Anybody own a chinchilla?

[pumbaa]

I'm thinking of one as a college pet... any chinchilla owners out there have any advice? (and no... I can't hav a dog cat or any other nominally cool pet... chinchilla is about as cool as UF allows...)

[FriskyTanuki]

My old biology had 2 of them, but I don't really remember much about them. They looked cool, and he let them out a few times. You'd need a relatively big cage for it to run around in.

[Zoltek99]

I had one for quite some time. In terms of taking care of them, they're basically like hamsters. You keep them in the cage (usually a rather big one for a Chinchilla) and give them their water and food (they've got special food pellets and they sometimes like to eat celery and carrots). You've also got this special grass-like stuff that you can give them every so often and they like to chew on it. Hmm, what else. Oh yeah. So they take baths in these sand baths so you have to purchase that special sand dust and change that every few days or so.

As for temperament, usually they are kind of shy and will sometimes give you a little bite if you try to put your finger up to them. However (at least with mine) if you give them the grass to chew on...they love that stuff and won't be scared of you at all.

They sleep a lot and then have spurts where they run around the cage and take a lot of baths. As for taking them out of the cage, I used to like to let them out to run every so often. Just be careful to watch them at all times, because when they get out....they are damn fast.

All in all...they're cool pets to have simply because they are easy to take care of and not that many people own them.

Hope that helped.

[CoffeeEdge]

All I know about chinchillas is that they rule. :D

A couple of guides:
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/chinchillas/
http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/Park/6920/

[1SwtDeception]

thats tight.. a chinchilla pet i wouldnt htink it would be like a hamster but ahh yea have fun with your pet =P

[Theenternal]

Also remember they are the type of animals that use the bathroom at will,

[Grave_Addiction]

I have a chinchilla. She's pretty awesome. She can hop and jump around like crazy, though.

They like to chew on things a lot, so you can never leave them alone in a room with electrical cords nearby. You could easily have a roasted chinchilla on your hands.

[Ebraum]

I had one that passed away a few years ago. There pretty cool. In their cage you must give them somewhere to hide. They also like to roll around in some kind of powder for a bath. Can't remember what it's called it's been so long.

[Nirvanaguy777]

my x girlfriend has a chinchilla

[bignick]

One of my friends had an Iguana in her room. That thing was awesome! She would let it walk around that halls and stuff. It ate carrots and keel(sp).

[daphatty]

One of my friends had an Iguana in her room. That thing was awesome! She would let it walk around that halls and stuff. It ate carrots and keel(sp).

You so wanted to fit into this thread didn't you? :P

My eighth grade science teacher had several of these. They were awesome! I always wanted one as a child but never could afford it. They're so soft and cuddly!

...considers getting one...

[Ericnmel99]

my mom has two of them on her ears. nice and warm earmuffs. :)

[bignick]

One of my friends had an Iguana in her room. That thing was awesome! She would let it walk around that halls and stuff. It ate carrots and keel(sp).

You so wanted to fit into this thread didn't you? :P

My eighth grade science teacher had several of these. They were awesome! I always wanted one as a child but never could afford it. They're so soft and cuddly!

...considers getting one...

Just throwing another option out there. That thing was kinda cool. When she fed him carrots alot, his skin would turn an orangish color.

[alonzomourning23]

Most places I've seen them in house them in large cages, about the size you'd put a ferret in. They also seem very flexible, since they seem to like tubes and all the other things ferrets like (I've had a ferret, and the cage and accessories alone are expensive, and it seems chinchilla supplies would be just as expensive). Though, I would be careful about buying one, I was thinking of getting one myself and discussed it with my vet, it appears they can live over 20 years (she had just performed surgery on a 21 year old chinchilla to remove a tumor), and I've seen websites list the life expectancy anywhere from 10-22. I wouldn't get an animal that lived that long unless I really wanted it, and it appears you want it because you can't get a dog or another cool pet. If it lives 15 or 20 years, are you still going to want it when you're 35-40?

[Grave_Addiction]

http://www.chinchat.net/certificate.gif
http://www.chinchat.net/bouncerhand.gif
Yeah they are pretty damn long-living.

BTW, I wonder why the hell they live so much longer than other mammals their size.

I mean, look at a ferret, it only lives for about half of what a chilla does.

[KrazyKefka]

Chinchillas are crazy. They'll bite your head off if you're wearing a steak on it.


Joking aside, I'm curious as to where you're living at college: in a dorm, a university-owned housing/apartments? At my school, the only pet you're allowed to have is a fish. I know it's that way in the dorms and I'm pretty sure it's the same thing in the university-owned housing/apartments.