By Chris Emmerson

Chinchillas what can I say about these beautiful little creatures, they are a member of the rodent family, fully grown they are about twelve inches in length, and weigh anything up to two and a half pounds.

1. Apparently they have more fur to the square inch than any other creature on earth, no I have not counted the hairs.

2. They are a nocturnal animal, meaning they come out to play at night, and I mean play some of the little fellows are positively crackers.

3. They are roughly the same size as a small rabbit, they are easy to look after and very friendly showing little aggression, they are a very clean animal and do not suffer from fleas and parasites because their fur is so thick, there is very little smell from these characters.

You must remember that they can be very long lived in captivity, as much as twenty years, I suppose the average will be about ten. So if you get your children some of these animals they are going to be with you long after the kids have flew the nest.

Make sure the cage you purchase is big enough for your chinchilla, they need to be kept indoors unless you have an outside secure building. They need a run because they are very active and need at least an hours exercise daily.

Chinchillas do not like noise the same as all rodents, so try and keep them somewhere quiet, and draught free.

Be especially aware in hot weather because they have been known to suffer from heat stroke.

Provide a wooden box inside of his cage, so he has a place to sleep and hide if he wants to. Do not neglect to clean the cage, once a week will do but obviously keep his water and food trays clean.

Like other rodents, chinchillas have to keep their teeth trimmed, so you will have to provide something for him to gnaw on. You will be able to find some suitable toys in your pet shop, you can not allow a chinchilla to roam around in the house, because he will chew on anything he comes across including electric cables. Chinchillas and electricity do not mix.

Another good thing for him to chew on is cuttlefish again easily available from the pet shop.

I once made a toy for the kids chinchilla out of plastic water pipe, I just cut it up into various lengths and placed them in his run, he would run in and out of these pieces of pipe for hours, and again it is a place to hide if they get frightened.

All chinchillas require a high fibre diet, speak to your pet shop owner and he will tell you what the animals dietary needs are.

They love to chew on blocks of wood just make sure it is untreated timber, they will sharp turn it into sawdust.

It may sound strange but chinchillas need to bathe at least once a day to keep their fur in shape, but not in water they use sand, not common or garden sand though buy it from your pet shop

They are masters of escape, and they can jump incredible heights so you will have to keep an eye on them when in their run.

Once they get used to you they love to be held and a tickle under the chin almost puts them to sleep, just do not be to rough with them kids.

In their original homeland the Andes in South America, they were part of the local indian food source plus their fur was used to make clothing, god knows how many you would need to make a pair of trousers or whatever.

If your chinchilla has not been used to being handled when you first buy him, you are going to have to be patient, put your hand near his cage let him get used to your smell. If he accepts this try and tickle behind his ear he will realise you are not going to hurt him, and you will gain his trust.

The hardest part of chinchilla ownership is getting the little bugger out of his run and back into his cage, if anyone has any tips I would be grateful, trying to bribe them with food rarely works because they generally pinch the food of me and do a runner.

So go on get yourself one of these gorgeous creatures they are a laugh a minute, but do not complain to me if they refuse to go back in their cage folks.

Chris Emmerson full of aches pains and woes but sorry folks still around contrary to some folks wishes. Why don't you pop over to my site http://www.bulldogsandallpets.com have a look around folks I am sure you will find something to interest you, don't worry its not all to do with bulldogs.

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