Chinchilla

Class: Mammals

Order: Rodents

Family: Chinchillidae

Weight: 0.7 – 0.8 kg

Height: About 30 cm

Body length: 22 – 38 cm

Coloration: In the wild, chinchillas are only found in an inconspicuous gray color. Domestic chinchillas, thanks to breeders, have a wide variety of colors, such as blue diamond, violet, sapphire, and white-pink diamond.

Age of sexual maturity: 4 to 9 months

Gestation period: Approximately 113 days

Lifespan: Up to 20 years

Habitat range: The native habitat of chinchillas is South America. Short-tailed chinchillas inhabit the Andes of southern Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and northern Chile. The long-tailed chinchilla is now found only in a limited area of the Andes in northern Chile.

Diet: Their diet mainly consists of various herbaceous plants, primarily grasses, as well as seeds, mosses, lichens, shrubs, tree bark, and small insects. In captivity, they eat only dried foods (such as dried apples, carrots, hay, nettles, and dandelion roots) and pellets as their main food.

Did you know?

• Chinchillas lack sweat glands, so they have no odor.
• They can jump up to 2 meters high or even higher, and can sleep upside down, in both vertical and horizontal positions.
• Chinchillas do not shed but can release their fur when attacked.
• They have poor eyesight but rely heavily on their sense of smell for navigation.