Our newest addition to the herd Caramel. Caramel is a beige female chinchilla and already growing so quickly! She was born to Haze and BB. She is still shy but very chatty with mom especially shen she wants milk, she has quite the appetite!~We will be calling her Mel for short.

Chinchillas tend to do very well in pairs and paired chins have several different ways in which they communicate and show affection. One way in which your chinchillas may greet each other and show affection is by nuzzling the tops of each others noses. It may look like biting, but this is a grooming affectionate gesture (unless for some reason the other one is squealing do not be alarmed.) They also like to be nuzzled under their chin (try scratching under your chinchillas neck sometime, most chinchillas LOVE it)

They will also make cooing noises at each other. This often  happens when you separate two paired chinchillas and then put them back into a cage together. They "miss" one another and this cooing sound is one of relief and happiness  that they are reunited. Your chinchillas will also often sleep together, one may even sleep partially on top of another chinchilla.

They will likely also develop a pecking order for eating and dusting. You may notice that one of your chinchillas always eats first or dusts first while the other waits it's turn. The one eating or dusting first has established herself as the Alfa. In one of my cages the alfa is the eldest female. She dusts, drinks water, and eats before the others. She shares her bath once she has had a few rolls first, but she is always first. If another of the chinchillas tries to jump into the dust bath before she has had enough time, she will stand up on her hind legs to assert her authority. This is usually enough to get the intruding chinchilla to back off, but if not the alfa female will chatter her teeth a little, and as a final step chase the intruding chinchilla off or act like she is mounting (humping) the other chinchilla. This interaction does not last long and the intruding chinchilla is quickly forgiven if they are cage mates.

Treats seem to be a different store. My chinchillas will go for a treat no matter who is the alfa of the cage. I give them all treats at the same time to prevent them from stealing one another's treats or fighting, but they typically will run with the treat to save it rather than give it up to another chinchilla. I have however seen adult chinchillas give up part of their treat to a squealing baby chinchilla without putting up too much of a fuss.

In my experience, kits tend to be treated well by the entire herd. I have my chinchillas paired and separated into different cages (as I have found that two males and femlaes in a cage is dangerous and inadvisable), and if a new born kit escapes it's cage and wanders into another chinchillas cage, it is not harmed or chased by the other chinchillas.  I do separate my kits and the mother into a baby safe cage while she is nursing to prevent escapes, but babies can be quite the little escape artists and when I have found them in other cages the chinchillas of that cage were friendly to the kit and often would even groom her.

Females will also take care of kits even if they are not their own. In one case I had 2 females that had given birth a week or so apart. I placed both mothers with their kits in separate baby safe cages, but two of the kits escaped. I found them in the cage with the other kits mother nursing right beside him. I separated them back with their own mother, but they were content to be with either and neither mother seemed to mind nursing the others kits. Babies will also have a larger range of sounds they use to communicate with each other, their mothers and other chinchillas.

I highly recommend keeping chinchillas cages in a chinchilla safe room, not the middle of the house, especially if you have other pets. Chinchillas are highly intelligent and they tend to find tricky ways to escape from their cages. My ebony female chinchilla will actually lift the handle of her cage and kick the door open. I tried using bread ties to hold it in place, but she found her way through those as well. In the end I had to put a metal key ring on the doors to prevent her from escaping. Fortunately since she is in a small, chinchilla-proof room there is not much she can damage or get into. I went through several books before realizing that no matter how hard you try, your chinchilla will likely find some way to get out of her cage and cause a ruckus.

Watching and studying chinchilla behavior is probably one of the most rewarding aspects of owning a chinchilla. They are not affectionat in the same ways as a dog or cat, which most of us are familiar with, but with enough patience and willingness to to interact with your chinchilla at the chinchilla's pace, you can experience the joys of chinchilla affection yourself..

Do you love chinchillas? Would you like a chance to travel and save wild chinchillas? Now you can! The Save the Wild Chinchillas project is looking for volunteers who want to help with restoration of the wild chinchillas natural habitat. The wild chinchilla population has been reduced by 90% in the last 3 generations due to hunting and reduction of habitat. The good news is, there are people like Amy Dean who are working hard to bring back the natural habitat and preserve these lovely creatures in their natural habitat. Amy lives in Illapel,a Chilean city, which is the capital of the Choapa Province.

