Chinchilla Care Sheet from Chinchillas Galore 
South Florida 

  • Temperatures- should never be over 74 degrees, chinchillas do not have sweat glands, and they are wearing the thickest fur coat of any animal in the world…so you can imagine why they need it this cold or colder, they can be fine in temps of 50 to 73, 74 is the hottest it should get.
    • Fans do NOT help cool chinchillas down; they cannot sweat so air circulation does no good. They need air conditioning all the time.
  • Cage- As big a cage as you can afford/have room for is the best. No smaller than 30” high, 20” deep and 30” wide. You MUST GET a cage without any plastic, as chins will eat this and it is bad for them. Solid bottom floors, or small wiring at least ¼ inch or smaller, and if wire, please have something (a cage, tube, chin chiller, piece of granite, cardboard, etc.) to let them stand on so their feet don’t get sore from the wire.
Good, all metal cages cages are:
-ferret nation or critter nation (best prices by far are at ferret.com)
- qualitycages.com
- martinscages.com
           - Metal Pans- You can buy custom metal pan with a 2 ½ inch lip to fit any cage, especially the ferret nation at:        http://www.bassequipment.com/Cages/Ferret+Pans/default.aspx
  • Wood Hidey House- They need a wood sleep box/hidey house- (safe wood of course) You can sand the house to clean it, and can make your own using non toxic wood glue or Elmer’s glue and cut pieces of  untreated white pine, poplar, or aspen, all usually found at Home Depot or Lowe’s.
  • Bedding- You can use kiln dried pine, aspen, or carefresh. If you use carefresh, make sure they are not eating it. If so, use a wood bedding. Some people use fleece, this is also fine.
  • Food- Offer fresh pellets, feed nightly – chins will not over-eat, so you can feed them as much as they will eat. Make sure to dump out the old food and give them fresh food at least once a day!
    • Purina Rabbit Chow SHOW formula . You can go to purinamills.com and put your zip code in the “dealer locater” to find a feed store near you. It usually takes 2 weeks to order, so don’t wait to the last minute! 
      • We only use Purina Rabbit Chow SHOW formula and we sell it for $1 a pound. I do not recommend using any other food.
      • We give you a free pound of feed when you buy a chinchilla.
    • Pet store chinchilla feed is very bad, old and has too much junk in it. Please only use this food if you want your pet to live a long life.
  • Water- A water bottle, glass works best. Plastic is fine because it goes outside the cage. Give fresh water daily and rinse and clean bottle with water and vinegar or run it through the dishwasher on sanitize once a week.
  • Hay- Offer unlimited Fresh Timothy hay daily, or Timothy and Alfalfa cubes. Pure alfalfa cubes are too fatty for them to have except as an occasional treat.
  • Fleece is the only approved safe fabric for chinchillas, so only use fleece hammocks, tubes, etc. in their cages. Here is a website on how to make a no sew fleece hammock!
             - http://www.suzsugargliders.com/nosewhammock.htm, or just google “no sew fleece hammock”.  I would make it bigger than that, like 22” or so before cutting it, so it is around 18” when done.
  • Treats- No veggies or fruit, dried or not, yogurt drops, any pet store treats, should ever be given, not even a raisin. It causes impaction, blockage, liver damage, and death!!! Chins do not need them and these will kill them, or hurt their liver. We see it all the time, chins that die after 4-5 years because of a lifetime of bad treats.
  • Safe treats are: Organic Rosehips, organic rosebuds, a plain shredded wheat cereal bite, old fashioned plain oats (not the instant kind) or a few plain cheerios can be given as a safe treat a few times a week. Do not over feed treats, it is harmful and can cause your chin to get sick and or die.
  • They need at least 25- 60 minutes of supervised playtime in a chin safe room daily (no cords, open toilet, paint or wallpaper they can chew on, etc.) THIS IS WHY IT MUST BE SUPERVISED
  • Hair ring checks for males-
  • Wood to chew on- buy safe untreated wood (white pine, poplar, aspen) from home depot and cut and drill it to hang up. Chins teeth grow about 3 inches a year! That is why they need wood to chew on to wear them down. Without wood and hay to wear down the teeth, Malloclussion (mis-alignment of the teeth) can occur, which can be deadly. If you use fresh apple, pecan, pinecones or other chinchilla safe wood fresh from the tree, it needs to be boiled, scrubbed, and baked at 225 for a few hours, until dry, before the chins can safely have them, so it is best to order them online, somewhere like here: http://chinstore.azchins.com/List.htm. 
    • Most bird toys are safe for chinchillas, as long as there is no plastic, beads,  or leather, or you can remove it. Make sure the chain is sisal rope or metal, no other materials.
    • You can also give them natural pumice stones, natural loofah, finger traps, and uncolored craft Popsicle sticks to chew on. You can dye these or wood with Wilson icing dye or food coloring.
  • DO NOT USE THOSE PLASTIC RUN AROUND BALLS! THEY GET TOO HOT IN THERE AND OVERHEAT, AND THEY ALSO PEE IN THERE AND YOU WILL HAVE A CHIN THAT SMELLS LIKE URINE FOR 12 MONTHS OR LONGER! 
Dust Bath-
. You need a dust bath house, they only come in plastic, but that is ok  because you don’t leave it in the cage. We sell them for $15 or you can find them almost anywhere. Offer the dust bath 2-3 times weekly for around 10 minutes each time. Do not leave in the cage.
-    If it is really humid, you can give them one 3-4 times a week, but too much can cause dry skin and irritation. Keep an eye on them to find the right amount.   
-      Don’t get scented dust or “sand” for them to dust in. Use dust, I sell Blue Cloud dust by the pound, and boy, is it worth it! It is the best dust you can buy and is used on all show chinchillas.       
-     You can sift the dust bath with a kitchen sifter, don’t throw it out!         
- Wheel-     The ONLY safe wheels are chin spins and the flying saucer, both metal                       only.  Plastic wheel can be deadly, so don’t waste your money.  
-       DIY- you can make your own metal wheel for around $20, here is the link:
          http://spoiledchins.net/wheelinstructions.htm
  - Wet chinchilla- If they do get wet on accident, use a blow dryer on COOL placed 2 feet away from the chin to dry them, a wet chin can get many diseases including pneumonia and fur fungus. Contact a vet.-  If you need to clean a chinchilla, use an unscented baby wipe  or vinegar, and then dry with a dry hot towel, but watch for signs of overheating.

