Darn right they do! But they are not for everyone. Chinchillas are excellent choices for apartment or condo dwellers. They also do very well in a residential home. Chinchillas are curious and love to keep an eye on their humans, but they don’t always want to be held. Especially until they trust you.

If given an appropriately sized cage, chinchillas do not need exercise outside of their cage. This is especially true if you have other pets like cats and dogs, chinchillas will feel safest inside their cage. This is because in the wild they are the prey of foxes and birds of prey.

This definitely takes some thought to offer chinchillas safe exercise outside of their cage so it is good you are giving it some thought. Your home can be a place where chinchillas get themselves into quite a bit of trouble. First, chinchillas love to chew! This will include your baseboards, the drywall on your walls, it can be deadly if they happen to chew a power cord.

Secondly, chinchillas love to hide. They will go under all types of furniture, they will also climb into an even better hiding spot once under a piece of furniture, like up into your mattress or couch. They will climb up through the backside of a dresser and into the drawers. They will become nearly impossible to recapture should this happen.

As you can see, if you choose to offer outside the cage playtime, it must be a very controlled, supervised, and safe environment!

As mentioned above exercise time outside the cage is not necessary to keep your chinchilla healthy. But should you decide to exercise them, use the precautions above to ensure a safe environment. Play time can be offered 15-20 minutes every other day for adult animals as long as the environment is maintained at a temperature under 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

CAUTION: Young animals under 6 months, should not be allowed to have exercise time outside of their cage. Young animals have difficulty regulating blood sugar levels and temperature. They can easily have a major glucose drop or die from heat exhaustion

Typically chinchillas live 8-12 years, and it is not uncommon for a chinchilla to live as long as 18 - 20 years. This is an animal that could be a huge commitment for you and your household.

It is important for a young chinchilla to not only drink its mother’s milk but also learn how to be a chinchilla from its mom and dad. Parents will teach them how to take dust baths, eat hay and chew on chew blocks, as well as things like manners. Chinchillas ware weaned around 7 - 8 weeks of age. But just because they no longer look to mom for food, does not mean they are ready for adoption. Reputable breeders will want to keep them a couple more weeks just to make sure they will thrive in your home. Weaning is a very stressful time for babies, and reputable breeders will wean them with a littermate and watch them until they are about 12 weeks old. This gives your new pet every opportunity to thrive. A good breeder will handle the baby to ensure you have a tame baby. From birth, the young kits are weighed each week to ensure they are gaining weight and growing, this continues during this weaning few weeks as well. Everything is purposely done to ensure your new pet has a great start to life and will continue to live a long and healthy life in your home.