Chinchillas like to eat anything new. If it stays wet and cold for a long period, a chinchilla will die of hypothermia. If it stays damp, it can catch fur fungus. This is common sense: any species that could never even touch water would quickly die out.
Your chinchilla has 80 hairs in each follicle — quite a lot more than your one hair per follicle. On top of that, if your chinchilla gets wet, he could lose body heat quickly and easily become chilled, leaving him vulnerable to getting sick. They do not eat a wide range of foods, but because they may eat both insects and plants, they are classed as omnivores. If your pet chinchilla happens to get a little wet for any reason, do not panic. They got their name from the Andes tribe known as the Chincha.
The Chincha used to wear chinchillas dense fur for protection and status. Chinchillas have suffered a lot over the years. According to studies and findings, chinchillas have been in demand because of their ultra-warm soft fur. As the 19 th century came to an end, chinchillas had become almost extinct because of excessive hunting. A group of chinchillas was later found in , in Chile, after they were thought to be extinct in the Antofagasta region.
Chinchillas like to live in groups referred to as herds. A single hear can comprise between 14 to members and reside in rocks and burrows. Chinchillas use their teeth for protection. They can also spray urine on predators or release fur when under attack. The natural diet for wild chinchillas includes shrubs, grasses, flowers, herbs, seeds, roots, bark, and fruits. Succulent plants are readily available throughout the year.
Wild chinchillas consume these plants to quench their thirst. Chinchillas drink less water in the wild as they get a lot of their water from the food they eat. The diet of pet chinchillas is hugely different than a wild chinchilla diet. Here are some of the differences. Hay should be available for your chinchilla at all times.
Hay racks are great because it stops the hay from getting moist or dirty. Even when you buy a pelleted diet with high fiber content, it is still important to always supply your chinchilla with hay to make sure your chinchillas get enough roughage. Whether we are talking about wild or domesticated chinchillas, you will notice that they are real gourmets, they take their food and hold it with their forefeet slowly nibbling on it and savoring each bite, munching on that piece of grass as if it is the most succulent thing ever.
On the other hand, when it comes to treats like nuts and berries — all chinnies will swallow those up within a heartbeat. Chinchillas in the wild do not crave sweets nor do they base their diet on them, as we know grasses and plants make up the majority of what they eat and in the same way, your pet chinchilla is happy eating hay and munching on pelleted food. Considering the environment from which chinchillas come from , it is safe to say that they have had a long journey of adapting to unfavorable living conditions and surviving with minimal resources, which makes them a resilient species and even better pets.
Chinchillas originate from a dry, harsh environment where they have developed some impressive survival skills ranging from multiple defense strategies to surviving in one of the harshest environments known to men. Chinchillas have adapted to eating these kinds of plants and calling this place home. These plants offer a very low amount of water and in order to stay hydrated chinchillas drink the dew off of rocks and shrubs at dawn.
Seeds and nuts Proper nutrition is very important to chinchillas, this is one of the reasons that pet chinchillas live up to 20 years whereas wild chinchillas live up to just 10 years. Choose high quality, hay based pellets food like this one from Exotic Nutrition: Berries and flowers Living in harsh conditions has left a mark in the genes of our pet chinchillas.
They have four toes on each foot, and the thin claws on each toe are surrounded by stiff bristles. Chinchillas are typically 9 to 15 inches 23 to 38 centimeters long, but the tail can add another 3 to 6 inches 8 to 15 cm to their length.
They generally weigh 1. Chinchillas are covered in thick fur for a reason. In the Andes, they can live in elevations of about 3, to 5, meters 9, to 16, feet. At those heights, it can be very cold — 23 degrees Fahrenheit minus 5 degrees C is the average minimum temperature in some places. Chinchillas can tolerate freezing temperatures, but they cannot survive in temperatures higher than 80 F 27 C ; high temperatures and humidity can cause these rodents to suffer from heat stroke.
Chinchillas are crepuscular and nocturnal, which means they are very active at dawn or dusk and sleep during the day. They make their homes by burrowing in underground tunnels or nestling in rock crevasses. They are very social and live in colonies that consist of hundreds of chinchillas. Females tend to be aggressive toward other females. When females are ready to mate, they can also be aggressive toward males, and are the dominant of the two genders.
Females are mostly monogamous; they have only one mate throughout their lives. Males, on the other hand, can have many female mates. This is especially true of domesticated males.
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