Exotic Pets - Chinchillas

Exotic Pets - Chinchillas - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. This is a chinchilla, and chinchillas come from South America, they live up in the Andes, where it is fairly cold. They are very well known for their very thick, very soft fur. Um, these have been used, and are still used to this day for clothing. Their fur is much sought after for fur coats. Of course, we prefer having the fur stay on the animal. And they make fantastic pets. They are very very smart and they are very playful. They play a lot during the night time hours. They are fairly nocturnal, but they will also come out during the day. They are vegetarians, we have a pelleted prepared food that we feed them. It is a chinchilla diet. They like to climb, they like to bounce around, they like to play. So a very tall cage, usually made out of a rubber coated wire, were just very good for their feet. You do not want rough wire to hurt their feet. And then you need a water bottle and a food bowl. And they eat a lot of hay and grass. They like Timothy hay along with their diet, their chinchilla diet. They also have a thing about raisins. They really like raisins a lot. And a little bit of fruit is good for them too. These are best kept in pairs. It is easier and better to avoid housing 2 males, as they tend to be territorial, and they fight a little bit. But if you keep them together, they will play with each other, and love each other. And they bond very well, and they will probably breed, and you will probably end up with some babies. Very nice animals. These are incredibly soft. And this one is not quite full grown, but almost. And they live for about 7 or 8 years, and one of the more fun animals we have here.