Let’s start with the fact that Chinchillas are very quite and gentle animals and they don’t require all that much care. If you get your pet at a very young age and begin handling them from the start as they get older they tend to stay that way, calm and docile. They have a very fragile rib cage so be very careful when handling them and never let a child hold them. The pet may startle the child and he may accidently drop him.

Make sure you hold your pet by sliding your hand under the chinchilla’s chest and carefully lift the leg with other hand then cradle your pet close to you. Never grab the fur. One of the Chinchillas best defenses is that they throw off hair. If you grab the pet by the fur they will instinctively drop the fur and it may cause them harm.

Make sure your pet bathes in a dust bath once a week. The dust is available in pet stores; set out the dust and let them roll. Keep in mind it is dust so you may want to move the cage before doing that. What may be easier is to fill a cat litter box with the dust and let the chinchilla have at it outside or in a separate room. It is ok to let them roll around for about 20 minutes once or twice a week.

Lastly make sure your pet has adequate bedding such as Aspen bedding. Never use pine or cedar shavings, the phenols in these chips are very strong and can cause serious problems with respiratory, skin, coat and even liver problems. As long as you can keep your pet happy and healthy there is no reason why they cannot live until they are 20 years old.