Chinchilla at home: breeding, maintenance and care, reviews

Native to the highlands of South America, chinchillas are becoming increasingly popular as pets today. There are two types of chinchillas in the world: small long-tailed and large short-tailed. Because of the valuable fur, both species were practically exterminated in the wild. In Chile today, these animals are under state protection. Their numbers have not yet recovered. But extinction does not threaten animals.

It turned out that they successfully breed in captivity. This circumstance made it possible not only to organize animal breeding farms for the production of valuable fur, but also to keep chinchillas in apartments as pets.

Chinchillas are rodents, but their digestive system is very different from rats, hamsters or squirrels familiar to Europeans. When buying an animal in an apartment, you need to take into account that it without fail requires roughage, that is, hay. But it is better not to give juicy food at all. This is one of the causes of chinchilla diseases.

Also, chinchillas do not tolerate sudden changes in temperature very well. Contrary to logic, these animals with the thickest fur in the world do not tolerate low temperatures very well. If the room is below + 10 ° C, adult animals begin to freeze, and young animals can catch a cold and die.

How long do chinchillas live at home

Due to the rarity and secrecy of animals in nature, the features of their existence and life expectancy in nature are unknown. All data were obtained from observations of animals in captivity. In mass quantities, a smaller species, the long-tailed chinchilla, is bred in captivity.

And even when observing animals in captivity, data on their life expectancy vary greatly. According to some data, long-tailed chinchillas live for more than 30 years under the conditions of detention. There are cases when chinchillas lived up to 37 years. But according to reviews of chinchilla breeders, in fact, these animals live no longer than 20 years, and the usual life span of chinchillas is 6-10 years. With such a wide range of life spans, it can be assumed that the matter is in the living conditions in apartments that are unsuitable for high-mountain animals.

And indeed it is. The optimum temperature for keeping chinchillas is in the range of 18-23°C. The minimum should not fall below 14°C, and the maximum should not exceed 28°C. Temperature extremes are only permitted for a short period of time.

At the same time, caring for a chinchilla at home is not difficult, given the characteristics of its lifestyle and needs. It will be much more difficult to create conditions for the life of the animal, in fact, subordinating your life to the needs of animals.

How to care for a chinchilla at home

When buying a chinchilla as a pet, and not material for obtaining a skin, you should first take care of an equipped cage for a rodent and an air conditioner to maintain the desired temperature in the room. These animals tolerate heat worse than cold, although low temperatures do not contribute to the good health of the chinchilla.

The cage area for one individual must be at least 1×0,4 m. And the height is 0,8 m. If you plan to buy two or more animals, the cage area increases according to the number of pets.

Chinchillas are mobile animals and they need a lot of space for physical activity. At the same time, the height from which the animal can jump must be limited to 20 cm. If the height is too high, the chinchilla can break bones by jumping off the shelf. Therefore, when constructing a cage, it will be necessary to make several “floors” in it so that, having jumped from above, the animal would land not on the floor of the cage, but on the lower “floor”.

Although these animals appear to be quite large and plump, like any rodent, their body is adapted to getting into very narrow crevices. Chinchilla owners admit that if they themselves had not seen how the animal escapes from the cage, crawling between the bars, they would not have believed in the possibility of such an escape.

But the fact is that usually novice owners of these South American animals do not ask questions about the anatomy of pets. The body of chinchillas is designed in such a way that it can be strongly compressed from the sides. This allows small animals to escape from predators in very narrow crevices. Therefore, it is better to use a fine-mesh metal mesh for a cage.

Caring for an animal is not complicated, but it is recommended to clean the cage once a day. Chinchillas smell much weaker than other domestic rodents, but with rare cleaning, even the cleanest animal will smell. To save on bedding and cleaning time, you can teach your chinchilla to the tray. In this case, it will be possible to clean only the tray daily, and the general cleaning of the cage will be carried out much less frequently.

How to toilet train a chinchilla

The accustoming of an animal to defecate in a certain place is based on the desire of males to mark the territory. Since females also mark the boundaries of their territory, they can also be trained to defecate in one place.

