To provide your chinchillas with a suitable home, you need to consider several factors. Chinchillas will become more susceptible to overheating once they are held in captive. A quiet and cool location would be the most advisable place to keep the cage of your chinchilla.
For cages, larger ones are more advisable. Wire is highly regarded as the most effective material in constructing a cage for chinchillas. Your pet chinchillas may resort to chewing on or destroying plastic materials thus plastic cages are not recommended. Your flooring for the chinchilla cage may be made from wood shavings including aspen, pine and hardwood shavings. However, you should keep in mind that cedar can cause harmful effects to animals, thus, cedar shavings should not be used. Another alternative floor lining you can use for your chinchilla cage is newspapers. A more hygienic option is wire flooring. However, chinchillas may be uncomfortable with the wire floor. Wood shavings still remain as the more convenient and the more comfortable option for flooring. Wood can also be used as a material for the nest box.
You should not place the cage of your chinchillas near or inside bedrooms. The chinchillas are nocturnal creatures and remain active even during nighttime. Placing them near or inside your bedroom can cause disruptions and disturbances in the sleep of your family. Avoid placing the cages in areas that can easily get populated with a lot of people. To avoid overheating, exposure to direct sunlight should also be avoided. The maximum temperature recommended is 77 degrees Fahrenheit or 25 degrees Celsius. Placing the cage of the chinchillas inside an air conditioned room is advisable when the temperature gets a little warmer during the sunny season. You can also place a shallow pan with ice cubes or a moist towel inside the cage to keep the cage cool.
Access to fresh and clean drinking water is important so a side of the cage should also contain water bottles. Using water bottles is more advisable, compared to the plastic counterparts. You can also place inside the cage some food bowls. The cage of the chinchilla may also contain some toys inside. Wood blocks, tree branches, wooden parrot toys, chinchilla blocks, pumice blocks, rabbit willow balls and rings are some of the chew toys that are highly recommended for your pet chinchillas. Since chewing on toys is a natural tendency among chinchillas, plastic toys are not advisable since chewing on plastic toys would be harmful and toxic-inducing for animals. You should also avoid providing your pet with toys containing small parts that can be easily ingested by your pet.
The cage of chinchillas can also contain wheels and running discs for the chinchilla's exercise. However, running with the wheel may require effort and training for some chinchillas. It would be greatly beneficial and advantageous to train chinchillas on running with the wheel while they are still at a young age. Adult chinchillas are advised to be trained using 15-inch wheel. Running disks and flying saucers are also excellent alternatives.
