Chit Chat

Chinchillas

Does anyone have a pet chinchilla or had one at one time? I get up this morning just wanting some coffee and I hear FI say "let's get a chinchilla they are too damn cute". So I walk into the other room to see why he what has put this idea in his head and there he is looking at pictures of chinchillas on google. He can be such a big kid sometimes. Lol

Re: Chinchillas

  • I haven't, but my friends have. They're nocturnal and need "dust baths", so try can be a bit messy.

    I suppose they are cute, but if that's the only appeal then maybe skip the chin for now.

    I used to want a ferret, but I would just be such an irresponsible owner, so I've just stuck to watching videos of the cute things they do.

    Fi wants chickens (mainly for the eggs, but he still says that we should get "pet chickens").
  • I held a chinchilla at an exotic petting zoo once and there are no words for how soft and amazing they feel.  Super cute, but not something you should just go out and get.

    Since I am tremendously allergic to dogs we don't even go there.  It is sad because I grew up with dogs and love them immensely but my allergies did a polar shift about 20ish years ago and I can no longer play in the doggie world.  (Although I would grab an inhaler and hope for the best if I could meet Lynda's Chef D).

    We are cat people.  DH grew up with cats and has no strong affection for dogs.  Gray stripey tiger cats don't seem to cause allergic reactions so that is what we stick to.  It is easy to travel if you have cats.  You can put out everything they need and go for a weekend as long as you are prepared for them to make you pay for your thoughtlessness when you get back.

    We know our place in the animal world.  Dogs have owners, Cats have staff members.  We try to be the best Staff Members we can be.

    I would LOVE to have a micro pig but I have no idea how hard they are to care for or if they have any special medical issues or needs.  I have a friend in TX who babysits her grandkids everyday.  They got a micro pig for Christmas so she has them bring it over everyday too so it won't be alone all day.  She also has 2 kittens who are just a few months old.  They all think they are best buddies.
  • I currently have 1 cat and 1 dog. I wouldn't mind having more animals and I too think chinchillas are cute but that is not enough of a reason to get one. Kmmssg I've always wanted a micro pig too but my FI says there is no way because he would feel guilty every time he ate bacon.
  • I went through a huge "pocket pet" phase when I was just out of college…birds, rabbits, hamsters, rats (yes, rats!), ferrets…but never a chinchilla. Think I'll stick with dogs now, though Gus the bulldog does resemble, sound and smell like a pig so perhaps he serves double duty as an "exotic", too ;)
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  • @jdluvr06 - oh, that could be a problem because we love us some bacon in the house.  We are also the kind of people who would name said micro pig something like Chops, Bits, Bacon Bits, or Hammy.
  • edited January 2014
    I had a chinchilla for a while. She was a blast - really weird little animal. I ended up being allergic to either her dander or whatever or the dust is for the dust baths. So be careful of that. I actually didn't even realize I was until I got her a HUGE ass cage and I'd break out in hives when I cleaned it. If it wasn't for that, I'd still have one. 

    Mine was very secretive about running in her wheel (I'd hear her in the other room in the wheel and I'd come in and she's tear ass out of it and act like nothing was happening) but they do run in wheels and I recommend a large - tall - cage. She loved hopping around from perch to perch and she moved a lot. 

    They only need dust baths every day (or a few times a week, I can't remember) and pet stores have little dust bath houses so I just put the little bath house in the cage, waited for her to be done and took it out again so she wasn't dragging dust all over all the time. 

    They're super fast and their bodies are MUCH smaller than they look - that soft-ass fur is really thick so they're difficult to get ahold of if they get out of the cage. If you're fast enough to catch 'em, they'll slide right out of your hand. 

    They're a really cool little animal - If you're really serious and will take good care of them (the bedding, dust, food, hay, treats, wooden perches [they chem on 'em] and everything else they need can get expensive) they're great.

    Edited because sentences are hard.
    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • When I had Winston, I used to frequent a website called Chins and Hedgies, which is all about chinchillas and hedgehogs.  They can answer all of your questions there.  They were fantastic with lots of new owner questions, for hedges at least.  

  • NO, NO, NO, NO, NO,NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!!
    (Breath)
    no.

    Some Chinch's are good, others... not so much. When you get a chinchilla you have to understand that they have as much personality as a cat. Some play well with others (Dogs, kids, adults) others are strictly a 1 man pet.

    They poop everywhere, which isn't that big of deal I just vacuum whatever they kick out of their cage. They destruct everything! Power cords, TV remote buttons, drywall, baseboard, Books (they like old ones the best, but will taste them all), toilet paper, tissues, black tea, cigarettes if you leave them out, soap, gummy bears, skittles, Doritos, house plants, poisonous house plants, even Lady vibrators (Fucking thing ate my month old $200 We-Vibe!). Anything with wood, my computer even has teeth marks in it.

    FI had one "Felix", who is now about 8 or so, he was passed around from a few friends before he got him. Felix HATED me for the first couple years. I couldn't walk around the house if he was out or I would get bitten- not love bites, blood would be drawn and scars would appear. He would attack as I was walking, he would hide under the sofa then dart out at me with teeth bared and bite.  It took he and I a good couple of years before we could co-habitat.

    5 months after FI "got me" he got "Steve" to keep Felix company. Our friend at university had a boy chin and a girl chin in the same cage and didn't understand what boys and girls do. Steve was born in Cassy's first litter of the year (She had 3 before the Boy became an It).
    Male Chin's are very territorial and either will like each other or kill each other, it took 3 months of FI with Felix and Steve supervised play time before they could share a cage (and their cages are big compared to the normal ones, FI made them out of old Book cases. I can post a picture if you want. 

