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I have four chinchillas, a standard grey male called Chico, a beige female called Lexie, a standard grey female called Tansy, and wilson white male called Domino.
Chico is a sweet boy, and a hyperactive bundle of mischief who likes to race around, jump, bounce, and ricochet off anything and everything in his path. He is happy to come out and play pretty much any time of the day and loves to bath and dig in the sand.
Chico has a shoe fetish! I never keep my shoes in the room to avoid them being nibbled, so if visitors are in the house and he is out to play, he will run over to them, sit on their feet and start minutely examining their shoes - silly boy!
He absolutely hates any wetness (even 1 drip of water), and dislikes 'wet' food - when I gave him a small piece of fresh banana he bounced it back and fore between his paws as he ate as if it was a hot potato, it was like "Yum yum, this is nice, urgh it feels horrible!" - it was so funny to watch!
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| Lexie's story Lexie was advertised in the paper for sale. I was told by the lady that she had bought a group of chinchillas from a friend who was unable to keep them, and that she was selling them for her. When I went to take a look at them they were being kept in a garden shed (one with no particular insulation, or ventilation). Lexie was in a wire cage less than 2 foot x 2 foot, there were no shelves, and the only rest her paws had from the wire was what appeared to be an old juice carton! Apart from this the only thing she had to chew on was a stick of wood. I knew Lexie was the one I wanted, and I brought her home - her 3rd home in the first 6 or 7 months of her life. One of the first things I noticed is that the smelled, the poor thing was in need of several baths! She (or another chinchilla) had bitten the fur at the top of her tail, she was also extremely quiet - I believe she was just plain scared. Lexie made good progress and gained confidence quickly, especially after moving in with Chico (she doesn't seem to like being in a cage alone). Then I made a big mistake - After a few months I took both her and Chico to the vets for a health check (they both got a clean bill of health). After that she became a bag of nerves - perhaps she thought she was being uprooted again, but the trip to the vets seems to have been the last straw for her. Each time she came out to play she ran and hid, and wouldn't come to me at all. I worked with Lexie and she improved, but very slowly. Some evenings she would climb all over me and run around, then the next evening she would just hide and not come to me at all - there was no apparent reason for the change of behaviour - I made sure not to push her, but let her progress at her own pace. |
Today Lexie has got her confidence back. She can also be very headstrong and is the boss of the cage. She is very adventurous and, will jump and climb anywhere - when they were in their original cage she used to get on the cabinet their cage sat on, then climb spiderman style up one side of the cage (this put her five and a half feet up in the air), then if I didn't retrieve her quickly she would run across the top of the cage and climb headfirst down the far side of the cage spiderman style! She worries me because I keep thinking she is going to hurt herself.
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Here's a picture of them together, Lexie was horrible to Chico when they first met, but now they get on well together.
On Thursday 28th August 2003 Chico and Lexie became the proud parents of two bouncing baby chinchillas.
The first, who I named Scrappy, weighed in at 47 grams, the second, Scooby weighed in at 39 grams. Both mum and babies were fine. I separated Chico from Lexie before the babies were born in order to prevent him getting Lexie pregnant again straight away, which caused Chico to mope and go off his food for a while. I allowed his sons to pay him brief visits while he and Lexie were separated, this led to him checking my hands every time I put my hands in the cage to see if I have brought him the kits - he even totally ignored treats I had for him!!
The kits looked a little strange when first born - their heads looked too big for their bodies, their noses looked too big for their faces, and their legs and bodies had the gangly look of a new born foal. Also they lacked co-ordination over those long legs. But it didn't take long before they started to put on weight and gain a little strength and coordination.
Scrappy is very forward, he very quickly learnt to climb on top of their nesting box with ease - I think he takes after his mum. Also he tried picking a fight with his dad! Dad was being over-enthusiastic when grooming him and was a bit rough, so I think Scrappy thought he was being attacked - It was so funny, this one and a half day old kit, kit half the size of Chico's head trying to fight him. Chico didn't know what to do and just backed off, bless him. Like I say the kit takes after his mum - she's always trying to pick a fight with my 'Scottish' chinchillas, but she's very good otherwise.
When he was very young Scooby just get on with things - he couldn't climb so well, but I guess climbing isn't quite so easy when you're that little bit smaller. Scooby is a total sweetie and will even sit there and lick your hand.
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Both Scooby and Scrappy have now gone to good homes.
I brought these two home on the 13th July 2003 - Tansy is a standard grey girl, Domino is a wilson white boy (or to be more exact he is a Black/White cross).
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Tansy and Domino used to belong to a breeder near the borders of Scotland, however due to unfortunate circumstances the breeder could no longer keep their herd and all chinchillas were re-homed.
Neither Tansy or Domino had had a bath for a while, and on the first picture of Domino you can see that his fur is very scruffy - the pictures above were taken within 24 hours of them arriving at their new home. You can see the huge difference that 6 weeks and lots of baths have made. Domino's fur was so matted that I had to gently tease out the mats - I did this slowly over a number of weeks, and also gently combed him once virtually all of the mats were gone.
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Domino is a friendly, relaxed, confident and inquisitive boy who loves to explore and investigate. He has turned out to be my most chewy chinchilla - 'Dustbin Dom' will chew everything and anything: sofa, coffee table, skirting, bookcase, book, telephone wire, TV remote control ... the list is endless. He will also eat anything and everything you offer him, to date I have not found any food or treat suitable for a chinchilla which he does not like.
Tansy however was very stressed because of the move, which involved a long journey; she was extremely nervous when she arrived and at first would jump madly around the cage in a panic if a hand came into the cage. Tansy started to calm down a little after the first week but remained extremely nervous. It was a long time before I was able to let her out to play in a small area, even when I did it was very difficult to catch her without scaring her. She (or another chinchilla) had also chewed the fur on both her hips and on her tail. Eight months after joining me all her fur has grown back beautifully, and although still a little nervous she will happily jump into my arms when I open the cage door, and will sometimes let me pick her up for a cuddle while out playing.
