Chinchilla 101

Chinchillas make great pets! Continue reading to learn more about these awesome animals!

Check the post out every day to learn a new subject about chinchillas!'

Top Tips

• Keep your chinchilla indoors at all times

Colors and Kinds of Chinchillas

When choosing your chinchilla, you can decide between colors and designs on the coat of your chinchilla. 

The most popular coat design for a chinchilla is Standard, which is how you expect a chinchilla to usually look; dark/light gray with flecks of white. The three other coat designs are pink white, self black, and the Wilson White design, a light gray all over. You are least likely to see a black chinchilla, and it is very rare to find one in an all-gray litter. Other coat and breed designs that are not well-known yet include sapphire, black velvet, brown velvet, violet, and royal blue.


Housing Chinchillas

Chinchillas, like hedgehogs, are very special creatures, so they need specific needs. The cage should be a galvanized(rust-proof) wire mesh cage at least 60 cm wide by 45 cm deep by 75 cm high. NEVER buy plastic or glass aquarium cages since they have bad air circulation and plastic can be chewed on. It is very helpful to get a cage with a metal tray that pulls out underneath. The cage should have a water bottle container and a food bowl, several wooden shelves and ladders on the sides of the cage, a sleeping house, a hay bin, and some toys such as a pumice chew or timothy grass chews. Remember to put a sort of platform somewhere on the cage bottom for him to sit on comfortably. Another thing you will need is a small tarp or blanket to cover the back of the cage. Animals like to be under a thing or next to a wall since it makes them feel nervous to be in the middle of the room. A good place for a cage is under a shelf or against a bookshelf or in a comfortable corner.

Chinchillas are unique but great pets.

The pink white coat color displayed on a chinchilla sometimes  has
a distinctive black dot above the eyes.