Any Chinchilla owners out there?

[kitty]

My kids just got a chinchilla (thanks to their biologica father) today. I don't know much about them. Any advise? I'm looking them up on the internet now. Thanks!

[Patti]

My sister bought my nephew one for Christmas. He's 18 and that's what he wanted. I know they had to give it distilled water and Nacho, that's what he named him, takes dust baths weekly. We bought all the chinchilla supplies and food at Petsmart. His is really friendly. He loves to go in the wheel and jumps from level to level in this huge ferret cage they bought him. If you have any specific questions I can ask my sister, she read up on them.

[kitty]

Thanks! I think the cage that Cheniel is in is too little. She is in a small rabbit cage with no levels. She did come (or my ex got for her) with dust, food, hay, water bottle, treats, and a house for the dust to go in. I don't know much but am reading up on them as much as possiable. It will be a few weeks before I can buy a new cage for her though. (Ex didn't pay child support this month.) I hope she will be ok in the little cage until then.

[MyTrixie143]

If your children are handling them, make sure they never grab them by the fur or by the tail as the fur will come out and the tail will break off, it a release mechanism they use when frightened.
Try to give them us much interaction as possible, they love attention.
And I would get a bigger cage for them to run and play in, one with levels is best.
Make sure they are getting a dust bath once every week.
And make sure you always have something hard for them to chew on such as a mineral block. Their teeth are always growing so they need something hard to chew on to keep their teeth filed down.
When you get the chance, give them fresh fruits and vegetables, they really love that.

Oh and if you have never seen a chinchilla take a dust bath, you are in for a real treat.