All About Chinchillas

By Spencer Underwood

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All About Chinchillas

By Spencer Underwood

What is a Chinchilla?

Chinchillas are small South American rodents that live in the Andes Mountains. A large number of chinchillas were brought to North America in the 1920s, where they began being sold as pets.

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Photo from: www.61p.net

Types of Chinchillas

Chinchillas come in many different colors: dark grey, mosaic(varied colors), black velvet, sapphire, white and tan. The natural color is dark grey. There are several cross-breeds of chinchillas, such as chinchilla rats and chinchilla rabbits. Chinchillas are closely related to another South American rodent called a viscacha. Viscachas have orange fur and ears similar to those of a rabbit, but otherwise look like chinchillas.

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Mountain viscachas burrow under rocks, like chinchillas.

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Natural Habitat and Diet

Chinchillas are from the Andes Mountains in South America. They make their home in small crevices, or in small rock nests. Chinchillas come out of their shelters to gather food or to socialize. These rodents are very sensitive to heat, so they live at a higher altitude in the mountains to stay cool. Chins live in herds and as many as possible fit into each shelter. The herds often include chinchilla rats.

Chinchillas are hunted for their super soft fur to make coats and it takes dozens of chins to make one coat. Chinchilla coats had been popular from the 1500s to the 1920s. Chins have since then become endangered and it is now illegal to hunt them.

Chinchillas eat anything they can get their hands on in the wild. They eat plant leaves, twigs, fruits and small insects. They scavenge and gather foods and bring them back to their herd to avoid predators such as birds of prey, wild cats, dogs, snakes, and sometimes illegal hunters. Chins blend into their surroundings and are very fast. Chinchillas are very good jumpers. They can leap up to six feet! Chinchillas have great hearing and a strong sense of smell. Their eyesight is poor during the day, but average at night because they are mostly nocturnal.1

1 http://www.sailfin.com/chinchilla.html

Photo from http://justonebigtrip.blogspot.com/2011/08/helping-to-protect-wild-chinchillas-in.html

Illegal Hunting in the Andes

Chinchillas are hunted for their super soft fur to make coats and it takes dozens of chins to make one coat. Chinchilla coats had been popular from the 1500s to the 1920s. Chinchillas have since then become endangered and it is now illegal to hunt them.

Pet Care

Chinchillas are difficult to care for. They need to be fed daily, require volcanic dust baths, and need weekly cage cleaning. Chinchillas bathe in natural volcanic dust, which they find in their natural habitat. You can get volcanic chinchilla bath sand at most pet stores. Fill a small tub with a cup of sand and put it in the cage for about 15 minutes. When the chinchilla is done, it will come out light gray with sand and will shake the dust off of their fur.

Chinchilla food can be found at most pet stores and they need ½ a cup of food daily. Chinchillas also need Timothy hay, which can also be found at most pet stores, to keep their teeth healthy. Chinchilla teeth never stop growing, so they need to constantly chew on something. Chinchillas naturally have orange teeth, so if you notice the color, don’t worry. Do not give chinchillas Alfalfa hay because it can make them sick.

To clean the cage you will need to remove the chinchilla from the cage. You can put them in a small room with the door closed, but you need to supervise the chin. You cannot leave the chinchilla alone outside of its cage for safety reasons.

About the Author

Spencer Underwood lives in Greensboro, NC, with his parents, brother, 3 dogs, 2 cats and 1 chinchilla named Chilly. Spencer is keeping Chilly over the summer for school for the second year in a row. He goes to Canterbury School in Greenboro. Chinchillas are his favorite animal.

Chilly the Chinchilla

Glossary

Cross-breed: An animal that is mixed between two other species

Crevice: A small crack or opening in something

Altitude: The height of anything above ground level

Endangered: A rare or uncommon animal

Scavenge: To gather or collect

Herd: A group or family of animals

Nocturnal: An animal that is more active at night than during the day