    Chinchillas take a lot of work, supervision and they are not a normal pet.  Dog's will attack them as they are a rodent but Felix had FI's parents black lab terrified of him. Once we bought a house they have their room that we let them play in and keep only things that they can chew in there, its nice to not have to put the electronics away anymore.

    We do not have a wheel as it can be bad for their backs, Chinchillas are quite fluffy, they have the softest fur in nature- over 90 hairs per folical where as humans have 1-3 hairs/F and their hair will detach its-self if pulled on (Same with their tail) so when you pick them up you need both hands and to have a firm grip.

    They can not get wet so they have dust baths, if their fur gets wet and is not dried immediately it will grow mold and fall out. They are not nocturnal they are Crepuscular- active at dawn and dusk. Ours like to watch the sun rise.

    Chin's are a huge commitment as they can live from 12-20 years. They are not a good pet for children.

    I love my little Steve and Felix (now haha) and I wouldn't trade them for the world but had I had a choice they would not be in our life. Had FI not been drunk he would have realized that he is allergic to hay, which is what they eat, Hay and pellets made out of hay, so guess who feeds them every night and changes the wood chips in their cage.

    Don't get a chinchilla just based on looks, you need to meet them and see how they react with you and DH and how they react to just you alone (and DH alone) without the person/store selling them around.

    Hope this helps!

  • @mimiphin thanks for the advice. I have to ask what do you mean by have as much personality as a cat? Because I've had cats literally all my life and each of them had a very distinct prominent personality.
  • mimiphinmimiphin member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited January 2014
    jdluvr06 said:
    @mimiphin thanks for the advice. I have to ask what do you mean by have as much personality as a cat? Because I've had cats literally all my life and each of them had a very distinct prominent personality.
    Exactly!

    ETA:Steve's mum and dad (Cassy and Giz) I could have in my hoodie pouch and hood (One in each spot) walk around, clean, do dishes and they would be happy with that. With Cassy and Giz I was Auntie Mimiphin! They would get so excited when their mum would say that they are going to Aunties house.

    That wouldn't happen with Steve and Felix, I can hold one for a few minutes but they don't do the petting, cuddles, etc, that Cassy and Giz did.

    Although I do give them kisses every night before bed, (I know I'm such a suck for them now!) With Steve I put a treat in my lips and he will take it from me, now every time I make kissy sounds He comes to kiss me, Same with Felix although he won't eat anything that has been in a person's mouth or bit by a person, but he will still kiss me (mildly tolerate kisses I guess)

    And they do like to have their head's, nose, face, (Felix likes 'Dad' to scratch him just under his eyebrow)

  • mimiphin said:
    jdluvr06 said:
    @mimiphin thanks for the advice. I have to ask what do you mean by have as much personality as a cat? Because I've had cats literally all my life and each of them had a very distinct prominent personality.
    Exactly!

    Ah... Ok. Lol. Sorry the rest of my post was cut out. I was going to say that your experience with your chinchillas sounds like my experience with guinea pigs. My sister had guinea pigs growing up and they were a nightmare.
  • I don't have one, but when I was a kid and went into pet shops to see all the animals and loved chinchillas.  They are so adorable and I have kind of always wanted one. 
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  • mimiphinmimiphin member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited January 2014
    We took them camping back in 2011 and this is them in their travel cage. Steve is on the bottom and Felix is on top. Lucky boys even got their own tent to play in. Although Mum and Dad let them stay in their tent during the night since they were so quite. Haha!


    ETA:
    I also forgot to say that the reason they came camping with us is it was +30C that weekend and way to hot to leave them in the house for the weekend. They don't sweat/have anyway to cool down other than radiate thru their ears and if they over heat they can die.

    What we normally do is we have a couple peaces of granite and marble that we keep in the freezer in the summer and switch in and out of their cage. Felix use to sit on the open widow sill in -30C when the heat was broken on, they are much happier in the snow than in the sand! They are from the Alpine desert in the South American Andes.

    Fuck, the more I write all this down the more I realize how attached to them I have become!
    Althought I still really want a chinchilla fur coat (truth), and after Felix's time is done he may be turned into a hat, like the old school ferret's women use to wear (joke, but slightly serious)

  • @mimiphin - thanks for the education.  Holy high maintenance furbaby!  Chinchillas are definitely not for me after reading that.  I am uber good with cats and still have an interest in a micro pig, but I will leave chinchillas to animals goddesses such as yourself.  You go!
  • Just as a note, to the people talking about MicroPigs...there are no such things. They're basically just starved regular pigs.
    I encourage you to read about it on a local rescue site:
    http://lilorphanhammies.org/mission
  • I'm glad I could help!

  • @mimiphin first off your chinchillas are adorable. Secondly, my FI would not get off the chinchilla thing. He just kept going on and on so I made him read your post. He still wants something but has backed off the chinchilla. We're compromising with a kitten. We're going to check out some rescues this week.
  • awww kittens are so sweet! I hope you guys find one you connect with. I have to avoid the rescue kitten things outside of Petsmart when they have them because I want to adopt all of the cats!

  • PolarBearFitzPolarBearFitz member
    First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited January 2014
    image

    Please get the fluffiest of kittehs.imageimage
  • Or the Holy Crap I'm Fabulous kitten!!
    image

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