/r/chinchilla

Photograph via snooOG

This is an educational group. We are a community of breeders and knowledgeable pet owners. We love to see cute pics of your chinchillas, but the main emphasis will be on chinchilla health and safety.

Welcome

  • This is r/chinchilla! We are a community of knowledgeable chinchilla owners and breeders. This Sub is EDUCATIONAL, please understand by posting, your submission is subject to review by mods and subscribers. We all have the well being of our chinchillas in mind.

  • Visit Let's Love Chinchillas to join another great chinchilla community!

  • If you're in the UK, Try All About Chinchillas

  • The Let's Love Chinchillas website! Find basic care information, owner checklists, product recommendations, and more!

Rules & Guidelines

  • No harassment ; no profanity, vulgar, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ablest or discriminatory language.

  • No advertising without approval by the mods. No private animal sales. If you need help rehoming we can suggest a rescue.

  • No Disrespectful comments.

  • Only post photos and videos that belong to you.

  • No crowdfunding links. 501c3 rescues may post fundraising advertisements.

  • This is a CSC ( Chinchilla Specific Community ). All posts involving chinchillas interacting with other pets will be removed. Repeat offenders will be banned. We do not support nor do we wish to promote possibly dangerous acts.

  • Posts containing dangerous items/acts/foods are subject to discussion or removal.

  • Failure to follow these simple rules will result in a ban without warning. Our goal is to keep this forum as knowledgeable and usable as possible. You CAN be unbanned at a later time by sending a message to the Mods. Depending on what is said or done it can result in a permanent ban. Temporary and immediate bans are at our discretion. **

  • We will not tolerate Back Yard Breeding. "Backyard breeders, people who breed their pet store chins, and "oops" litters generally cater to popular colors or the general cuteness that all babies offer. This indiscriminate breeding leads to weaker bodies with chins prone to malocclusion, heart murmurs, genetically predisposed behavior problems, fur chewing and overall questionable health. However, even these animals need good, loving homes. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. Save lives: Leave the breeding to the professionals."

  • Those who are back yard breeding or are suspected to be back yard breeding will be removed.

Are you right for a chinchilla? - Link

Printable lists/charts - Link

Short Chinchilla FAQ - Link // Leave a suggestion

Getting a Pet Chinchilla - Link

How to Handle a Chinchilla - Link

Chinchilla's Diet - Link

Process your own wood - Link

Safe Wood List - Link

Dye Loofah - Link

Chinchilla Safe Cookies - Link

What You Should Know About Rescuing - Link

Quarantine / Pregnancy Watch - Link

Common Fur Problems - Link

Chinchillas and temperature - Link

New Owner Checklist - Link + List

Safe treats - Link to Ronda's Chins

Need a Wheel?

Cage suggestions for PET chinchillas. Not for BREEDING.

Chinchilla vendors recommended by Moderators

/r/chinchilla

54,007 Subscribers

31

Bélé Halloween King Costume

6 Comments
2024/11/01
06:08 UTC

1

Need advice !

I’ll be going on a Thailand trip for 5 days. Do i need to put my chin at my sister’s house along with his cage, so she can help me take care of my chin 😅

1 Comment
2024/11/01
05:42 UTC

31

Cosplaying w the chin 🤯

Cosplayed Momo Ayase from Dan Da Dan for Halloween so I wanted a funny video w my Gus Gus :3 Also clarified it wasn’t celery bc I wasn’t sure if they were allowed to eat it lmao 😭

6 Comments
2024/11/01
04:52 UTC

1

Hi

Hi im new to chinchillas and am wondering if my chinchillas eat guinea pig food will they be ok as they are refusing the food that's made for them is that ok or should I try to force the chinchilla food

2 Comments
2024/11/01
04:19 UTC

102

Pumpkin

His name is Earl

2 Comments
2024/11/01
00:04 UTC

52

Vet Update :)

Took my little rescue boy toby to the vets this morning, they did a stain on his eye, told me theres a small-medium sized ulcer around his eye and me and my boy were sent off on our way with some pain meds and a bottle of eye drops, thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions and understanding. Im trying my best to do what i can as soon as i possibly can for him. hes only been with me for a week so there hasnt been much time to stack funds for him but we are working on opening a care credit account and we are now adding to the emergency fund. pls dont bash me for not being able to take him immediately i have no interest of telling everyone about my current position and situation. But im doing everything in my power to make sure this little guy gets the help he needs.

