use in the UK. I give them one to two tablespoons a day per chinchilla. I also give unlimited Timothy hay daily, alfalfa hay I only give as a seldom treat as it contains quite a lot of calcium. However when my females give birth I will offer them some Alfalfa hay as it is said that it helps with milk production. Other than that I give them treats such as rolled oats and shredded wheat, not everyday, maybe once a week. I give them apple wood and willow sticks daily as "treats" as they lolve chewing off the bark. Hope this helps 🙂
I don't understand why the chinchilla society recommends that cage, its so small with no room to jump. It looks like a breeder type cage. They says safest to not get them limbs stuck but I've never heard of a chinchilla getting their legs stuck in any of the rodent cage/critter cages, the spacing is way to big for it to happen. Your association need to update their cage recommendations.
I probably have missed some stuff in this video, if you can think of anything else please comment below. Lets all help each other out and provide the best care as we can for our little fluff balls 🙂
Im glad you brought up letting the chinchilla out. It is important for any highly sociable animal like a chinchilla to be out. They are very social pack animals with high intelligence. Especially if you only have one as they really tend to bond with their owner. I typically make sure they have a room to be free in with nothing they can harm themselves in if i have to work alot. It is crucial and i find it makes them even more intelligent and trainable. They understand what "NO!"means and seem to know to get excited and popcorn if we say dust bath so we spell it. Truly the chinchilla is an underrated animal. They are more like prairie dogs/ puppies than rodents socially at least i think. They just like quiet time to get to know you and their home. I once had a friend chinchilla so tame he liked to sleep with me in bed when it was cold. Or at least that was how it started one winter. The forever afterward he wanted to sleep with me with a breif nightwalk for food. It was annoying sometimes cause he woukd wake me going back to bed! I miss him still he lived 12 and got into salted sunflower seeds and died. They live a LONG time. My three girl chinchillas are still young at around 13, 10, and 9, but the drawback of letting them out like this is the danger of them being unsupervised killing them or them running away and getting lost. The more supervision the better because like four year olds they are just intelligent enough to get into serious trouble sometimes lik toddlers with powe cables and eating things that can harm them. They can go down quickly and die if sick within a day and need to get to a vet the day you notice symptoms like an emergency (not the next day) or you will find them dead in the morning. Other than that the only bad thing about myy chinchilla that slept with me was the poop pellets in the bed when i woke up! They are such sweet animals and even seem to get depressed if you ignore them and leave them in the cage all day after you get them to the point where they think your friends in their pack. I personally think they have intelligence like parrots at least. They seem to like different programs showing on the tv. Dateline NBC puts them to sleep in their cage. They popcorn and highfive to guitar music on the other hand. They like listening to normal shows or like visually watching animals shows or whatever seems to interestt them. They learn how to open doors and cage doors and everything just to have fun and go back to sleep in their cage when done(unless the area around was too loud and they are trying to sleep...then youll find them under your bed). Chinchillas have a large language of their own we have yet to fully translate. They just communicate with subtle gestures rather than more vocal animals because they are prey. Chinchillas use nonverbal communication for 98 percent of what they say. Mine wink at me ;) with one eye when i come home cause i do it to them sometimes when telling them they are too cute petting them. Someone said no animals but humans could do this until he saw it happen in his living room. The only thing holding them back is their nervous nature being so small.They even wag their tails, bark, and laugh out loud with chirps! Enjoyed the video! For example My chinchillas approved of this video because they popcorned when they heard your voice playing off of my smartphone
I got a chinchilla back before the internet was filled with info and their average life expectancy was thought to only be around 6 years. He lived to be 20. He had 6+ hours of human interaction for the first 2 years of his life. He was never pressured to interact, but was given the opportunity to do so. And he turned out to be an amazingly social animal that genuinely enjoyed human interaction. Key points: 1. He interacted with adults; he only saw children when in the presence of an adult who would provide guidance on how to pet or handle him; 2. Of the entire litter, he was the boldest and most curious from the outset - that was actually the criteria by which I selected him; 3. The only time he would try to jump out of my hands was once he came to recognize female boobs. He would go crazy to try to jump into a woman's arms. Fun fact: by the time he was about 12 I could actually get him to sit on my lap and he'd watch an entire feature-length film with me, asking for nothing more than occasional head scratches. BUT, lest anybody read this and think you can have a chinchilla like this, consider that he spent almost 4,000 hours, uncaged, with humans around him in the first two years of his life. Like with any pet, in the long run, you get out what you put in.
