Before you get a chinchilla, there are a lot of things to consider. Here are some answers to some questions that may make you decide if chinchillas are a good choice for you!





Do you have allergies?





If yes, then chinchillas are not a good pet for you. Some allergy sufferers do own chins and deal with it but if you aren't prepared for that then you should not get a chin. Chinchillas are technically hypoallergenic however they items they use aren't. Chinchillas bathe in a very fine dust that gets everywhere. They also eat hay daily and most have a bedding that is shavings





Do you have Air Conditioning?





Chinchillas need to be kept in temperatures that are less than 70 degrees. Because of that air conditioning is a must for summer months if you live in place that gets hot. If you don't keep your chinchillas cool enough they can get heat stroke and die. They are pretty sensitive when it comes to temperature and one sign of being too hot is that their ears will get RED.





Are you prepared for Vet Bills?





There are times when your chinchilla might have to visit the vet. Because they are considered an exotic only certain vets will see chinchillas. Vet bills for even small things can get very pricey, very fast! There is NO choice if your chinchilla needs to go to the vet. They MUST get to a vet if they are ill or injured. So be prepared that the vet bill may be in the hundreds of dollars.







Are you prepared to a lifetime commitment?





Chinchillas have a long life expentancy. They can life between 15-20 years with proper care and there have been cases of chins living past 20 years. They life long past most other rodents so if you aren't ready to commit to 20 years then this is not the pet for you.





Are you prepared to have a pet that probably won't cuddle?





A lot of people want to own a chinchilla because they think they are cute and cuddly. While there is no doubt they are cute, most chinchillas are not cuddly. In fact most don't want to be handled at all. AND it doesn't matter if you get a baby chinchillas, you cannot make a chinchilla cuddly. They are a prey animal and because of that they prefer not to be handled. Some chinchillas will let you handle them more than others but they just want to be able to do their own thing.





Are you okay with a messy pet?





They may be small but chins can make a BIG mess! They will toss out their hay on the floor, push shavings to one side and toss poop out of their cage. You will have a clean floor one minute and it will be a mess the next. The vacuum will be used a lot with chinchillas. If you are okay with that, then no worries.





Lastly: MALE OR FEMALE?





Many people want to know, what is the better choice. The simple answer is neither. It's really personal preference. With females they MAY spray if irritated and males need to have a hair ring check (you need to ensure there is no fur caught around their penis). I have dealt with both spraying females and have done hair ring checks. I have also owned MANY females that do no spray. A hair ring check can take no time at all and you can learn to avoid a female if they are "in the position". It all sounds much worse than it is.





If you do get a female chinchilla that tends to spray you will get to know what sets her off and will be able to anticipate her. I had a rescue that would spray anytime you went near her cage. I just had some fleece and would use that to block her.

The BIG debate about owning Males and Females :

Some people will be okay housing more than one male in a cage and housing a female in another cage. There are 2 sides to this idea. There are people who say it's fine and nothing will happen and other people will say that the males will fight when they smell the female coming into season. Whatever you decide you have to look at things logically. There have been many people that have had no issues doing this, there have been those that had males fight. My personal opinion is that males act dumb when females are in season of ANY species. It doesn't matter if it's dogs, cats or chins. So it's not something I would risk. Again this is one of those choices an owner has to make for themselves. Like with all aspects of chinchilla care, different people have different thoughts. I always suggest you do what makes the best sense for you.





Either way I do find if a male, a single male, is in a cage there are times when he tends to sing to the ladies more than others.



