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[magallag]

Do Chinchillas need to have their nails trimmed or do they take care of that? Or should a scratching surface be provided?

I just want to know. I don't have one, yet, but I will soon!

[Jo Ann]

   No nail trimming or rough surfaces are needed.   Good question!      I don't think that one has been ask before.   

You probably already know this, but just in-case, a few of the basics:
Cage wire should be 1/2" x 1" or smaller. 
No plastics or aluminum. 
No cedar. No odor controllers or scents added to bedding.
Feeding dish should be a "J" feeder, or bowl attached to side, or ceramic with straight sides and placed in the bottom of the cage.

CAUTION:
*Just because a company advertises something is made for chinchillas does not mean it is so ... manufactures rarely do their research and assume chinchillas can have anything other small rodents can have which is NOT true.

   Jo Ann

[magallag]

Why can't I use aluminum? Can it not be used for little platforms to sit on?

[eddiing]

no aluminum because their teeth can easily destroy it and potentially chewing and eating it.. which can be deadly.

[eddiing]

and use wood platforms, preferably kiln dried pine!

[Jo Ann]

Why can't I use aluminum? Can it not be used for little platforms to sit on?

  Sorry not to get back to you sooner, I've been out of town.  Aluminum is a soft metal, soft enough that they can, and will chew it, often ingesting it.  Metal is even sharper than plastic, neither will dissolve in the digestive tract, leaving behind cuts that can easily set up an infection.  Below is a picture of a 1/4" rod that one of my chins chewed in half and almost in half again in one 8 hour period.

   Jo Ann

[Jo Ann]

    When I first started out I used regular metal pans, that I soon found would easily rust. 

Then, I went to aluminum pans that would not rust ... the chins quickly taught me I had waisted my money there.       Below is an aluminum pan Cotton chewed also.      

I then went to stainless steel pans ... about 3 times the price, but they are cleaned easily, almost never stain, look much better and last for a very long time (longer than the regular metal and the aluminum put together - it's seven years later, they still look like new). 

Hint:  Never clean stainless steel with bleach, it will ruin it.

Wood shelving is easily cleaned with a little sand paper, gives the chins something else to chew on, and can be replaced easily and for a minimal price. 

Hint: It is best to tilt the shelves downward towards the center of the cage, very slightly ... this allows any poop and/or urine to roll off onto the floor of the cage instead of poop being stuck to the chin's fur and/or urine soaked up by the fur, staining it.

   Jo Ann

P.S.  Once I told someone to tilt the shelves to keep the urine and poop from puddling on or sticking to on the shelf, but they tilted them to the outside of the cage ...  ... now I make it a point to tell everyone to tilt the shelves to the inside of the cage.