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Interesting Facts and Data about Chinchillas
1. Chinchillas come in many different colors, including black (ebony) white,
standard grey, beige, violet, sapphire, and many combinations.
2. Chinchillas come from the Andes Mountains of South America.
3. The name 'Chinchilla' is named after a Native American tribe in South
America, the Chinta, and the name means Little Chinta.
4. Adult weight:
Males = fourteen to seventeen ounces (four hundred to five hundred grams)
Females = fourteen to twenty-one ounces (four hundred to six hundred grams)
5. Body temperature:
96.8 to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (36 to 38 degrees Celsius)
6. Heart rate:
100 beats per minute
7. Age at Puberty:
As early as three months, usually six to ten months
8. Life span:
Usual = ten years; maximum = twenty years
9. Estrous (heat) cycle:
Usual forty days; ranges from sixteen to sixty-nine days
10. Gestation period:
An average of one hundred and eleven days
11. Litter size:
Average litter size is two but they can bear up to six
12. Litters per year:
Two under normal circumstances
13. Birth weight:
Babies weigh one ounce (35 grams) or more
14. Chinchilla babies are called kits and are born with their eyes open, fully
furred, and ready to go!
15. Weaning age of pups: Six to eight weeks
25. The most common type of chinchilla found in the domestic
and pelt scenes are the Lanigera species.
16. Chinchilla coats have about one hundred hairs in each
hair follicle, which makes their coats so thick that fleas
can't get to their skin. (Humans have 1-2 hairs per
follicle.)
17. Chinchillas never bathe in water, but use fine dust
instead. They will flip, roll, dig and play merrily in their
dust bath bin in their quest to be clean.
18. Use special commercial sold for chinchillas for your
pet's dust baths. Other dust, even if it looks the same,
won't clean their fur properly.
19. When a chinchilla is grooming himself, he is happy and
relaxed.
20. Chinchillas come from dry mountainous areas and need
lower humidity and dust baths several times a week. Dust
baths are necessary to keep the chinchilla's fur soft and
clean.
21. A chinchilla makes sounds like chirps or peeps.
Chinchillas also make a sound that sounds something like
"kee-kee-kee."
22. If a chinchilla is frightened by being grabbed, they
will release a patch of fur, (called a fur slip). This helps
them escape predators and it doesn't harm the chinchilla,
the fur will grow back.
23. Chinchillas are most comfortable at temperatures under
seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit (twenty-four Celsius) and
can overheat and become ill if the air temperature is too
high.
24. Chinchillas are nocturnal; they sleep during the day and
play and forage at night.
25. Their teeth grow continuously throughout their lifetime
so it's important that they have wood and other materials to
wear them down on.
26. A chinchilla kept in captivity needs a multiple level
habitat for exercise, as well as a wheel and toys.
27. Put the cage for your pet chinchilla with at least one
side to the wall in a quiet corner to help the chinchilla
feel safer.
28. Chinchillas, if handled gently from a young age, will
become very tame and attached to their owners.
29. Pet Chinchillas eat grass hay and chinchilla pellets
with small amounts of vegetables as treats.
30. Chinchillas are most active in the early morning and
late evening, so don't put their cage where their noise will
bother you at those times.
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Chinchillas as Pets
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