Adoption

We receive our chinchillas from two primary sources, which are animal shelters and directly from the owner. Some chinchillas are big, beautiful, and healthy while some are small, scruffy and sickly. Most of our chinchillas fall somewhere in between. Most rescued animals are of unknown parentage and history, therefore it is recommended that they not be bred (and part of our adoption contract).

If you are looking for a cute, “perfect”, healthy baby chinchilla that is white, black, violet, or another exotic color, then adopting from a rescue is probably not the first source to consider. We have a list of reputable Breeders that would be a good resource. We never have babies as we are not a breeder and it is rare for us to have a chinchillas available for adoption that are under a year in age. We typically have a majority of standard grey Chins as the rescue is dependant on the colors of chins surrendered to us. It is important to consider what you are looking for when deciding from where you want to get a chinchilla.

If you truly want to give a forever home to a “homeless” animal that may have had a rough start in life, then adopting from a rescue group is the right choice.

• Adopting a companion for yourself or another chinchilla
• Making room for another animal in a shelter or rescue.
• Having the gratification of knowing you have saved a chinchilla from a unknown fate.

Chinchillas live to be 15-20 years old on average, which must be taken into consideration before adopting. Having a chinchilla join your family is a long-term commitment.

Chinchillas can be noisy and talkative animals. They delight in making noise by running in their exercise wheels, shredding paper, chewing wood, and simply bouncing off their cage walls. Since chinchillas are crepuscular/nocturnal, most of this activity takes place at dawn, dusk and during the night, which means that you may not want to have the chinchilla cage in a room in which their activity might disturb someone’s sleep until they get used to the noise/activity.

If you are looking for a companion for another chinchilla, we can give suggestions for introducing new and old chinchillas to future playmates. However keep in mind that, in most cases, we do not spay or neuter chinchillas, so if you already have a chinchilla you need to choose the gender of a new chinchilla carefully. Most rescued animals are of unknown parentage and history, therefore it is recommended that they not be bred.

Chinchillas are sensitive to heat and can die from heat stroke. If temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) and humidity add up to 150 (e.g. temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity is 60%, the sum equals 150) then that is dangerous to the chinchillas. We recommend keeping chinchillas under 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity should be around 30% to 40%. Remember, if you are uncomfortable from either heat or humidity, your chinchilla will also be uncomfortable. If you live in a hot humid climate, a chinchilla may not be the best pet for you unless you have unlimited air conditioning.

Chins can and do bite. Even well-mannered pets will give warning nips if unhappy or mishandled by their owner. This is one reason that we do not recommend chinchillas as pets for young children.