You may wish to consider a chinchilla as a possible pet. They are of the rodent family, (but it doesn’t seem that way).
“Chins” otherwise known, look like chubby squirrels with Mickey Mouse type ears. They are very clean animals so their cages do not tend to stink as many do. Although they are nocturnal animals, they do play quite a bit during the day and are very smart.
I got my first pair of chinchillas, as adults, a proven breeding pair. They were nice enough but they never really did bond with us. We ended up having 3 litters total. They usually have 1-3 babies (also known as kits), and their pregnancy is 111 days (about 4 months), which is a very long gestation period for an animal that size.
Kits are born fully formed “rearing to go” so to speak. They are fully furred, eyes open and running around within minutes of birth. They can even eat adult food nearly from the first day, although they prefer to nurse.
One of the funnest parts of being a chin owner is bath day. Take a bowl and put chinchilla dust in it. They dive in, roll, kick, swirl and is a delight to everyone who watches! They eat pelleted chinchilla food and should be given a raisin a day.
We kept one of the babies from this pair, and she was the best pet we ever owned. We handled her from day one and she bonded to us very well. She was playful, sweet, never bit and had a cute little quiet bark. Tons of personality as well!
Chins are a more playful active type pet, versus a sit down lap animal. I would recommend getting a baby if you decide to get a chinchilla. They usually run about $100. in the US for a pet, but that price can vary a lot.
Another great quality about pet chins is they have no claws or nails, but soft little pads on their feet so you don’t get scratched. They are not recommended usually for small children tho as young children can hurt them easily.
The average lifespan is about 10-15 years, they do need to be indoors or climate controlled setting. They come in many colors but standard gray is the most common. The rare colors will usually cost more. Because of their long life span, be sure you are ready for the commitment.
When we were finding good homes for the babies, most people who were interested had never seen or been around chins before. The ones who did know something about them all had this in common; they either had owned one previously or knew someone close who did, which speaks very well of chins as pets.
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