JoAnn had alot of awesome responses, and I figure I'll just throw some at you as well. Just some experiances from a 16 Year old with A chin
The most important thing to remember is just like dogs, and people, Chins are not all alike.
Personally, My Chin- I could probably give him 1 Tbsp of Mazuri feed each week. He only eats it during the time that I'm asleep and he manages to eat all of his hay. { I go to bed at 10:30pm and wake up at 3am. By no means do you have to do this lol!}
I always keep his bowl full, since it's elevated, I've never found him to urinate or poo in it. His hay, I keep in this.. rotating Hay ball . He loves it, and it keeps him from, again, urinating and pooing on it. What I did, with my cage- is I have a slide-out pan. It's very easy, just pull out, dump the bedding, and refill. Since they don't sleep on the bedding, and they don't stink, I have no need to use vinegar. { I do disinfect the pan after I dump out the bedding though, just to get rid of germs.}
However, My male mouse is a different story. It's almost a neccessity to use vinegar on his cage, and disinfectant, AND deodorizer. He's a little stinker! { I have One mouse, One Chin, and a Border collie in my room, and he makes enough stink for the chin, dog, and myself, yeesh! }
I would also reccomend, when you get one, that you disinfect your room with some lysol, and if at all possible, keep your chin in a different room from your hamsters for about a month. { Unless they pass, then - still disinfect your room with lysol or something, just to get rodent germs out of there.} Since it is possible to transfer disease from rodent to rodent.
Also, Read and research all you can. I'll be honest, my parents never heard of a chinchilla, so I read and reread everything until I could recite word for word almost everything about them. { And, I presented them with the option of Rat or Chinchilla, and well.. they preferred the chins
}
Also, if you don't want to do vinegar, I believe they have lysol Wipes that could work? Maybe someone who has used them as substitute could tell you.
Also, regarding activity time with your Chinchilla -
When I do it during the week, I usually take him out at about 6PM for about 45 minutes romp-around-the-bathroom time. If I can't do that, I have an 11.5" Ball that I let him roll around in til his heart's content. Mine has learned that he has a special bag { Pet carrier } That when I put it to his cage door, it's time to be handled and/or let out for a romp around and/or he gets to go somewhere with me out in public. { AKA, the petstore for toys, or the Vet to visit his former owner.}
UNfortunately, they MAY keep you up at night if they're in your room. Mine enjoys making as much ruckus as possible from about 10:30 until midnight. He also enjoys his hello's in the morning, which is usually a pet and treat session at about 5:45 or 6:15AM. Then he goes to sleep.
Hope something from here helped!
