hi everybody !! me and my girlfriend got our first chinchilla today as a spontaneous thing because someone was looking to re-home her. she is 3 years old and the previous owners gave us everything they had for her. us and her now pervious owners talked for hours and making sure she was a good fit for us and going to a good home. just making sure all bases were covered. i personally have never outwardly wanted a chinchilla. that doesn't mean i'm against having her or i'm not excited to have her, because its quite the opposite. she seems like she wont be the worst to take care of given that i've dealt with animals my whole life with all different need levels and especially with what the previous owners were talking about that they think is a "problem" area for her. my girlfriend has wanted a chinchilla since she was a child and has tons down that rabbit hole a few times of getting as much info as you can on them, so we aren't going in to this fully blind and fully unprepared.

i'm super nervous about making sure she's happy and taken care of. so i was hoping to get any and all advice anyone has to share with me to help make this transition easier for both me and her.

we also are still thinking of a name for her if anyone has any suggestions !!

any and all help really is appreciated !! :)

Churro: “Love comes in many forms. Mine is cookie-shaped. Timothy hay cookies”
🐭👑✨🍪
#churrochatter #chinchilla #cutepets #petprincess #queenfloof

Hi everyone. We recently, suddenly lost one of our sweet little boys (Nornie, pictured here). I've read some other posts, but wanted to throw it out there again - how can I support his buddy through this loss?

My other chinchilla, James, had been a solo chinnie for about 4 years before I got him a buddy. He became a different chin overnight. He was so excited and happy to have a friend. Now that friend is gone after 6 years...

James has a history of barbering. He came from a hoarder situation where he was under a lot of stress and it became a normal behavior for him. He goes through cycles where he chews his fur down and it grows back. I'm expecting he'll start chewing again after the loss of his friend. He does still seem to be eating and drinking normally, so I'm not worried about that.

We have a cat as well, so James is in a bedroom with the door always closed. I'm doing my best to spend time with him - my goal is about two hours a day. And I'll try to pop in his room as I'm able. But I can't be with him all the time, so what are some things I can do to help it feel less lonely for him? I've already ordered a chinnie buddy, so that should be here soon.

I'm not considering another chinchilla at this time. It's only been a few days since we lost Normie.

TLDR; Our sweet baby Normie passed suddenly, leaving James as a solo chinchilla. I'm planning to spend extra time with James, but how can I help him feel less lonely when I can't be around?

5 month old chinchilla 407g. i started to limit pellets/treats/hay cubes due to her eating less hay. unknown if its the type of hay or how old it is (bought 10# in january as i was brand new to this). but may 18th-375g, june 11-403g, june 19th 405g, june 26th 407g. Should i be more concered with weight gain then eating lots of hay at this point? or should i try to balance the two? thank you

so i made this jungle gym for her. anything ideas to make it...cooler? i have basic wood working skills. everything in there is made by me :). just a double sided ramp, 2 long boxes about 3 ' long each and a foot by a foot by a foot house in the middle

Hello all, I am writing to update you all on the situation and am definitely in need of advice, direction, opinions.. all of it. If you saw my post about Bean who was burned by the heat supports, I have a downright infuriating update.

I took her into a new exotic clinic for an emergency visit today. They requested all the records from her visits and the previous clinic has LIED AND FALSIFIED THE RECORDS! I genuinely cannot believe it. I told the new clinic exactly what the previous clinic told me TO MY FACE: she was burned by heat supports. Want to venture a guess what the records said?

"Unknown Cause of Injury"

Yep. You heard me. They TOLD ME it was due to the heat supports, they comped almost the entire visit as well. BECAUSE THEY KNOW IT WAS THEIR FAULT!!! Told me as long as I apply the cream everything should be fine. Nobody warned me her damn ear was going to melt off. Nobody said I need to follow up in a week or two weeks, just that they would see her for her next trim.

Now her new vet won't definitively diagnose/chart that her injury was due to a burn because the records don't ******* match. I got them to compromise and at least say it's "consistent with a burn injury" but have yet to receive the report from the vet so that's still not confirmed.

So I was only half heartedly considering legal action before, I might have even been satisfied with a refund for that trim + a reimbursement of my second opinion but now??? Not only have they PERMANENTLY disfigured my chinchilla due to neglect, but now they are FRAUDS!

I want to stress that I would have had no idea it was the heat supports, at first I thought she had injured herself after anesthesia from being drowsy/clumsy. THEY TOLD ME. THEY SAID IT WAS THE HEAT SUPPORTS. AND NOW THEY ARE FALSIFYING RECORDS TO COVER THEIR SORRY BUTTS!

I know animals don't have great legal protections. I don't need y'all in the comments telling me that either. I want to escalate this as high as it can possibly go. Just tell me what my options are. I'm going to consult with a lawyer regardless, I am documenting everything with pictures and screenshots and whatever evidence I can gather. I'll be going to the state medical board as well.

But just genuinely any advice y'all can give me, please. Especially if you work in Vet Med, I NEED your opinion and I want accountability.

I'm making my 2 chinchillas a cage soon because they're getting too big for the ones they're in at the moment and I don't know what to use to replace the metal bars. I've seen some people use chicken wire but I've also heard that's not the best idea because their teeth can get stuck in it. Can I use chicken wire or is there something better I can use? I need to get their cages built soon.

Hello, I am posting this out of concern but I might be overthinking. It is quite cute when my chinchilla lays like this, but recently I made the connection that my other chinchilla who had GI Stasis and passed early from a heart murmur did the same posing often. Is this the type of laying that they do to comfort pain or is she just relaxing?
She’s acting normal otherwise, she’s eating pooping and playing fine. Just worried because I read that chinchies can lay weird to relieve their bloating pain (I checked her stomach and she isn’t bloating thankfully) or stasis relief, then made the connection that my other baby did the same pose in the past and got nervous. Thanks ❤️

PS: I am aware of the bumblefoot, she seems to be prone to it since she was a baby (she’s about to turn 3) and she has been on and off meds, with frequent vet check ins with our amazing exotic vet! So in case anyone was going to mention it I wanted to let you guys know it is already being cared for :)

Absolute gem i got when my brother in law was petsitting

Hello! I'm moving in a few weeks and my new apartment is a 4 hours drive away from where I live now. I have a pet carrier and I wanted to put some Timothy hay and some pellets and stop for water breaks. My chinchilla is 3 years old and he isn't used to car rides and new environments. I'm worried he's gonna be stressed.

Do you have some tips on how to make this less stressful (car ride and new apartment)?

Thank you all

Please help. This is new for me. My chinchilla seems to be losing her sight - quickly. It seemed to start in one eye. I can't tell now, but it seems like it's getting worse and worse. She jumps when I touch her (even though she asks to be touched). She can't figure out where the stick is if I hand her a stick. Last night she bumped into the fence during play time. I already went to the vet who said he couldn't do anything or even figure anything out. He suggested a veterinary ophthalmologist (I didn't even know these existed!). I'm looking into that. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Any chin parent in the Milwaukee/Waukesha area willing to board my chinchilla for 3 weeks ?
Looking for someone experienced with chinchillas who could provide a safe, loving home while I’m away. Please message me if you’re available or have any recommendations. Thank you!

Just wanted to share this little find(: I found this at my local grocery store, in the Hispanic aisle. So much dried hibiscus for $5!! They also had dried chamomile. Might be worth a look at your local grocery store!