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!
Kind of makes me feel bad for going to school! Oh well, I'll have to take him out for extra time then 
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