chinchilla anyone?

[babybunsmum]

there’s a chinchilla up for adoption at my local humane society.  has anyone here ever had one / currently has one for a pet?  I’m wondering what they’re like.

[LizzieKnittyBun]

They’re soooooooooooo cute and soft! However, from everything I’ve heard, they are not sociable and dislike being held even more than bunnies. I’ve even heard they don’t like to be petted, but I’m hoping that’s an exaggeration.

[Lintini]

I had a trio of them before. I don’t know if I will never get them again because of the huge mess they made in the house. I would say they are pretty high maintenance. You have to give them those dust baths often too. The really only huge problem I had with them was housing. They LOVE to be up high and jump everywhere! So…you guessed it…poop goes EVERYWHERE. If my dad was nicer to me and loved my animals more maybe he could have made me a better cage and worked on litterbox training with them so poop wasn’t bounced all over. They need a very large space because of how they boing everywhere. Turn them loose in a room and they will bounce off the walls!! They are very cute, soft and for the most part nice. I did have one that would attack me and she would stand on her hind legs and spray me…. My male was much calmer than her. The mean female was from Petco …no doubt not really handled or ever handled. The other 2, I had a beige female white mosiac male, they were from a breeder and they were very sweet and loved to hang out with me. Oxbow makes some nice pellets for them, oh and they love all sorts of hidey homes that are up high. Mine used to love this stuffed box house that you could hang, it was made of fleece I think. Also after you handle them you have to give them a dust bath because you get your hand oils all over their fur. And you can never get them wet either. I do miss them, my mom gave them to a chinchilla rescue while I was away at college and hoped I wouldn’t notice. Makes me upset just thinking of it. Well I digress…if you have the space and can find some sort of habitat that gives them plenty of room and you don’t mind having a mostly hands off pet, or if you have a room to turn them loose in, even better. I wouldn’t recommend them around young children though.

[babybunsmum]

interesting. thanks so much for the input! from what i’ve read so far it seems that neutering males under 4 yrs is advisable for the same reasons as rabbits but typically not females. think i’ll call my exotics vet and ask if they have any experience with chinchillas. chi chi looks so sweet!

[Lintini]

Chi chi!!!! I had ChinChin cute cute!!

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