Owning a chinchilla means you understand how to provide it with necessary care, food, and other supplies. This article on interviewing a chinchilla owner should equip you with comprehensive information that you may need to know about the animal. Unlike gerbils and hamsters, chinchillas are quite flighty, shy, and they need extra care.
Interviewing Chinchilla Owner
Over a long period, many of people who owns chinchillas keeps on wondering on how to to take care of this cretures, that is why have come with this article to enable you understand on the type of food, care, beddings and other considerations that you need to take to ensure that your chinchillas are healthy. Let us look at this conversation below.
1. Louis: What food do you give your pet?
Patrick R: It is crucial to understand my responsibilities as a chin owner because they have special dietary perks. These animals have sensitive stomachs, so feeding them the wrong food can lead to bloating. Chinchillas need diets with high vitamin C but low-fat levels.
Therefore, the best food that I like giving my pet is a commercial pellet mix for chinchillas. They enjoy this food because it has a complete and balanced diet. I want to supplement the food with fresh hay to prevent it from getting soiled.
2. Louis: How do you handle your chinchillas?
Patrick R: You need to understand that these animals are typically flighty and quite shy. They tend to enjoy a quiet environment; they need a place to sleep peacefully throughout the day. I don’t grasp my chin because it doesn’t enjoy at all. Additionally, I don’t play with their tails because its tail is delicate and can break easily. My children don’t play around with chinchillas; they will grasp it.
3. Louis: What care do you offer to your chinchillas?
Patrick R: These animals have fluffy and thick fur to sustain them in the mountain by providing enough warmth. They can overheat during the summer period, so their cage is not directed to the sunlight to reduce heat.
Maintain the fur of the chinchillas is the best care that you can offer your pets. You can do so by providing the animals with comforts like dust baths, damp, soiling, nesting chamber, and wood chews. Doing so will maintain their fur.
4. Louis: Do you provide your chinchillas with beddings?
Patrick R: Yes, of coures, you should understand that these animals are in love with comforts, clean and relaxed environment. Bedding is one of the amenities that I can provide to my little friends with. Equipping the cage with wood shavings makes the best absorbent bedding for my chinchillas. I like to see how the animals sleep comfortably on the wood shavings.
5. Louis: What size cage should I buy for my chinchillas?
Patrick R: These animals are smaller but, that doesn’t mean that they need a small cage. They need a spacious shelter because they have superior hind legs that make them great climbers and jumpers. So, my little friends have a larger enclosure to play and move around comfortably.
A recommendable cage dimension is 1 meter on all sides. More so, you don’t just want to buy a chinchilla cage, but consider its external features. The cell should have mountainous features to allow the pets to fit in perfectly.
6. Louis: Can you assign children to take care of your chinchillas?
Patrick R: No, but if they are responsible, you can do so. These animals need people who are responsible for looking after them. So, I leave the pets under the care of my elder son, who is always around. The boy knows how to feed the pet by giving it water, and clear out its droppings. Therefore, what I can urge you is to avoid leaving the chinchillas to young children.
7. Louis: How many chinchillas do I need to get?
Patrick R: You can keep these animals with others or singly. Besides, you may decide to keep one gender or opposite for breeding. It would help if you did not buy a male and female chinchilla with the same litter. Doing so will reduce the chances of wastes to contact birth deformities. So, if you want to breed, buy the animals separate that are not related.
If you wish to keep more than one chinchilla but of the same gender, get female ones. They are not aggressive compared to male ones.
8. Louis: Why did you choose to keep chinchillas?
Patrick R: Looking after these animals are straightforward. I accommodate them in my home without any hassles. More so, they require little space, and they are also cheap in terms of money. Chinchillas are clean, even clean creatures and quiet by nature. Their character prevents them from fleas and other parasites.
Moreover, these pets live for not less than 15 years, meaning that you will have them around for many years. Despite being dietary, they feed quickly.
9. Louis: How do you determine the health condition of your chinchillas?
Patrick R: I usually look at some signs on my pet. They include; I try as much as possible to keep my animals healthy by close monitoring. I also look at their droppings; they should be dry and firm. I also inspect their temperament to make sure they are active, bright-eyed, and alert. My animals love to sleep during the day and remain vigilant when the dark comes around.
I regularly look at their nose, ensuring that they are not runny; their ears and eyes should also be bright, free from tears. I again try as much as possible to check their incisors and make sure they are in good condition.
10. Louis: What do you buy for your chinchilla?
Patrick R: My pet loves some necessary supplies and food that I have to purchase. My little friend’s items enjoy most are; Timothy or Alfalfa Hay should be available to your animals, a bale holder for holding the hay, chinchilla pellets, which is their staple food.
Another item that makes these pets enjoyable is to get them a spacious cage, wood for chewing; they are natural rodents, and you have to provide them with materials for chewing. Wood shavings are also essential to offer your chinchillas suitable beddings.
Short tips for rearing chinchilla
- It would help if you conditioned your chinchillas before pelting
- Cleaning droppings of your pet is a must
- Don’t allow the pets to be overly fat
- Blow the fur to determine the ‘prime.’
- Take precautions when priming your chinchillas
Conclusion
I hope the above discussion helps you with ideal techniques on how to keep chinchillas. You can choose to rear one or more chinchillas, but you should offer them a spacious shelter. Their house should also have other characteristics/features to allow them to hide when they get shy. You may also decide to keep breading chinchillas as long as they are not of the same litter.