Food- I feed my chins purina advanced nutrition professional formula show rabbit food. or Any high quality chinchilla pellet will do. If you change their food slowly mix the old with the new for a couple weeks. Make sure your chin always has fresh food.
Water- Make sure your chin has clean fresh water all the time. and clean the waterbottle at least once a month.
Hay- I feed my chins alfalfa cubes and timothy hay. Make sure your chin has fresh hay at all times.
Treats- Treats should only be given at the most once a day, to many treats aren't good for their stomach, and could cause diarrhea. Theres alot of different treats you can give your chin. They love raisins, rosehips, cheerios, dried fruit, ext... Don't give anything with alot of sugar as it will upset their stomach. Do not give chins less then 4 months old treats. Their digestive tract is not fully developed at that time and they can't handle any treats.
Dust Baths- Chinchillas don't take water baths, they take dust baths. Dust bath should be given every other day. Only leave the bath in their cage for 5 min.'s, any longer and they'll use it as a toilet. blue cloud and blue sparkle are the best dusts. I use blue cloud.
Temperature- Chinchillas are from a cool dry mountainous region. Temperature should be kept no lower then 50 degrees and no higher then 75 degrees, and humidity should be kept low. If you can't keep the humidity low give dust baths everyday.
Life Span- they can live 15-20 years if cared for properly.
Chewing- Chinchillas love to chew. Always have something in there cage for them to chew. Chewing keeps their teeth trim. They like pumice stones. wooden chinsafe chew toys, tubes, wooden houses, ext... Make sure all their toys are chinsafe.
Bedding- i use kiln dried pine shaving. Do not use cedar bedding it's harmful to chins and most animals.
Cages- cages should be no smaller then 24"x24"x18" for 1 adult chin, and as big as you can fit.
Hopefully I coverd everything. If you have any questions e-mail me and i'll answer them to the best of my knowledge.
