Small Pets
Chinchilla
Chinchilla lanigera
The softest animal you will ever hold insists on cool rooms, dust baths, and 20-year plans.
- Difficulty
- moderate
Care tips
- Keep the room under about 24°C - dense fur makes chinchillas overheat fast
- Offer a volcanic dust bath a few times a week; never bathe in water
- Feed unlimited hay with plain pellets; treats sparingly
- Provide a tall multi-level cage with ledges and pumice chews for teeth
- Handle gently and low to the ground - fur slips out when grabbed
Common questions
What should I know about caring for a chinchilla? +
The softest animal you will ever hold insists on cool rooms, dust baths, and 20-year plans.
Typical guidance for a healthy chinchilla — your own conditions (and your vet, for animals) come first.
Related guides
- African Pygmy Hedgehog A nocturnal pincushion that warms to you slowly, one unballed evening at a time.
- Degu Daytime-active and endlessly chatty, a degu colony narrates its whole day in squeaks.
- Fancy Mouse A tiny, busy watch-me pet whose whole gymnastics career unfolds in a well-built tank.
- Fancy Rat Pocket-sized dogs, basically - they learn their names, ride shoulders, and groom your fingers.
- Ferret A slinky burglar in a fur coat who sleeps 18 hours, then spends the rest stealing your socks.
- Guinea Pig Chatty herd animals; keep at least a pair, with unlimited hay and daily vitamin C.