The Chinchilla Page

Visitor count: since 02-Jan-1997

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Colette and I were given two baby chinchillas (Greg and Dave Lister - left) by our friends Gail (the world famous forensic entomologist) and Greg in August 1989. Unfortunatly little Greg died from a Giardia infection that our vet was unable to detect. We buried him on November 11, 1989.

Shortly thereafter (January 1990) we bought a mate (Christine Kochanski) for Dave because he seemed very lonely. They got along famously. In fact, when we brought Christine home and put her in the cage next to Dave, he sniffed at her so excitedly that you could barely see his head as it darted back and forth! One year later they began a family. Mr. Bishop and Jane were born in the spring of 1991. Now the four of them live with us. They were both happy to see each other ... left.

Diet: They receive a regular diet of "Chin Chow", a mix specially made for chinchillas. In addition, they get a varegated seed mixture and fresh Alf Alfa and Hay each day. Each of them has special favourites when it comes to treats though and I'll go into that a little later.

We regularly take the guys out for some exercise; either into our bathroom or out onto the balcony. The amount of running around they do is almost amazing. At first when we first got Dave and Christine, they were accustomed to being in cages all the time. During the early exercise sessions ( or "runs" as we call them ) they didn't move around very fast or very much. After a while, they became more active during these runs. Now, we cannot catch them to put them back until they are good and ready to go back. They can now jump up onto things of a height of about 90 cm (36") and jump down from a height of about 120 cm (48"). The most amazing thing happens after the run. When they're put back into their cages ( all tired out ) they "de-flate". They turn into a "pool" of melted chinchilla.

On the Background

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A Brief History of Chins

Dave	Christine	Mr. Bishop	Jane