# Opinions please on Chinchilla care..



## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

..Hi, please can any present or previous chinchilla owners give their opinions on the following two issues..

1. Is this a species which can be kept in an outdoor enclosure? If so please describe what you would consider an ideal set-up...

2. What age would you consider to be the MINIMUM age a youngster can be sold/rehomed at? 

No 'right' or 'wrong' answers here, just looking for different viewpoints as I have received a few conflicting questionnaires.

Many thanks : victory:


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## Rhianna.J (Nov 5, 2011)

5plusmany said:


> ..Hi, please can any present or previous chinchilla owners give their opinions on the following two issues..
> 
> 1. Is this a species which can be kept in an outdoor enclosure? If so please describe what you would consider an ideal set-up...
> 
> ...


1. Erm, not really. Chinchillas dont really do very well with drafts. Thats said, they are from the Andes mountains. I guess if you had a large, draft free enclosure for them to go into to protect themselves from drafts and severe colds, then i dont see why not. 

2. 10 weeks minimum but I wouldnt let them go until 12 weeks.


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## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

Thank you! Anyone else...? This is for the BEMA Codes of Practice, so we need as much input as possible please, we want the guidelines to reflect what responsible keepers are telling us as far as possible!


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

1) I think generally keeping them outside is frowned apon due to our climate. They don't tolerate damp or heat well so keeping them outside could be tricky. If they were in a well built shed with air con for summer they would likely be ok though, just not in an avairy type setup. 
Saying that I saw them housed in outdoor enclosures at an animal sanctuary which has since closed down due to lack of funds (unfortunately as I was going to check back on the chins to see how they were doing) and they seemed happy enough, the enclosure was covered over the top and the roof came out quite far over the front so they wouldn't have got wet (although atmospheric humidity may have caused issues), the whole front was mesh and the rest wood. They looked like very new enclosures (virtually unchewed where wood was used in construction) so I don't know how good of an idea it was (not tested over a long period of time), I could be wrong and they may have been there long term but couldn't find anyone to ask. 
I just thought I'd mention as it could potentially be possible with the right enclosure plan and location (although I think it would be sensible to have somewhere indoors for them if it appeared it wasn't working)? 
The sanctuary was called Noah's arch I think and was in Chichester, West Sussex if you are able to track down anyone who worked or volenteered there to ask. 
I have also seen people house them under lean to type structures outside, in ordinary mesh cages (well tucked away from extreme weather mind you).
Personally I keep mine inside and use an air cooler in summer.

2) I would agree 12 weeks is a good age to rehome young (although I ended keeping all mine :blush


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

1. Depends on what you consider an 'outdoor' enclosure. Aviary/hutch style? No chance. For me, an ideal outdoor set up would be inside an insulated, lightly heated shed or outbuilding with plenty of windows for natural light and good, draft free ventilation.

2. Minimum 10, preferably 12. Even if the young need to leave the mother (for whatever reason) before 10 weeks, they should stay with the breeder until the appropriate age.


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## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

Lovely stuff, thank you very much everyone :no1:


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## UrolithicTitan (Sep 12, 2010)

To add more reasons why aviary/hutch outside enclosures aren't ideal for Chins:-

Andes:
-Relatively low humidity.
-Consistent cool temperatures throughout the year.

Britain:
-Moderate-high relative humidity throughout the year.
-Variable temperatures throughout the year.


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## kirstyandjon (Jan 6, 2013)

I'm with everyone else regards outdoor cages and its a no for me as too much a difference in temperature either too hot or too cold.

Also agree 12 weeks is more ideal for rehoming a kit


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

UrolithicTitan said:


> To add more reasons why aviary/hutch outside enclosures aren't ideal for Chins:-
> 
> Andes:
> -Relatively low humidity.
> ...


To be fair, though, this is going to happen in most enclosures even indoors. Unless your whole home is equipped with air conditioning, dehumidifiers and poor central heating, which most British houses aren't, there's definitely going to be a very similar if not the same humidity as outdoors, as well as the varying temperatures.

With that being said, there's no reason that an outbuilding couldn't be equipped with heaters, a/c and dehumidifiers, and indeed a lot of outbuildings used for small animals are (from what I've seen/known, anyhow).


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## UrolithicTitan (Sep 12, 2010)

LoveForLizards said:


> To be fair, though, this is going to happen in most enclosures even indoors. Unless your whole home is equipped with air conditioning, dehumidifiers and poor central heating, which most British houses aren't, there's definitely going to be a very similar if not the same humidity as outdoors, as well as the varying temperatures.
> 
> With that being said, there's no reason that an outbuilding couldn't be equipped with heaters, a/c and dehumidifiers, and indeed a lot of outbuildings used for small animals are (from what I've seen/known, anyhow).


The humidity can vary from indoor to outdoor. My apologies, I forgot to state in my original post that Britain is much more damp as well as being much more humid; it's the damp that would effect them in an outdoor enclosure.


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## Rhianna.J (Nov 5, 2011)

Have Longleat not got a herd of chinchillas that live outdoors? What are there setup like?


