Nowadays, many keep chinchillas, but take care of their pets completely incorrectly and this often leads to sad consequences.
For your pet to live a long life, you need to know some "DO NOT" and always follow them.
Chinchillas should not be given bread and other flour products, fresh fruits, vegetables, berries and many dried fruits (raisins, figs, prunes, dried apricots), nuts, seeds, mushrooms, and animal products.
Also, forget about pet store treats like cereal sticks and baskets of berries and grains.
Do not pour tap water into the drinker. It contains harmful substances for chinchillas. You need to use filtered, bottled or boiled.
You cannot bathe your chinchilla in water.
You can't bathe your chinchilla in the river sand. It damages the coat. You need to bathe your chinchilla in special zeolite sand or volcanic dust. They are sold at the pet store.
You can't grab and squeeze a chinchilla. They don't like it. But they like to jump onto the handles of the owner and take scratching behind the ear. Also, do not give the chinchilla in the arms of friends, this is stress for the pet.
You can't let out to walk around the apartment. The animal can overheat, eat up all kinds of garbage, gnaw through the wires and be electrocuted, it can hide in such a way that you will never find it. Chinchillas do not need walks, the owners want it. Chinchillas need spacious cages with lots of shelves.
A walking ball cannot be used. Maximum, you can hang it in a cage, like a house.
Iron running wheels cannot be used. This is fraught with injury. Solid wood should be used.
You cannot buy a chinchilla for children under 10-12 years old. They are unlikely to be able to follow all the content rules.
You can not put a cage with a chinchilla near heating and appliances. You cannot put the cage in drafts. The temperature in the room with the chinchilla should be 16-22 degrees.
And most importantly, you should not buy a pet if you have a difficult financial situation. Keeping a chinchilla is not very expensive, but buying a cage, accessories and the animal itself is very expensive.
