1. Do Chinchillas close their eyes when they sleep? How many hours are required for their rest? There are not many resources, toys, supplies at the local petstores for chins. Where is a good resource to get chin materials?

2. I have a chin, I used to have two but a couple months ago one died. The whole incident was very sad and I think unique. This has stressed not only the chin, but me too. My question is, can I get another chin to live with the one I have? And should it be an adult or baby? Mine is about a year old.

3. I let my chinchilla out to run around and play outside the cage. But he chews on everything, dresser, closet door, he even chewed a hole through my mattress. What can I do to let him out without chewing on everything?

4. I have a female chin that is about 10 months old. I am about to get a male but the problem is he is only going to be 6 weeks, I know they won't mate but will my female hurt him if I put them in the same cage. Please write back and thank you

5. Can 2 male chinchillas live in the same cage together when they arent familiar with each other and without fighting?

6. I have just introduced a 4 month old white pied chinchilla to my 7 month old grey chinchilla. They seem to be getting along fine but the older chinchilla keeps jumping on the youn ones back and nibbling the fur behind his head. Is this normal behaviour ?

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1. Do Chinchillas close their eyes when they sleep? How many hours are required for their rest? There are not many resources, toys, supplies at the local petstores for chins. Where is a good resource to get chin materials? top

Chinchillas do close their eyes when they sleep. They will take cat naps throughout the day. During these times they are usually sitting up in the cage with their eyes closed and become alert when they hear something. Other times they will lay down and go into deep sleep and you have to actually wake them up to get their attention. I don’t know of any studies that give an actual required sleep amount for chinchillas. There are a bunch of great resources on the Internet for chinchilla toys. Try the Chinchilla Directory at www.Chinchillas.org for some suggested websites. submitted by Gina, answered by admin, last updated Sep 05, 2010

2. I have a chin, I used to have two but a couple months ago one died. The whole incident was very sad and I think unique. This has stressed not only the chin, but me too. My question is, can I get another chin to live with the one I have? And should it be an adult or baby? Mine is about a year old. top

Chinchillas bond to each other and grieve when they lose a loved cage mate. You could get another chinchilla but be prepared for the possibility that your chin may not accept it right away. You’ll need to go through the introduction stage that I talk about Here on my site. After a month your chinchilla has already begun to adjust to being alone so it is really a personal choice for you as to whether or not you’d like a second chinchilla. submitted by Kristen, answered by admin, last updated Sep 05, 2010

3. I let my chinchilla out to run around and play outside the cage. But he chews on everything, dresser, closet door, he even chewed a hole through my mattress. What can I do to let him out without chewing on everything? top

There really isn’t much you can do about the chewing. It’s best to pick one room and chinchilla-proof it as best you can. Then do not leave your chinchilla unattended. Many people let their chinchillas play in the bathroom. Once you pick up any soaps, cleaners, plastics, and close the toilet lid there isn’t much a chinchilla can hurt. submitted by Rebecca, answered by admin, last updated Sep 05, 2010

4. I have a female chin that is about 10 months old. I am about to get a male but the problem is he is only going to be 6 weeks, I know they won't mate but will my female hurt him if I put them in the same cage. Please write back and thank you top

There is no way to know for sure until you bring the new chinchilla home. Sometimes the female will see it as a baby and want to mother it. Other times her territorial nature will kick in and she will fight it. If a ten month old fights with a 6 week old there is a good chance she will kill it. I would suggest having a second cage set up right next to your original cage. Let the two chinchillas meet each other through the cage bars. Use that response to decide if it’s safe to try to let them get used to each other in person. If you do let them play together, do it outside of the older girl’s cage. Stay very close by and separate them at the first sign of fighting! submitted by wendi dahn, answered by admin, last updated Sep 05, 2010

5. Can 2 male chinchillas live in the same cage together when they arent familiar with each other and without fighting? top

Yes, they can. Young chinchillas that were just weaned can go together very easily. If they are older you need to slowly introduce them. Check out my article on that Here. Its best to only keep males together if there are no females in the room. Otherwise when she goes into heat the two males may begin to fight. submitted by colleen kubota, answered by admin, last updated Sep 05, 2010

6. I have just introduced a 4 month old white pied chinchilla to my 7 month old grey chinchilla. They seem to be getting along fine but the older chinchilla keeps jumping on the youn ones back and nibbling the fur behind his head. Is this normal behaviour ? top

I am assuming the young one isn't a female and the older one isn't a male, because this is unsafe. A female should be at least 8 months old before she is housed with a male. Chinchillas will jump on each others back to show dominance. It will continue until the younger one submits to letting the older one be the dominate chinchilla in the cage. submitted by Amanda Slone, answered by admin, last updated Sep 05, 2010