Your Chinchilla Vet-Prep Sheet

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Enclosure

A large, secure, tall cage (or a fully chinchilla-proofed room) with multiple levels and shelves to jump and rest on — they’re agile climbers and jumpers. If the cage has a mesh floor, provide solid wood or flooring areas too, because standing on bare wire damages their feet. Avoid any uninterrupted drop greater than about 60 cm, so a fall can’t injure them.

Companionship

Chinchillas are sociable and live in groups in the wild, so keep yours with at least one other compatible chinchilla unless a vet or behaviourist advises otherwise. They can be kept as male/female pairs (only if you intend to breed, with a plan for the babies) or in single-sex groups; introduce new chinchillas gradually and near each other for a week first, as they can be aggressive at first meeting. A chinchilla kept alone needs daily human interaction.

Temperature

The critical factor. Chinchillas come from cool, dry mountains and their dense fur means they overheat easily, so keep them indoors somewhere well-ventilated, dry and draught-free, ideally at 10–18°C. Hot, humid, damp or stuffy conditions make them ill and can cause fatal heatstroke — never let their room get hot, and cool it actively in summer.

Substrate

Warm, safe-to-eat bedding such as good-quality, dust-free hay; many chinchilla cages have a tray under a mesh floor to collect droppings. Never use cotton-wool or fluffy strand bedding — they can get tangled in it and it isn’t safe to eat. Clean regularly so waste doesn’t build up.

Enrichment

A daily dust bath is essential, not optional: give a shallow tray of clean fine “chinchilla dust” to roll in each day to keep their fur in condition, then remove or sieve it clean so it doesn’t get soiled. Add shelves and safe things to climb and jump on, and safe items to gnaw (their teeth grow continuously). They’re active and playful at night.

Diet

Good-quality hay makes up the majority of the diet and must be available at all times — it keeps the gut moving and wears down their continuously-growing teeth. Add a small daily amount (about 1–2 tablespoons per chinchilla) of grass-based chinchilla pellets. Treats should be only tiny amounts of dried herbs or plantain and, sparingly, a little dried fruit or root vegetable — their gut is delicate and sensitive to sugar, so keep sweet foods to an absolute minimum. Provide constant fresh water.

Supplements

None needed on a correct hay-based diet. The bigger risk is the opposite of a deficiency — avoid sugary treats and supplements, which upset a chinchilla’s sensitive gut.

⚕️ Small mammals are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so any change in eating, droppings, drinking or behaviour is urgent — in rabbits and guinea pigs, not eating or passing no droppings for 12–24 hours can be a life-threatening emergency (gut stasis). They also chill and dehydrate quickly, so keep it warm. Tell the vet about your diet and any remedies you’ve used, and ask for exotic-mammal-safe medicines and doses — several antibiotics that are routine in other pets are dangerous to rabbits and guinea pigs.

⚕️ Chinchillas overheat dangerously above about 25°C / 77°F — keep it cool, never warm, on the way in, and mention any heat exposure.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.