Great video. It’s so hard to cover everything when it comes to chinchilla care but you’ve mentioned many very important points. I also agree that they are social animals and should have a partner and should get time out of the cage.
In the US tap water has alot of minerals in it so that's why spring water/distilled or mixture of the 2 is better for Chinchillas & Rabbits etc.🐾💜💙
And I’m so grateful that they like cool temperatures. My house feels like a cave year round.
Well water? It’s basically spring water. I can throw a filter on the faucet. Or get a Brita.
I think it’s just people being helicopter pet parents which is why they say no tap water. But US tap water is fine. Unless they can’t have the fluoride in it? But that’s in bottled and store bought water too?
Love watching your video's ❤️. What is your advice about using parfum sprays/burners/candles? We have our chinchillas in our living room but have no walls or doors to our kitchen (open kitchen). I'm used to occasionally using a Lampe Berger after cooking dinner which leaves a strong smell afterwards to neutralize / parfum the air in our house.
Hi, I would avoid using aerosol, airfreshners, candles etc. around them as it is not good for them, (it's actually not that good for humans either). It's not going to cause them to die instantly like it does with birds but long term exposure could cause some issues , if you are able to move them to another room when using them or keep the room very well ventilated it would be better. Years ago I did used to use scented candles quite often but my chinchillas were in a different room, no harm ever came to them but honestly I probably shouldn't have done that.
I don't use anything at all now as I also have birds and they are so sensitive to anything like that. Hope this helps 🙂
Ally's Animal Antics Hi Ally, several chinchilla owners adviced an air purifier so I bought one. I think it's healthy for both chinchilla's and humans. So no more parfum candles and Lampe Berger needed anymore.
My water in michigan has clhorine in it so i give my chinchilla jug water
I love magic!!!
I live in the U.S. My Chinchilla is 16 years old. She's been drinking tap water her whole life. We've never had any issues.
Do they only poop in corners? Do you need two Chinchillas for them to be happy?
They tend to pee in the same place, normally in a corner but they poop everywhere they dont stick to one spot. They are happy with company of other chinchillas as get are social animals. Same sex pairs tend to di really well.
Chlorine and LED IS MOSTLY FOUND IN TAP WATER IN THE USA
That makes a lot of sense why US wouldn't use it. Thanks for the info 🙂
In in USA we have TOO much chloride and chlorine in our water . I use bottles for ALL my ANIMALS
That makes sense that you don't use tap then .
Do you mind telling me what you feed your chinchillas? I'm doing a lot of research on their nutrition and I know it's basic but I'd want to feed my chinchillas the best basic diet and I'd heard mixed things about alfalfa being in a male chinchilla diet
Hi I feed my chinchillas Duggins Chinchila Pellets , you can find ingredients for them online. This is a brand that a lot of the top show breeders use in the UK. I give them one to two tablespoons a day per chinchilla. I also give unlimited Timothy hay daily, alfalfa hay I only give as a seldom treat as it contains quite a lot of calcium.
However when my females give birth I will offer them some Alfalfa hay as it is said that it helps with milk production. Other than that I give them treats such as rolled oats and shredded wheat, not everyday, maybe once a week. I give them apple wood and willow sticks daily as "treats" as they lolve chewing off the bark.
Hope this helps 🙂
Hi
I don't understand why the chinchilla society recommends that cage, its so small with no room to jump.
It looks like a breeder type cage. They says safest to not get them limbs stuck but I've never heard of a chinchilla getting their legs stuck in any of the rodent cage/critter cages, the spacing is way to big for it to happen.
Your association need to update their cage recommendations.