Pet Question...

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Does anyone here own chincillas? Are they easy to take care of? I've looked up some information on the web, but it mostly deals with feeding and habitat. I'm wondering what it's like to have one as a pet. Anyone have stories?

[Kidder]

My relatives had one which I would take care of periodically. It also served as a class pet for my aunt's kindergarten class.

It wasn't very affectionate (most rodents aren't), but very gentle and passive. They need a lot of space and exercise though, so they either need a really big cage or you have to take it out on a daily basis and let it hop around. Other then that they are very easy to take care of... water bottle, food dish, and shavings that need changing every so often.

Think bunny meets squirrel. That thing was near impossible to catch to put back in its cage.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Originally posted by fotze@Mar 23 2005, 07:33 PM
I hear they go really well with sweet and sour sauce and a nice merlot.

Ah, yeah...In case anyone is wondering, despite my ethnicity, I'm not buying it to eat. Although...Merlot you say...? hmm...

[habernac]

My sister had two of them years ago. I can't remember what happened to one, but the other died after it ran into the wall and gave itself severe head trauma. Be very careful letting them out of their cages, they can move very quickly (the wall incident happened when she tried to catch him to put him back in his cage). They are extremely soft, but can bite very hard. Other than that, make sure it's a relly big cage.