When accustoming animals to cope with the needs of the tray, the excrement is collected and placed in the tray. Animals mark territory according to old marks. Therefore, the excrement placed in the tray will be a signal that the territory must be marked again in the same place. Fresh excrement from another animal works best in this case, but if you have only one chinchilla, you can use its own droppings. The effect will be weaker.

Like any herbivore, the act of defecation in a chinchilla is spontaneous.

Does a chinchilla need a pair?

Due to the high price for an individual, chinchillas are often kept alone, but this has a bad effect on the psyche of animals. In nature, rodents live in colonies, forming monogamous pairs. If the animal owner does not want to breed chinchillas, he is better off buying a same-sex pair. If there is a desire to breed chinchillas for sale or for skins, you need to learn to distinguish between the sexes of animals in order to form pairs.

How to determine the sex of a chinchilla, photo

If you want to buy a same-sex couple, you first need to decide which gender the chinchillas will live in the house. Males have an unpleasant feature of marking with urine all surfaces that catch their eye. Females are calmer, but during the hunt they begin to refuse food and scatter food around. Refusal of food is unpleasant because in this case it is easy to miss the onset of a serious illness, attributing everything to hunting. When it becomes clear which is better: marks or garbage everywhere, you can go to the breeder and ask for animals of the right gender.

The sex of chinchillas is determined by the location of the anus and urinary openings relative to each other. In the female, the urethra is located immediately below the anus and there is no distance between them. In the male, the penis and anus are further apart than in the female. According to chinchilla breeders, “the male has a longitudinal bridge between the penis and anus.” In the photo you can see the difference between male and female. Top photo is male, bottom photo is female.

Breeders usually sell chinchillas at the age of 3 months, either singly or in already formed batches. For those wishing to engage in further breeding of chinchillas, it is useful to know how to distinguish cubs by gender in the first days after birth.

How to determine the sex of a chinchilla at an early age

In newborn chinchillas, sex is determined in the same way as in adult animals. But there is a nuance: immediately after birth, the genitals of chinchillas are often swollen and it can be difficult to understand what gender the cub is. Will have to wait a few days.

Chinchilla breeding

Puberty in chinchillas occurs at 7 months. For a year, rodents are able to bring 2-3 litters per year from 1 to 5 puppies in each. Chinchillas breed very well at home, but the female needs shelter where she can give birth to offspring.

Since it is possible to breed chinchillas in captivity, forming not monogamous pairs, but families of 4-8 females per male, breeding rodents can be a good extra income even if one family is kept in an apartment. The cost of a live animal is almost equal to the cost of the skin and is directly proportional to the color, so you can predict the costs and profits depending on the initial investment.

Chinchilla colors may be natural or mutated in captivity. The natural color is the most common and the animal with the agouti gene is valued below any other.

Chinchilla breeding as a business

Whether it is profitable to breed chinchillas for sale as pets depends on the place of residence of the chinchilla breeder. If in large cities the incomes of the population are higher and people can afford to buy an animal worth $60 or more, then in the villages no one will spend money on a “mouse” at that price. Moreover, with improper care, chinchillas die.

Chinchilla catteries that sell pets are targeted at the urban population with high incomes, and the cost of an animal directly depends on the color of the rodent and can reach up to $ 500.

It is hardly profitable for novice owners to breed chinchillas in mass quantities for the sake of business. It is better to first “get your hand” on breeding a small number of animals, which will recoup the costs. After finding out the nuances of keeping South American rodents, you can think about a chinchilla farm and draw up a business plan for breeding chinchillas.

A real business plan must be drawn up, focusing on local living conditions and laws. In the general case, one can only estimate the approximate costs and possible profits.

These are initial costs that cannot be recovered immediately.

The photo shows a block of 3 chinchilla cages with trays for garbage and litter.

Chinchillas produce an average of 3 puppies per litter. Cubs are taken away at the age of 2 months, puppies can be sold already at 3 months. If there is a high steady demand for animals, it is better to sell young animals, since the cost of a chinchilla is equal to the cost of a skin of an adult animal. Maintenance costs when selling in 3 months. will be lower.

When breeding chinchillas for skins, animals need to be grown to adulthood. That is up to 7 months. When a polygamous family is formed from 4 females and 1 male, 4 families and 48 young animals will be on the farm at the same time. For young animals, additional cages are needed, but the number of chinchillas per cage may be higher. Nevertheless, at least 3 more blocks of 4 cells will be required so that the animals can safely grow up. Ideally, it is better to populate these blocks with same-sex chinchillas. The cost of 3 more blocks is from $80 per block.

