Chinchilla - maintenance and care. What you need to keep the chinchilla

Cute animals, belonging to the class of mammals, a detachment of rodents, are chinchillas. In natural conditions, they inhabit the foothills and mountains of Peru, Chile, Mexico, and some areas of South America. They live in packs of up to thirty-five individuals. Matriarchy is vividly expressed. As a rule, the flock is controlled by one female, which has several successors. The lowest position in the "collective" is occupied by males. In the case of lack of food or in difficult climatic conditions, females can drive them out of the pack or kill them.

In nature, the chinchilla has a thick and long coat. It is because of this fur, over time, the hunting for these rodents has turned into their barbaric destruction. Today, in many countries of South America, catching these animals is considered poaching.

External signs

Chinchilla resembles the shape of the body of a squirrel. It has a curved spine, the forelimbs are short, and the hind legs are well developed, and this causes the animal to move with jumps. The head of the animal has a triangular shape, is planted low, there is almost no neck. Well-defined ears are uncovered with hair. Usually the eyes are black, but there are individuals with red eyes.

The animal has twenty teeth (four incisors and sixteen chewable), which continue to grow throughout the life of the animal and require constant grinding. With a shortage of roughage, this process is very slow. On the teeth are formed otrastany ("hooks"), which traumatize the tongue and cheeks of the chinchilla. In nature, such individuals quickly die, and domesticated animals have a long time to be treated by a specialist.

Content at home

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a man began to establish in the house an original pet at that time . Chinchilla, the content and care of which is not very complex, has become particularly popular in the last century. If you want to buy these rodents for maintenance in an apartment, then you need to know what they like and what they absolutely do not accept.

You will need a spacious cage, which must be installed away from drafts and heating devices. These small animals are equally contraindicated and overheating, and hypothermia. Worms can provoke respiratory diseases, and overheating can lead to the death of the animal.

These animals are especially active at night, therefore it is not recommended to put a cage in the bedroom, as rodents will move around a lot, make different sounds and interfere with the quiet rest of the owner. Conditions for keeping chinchillas should be as close to natural as possible. It is necessary to create many moves and shelves so that they can safely move and jump as much as they want. In addition, it is necessary to organize a hay feeder, a drinking bowl and several feeders. Despite the fact that in natural conditions chinchillas like to hide in burrows, in cages special houses and shelters do not necessarily. However, if they are present, your pets will necessarily settle in them.

What else is needed to keep the chinchilla? At the bottom of the cell, it is necessary to fill in the dry filler and put the tray.

When joint maintenance of males should be inserted into the cage very carefully. There are many cases when females maimed and even killed them. In the beginning, rodents should be placed in individual cells and put them side by side. Observe the behavior of animals. If they behave calmly, they can be lodged in one cage.

Chinchilla: care, content, breeding, feeding

The diet of these rodents consists of dry food. 50% of it is hay and dried herbs, the first must always be present in the animal. It should not be scattered throughout the cell. It must be kept in the hay feeder. This is due to the fact that the dust that exists in any hay can cause allergies in animals. You can use a variety of herbs - most often a dandelion, clover, plantain, nettle. The most important thing is that they are not poisonous.

The remaining 50% is special forage and dried fruit. They can be used any, but they must be well dried. In addition, rodents will not refuse to eat bark of any fruit trees.

This is a very interesting animal - chinchilla. The maintenance and care of it assume a thorough cleansing of their long and thick wool. Water procedures are strictly forbidden to them, therefore they should regularly "take baths" in finely dispersed sand. The filler in the cage and tray should be changed as it gets dirty. Feed in the trough and drinking water must be changed daily.

Walking

Chinchilla, the maintenance and care of which is quite simple, requires regular walks around the apartment. These are very mobile animals, and their permanent presence in the cage is highly undesirable. But they can not be released from the cage unattended, because they like to gnaw wires and furniture, which can lead to injuries. It is best to carry out such walks in special pleasure balls. In them the animals easily orient themselves in space and develop a good speed. It is important to choose the coating of the ball the most transparent.

When to call a doctor

If your pet is chinchilla, keeping her at home will require you to pay close attention to her health condition. Abundant salivation, sluggishness, refusal of feed, characteristic groan, pressing ears to the head - serious reasons for contacting a vet.

Chinchilla: content temperature

The content of these rodents at home will require the owners to comply with the temperature regime. This is achieved by turning the air conditioner on and off, regulating ventilation and heating. Chinchillas are most comfortable at an air temperature of ten to twenty-five degrees. Relative humidity should not be more than 60%. It must be remembered that the influence of the microclimate on the density of the placement of chinchillas in the cell. Because of their crowding, air humidity and temperature increase, the oxygen content is significantly reduced. The main sign of discomfort in animals is the refusal of feed.

Light mode

The physical development of rodents, their vitality, reproduction, growth is strongly influenced by both solar and artificial light. Since their activity comes at dusk, they do not need a too powerful lamp, small enough that creates "twilight" lighting. You should know that you can not leave animals without sun baths. Chinchillas are in great need of sunlight, so in a cool summer evening, cages with animals should be exposed to the sun.

How to water a rodent

For chinchillas, water is very important. Their body contains 60% moisture. Having lost 5% of water, the chinchilla feels unbearable thirst. If the animal loses 10% of moisture, it completely disrupts metabolism. Changes in internal organs and tissues that lead to the death of animals occur at a 15-20% loss of moisture. Consequently, regular drinking is a necessary condition for the normal functioning of the chinchilla. The optimum temperature of drinking water is 8-15 degrees.

How to choose a healthy animal

In recent years, the list of traditional pets has been enlarged by the South American chinchilla guest. The maintenance and care of it are not difficult. These are very cute little animals. The length of the adult is no more than 35 centimeters, the length of the tail is about 15 centimeters, the weight is 400-700 grams. At home, the animal lives for about 20 years. The wool of a healthy animal should be tightly adhering, smooth. The pet should be muscular and well-nourished. Do not buy skinny and sluggish animals, as well as too well-nourished and inactive. A sign of infection can be discharge from the eyes and nose. It is also better to refuse such an animal.

As is known, in nature this is a schooled (family) animal - chinchilla. Care and maintenance (owner reviews testify to this) for animals will be much easier if you acquire two different-sex individuals. Alone, the animal can be bored.

Today you got acquainted with the basic rules of caring for a cute little animal chinchilla. Now you just have to make friends with your pet. Chinchillas do not like very much when they are forcibly taken out of the cage, caught in the apartment. But when the pet gets used to you, he will start climbing into your arms, will stroke and play with him. This is a very cute and funny animal, which can become your good friend.