Tell me about Chinchillas?

[L&Schickens]

I was just talked out of Degus, so now how about chinchillas? Give me the good, bad and ugly on them please!

 

[priszilla]

i Love my chinnies- they are nocturnal, very quiet- shed a ton of the softest fur everywhere - a little at a time, eat special food, love raisens,dust bathe and are very curious.I got mine as adults and they are friendly but not holding kinds of pets. I have heard that they are as long lived as a dog- 15 years or more if well cared for.

 

[Lostdog]

Chins are cool lil pets and easy to care for.
They do not have an odor-body or cage.
They LOVE raisins-but only 1 a day and absolutely no more than 2 no matter how much they beg.
Mine ate rabbit food(did better on that than on chin food.
As priszilla said they can live up to 25 yrs.
(Mine had very little health problems.)
They are so adorable

in a dust bath-they LOVE them too.
They can bounce very high.
Their fur is the softest touch known to mankind and it is so dense they can not get fleas.
They need a chew block to keep their teeth from overgrowing.
They will stand on their hind legs and pee on you as a defenese mechanism (if you scare them).Dont let this scare you I only have been peed on 2-3 times over 10 years with as many as 11 chins at one time.And the pee does not stink.
They tolerate cold better than heat but can not be cooled by a fan.Keep them from drafts also.
Their gestation is for 111 days(if I remember correctly).They have betwen 1-3 kits.(If you breed)
They enjoy living with other chins.
They come in several different colors with grey being the standard.
They enjoy a more vertical cage than horizontal and enjoy jumping on ledges in the cage-sorta like a chicken perching.
They need pine shavings-cedar can be toxic to them and cause respitory problems.
There are not alot of negatives except like priszilla said they are not really snuggly but they are not real aloof either.
You can pick them up by their tails-very close to the base of the tail only.
They like to have a nest box-not really like a chicken but more like a full coverage box with a hole.
They are originally from the Andes Mtns in S. America and their natural predators attack from overhead so they like to hide IN their boxes.
Thats all I can think of now, if you have any questions feel free to post or PM me.

Good luck with your decision.
Christi

ETA:correction on my bad, I mean poor grammar

 

[Kanchii]

they are adoreable and so soft, which makes you want to cuddle them, but most chins want nothing to do with loving, they'd rather stick to themselves and not be touched by humans.

If you want a rodent that's sweet with people, get a rat