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## UrolithicTitan (Sep 12, 2010)

Rhianna.J said:


> Have Longleat not got a herd of chinchillas that live outdoors? What are there setup like?


Didn't they end up mixing their Chinchilla and Degu groups? 

I remember seeing a clip of the Degus being in an outside enclosure.


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## Drayvan (Jul 7, 2010)

When I was at college the group of 8 or so Chinchillas were moved into an outdoor enclosure, 3 walls of concrete with the front made up of a 4ft wall and square wire mesh and corrugated plastic and iron roofing with roofing felt, inside were hutches and plenty bedding and they seemed to adapt really well to it, no respiratory problems or chills, no heating or anything was needed. Although not something I would really go with, as they were very skittish and weren't as handlable as they were when indoors. But if I was going to do it, that would probably be how.

And I would go with 10-12 weeks for new homes : victory:


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## aquajird (Oct 27, 2010)

In the 1990s, chinchillas were much more popular than today and you found them in every pet shop. I remember heatwaves in the 1990s, when chins all over the country were dying from heatstroke. Sadly I lost a female chinchilla to the heat too. Temperatures over 80'F in conjunction with the relatively high humidity levels we have in the UK, are lethal for chins. Unless you have air conditioning (and few people do in the UK), it is very difficult to deal with high temperatures, much harder than cold temperatures. I reckon that was one reason why the popularity of chinchillas waned and their much hardier degu cousins took over their niche. 

I realise this does not answer the question about keeping chins outdoors directly, but it is worth considering. People who are relative newcomers to chinchilla keeping, may not have encountered this problem as recent UK summers have been much cooler, but it is something that is imporsant to bear in mind, if you keep or are thinking about keeping chinchillas.


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## Rhianna.J (Nov 5, 2011)

UrolithicTitan said:


> Didn't they end up mixing their Chinchilla and Degu groups?
> 
> I remember seeing a clip of the Degus being in an outside enclosure.


Yeah I believe they did.


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Rhianna.J said:


> Have Longleat not got a herd of chinchillas that live outdoors? What are there setup like?


I want to go back to longleat now just to see the chinchillas setup


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## 5plusmany (Sep 29, 2011)

samurai said:


> I want to go back to longleat now just to see the chinchillas setup


We went last summer and can't remember seeing them..but I'm pretty sure they do/have done. I believe it had some sort of mesh tunnel system up high but it's possible they've got different animals in that set up now, my memory is awful!


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

5plusmany said:


> We went last summer and can't remember seeing them..but I'm pretty sure they do/have done. I believe it had some sort of mesh tunnel system up high but it's possible they've got different animals in that set up now, my memory is awful!


 Oow


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## levinas (Feb 12, 2013)

Hi all, ive kept chinchillas since 1988 and having spoken to the keeper of the chinchillas at Longleat some years ago i can report that they did have access to an outside area but always had access to an indoor area which was set up to cater for their specific needs.I enquired whether they were intelligent enough to decide for themselves when it was too hot, cold ect and was told that they regulated outside/inside activity well, certainly good enough to survive and at that time no deaths due to UK weather and condictions had apparantly occured.
Having said that, this was a zoo with education and experience of keeping exotic and non exotic animals.Due to the differences of the UK climate to that of the Andes noted in previous posts it would not be adviseable to allow chinchillas to be left outside unattended, if at all, when kept by private keepers.As a general rule if the combination of humidity and temperature equals 100 or more, its dangerous for the chinchillas and thats difficult to plan for in the UK.
12 weeks is the earliest you should be rehoming a kit.At 8 weeks they should be weaned and ready to leave mum but you allow for an extra 4 weeks to ensure they are feeding and drinking ok.


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## Tarron (May 30, 2010)

Personally, I would prefer to keep them indoors all year round. However, I'm sure they could be kept sufficiently in an outdoor enclosure.

Large covered aviary type enclosure with access to a large shed with necessary heating, and a dehumidifier system (based on peoples thoughts above). The shed should be constructed to be draught proof (some sort of double back tunnel in to the shed).

But as said, indoors isy preferred option.

And also, 12 weeks for removal from parents.


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

1. Outdoor enclosure: I kept mine outdoors for their latter years. They were in a large shed which had windows and the door left wide open during the day. No heating, but lots of shelves and tubes and branches and dry nest boxes. 9 inch hollow concrete blocks are excellent for providing cool places in the hot weather. The chins lived for 19/20 years with no problems. 

2. Agree with 3 months as a good age for rehoming young.


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## kirksandallchinchillas (Sep 29, 2009)

I have always kept mine inside - luckily my house is cool and I never lost a chinchilla due to heat. I had an Air Conditioner which was used on only the very hottest days. I know some big breeders keep their animals outside in a specially converted shed/outbuilding but I always thought the cages were way to small. 

I always felt sorry for the females used in polygamous breeding programmes, especially when I got home and saw my groups in large cages with hammocks, shelves and nest boxes.

I always weaned my babies at 2 months - sometimes if a kit was small I left it with mum a bit longer. They were sold at a minimum of 3 months old, again depending on their size and condition.


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