-Yes he was barbering/fur chewing himself before i took him home with me -yes im aware hes skinny hes been putting on weight by eating alfalfa hay and pellets.

7 Comments
2024/10/31
21:59 UTC

49

would tubes like these be safe for a chinchilla? just saw this on instagram

20 Comments
2024/10/31
21:18 UTC

262

literally filmed him falling asleep 😭

he’s so precious I love him

6 Comments
2024/10/31
19:35 UTC

414

My sweet boy grooming my 'fur' (including bonus happy squeaks)

He only started doing this a month ago, but it fills me with so much joy that he's out of the awkward teenager phase and deeply bonded with Papa. ❤️

10 Comments
2024/10/31
13:49 UTC

5

No hay

We ran out of hay, we're getting more this afternoon. How long can a chinchilla go without hay? She's got water and pellets

7 Comments
2024/10/31
12:31 UTC

2

would a midwest critter nation model 161 be suitable for a chinchilla?

17 Comments
2024/10/31
03:01 UTC

4

cleaning tile in cages

im looking at chinchilla careguides (potential first time owner) and its mentioned that you can use tiles for the bedding in your chinchillas cage, my only question is how that works exactly. wouldnt it result in a constantly wet bottom of the cage even with daily cleanings?

8 Comments
2024/10/31
02:42 UTC

6

Bites exposed feet and legs

Hey all, my chinchilla tends to bite clears feet and legs but not when they are covered. He also doesn’t bite hands ever. Any idea why? My wife thinks that our chinchilla might be seeing our legs as snakes. I’m not convinced. Thoughts? Thanks!

6 Comments
2024/10/31
01:28 UTC

20

Chinchilla friend passed

About an hour and a half ago one of my two chinchillas passed away. The one that I have left seems sad as she doesn’t have anyone to cuddle with anymore..I want to help her, but I’m not sure how to. Any suggestions?

8 Comments
2024/10/30
23:12 UTC

661

He doesnt know i would die for him

12 Comments
2024/10/30
19:27 UTC

2

Are these safe

Hi I was wondering if these are OK for my boys. They came free with their hay. But I'm not sure if they can have them. Thanks in advance ☺️

7 Comments
2024/10/30
18:04 UTC

207

Heyoooo

3 Comments
2024/10/30
15:52 UTC

12

My chinchilla hates his antibiotics

We went to the vet yesterday for his paws and the vet gave us an oral antibiotic and...well we've tried but my mom accidently put it all over his mouth instead of inside because he was fighting us so hard 😭

The tech told us we could try to put it inside a soft food (she said apple sauce but idk if that's good for him), so i'm trying that tonight instead...

Does anyone have tips??

Update: He took the meds! I mixed them in a crushed up treat and it did the trick! Thank you for the tips 🩷

13 Comments
2024/10/30
14:41 UTC

42

Where can I rehome my chin?

I have a sweet young boy (up to a year old?). Unfortunately, my daughter is allergic. I’m located in CT. How can I find him a new home?

5 Comments
2024/10/30
14:30 UTC

16

HELP rescue chin got a scratch

For context i recently rescued a chin and hes been my baby boy since a week or so ago, and hes been putting on weight and growing his fur back in with me :)… but this morning i come home from work to find him keeping his eye half open, at first i thought he just had a sleepy eye so i left it for an hour till i checked again, this time with a flashlight. What i saw was right above his eye not actually on the eye itself. Now the video doesn’t do it much justice but it doesn’t look like the lightest scratch ever… I think the culprit could be my girlfriends cat (a continuous trouble maker and prime suspect) but the thing is i always close my door when im not in the room and even when im in it. Im not sure if my gf is being 100% honestly or able to remember if my door was open while i was at work or if the cat was in there. I also asked if she saw the door open when i was sleeping she said “i dont think so” so thats not exactly important it already happened i guess my questions are

-do you guys think i ride this out for another day or two see how it goes or do i rush straight to the vet. (i dont get paid till tomorrow so thats the earliest i can manage)

-has anything similar happened to anyone here before?

-What should be my procedure for this?