The major issue they faced in 2009 was a lack of volunteers to help with the watering of the   plants they planted in order to restore the habitat and food supply of the wild chinchillas.This year, they are looking for more volunteers to help in their effort. You will be provided with a place to stay while you are there, but Amy is a vegetarian and asks that you do not eat meat in their home. There are however restaurants near by where you can order what you want.You can learn more about becoming a volunteer here or on their website .

If you become a volunteer, we would love to hear your stories!

I read several comments each day on disappointment in chinchilla ownership. This is a disturbing but all to common phenomena. Many people see videos on you tube, see friend’s chinchilla’s or see chins on animal planet and feel that a chin is the perfect pet for them; unfortunately this is not always the case. All too often I respond to yahoo answers, blogs and posts on unhappy chinchilla owners. The problem seems to lie in expectations. Chinchillas can be very rewarding pets...if you know what you are getting into. As you may have noticed  comments I have made in other posts, chinchillas are not dogs, they are not cats, they are chinchillas. Often chinchilla owners express disappointment in their first few weeks or months of chinchilla ownerships. These feelings are almost inevitable if you do not have proper expectations when you purchase or adopt your first chinchilla. Chins do not respond in the way that a dog or cat does to a new owner. For example, a dog might lick you, respond to you and be happy to interact with you almost immediately. A chinchilla however, will likely be scared in her new environment, and not even willing to take treats out of your  hand, let alone allow you to hold her. I know this might sound pretty drastic, but it is true, chinchillas take work, time and patience to trust their human owners and many do not ever like being held.

Chinchillas have VERY long life spans (up to 20 years), and after observing chinchilla behavior for the last 9 years, I can say with confidence, chinchillas are bright social creatures who learn new behaviors with time and patience.., they adore social interaction, thrive on it actually and can and will bond with their human owners. Like alpacas, llamas and other South American creatures, chinchillas thrive in pairs and hard time living solitary lives. If you choose to get just one chinchilla, she will depend on you for friendship and you will have to spend a lot of time talking to, petting and interacting with your chinchilla. Without this interaction your chinchilla may develop negative behaviors like fur chewing, bar biting, spraying, barking (defensively) and even nipping.  They WILL bond with their human friends given time, but it can be frustrating for some people to love their new pet and not receive the kind of response they are expecting in return. Even if you are frustrated with your chinchilla never raise your voice to her in anger, NEVER shake her cage, never slap or physically sold your chinchilla. Rewarding your chinchilla with a small treat to reinforce a positive behavior (no more than 2 treats a day they have sensitive digestive systems) and a firm NO are the best ways to correct a negative behavior. I have found chinchilla ownership very rewarding watching my chinchillas interact together is fascinating. I love that when I come to their room they all run out to see who it is and run to the front of the cage when they realize it is me. They know that my presence means something cool is about to happen, a treat, hay, dust or just a quick pet under the chin. They like me, but they love each other. Pairs will “cry” when they are separated and immediately start grooming each other when they are reunited. They are capable of a wide range of emotions and behaviors, and as long as you have the right expectations from the beginning, you and your chin will have a happy fulfilling life together.

For those of you who do not follow @chinchillas on twitter, I just got a new ebony chinchilla last Wednesday!  I am so happy with my new chin. We named her cherry, like chocolate covered cherry, because she is such a sweetheart. Cherry is very friendly and curious. She eats right out of my hand and comes up to great me when I come into the room at night. I have high hopes for getting her shoulder trained like my first chinchilla. So far, I have been keeping her all to myself ! The other chins are just going to have to wait to meet her. This baby is all mine!

Although many items at a pet store may be marketed for a chinchilla, they may not be chinchilla safe products. Here are a list of products to steer clear of that can be harmful or even fatal for your chinchilla.

1. Plastic Exercise Ball-These round plastics pet ball are very dangerous have caused many deaths in chinchillas. They have poor ventelation so they become hot. As everone reading this foum should be awate chinchillas are very heat sensitive. These platic balls very easily cause chinchillas to overheat and go into heat stroke.

2. Mesh Small Pet Exercise Wheel With Spokes- Many chinchillas have ended up with broken legs and severed limbs due to getting their feet caught in the spokes of these wheel. A safe alternative would be the flying saucer wheels.

3. Pine/Cedar Wood Chip Bedding- The problems with softwood shavings such as pine and cedar stem from the natural, armotic chemicals called phenols that give the woods their natural aroma. These phenols interact with the liver and respiratory system in the body, potentially producing unwanted and harmful side-effects.

