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[Confetti]

Hello everyone

I'm currently getting everything set up for getting a chinchilla and am trying really hard to get everything right, however 1 thing that many sources are not clear on is whether getting one is ok or whether I should get two :S the cage I'm getting is 24" by 20" and 60" tall (biggest cage that will fit in the space I have) from my research it seems that's plenty of space for one chinchilla, however many sites disagree on whether it's enough for two.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm getting a chinchilla to be a long term companion who's as fun loving and nocturnal as me so I really want to provide it/ them the best life style I can!

Thank you for reading ^.^

[GrayRodent]

That seems a little small even for one chinchilla to me. I don't think you want to go with two. If they don't have enough space or a place to get away from each other, such as a wooden hutch, they can kill each other. I recommend your cage has space for a 15" exercise wheel and plenty of shelves. Chinchilla cages should not have ramps and never use wire shelving. Shelves should be solid wood. Wire floors are okay if the wire spacing is 1/2" x 1/2" or less.

Chinchillas do very well as solitary animals. I have one and he gets a lot of attention during the day. When a chin is used to being solitary for most of its life it may have a hard time with a cage mate. You do have the option of getting another one later. I think you'll be able to better assess the space once you see your pet in action.

If you want a companion chinchilla and want to spend time handling it you should get yours straight from a breeder and less than 4 months of age. After that they will not be as tame or as tamable. I got mine at 3 months from a breeder and after working with him consistently he became very calm and likes to be cuddled, which is not the case for your average pet chinchilla.

[mb30]

I also suggest getting a bigger cage or waiting to get a chinchilla until you can get a bigger cage. These animals cover ground very very quickly. They really do need as big of a cage as possible.

At least that is my opinion.

Also...unless you're going to be able to spend a lot of time with your chinchilla i would suggest getting a pair.

I had a single chinchilla but sadly she passed away. Since then i have gotten a pair. After seeing how they are with each other and how they interact i will never again have a single chin....unless absolutely have to. This is also just my opinion.

[kageri]

2x2x3'h is what I always see mentioned as the minimum for 1-2 on chins and hedgies and several information sites.  I do think that's pushing it for size though.  I have some singles in that amount of cubic foot but it's mainly pregnant ones where you don't want to risk the kits getting injured or the mother staying away from them too much.  Most of mine are 2x3x4'. 24 cubic feet while your cage is 16 cubic feet (unless I messed up math)  Some of mine are 2x3x6.

[Confetti]

Ok so from these responses it seems that people here are like many sites and cant agree on whether chinchillas do well living alone lol. As for the cage size, in the UK it's immensely hard to find cages, a specialist cage maker sells cages as 24" by 18" by 35.5" as cages large enough to be either 1 big cage or split into 2..... and even on here I have seen people giving the ok to cages smaller than the 1 I plan to get.... I also have a lot of free time and 2 chinchilla proof rooms for it to run and play. As for cage set up, I have a 16" wheel, custom made wooden shelves, 2 houses (1 fabric for sleeping in and 1 grass for play), as for wire there will be none except obviously for the walls which are 10mm apart (aka 0.39"), it will have a fleece base etc etc etc I've done my homework..... the only thing no one can ever seem to agree on is if getting only 1 is ok

[GrayRodent]

Having one chin is okay. I have only one and he is fine. The chin I had before him was single and there was nothing wrong with that either. I also have a friend who has just one and he is a nice pet. Having one is not a problem. Having two might be better in theory but it's not necessary. There are chinchillas that do not tolerate having a cagemate and have killed their cagemate so it is not always best to have two. I can certainly see the advantage of having two though.

Regarding cage sizes I recommend, if you can, to use an exercise wheel. At night chinchillas are active and move around a lot which is good for them. I didn't fully comprehend how much they move around until I actually had one of my own. Chinchillas will typically accept smaller cages. There will be some debate on what is best practice. I would say if it can't jump around from shelf to shelf then the cage is too small.

[kageri]

2 chinchillas is usually considered better but the different answers come from it not being required and the difficulty of intros.  If you don't get chins already housed together or with young chins maturing around others you run the risk of serious fights.  They will kill each other if things go wrong.  Even when they are successfully together you have to watch for signs of fighting and bullying like clumps of fur, sudden behavior changes, and weight changes.  The signs can be subtle before a flat out fight.  Sometimes there are no signs.  One day Hachiro and Keck were fine and the next afternoon fur was everywhere and Keck was found torn to pieces in the house.  She recovered but she is both physically and mentally scarred.  I don't know if she will ever be friendly again after the meds and wound treatments she had to have for a month.  If you stay too close to her she starts this high pitched crying.  I still try to pair most of mine but you can see how some don't think it's worth the risk.

[mb30]

If you are in the uk then look up john hopewell cages. He does many many different sized cages and specialises in chinchillas.

Also...i am in the uk...i got the xtrail rodent cage. There are plenty of choices over here
 It is a great size for chins



My cage

[mb30]

http://www.johnhopewell.co.uk/

[Confetti]

I had looked at that website and all cages were either much smaller than mine or far more expensive thus exceeding my budget, cages in my price range tended to be either smaller or have flimsy plastic bases, and I'd rather have more play time with my chinchilla than expose it to toxic substances

[mb30]

Maybe try to save up for a bigger cage then. Even if you get that one you originally said about. Ideally, a chinchilla would be better suited in a cage that is wide and deep as opposed to tall.

A healthy chin could live for over 20 years so it's plenty of time to save up. I had a small cage that came with the chinchilla when i got my first. It was one of the 3 tier all metal wire cages that are commonly seen. After a few play times outside the cage it was very apparent that a bigger cage was needed.

[Confetti]

That's another thing sources seem to argue about, tall vs wide..... I've actually seen many saying that a taller cage is better than a wider cage.... and vice versa ¬.¬ guess this is the problem with getting an exotic pet is that not as much is known about them so everyone has different opinions on how to look after them... ranging from 'oh this small cage is fine even though it's mostly plastic and will bore any animal half to death' all the way to 'how dare you even think about keeping any animal in a cage or home, all animals should be free and wild' *sigh*

I think I'll let my chinchilla decide... if it seems unhappy in it's cage I'll save up and buy a new 1.... and a bigger house to put a bigger cage in....

[mb30]

Basically..just the more room the better.
When you have yours out for playtime you'll see what i mean by wider and deeper would be better.
Most cages that you can buy are tall though.
There's not a whole lot you can do unless you make your own.

That john hopewell guy will make custom cages to your specifications too for future reference.

Since you're from the uk check out the chinformative forum. They are all UK peeps and there are a few who know a great deal as they have had and bred chins for a decade or more.

There is also a very very helpful references section with a great number of topics.



Oh and one more thing... For a site to buy wood and chew toys and healthy treats for chins use chinchilla2shop.co.uk and galesgarden is another uk based shop that sells healthy treats


http://www.chinformative.com/


The ladies are super friendly...a couple of them travel around the country educating people on chinchilla ownership

[kageri]

I think you need a large enough foot print like 2x2' or 2x3' and then height is important.  They won't use horizontal space beyond 2x3' very well but most cages don't have a bigger footprint than that .