-like i said hes a rescue so im relatively new to his long list of care so anything informative is greatly appreciated

25 Comments
2024/10/30
14:25 UTC

65

What is she doing?

Why she chewing while sleeping? I’m a beginner in the chin keeping, so im unadvised

13 Comments
2024/10/30
10:34 UTC

198

My little chin girl mara ! She’s 8 whole years old!

1 Comment
2024/10/30
07:19 UTC

2

SOS! Need help finding the right grease for chin spin ball bearing

My chinchilla has been enjoying his chin spin wheel for a little under two years now, and will run on it non stop in the evening cause he loves it so much. He does get a ton of outside time, he just has so much more energy to burn.

The other day I noticed some squeaking coming from the wheel, so I sprayed it with some wd-40 while my chin was outside his cage, so he wouldn't come into contact with the spray. Little did I know, it would strip the ball bearing of its grease and make the problem worse.

Has anyone greased a chin spin ball bearing before? If so, what type of greasing agent did you use, or what worked the best? Thanks in advance!

4 Comments
2024/10/30
05:31 UTC

11

Helping my chin who is missing his grandmom

This is such a weird post! (Forgive my longwindedness, this has been the worst time of my life)

My elderly mother and I live together, due to health issues that she has. She unfortunately somehow contracted meningitis about a week and a half ago. I had to call an ambulance because she was suffering stroke like symptoms. After she was admitted, they would find out a few days ago that it was meningitis, then two days ago that she suffered from a stroke at some point.

My sweet Rocky is a free roamer. He is 15 and is used to our routines, and us being there. My mom has been in the ICU since 10/22 and my baby has been suffering the last few days. He was acting normal until I quickly declined and spent all day in bed the last week, unable to even open the blinds or do anything at all. I was in so much distress and anguish that I wasn't there for him the way I should have been. She was a complete vegetable and I thought I completely lost her forever.

My mom finally was extubated around 12 hours ago, and while she is still confused and dazed, hard to understand her, she's seemingly made miraculous progress compared to her being vegetative until yesterday. We're not out of the woods yet, but I was finally able to calm down when I got home after visiting her all night.

They are hoping to downgrade her to a new unit, and then begin PT and rehab. I don't know what that timeline is - it could be anywhere from a month to maybe 6 months given what her body and brain have been through at her age.

I've been giving him extra treats, baby talking him (like he likes) every 10 minutes, even if he's in a different room, I laid her dirty clothes out in areas where he is used to her being so maybe he can smell her.

He's even been just laying on his fleece out in the open, looking so unbelievably sad.. he only lays there like that when we turn the little space heater on for him. He also spends most of his time in her room, and only goes in and out of my room here and there at night, but he's been sitting on the end of my bed for hours every night. This is something he hasn't done since he was younger.

I'm so worried for my mom, and I am now so worried for him, having no idea how long it will be until she may come home.

Does anyone have any ideas? I lost my dad a year ago (he was only 58) and this is all just so tragic. I have to get back to work but I'm an inconsolable mess.

Thank you ahead of time!

0 Comments
2024/10/30
05:22 UTC

4

Any metal shelves that are a cheaper alternative for Ferret Nation cage??

Hey guys! I have 2 chins and they are like the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m pretty confident the cage in this picture is the one they have (it does say Ferret Nation on it and looks identical except I removed the ramps per their request). I took these babies in this past July because their former family wished to rehome them. They gave me plastic shelves which have been GREAT until now because they have been chewing on them. I feel they have ample things to chew so I am a bit concerned that they are frustrated or something (guidance would be GREAT because one day I feel like we’re bonding and the next I don’t know).

I tried fleece and they continue to find ways to pull it off. I decided the best thing would be to get metal shelves however their metal shelves are SO expensive. I’m 20 and between jobs (also terrible at saving) so I really don’t have the 50 to spend per shelf. I have two interviews this week which I’m sooo excited about but I can’t predict how they are going to go and this is an issue I want to solve immediately.

Overall, I fear they will ingest too much of the plastic and the vet bills will be sky high beyond my imagination. Of course I also want my babies to be happy and okay! I’d do anything for them but my parents are only willing to pay for their basic necessities like food. Is there like a cheaper brand to go for or something better in place of plastic/metal shelving?

7 Comments
2024/10/30
03:57 UTC

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