4. Wired hay feeder-  Hay feeders run similar risks to the problem with the mesh wheel. Your chinchilla can eaily get a foot stuck in the mesh and get injured. I have also read in forums chinchillas crawling inside of them and getting stuck. (Thank you for the submission Rosemary!)

I am continuing to think of things to avoid, but was wondering if you have any specific ones in mind? I would love to have a complete list to help the chinchilla community. Please put suggests in the comments section below.

Thanks!

Jennifer

As many of our readers may already know, the standard chinchilla color is grey. This is the color that chinchillas have in the wild. Through selective breeding, several color variations or mutations have developed. White chinchillas are one of the many color variations that has become common among chinchillas. When buying a pet chinchilla, white chinchillas may be called several different names based on their color pattern White, Silver, mosaic, and reverse mosaic,are common names for a white chinchilla. Though white chinchillas may look very different, with silvers retaining a more grey pattern, they all have the same genetic makeup and for showing purposes are shown as Wilson Whites.

According to www.greenwoodchinchillas.co.uk the first white chinchillas was a male born and recorded to at the ranch of Blythe Wilson in Redding, CA in 1955. Both parents of this white male chinchilla were standard gray.

Albino chinchillas had periodically appeared before this white male,  but they were infertile. This male chinchilla was not an albino--instead of having the lack of pigmentation and pink eyes of a normal albino, he had was a distinctive healthy "mutation chinchilla"  with silky white fur and dark  ears and dark bright eyes. He was truly one of a kind.

When this white chinchilla was paired with standard female chinchillas, he was proven to be fertile and many offspring were produced - some of which were again silky white with dark eyes and ears. These became known as Wilson Whites. They were very rare at that time, and extremely expensive, so it was years before the first white chinchillas reached the general market.

For those interested in breeding, pairings of white chinchillas with standards does not always result in a white chinchilla. The white gene is not completely dominant.  A white male or female paired with a standard grey mate will result in a 50-50 shot at being a white chinchilla. Here is a breeding chart that will help you to better calculate the possibilities when breeding chinchilla.

Often times breeding color mutation with color mutation can result in chins that are below standard size. We recommend breeding color mutation to standard until you are more experienced and can make sure to pair your chinchillas to mates that will equal strengths and weeknessess to produce the healthiest prettiest chinchillas possible.

Even with the 50-50 chance of a white chinchilla being born from a pairing of a standard and white chin, there is a possibility for quite a lot of color variation. Since the genes involved in the creation of a white chinchilla are not totally dominant, the standard gray may show through. This results in several beautiful variations of "white chinchillas." This is why we have so many different varieties of "white chinchillas." The  differing patterns of white and gray fur, result in the subcategories of white chinchillas such as  the silver, mosaic and reverse mosaic.

For those that are more scientific, the  variety of patterning occurs because white genes work as a pigment inhibitor--they do not work by showing themselves in the fur, simply by stopping other genes from showing their colors.   The Wilson white gene is therefore known an incomplete dominant gene. The result of this non dominant white gene causes areas where the pigment  in the fur of the chinchilla is not visible at all.  This can be all over, in patches, or blended through another evenly, resulting in a silver chinchilla like smoke below

As beautiful as white chinchillas may be, it can be dangerous to breed them if you are not careful. White chinchillas have a lethal gene and should NEVER be paired with another white chinchilla. If two white chinchillas are paired together, the fetus will die and be absorbed by the female chinchilla, often killing the pregnant female and any other kits she may be carrying.

A lethal gene refers to the inability of certain genes to exist in the homozygous state. The two lethal genes for color involved in chinchillas are White and Velvet (also referred to as TOV – "Touch of Velvet" – or Black, not to be confused with Violet or Ebony). If a homozygous allele of White + White or Velvet + Velvet results from a breeding, the embryo will never develop but be reabsorbed by the mother. It has been said that this may result in a blocked uterine horn (chinchillas have two horns to their uterus that branch out from the cervix) and can cause illness and even death for the pregnant female. Chinchillas do not abort the fetus, but reabsorb it into their body, which is very hard on their health.If you are unsure if your chinchilla may be white or partially white, you can tell if they are a carrier by looking at their tail. If your chinchilla is a carrier of the white gene a portion of the tail will be white. This could be the whole tail, but may just be the tip

White chinchillas are prided by chinchilla breeders and loved by pet owners, but thankfully they are not of interest to the chinchilla fur trading industry.Their lovely white fur would too easily be mistaken for rabbit fur.