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Anonymous
I've had a chinchilla for a long time. He lived to be 17 years old before he passed away!
The other posters touched on most of the key points, but to elaborate:
Mine loved to play with anything made out of wood. Wood chew toys from the pet store are great. They also enjoy alfalfa hay, which should be a part of their diet. Get (or make) a hay rack so the hay doesn't sit on the floor of the cage and get dirty.
For treats, they absoloutely adore nuts, raisins, and bits of dried fruit. Just be careful and don't give too many treats--it can cause digestive problems. I gave mine one rasin and 1 macadamia nut every day, and the occaisional other morsel, and he never had any problems.
As anon posted earlier, a large cage is best. However, you can also let the chin outside of the cage to run around and play. If you do this make sure it is in a safe area: nothing posionous to eat, no exposed electrical wires to chew on, etc...and keep an eye on him! Let him out in the room with you and just sit still. Don't make any sudden movements. Just sit there unless you need to keep him away from something dangerous. He'll come up and investigate you when he feels like it.
Note that Chinchillas need a low-stress enviornment. Keep his cage somewhere where there isn't a lot of activity. A quiet room is ideal. You don't want to keep a chin in a loud, boisterous enviornment. Lots of children running around, loud parties, etc, is a surefire way to get a stressed out and unhealthy chin.
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