Norski: My Chinchilla

In total I have 3 pets, but one of them is actually MINE. My wonderfully wonderful pet chinchilla ^^ or squeekums and I more affectionatly call him.

He will eat you!!!!!

He's so soft OMG!! Like a cloud!!!

HE was actually a rescue pet. A friend that I know lives (will call him D) in an appartnemt comxlex and he had heard of a tenant that just up and left leaving everything. When the landlords went to the place they found a bunch of animals left inside, squeeky was one of them.

D works at a pet store so he volunteered to take the animals and find them new homes.... And like the good friend he is he gave me the rodent xD

I wasn't actually offered.. I was TOLD that i had to take him....

How could I say no. Seriously.. HOW

With that.. Here are my tips on taking care of a pet chinchilla:

1.) Cage- it is going to need to be big.. I mean big big. They are the size of small rabbits but unlike a rabbit they will spend most of their time in there cage. I do suggest setting up a play area for your chinchilla. I just put up a child safety fence at the end of my hallway and close the doors.

He also has a giant running wheel in his cage. Since he lives in my bedroom i opted for buying one of the fancy "silent" wheels. Chinchillas are nocturnal..... they make a shit ton of noise at night 0.0

I don't like using the chinchilla size hampster-balls... seems cruel to me. I let him run freely. Be forewarned you will have to vacuume up poop.

His cage

2.)Cleaning- I had to buy a special vacuume just to clean out his cage. Chinchillas cannot be potty trained so cleaning up after them is a daily chore.

Once a week I take apart the cage and wash out the whole thing with diluted bleach. (no it doesn't hurt them as long as you rinse it good and make sure it is dry when you put the bedding in)

Chinchillas give themselves a bath. Just like bunnies you DO NOT put them in a tub of water. They use dust baths. You can use any type of pet bowl or house. They should have a minimum of 4 baths per week. Just put the receptacle in the cage and the chinchilla will do the rest.

3.) Foodz- The most important part of the chinchila diet is to constantly give them something to chew on. Their teeth continuously grow and if not taken care of will grow into their gums and they will start bleeding from the mouth! (OMG so sad D:!!) So give them something hard like wooden toys to chew on.

Their regular diet is supposed to be strictly pellet based.... but that is boring and they miss out on vitamins that they need. About once a week I give him pieces of carrot and lettuce and a few chinchilla treats. Feeding should be consistant and if they are used to one specific food don't randomly switch to something else.

That is basically it for my "tips". I know I don't folow the rules of taking care of a chinchilla to the letter but animals are like people, there are somethings they like and some they don't. I had to adapt his caretaking around his likes and dislikes.

And of course I have to include my other babies... or my half babies xD