Chinchilla Chinchilla lanigera
The densest fur, the fussiest about cleanliness, and the least tolerant of heat. It lives well into its teens or beyond — closer to committing to a cat. Without summer air conditioning, do not start: heatstroke is the leading cause of death.
⚖️ Legal status · Check the source
Pet-trade chinchillas are long-established domesticated captive strains and are widely kept. Note however that wild Chinchilla lanigera is listed on CITES Appendix I as a highly endangered species. Confirm captive-bred provenance when buying and keep your receipt; because this concerns a domesticated strain of an Appendix I species, verify the specific requirements with your local wildlife authority.
Check another species →Key parameters
- Lifespan
- 10-20 years
- Adult size
- 25-35 cm body length excluding tail, 400-600 g
- Diet
- Strictly herbivorous. Unlimited timothy hay as the staple, a small amount of chinchilla pellets, treats tightly restricted
- Temperature
- 15-22 °C, and never above 25 °C — high temperatures cause fatal heatstroke
- Humidity
- Below 50%. High humidity causes fur to mat and fungal skin infections
✅ Suits you if
Homes with all-day summer air conditioning, room for a tall multi-level cage, and readiness for a 10-20 year commitment
🚫 Do not get one if
Homes without air conditioning, hot or humid living spaces, or anyone wanting a pet to cuddle — most chinchillas dislike being held
Starter equipment list
Buy all of it before the animal arrives, not after.
- Cage: tall and multi-level, at least three tiers and 100 cm high — chinchillas move by jumping
- Air conditioning: a required piece of equipment in summer, not an optional one
- Ceramic or marble tiles to lie on for cooling; keep spares chilling in the fridge to rotate
- Dust bath with proper volcanic-ash chinchilla dust (not ordinary hamster sand)
- Unlimited timothy hay plus a hay rack
- Apple wood and wooden chew blocks — the teeth grow for life and need constant wear
- Ball-bearing water bottle, to avoid wetting the fur
Most common beginner mistakes
- 1 No air conditioning in summer — the leading cause of death in kept chinchillas, and there is no workaround
- 2 Washing it in water — chinchillas must never get wet. Dense fur cannot dry and fungal infection is inevitable. Dust baths only
- 3 Feeding fruit, vegetables or nuts — high sugar and fat cause diarrhoea and liver problems directly. Treats should be tiny amounts of purpose-made hay cookies only
- 4 A cage that is wide but short — chinchillas need vertical jumping height, and a flat cage gives them nowhere to launch from
- 5 Letting the hay run out — hay is the staple, not a side dish. Teeth and gut both depend on it being unlimited
- 6 Handling too often — a frightened chinchilla sheds a patch of fur to escape (fur slip), and it takes months to regrow
Common illnesses
| Illness | Common cause | What you'll see |
|---|---|---|
| Heatstroke | Ambient temperature above 25 °C — dense fur and no sweat glands make heat loss very poor | Ears red and hot, lying on its side panting, drooling — an emergency, cool it and get to a vet immediately |
| GI stasis / hairball | Insufficient hay, inadequate fibre, stress | Stops passing stool or droppings become small and dry, refuses food, sits hunched |
| Malocclusion (overgrown teeth) | Long-term lack of coarse fibre and chewing material | Drooling wetting the chin, eating slowly, taking only soft food, losing weight |
| Fungal skin infection | Damp environment, dirty dust or too few dust baths | Circular bald patches around the nose, eyes and feet, with flaking skin |
| Diarrhoea | Feeding juicy fruit or vegetables, abrupt change of pellets | Soft or watery droppings — the chinchilla gut is fragile and this escalates fast |
Frequently asked
Can I keep a chinchilla without air conditioning?
No. This is not a matter of doing your best — above 25 °C there is a real heatstroke risk, and above 28 °C it can be fatal within hours. If you cannot guarantee climate control all summer, choose a different species.
Do chinchillas like being held?
Most do not. They can be very sociable, approaching you for treats, but being grabbed and picked up causes intense stress and can trigger fur slip. If you want a pet to hold, a chinchilla is the wrong choice.
Why is it losing fur in patches?
If it happened right after a fright, that is fur slip — a defensive reflex that recovers on its own once you reduce handling. If instead you see circular bald patches with flaking skin around the nose and eyes, that is a fungal infection and needs a vet.