General Info

A standard grey female exploring her new hammock. 

Chinchillas are medium size rodents with one of the softest and densest coats of fur. They are naive to the Andes mountains in South American. Today, wild chinchillas are quite rare due to over hunting for their fur and most chinchillas are farm-raised or home-bred.

Chinchillas drink water in very small amounts. Their diet should consist mainly of timothy hay and any high quality, fiber-based chinchilla pellets. Chinchillas have very sensitive gastrointestinal tracts and cannot process fat or high protein foods. Fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and sweets should be avoided.

Chinchillas can make wonderful pets. They are clever, playful and loving. They love to jump and explore new places. They are very social and can become very attached to their owners. If you are not able to give them supervised out-of-cage play time frequently, it would be better to have two chinchillas instead of one so they can interact with each other.  Chinchillas can live up to 10-20 years, making them long term companions.