chinchilla???

[tlcmom]

Does anyone on here own one of these fuzzy creatures? I keep thinking I want to get one - but I don't want to regret it. Could you please share with me the pros and cons? Would you get a pair? Males or females?

 

I would really appreciate some input. I am looking at a couple that are on Craigslist right now.

 

Thanks so much!!

[AuntieM]

that they are easily stressed out, so you may want to check on that. Make sure it's a good fit for your family, age/demeanor of your kids.

[Starr]

I think you need to do alot of reading and internet learning about these animals. We had friends that had to build a whole cage system in their basement. I think they can be a major pain.

[mommaduck]

Dunno, but Uncle and Cousin just came home with one. They were told that it was odorless, they take "dust baths", live as long as 20yrs, and they bought a cage with lots of goodies. He's been named "Pedro".

[Ria]

I have a friend who got one. It was dirty, aggressive, not cuddly, and generally they ended up hating it. Oh, and the poop was constant and everywhere. Hers ended up on Craigslist.

 

Ria

[Night Elf]

We had one for over a year. He was very lonely and made such pitiful sounds. Even worse, he'd hike his butt against the 2nd floor of the cage to pee and it would stream out of the cage, down the wall making a mess. My oldest daughter finally got fed up with trying to care for him so we found a chinchilla rescue society to take him and give him a home with other chins.

 

My youngest daughter has 2 rats. We enjoy the rats much more than we did the chin. Our chin didn't want to be handled and held. Our rats are so friendly and much easier to keep clean.

[nukeswife]

I don't know about chinchilla's although the are cute, but Rats make wonderful pets. I know to some the tails freak them out, but they aren't weird and slimy like many think. The tails have little hairs on them and are soft. We have owned 3 rats over the years and all were extremely friendly and loved to come out and climb on us and be petted. They are very easy to take care of. I used to make my own food for them out of total cereal, a little dog kibble and dried fruits and veggies. They were by far the best "rodent" type pets we've ever had. Rats are very social animals so they are usually best in pairs (2 girls, unless you want lots of babies and or fights) We always kept them in an active area of the house as they loved being part of our group. The only bad thing was that I had to teach my kids to not push food through the bars of the cage because rats are pretty blind and so they can't tell the difference between food and fingers coming through the bars, so if they are used to only food coming through the small holes (not the doors of the cage) they may bite without meaning to thinking your finger is food.