Any tips for a first time Chinchilla owner?

I had few chinchillas in my life... Every one of them was different and had different needs... The one I bonded with most was Gizmo... He lived alone for about 2years of his life (I was his second owner) and he treated me as his mate... He would jump up in his cage shaking his body and making funy noices when I would aproach to show me how happy he is to see me... Only I could feed him, pet him, clean his cage so he was traveling with me wherever I go... It's hard to give advice about something you do no realy have yet... They live long lives, some will ve very good pets other will prefer to be solitary (Boy - my last chinchila would not stand any petting...)

I think that you should never force your chinchilla to contact... I put my hand on entrance to the cage with some treats on it. First just on finger tips so chinchilla can take it straight away, than when they felt comfortable with it I would put it in the midle of my palm so they have to put their front paws on my hand and gradualy I would put treats on back of my palm so they had to step on my hand with all 4 paws... I would then wait till they are comfortable to do so every time than I would put my hand in but with no treat so they have to step on it to get out... It's slow progres because to many treats will result with chinchila getting bored of it and would not be interested...

When Gizmo first arrived I covered his cage with my old blancet... 1) to reduce the stress, let him get used to the cage. 2) because blancet smell of me Gizmo could get used to it as well. Tere are some buts... Never cover cage complitely, si fresh air can circulate... Put cage in quiet, shaded, cool place so ur pet will not over heat... Always announce your presence by calling ur pet and don't make any sudden moves...

Start training with treats at least 24 hours after your pets arrival so it can get used to new smells...

Always have plenty of hay and straw in the cage as proper diet is very important... Chincillas can go down very quickly as they hide any weaknesses as long as they can't beare it any more and often it's to late to do anything...

Do not overheat your pet as it's fatal to them... Have always good quality bath sand... Do not reuse it!!! From time to time you can use little athlets foot powder and mix it with bath sand to avoid fungal infections... Keep cage clean and dry as straw and wood is a perfect environment for mould to develop (specialy when dump with urine and water) and mould is poisonous for them...

Do not feed your chinchila to much of wet food as it can cause digestive problems...

Give your pet fresh branches of fruit trees like apple, plum, peare... Hazelnut, oak atc.. So they can sharpen their teeth... Use also calcium stone...

Spend most of the time witch your chinchilla in the evening as they will be awake and playful... My Gizmo was out of cage whole night in my bedroom and in the morning he would sleep next to me... At night would keep on waking me up by playing with my hair and nebblibg my eyebrows...

It also took a lot of preparation to chinchillaprove my room and I never repeated it with any other chinchilla...

There is a website with chinchilla noises that will give you an idea what noise means what so you can better anderstand your new pet...

*chinchillas don't like drafts.

*they need to chew on wood or else they start to chew on furniture.

*they get over heated easily . (their ears go red when they overheat)

*allow your chinchilla to have a daily run around the kitchen,( if you let your chinch run around the bathroom , remember to put the toilet lid down because chinchas can jump very high)

*they need a sand bath everyday

*make sure their fur does not get wet because it can grow molds and fungi.

*they can have 1 raisin or treat only once a day or once a week because chinchas can get diabetes

*give chinch still water just incase the tap water is contaminated .

*incase your chinch overheats , try putting a cold damp (not dripping) towel over the chinch cage or put the bath sand in the freezer for 10 min.

*when chinchas get stressed , hey lose patches of fur.

*always weigh the amount of food you give your chinch (do not over feed chinch)

oh and don't put your chinch in sunlight.

*chinchas don't like being held a lot.

*chinchillas don't like drafts.

*they need to chew on wood or else they start to chew on furniture.

*they get over heated easily . (their ears go red when they overheat)

*allow your chinchilla to have a daily run around the kitchen,( if you let your chinch run around the bathroom , remember to put the toilet lid down because chinchas can jump very high)

*they need a sand bath everyday

*make sure their fur does not get wet because it can grow molds and fungi.

*they can have 1 raisin or treat only once a day or once a week because chinchas can get diabetes

*give chinch still water just incase the tap water is contaminated .

*incase your chinch overheats , try putting a cold damp (not dripping) towel over the chinch cage or put the bath sand in the freezer for 10 min.

*when chinchas get stressed , hey lose patches of fur.

*always weigh the amount of food you give your chinch (do not over feed chinch)

oh and don't put your chinch in sunlight.

*chinchas don't like being held a lot.

They need to be able to take "dust" baths. Any pet store will be able to help you buy the "dust" and you can use an enclosed kitty litter pan so that when they take their dust bath it doesn't go all over the place. Other than that... they actually aren't too fond of being petted because the oil on your hands will get on their fur and "clog" it which they hate. And one more thing... they aren't afraid to jump into things. Many a chinchilla died an early death because it jumped into a fish tank or the toilet. So when you let them out make sure that you always supervise such excursions. I used to have one... she managed to jump out the second story window, off the walls as high as 5 feet just bouncing around and yes I once had to rescue her from the toilet. She was great fun and incredibly active at night. To the point were she would get so noisy that I had to move her out of my bedroom. I had her for almost 3 years. Then I left her in care with a good friend because I took a long vacation and although I left him with very precise instructions and warnings about toilets.... she managed to escape out of her cage one day and drowned herself when she jumped into his fish tank... He was devastated... so was I.