Just had a few questions about Chinchillas

[IluvePiggies]

I was planning on owning Chinchillas(And Hamsters and Gerbils but they are different stories) when I'm on my own and have my own house. Animals would be my life. But Anyway, about the Chinchilla questions:

1: Can they live in a C&C cage?
Bonuse #1 question: If they can live in a C&C cage, how big would it need to be?
2: Are they hard to care for?
3: Is there food expensive/what do they eat?
4:Is it possible to have Chinchillas, Hamsters, Gerbils, Rabbits and Cavies?

[sirigirl92]

1) Its not recomended they be in C&C cages, because they can get their heads stuck and its alomst impossible to get one stable enough. They love to jump around, and they could collapse the cage.

2) Any pet is hard to care for. They require (it think weeky or bi-weekly) dust baths, which consists of you putting dust in a "dust house" you can buy at any pet store, putting it in the age for a few minutes, and then removing it. The general consensus for the best dust is "blue magic" or something like that.

3) Yes, they require special chinchilla pellets, hay(just like a pig) and 'treats'

4) Yes, as long as they dont come into contact. Chinchillas are fast, jumpity animals and would probably give a guinea a heart attack from fear. Guinea pigs are prey animals, and their nature tells them to run from sudden movements.

Hope I helped!

OH! and one more thing. Any shelves in the cage should be made of wood, so they could chew it and not get their feet stuck in a wire shelf.

[IluvePiggies]

Thanks so much! Might as well rescearch now then later!

ETA--Never mind. I figured out that if I saved my money working during college, then I could just buy a Ferret Nation cage or something and get 2 Chinchillas and replace the wire stuff and plastic shelving with wood.

[sirigirl92]

They need to be in a tall enclosed cage, not an open 'pen' on the floor like a guinea. They are jumpers and climbers, and they love to bounce up, down, and around the cage. If you had a way of securing the back of it up against a wall, that might work. Their is a photo gallery of C&C cages for chinnies.

[sirigirl92]

Yeah, that would work!

[IluvePiggies]

Or if I had these type of Grids around the cage: Storage Solutions 3-Section Storage Cubes - Purple (6") : Target
It wouldn't be regular grids. Then it would probably be cheaper then buying a 150.00 to 250.00 cage.

[sirigirl92]

Chinchillas would over heat in 10 minutes in a closed cage like that. Also, You wouldn't be able to attach shelves in that. You can build a C&C cage, That would be no problem, you just need to builde it *correctly*.
I can draw you a 'floor plan' of something I built for my aunts chinnies last year, that is still standing to this day if you want. I made it using normal c&c cage grids. I also have a wonderful website for safe wooden chinnie toys and shelves, all very reasonabe priced. My aunt uses them and they are fantastic.

[IluvePiggies]

Sure. I wouldn't mind at all

[sirigirl92]

Ok!
Ill post it at some point today on this thread.
If you have anymore questions you can PM me or IM me on aim. My screen name on AIM is Sirigirl92.
Im on all day!

[Jennicat]

To be honest, chinchillas really don't make good pets for the average person. They require a tremendous amount of dedication and planning. They can live 20+ years. So if you get one when you're 21, you need to have plans to take that chinchilla with you until you're in your 40s.

Like guinea pigs, they are not very cuddly and interact only on their own terms. They can spray urine, and their dust gets all over the house.

[cowgirl411]

Well...as Jennicat stated they don't make very good pets for just anybody...they are not to easy to care for and require weekly dust baths (I give mine a dust bath 3x a week) And they can't get wet (there fur is so dense that if it gets wet it will grow fungus on its fur (i do not remember its name) I would recommend researching quite a bit before even planning on getting a chin