If you have an emergency, a good vet is Dr. Renata Sneider. Chinchillas decline very quickly so if you notice something wrong, go to a vet immediately! If you can see they are lethargic or acting slow, you really don’t have long. Dr. Renate makes house calls and is in various offices throughout the week from Kendall to Boca Raton. She is very good with chins and is about ½ the price of other exotic vets, if you can even find one with chin experience. If you do find a good vet, please let me know, I like to have a list to refer my customers. Thank you. This is her number: 954-458-8639. Another is 954-296-7176. Another good vet in the Palm Beach area is Dr. Susan Clubb.

Always call a vet when you think your chin is sick…if they do not eat for only 12 hours, their digestive system shuts down and they die. They are hearty animals, but if they do get sick they decline quickly, so keep a close eye on them, and know their eating, drinking, pooping, sleeping and treat habits. A change in one of these may mean they are not feeling well. Diarrhea is a sign of many things, and should be treated as an emergency. 


Chinchilla first aid kit: (good things to have handy)

-       ***Baby gas drops (to treat bloat)***Number 1 most important thing. 
-       Critical care (can be ordered online) This is a powdered feed to give sick or recovering animals, or chins who stop eating for any reason. You can crush pellets with a coffee grinder until you get some, in emergencies.
-       Lifeline (can be ordered by www.chocolatechinchillas.com)
-       Syringes (1ml, 10ml and 40 ml sizes are good to have handy) Monoject are our favorite brands.
-       Blue Kote (For wounds, can be found at feed stores) Be careful, it stains!
-       Heating pad
-       Chin Chiller kept in freezer
-       Karo Syrup (helps low blood sugar if you find a very lethargic chin, it could be a seizure or stroke), just put a few drops on their gums.  
-       Activated charcoal for upset tummies, or if they eat something they should not have.
-       Probiotics/ Acidophilus. This can be found at health food/vitamin stores (get the highest count you can find) or you can buy “Bene-bac” from most pet stores. This is great for almost anything, and should be given when changing food, getting over being sick, or when on antibiotics. It helps get back the good stomach bacteria.