Basic Information
Information
The chinchilla originates from South America and live in the Andes mountains.
The male chinchilla is known as a buck and the female as a doe - the offspring can be known as kits.
Biological Data
Male
Buck
Female
Doe
Young
Kit
Eyes open
at birth
Average litter size
1-3 (but can be as much as 8)
Oestrus
every 28-35 days
Gestation
111 days
Weaning age
from 7-8 weeks
Reproductive life
3 months to 8-10 years
Male adult weight (average)
500grammes
Female adult weight (average)
600grammes
Average life span
up to 20 years
Health Check
Coat
even, smooth with no rough or bare patches
Eyes
bright, no discharge
Ears
free from scaliness or inflammations
Nose
no discharge from nostrils
Mouth
check that there is no dribbling or wetness round the mouth
Teeth
check that incisors are not twisted or overgrown
Breeding
The gestation period lasts around 111 days and is generally to the date. Because this length is very long the kits are fully furred, their eyes open and can be running around within the hour after being born. A good weight at birth is around 50grammes although sometimes more and sometimes less. The average number of kits is around 1-3 although it has been known for this to increase to 5 or so but in this case the kits would need to be supplemented as the mother would not have enough milk to feed this many.
Generally you should not breed from the female until she is at least 8-9 months as any younger would mean that she would be at risk from the pregnancy. Saying this the sexual maturity of the chinchilla can be from as little as 3-4 months so it is best to separate mixed litters at this time to stop the female from becoming pregnant at this age and also to stop inbreeding.
When selecting which chinchillas to pair for breeding you have to be careful. The best combination for breeding of mutations is to breed them to a very good standard chinchilla. This means that you have a much better chance of getting healthier offspring. Obviously this means that the mutation colour when being violet or sapphire wont make any of offspring of the same colour as both of these are recessive genes and as such the offspring will be a violet carrier (as shown in fig b1.1). To then get the violet colour back you could breed to another violet or breed to a violet carrier (as shown in fig b1.2).
fig b1.1
Parents
Violet x Standard
Offspring
100% Standard (Violet Carrier)
fig b1.2
Parents
Violet x Standard (Violet Carrier)
Offspring
50% Standard (Violet Carrier)
+
50% Violet
fig b1.3
Parents
Violet x Violet
Offspring
100% Violet
Feeding
The best type of food that chinchillas can be fed are chinchilla pellets - these help to discourage selective feeding and maintain a healthy chinchilla. There are several types of mixed food on the market for chinchillas but as a chinchilla will have to eat all the food to get all the goodness then these aren't recommended as this generally doesn't happen.
Any extra feed such as raisins, millet spray and any other treats should be fed sparingly as these contain a high fat content and chinchillas shouldn't have too much of this. The same goes also with fresh fruit such as apple and grapes, these can be given occasionally but not everyday.
Several places sell pellets, either loose or by the sack and there are several brands available - one of the best around at the moment are duggins (available from Paul Spooner, Chinchillas2home and other website) pellets as these are specially formulated to bring the best out in the chinchilla such as a good healthy coat - a lot of people who show chinchillas use this brand.
Caging
The best type of cages for a chinchilla is an all wire mesh cage made from 3/4" x 3/4" 16 gauge galvanized steel mesh. The cage should be kept in damp proof conditions and out of direct sunlight. Ideally there should be a raised mesh floor with a tray underneath to catch faeces or urine, this tray can be lined with newspaper, wood shavings or wood based cat litter. There should be several different levels within the cage so that the chinchilla can hop or climb around the cage, these levels can either be made of wire mesh or wood (which is preferred). The ideal cage size for 2 chinchillas is either 36" wide x 24" high x 18" deep or 24" wide x 36" high x 18" deep (as shown in fig c1.1).
fig c1.1
This cage is 24" wide x 36" high x 18" deep and has two shelves, a built in hay rack, a tray under the cage floor, a water bottle and a fixed food dish. it also shows a nest box. This type of cage is made by Thickets House and can be purchased from such stores as PAH (for £69.99 *the nest box is extra*) and other places.
The cage should have either a fixed food hopper or a solid earthenware dish because the chinchilla will tip over the bowl if it isn't attached or heavy enough. There are a couple of ways to get the water to a chinchilla, by either using a water bottle or a water system. Benefits from using a water bottle are that you can see exactly how much the chinchilla is drinking compared to a water system where you have a main tank which is situated high up with a tube coming out of the side near the bottom (preferably with a valve connected to stop the water flow if needed), the tube then feeds along each row with spouts going into the back of the cage for the animals to drink. Seeing as the water systems are designed to offer water to a large number of animals from one central place there can be a couple of drawbacks, these include not being able to tell which animals are drinking and how much they are drinking, also if there is a fault and the water leaks then you will have the entire contents from the reservoir spilling out over the entire unit.
To bathe the chinchilla you should never use water but instead use a dust bath (as shown in fig c1.2). This should be placed in the cage once a day for 10-15 minutes at a time. It should be filled with sepiolita sand as this is the best quality dust for chinchillas to bathe in (as shown in fig c1.3).
fig c1.2
The first dust bath is from PAH and costs £9.99 the second one is from Paul Spooner and costs £6.00 (+£3.00 delivery) or £55.00 (+£10.00 delivery)
fig c1.3
Sepiolita dust is available from most places including Paul Spooner and costs £2.00 for 1.5kgs or £8.50 for 20kgs (there is also extra for delivery).
There is a special type of cage needed to show chinchillas (as shown in fig c1.4). This cage measures 10" high x 10" deep x 8" wide. The cage needs to be made of 1" x 1" 16 gauge galvanized steel mesh all over except for the base which is raised 1" from the ground and made from 1/2" x 1/2" 16 gauge galvanized steel mesh. On show day the cages need to be spotlessly clean and tidy.
fig c1.4
This is the design of a show cage which is available from Paul Spooner and costs £7.00 (+£5.00 delivery) as well as other places.
Cooling
As the sun shines brightly in the lovely blue skies we have to think about our chinnies welfare and what temperatures are good for them, with that in mind our thoughts turn to air conditioners. The temperatures in the chin units shouldn't exceed 20-25 degrees as this can be fatal to a chinchilla and the lower you can get the temperature then the happier the chins will be. Remember that any air conditioners that have containers to catch the water will fill up and switch off till they are emptied. Think about the rating and power of the unit, a smaller unit in a large space will not work as effectively as a bigger unit in the same space. Try to place the unit off of the ground so that the cold air will have further to fall and therefore more of the room will be cooler higher up. Also remember that if you have a power cut that you go and check that your unit is switched back on, or if you are on holiday that you let the person whose looking after the chins know to put it on as this can be easily overlooked.
The style of units that attach to the wall and have a vent to the outside will be better than the ones with the containers as these will run constantly and do not require any emptying.
Don't just go for the first unit you see, take a look around other places to see if you can get a better unit for just a little bit more. Places online such as www.kelkoo.co.uk are a great place to compare prices of air conditioners.
Fans will have little effect on cooling the chinchillas due to their dense fur but are good to circulate the cooler air (when used in conjunction with an air con) around the chin unit.
Other ways to keep chins cool can be to get terracotta tiles and place them in the freezer overnight and then put them in the chin cage as they will keep their coolness for a few hours and the chins will most probably sit on them. Marble is also a good cooler as well you can buy (in America) marble slates from a chin site to be used in the same way as the terracotta tiles. Another way would be to place the ice box coolers above the cage (perhaps wrapped in something so it cant be chewed) or in a container inside the cage so that they too can help towards cooling the chins.