NEVER BUY FROM A PET SHOP. You don't know if the chinchilla came from healthy parents or if they were inbred or if they have a history of health defects, etc. Also you will pay more for a basic standard grey chinchilla and get a much lower quality of animal. BUY FROM A REPUTABLE BREEDER who cares about the health and quality of the chinchilla they will sell to you because they want to keep a good reputation as a quality breeder. At a breeder you will get a bigger selection of colors to choose from, much better quality, health, and price. Chinchillas rarely if ever need to go to a vet. Start with a quality animal and avoid costly vet bills and heartache. IF YOU ARE BUYING A BABY ASK TO SEE THE PARENTS. THIS IS A GOOD INDICATION OF WHAT THE BABY WILL GROW UP TO LOOK LIKE.
Before you purchase your chinchilla you will need to get a cage. For 1 chinchilla I would not go smaller than 24" x 24" x 18" cage (preferably larger) that allows you enough room for their house, dust bath, feeding dishes and exercise wheel (chinchillas love, love, love their exercise wheel). Especially at night so keep a little vegetable oil on the turning joint of the wheel so it doesn't squeak and keep you up!) You will also need a water bottle that hangs on the cage. I like a wide mouth water bottle because they are easier to scrub with a baby bottle brush to clean once a week. Don't screw the lid on too tight or the water does not come out good. Also make sure it's not dripping out soaking the pine shavings. I use nursery water or distilled water for their bottles not tap water. Now, if you are going to breed a pair of chinchillas I like to have a 24" x 36" x 18" cage and wire openings no bigger than 1/2" x 1" so the newborn babies can't squeeze out. Much of the chinchilla's size is made up of fur so they can fit through a smaller opening than you might think. If you would like to make your own chinchilla cages you may want to try the klubertanz website. I would use 16 gauge wire that is galvanized after welding. I use heavy duty plastic bottoms for my cages by dura pan. I do not use a wire floor because they can cause injuries and sore paws.
Your chinchilla will need a good quality pellet food and alfalfa cubes. I think it's a much better value to buy the feed items from a breeder or a farm and feed store in bulk than a pet shop.
Chinchillas need a dust bath to keep them clean and smelling fresh. The dust gets rid of dirt, oil and smells in their fur. I give them a dust bath twice a week for about 15 to 20 minutes. You can keep reusing the dust until it loses the soft feel and starts to feel gritty. If you leave the dust bath in the cage all the time they will just use it as a bathroom and it can dry their skin out. I like the blue cloud dust because it has a finer softer feel to it, but you can also use blue sparkle, which has a rougher feel to it. Both of these products are real volcanic ash, which is what chinchillas use in the wild.
I use pine shavings that are kiln dried for their bedding, which I change once a week. I purchase a huge bag of these from a farm and feed store, but you can also get a good deal from a breeder. If you buy tiny bags of everything from a pet shop it will cost alot more. Do not use cedar shavings, they are toxic to chinchillas. Chinchillas like to munch on their bedding sometimes so make sure you use safe shavings. They also like stuff to chew on and it's good to keep their teeth worn down. You can get pine blocks, pine cones that aren't treated with pesticides, apple twigs that aren't treated with pesticides and cuttlebones.
My chinchillas also like to have a pine ledge to hop up on about 6 inches down from the top of the cage. The size I use is about 6" x 5". They also like little canopies to sit in that hang from the top of their cage, which they destroy eventually by chewing the fabric hangers. They will also chew on their wood house , your wood stuff, electrical wires, etc. so if you let them out for play time keep an eye on them. The easiest place for me to keep an eye on them is my half bathroom.
I think the best feeders are metal feeders that attach to the cage. You could use ceramic dishes, but chinchillas like to move anything not secured down and will often turn these over and dump out their food. They will chew plastic dishes up so I do not recommend those.
Chinchillas can be litter trained! I watch to see which corner they are going in and then I put the litter pan in that corner with some of the pine shavings they already went on.
Chinchillas also love to play in the ferre trail tubes. They will play in these until they are wore out and then they will sleep in them.
Buying a Chinchilla
You have decided to buy a chinchilla. What is the best way to go about it? I would buy a chinchilla from a reputable breeder. They keep track of their breeding lines and will be able to give you a pedigree. You can see the parents of the chinchilla you want to purchase. As with any pet you are better off to spend a little more money in the beginning to get a healthy, good quality animal than to impulse buy at a pet store and end up with heartache and expensive vet bills later. Plus if you eventually decide you want to breed a pair of chinchillas you know you have a good quality animal to produce good quality offspring. Be picky when you choose an animal. Look at pictures on line so you can decide which kind you want and look the animal over carefully. Check his eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, feet, etc. Make sure they are lively and alert not lethargic. Do you want a large or small chinchilla? At chinchilla shows (yes, they have shows just like dog shows) they like the animals to be on the larger size. So, if you are wanting to breed or show eventually than you will want to keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that really large or over weight chinchillas can be slower to reproduce. In my experience the larger chinchillas tend to be more calm. I do have a few smaller breeding pairs, but most of my herd are large animals. So, if you are looking to buy larger chinchillas it's definitely a good idea to look at the parents so you can get a better idea of how large your chinchilla will grow to be.
I do not give my chins raisins. For a treat I give them chew toys like pine wood chews, pet loofah, pet pumice and pet lava chews.
Chinchillas as Pets
I do not recommend chinchillas for children under 10. One thing to be careful of is their tiny rib cage so you don't want to squeeze them too tightly. When you hold a chinchilla it's best to scoop them up from underneath. Hold their belly against your chest with one hand and hold the base of the tail with the other hand. When you go to get your chinchilla bring a small metal or wood carrier (my chinchillas come with a carrier and it is included in the price). Put some shavings in it and maybe an alfalfa block. On the ride home leave it in it's cage. They may be scared and unsure. Even if they have been handled previously they don't know you yet. When you get them home put them in their new cage in a quiet place and give them time to check things out and get adjusted. The next day you can put your arm in the cage and just rest it there. At first they will probably hide, but they are so naturally curious that eventually they will come out and start to climb on your arm. Be quiet and still. Let them get used to your smell and used to being near you. Be patient, kind and gentle. They may put their teeth on you like a baby does , but not bite down. Do this everyday for about a week. After a week another way to slowly get them used to you is to put them inside your shirt (between a t-shirt and outer shirt). This lets them get used to your smell, your voice and the sounds of the house, while still feeling safe in the darkness of your shirt. Be careful not to let them get too warm. You can also sit with them in a half bathroom. (Close the toilet lid and pick up anything that could be harmful first). They will probably hide in a corner at first, but will eventually come out and climb on you. Bring in a book or magazine to read so you can let them get used to you.
That being said I get my chinchilla babies out every day and handle them so they will be used to human contact and they may take to you right away. Most chinchillas are laid back, but some are more high strung. They each have their own personality. The more you can let them make the contact the better. The more time you spend with your chinchilla the tamer they will become. My chinchillas will climb up on my shoulder and inspect me, even touch their nose to my nose. Chinchillas like to have a buddy so even if you don't want to breed you may want to get 2 brothers, 2 sisters or 2 chinchillas of the same sex that were weaned together, especially if you are gone at work or school all day.