Thus, the total cost of initial costs, taking into account contingencies, will be from $ 2100.

Semi-annual feed consumption for a total population of 70 individuals

Even with a rough estimate, it is clear that the cost of maintaining a chinchilla farm is low (the cost of water and electricity for climate control is not taken into account).

You can not buy special mineral stones, but pick them up in the area or replace them with hardwoods.

Income from the sale of 48-50 skins will range from $ 2880 to $ 25000. But the latter is possible only in the case of breeding chinchillas with a very rare and expensive color, so in reality you should not count on such income. Most likely the income will be lower. However, even with the minimum price per pelt, more than $5000 could be earned in a year. The cost of setting up the farm and obtaining permits would pay off in one year. Then you can already get a net profit.

Cons

There are also pitfalls due to which a beginner in breeding chinchillas can fail. This is the high sensitivity of chinchillas to adverse factors. As a result of improper maintenance, all purchased animals may die.

There are certain “don’ts” that must be observed when breeding chinchillas:

• you can’t swim in the water. Instead of water, use sand;
• overheating / hypothermia should not be allowed;
• do not give juicy food and nuts;
• you can not drastically change the type of food;
• do not give food to rabbits, hamsters or guinea pigs;
• you can not plant a female younger than 6 months to the male;
• you can not keep chinchillas in a noisy room;
• you can not use oak as a shaving for bedding or a toy for grinding teeth;
• you can not give branches of stone fruit trees that contain hydrocyanic acid;
• you can not give water from the tap without standing it;
• you can not plant chinchillas from the female before they reach 3 months.

These are the general “don’ts” that need to be applied to both chinchillas on a fur farm and pets.

Whether breeding chinchillas as a business will be profitable or not depends on two factors:

• compliance with the rules for keeping chinchillas;
• availability of a market for live individuals or skins.

To sell the skins, it will be necessary to learn how to slaughter animals and harvest skins.

For the successful production of fur and getting a decent profit, you will have to import dark-colored animals from abroad. This will significantly increase the cost of the initial organization of production and reduce revenues.

Since today the pet market is already saturated with chinchillas, the breeding of rodents for sale to exotic lovers has come to naught. Today it makes sense to breed only high-quality animals and only to obtain raw materials for fur products.

When keeping animals as pets, there are additional reasons why chinchillas die at home.

What should not be allowed in the apartment

All of the above prohibitions must be observed not only on the farm, but also in the apartment. But on a farm, there are usually no other factors that are found in an apartment. So when keeping pets there are much more prohibitions:

• you can not keep chinchillas in the same cage with other animals;
• you can’t chase animals (especially for children);
• do not leave chinchillas alone with domestic predators: cats, dogs or ferrets;
• you can not take pictures with a flash;
• you can not immediately plant a new chinchilla to the old one. It is necessary to give them time to get used to each other when living in different cages. At the same time, quarantine terms will be observed;
• you can not put in a walking ball, like a rabbit or a hamster;
• you can not wake up during the day;
• you can’t walk on a leash like a rabbit;
• dangerous items should not be left: paper, foil, beads, polyethylene, threads, etc., if the animal is allowed into the room for a walk. The chinchilla may eat these things out of curiosity;
• you can not sharply grab the animal;
• should not be kept in a noisy environment. TV is better placed in another room;
• you can’t let them walk around the room unattended;
• should not be kept in a small cage.

There are much more rules for keeping pets than for farms, because on farms few people are interested in the inner world of a chinchilla, and the conditions of keeping are provided to a minimum. Under such conditions, animals can exist, but their lifespan is much shorter, since breeding females are slaughtered as soon as their productivity decreases.

Conclusion

According to real reviews of the owners of these animals, in fact, the maintenance of animals is not so difficult. At least the stress resistance of chinchillas is higher than reported on the sites. But individuals are different. If an animal with a weak nervous system is caught, it can really die from stress. Therefore, it is better to first create the recommended conditions, and then the content can be adjusted. Some chinchillas even like to watch TV.