If you have allergies it may be best to find another kind of pet. Chinchillas MUST take regular dust baths to keep their coat healthy. The dust they roll in, kick up into the air and is on their fur afterwards may be a strong allergen.

I know about the dust baths, I was more wondering whether they would be highly allergic for guests, like cats often are? I was also wondering how much they bond, I understand they don't like to be held, which is fine. I was hoping to get the perspective of a chinchilla owner to find out what they thought about owning one as a pet.

We had one briefly, for several months recently. We had no idea how old he was, but I think he was older since he died without any apparent problems. I got him from a shelter I volunteer at without any info on him.

I will say, he was sweet! And soft and cuddly. He actually didn't mind being held and petted, I think as long as you hold them up next to you so they don't feel they are going to fall, they don't mind cuddling.

As far as the allergies, I would "guess" people would be allergic to them, just because they shed quite a bit. If you hold one, you will get their fur on you, it seemed very similar to me like cat hair.

As a pro, they are fun! Ours reminded me of a giant gray mouse. He was so cute. We got a giant ball for him to run around in. You just have to be careful they don't overheat in them. We also let him run around free each night either in the bathroom or my daughter's room. They are fast and they jump and bounce off of things.

A con would be the cage. You need a big cage, a vertical one with levels so they can climb, as opposed to a horizontal one. The cages are expensive. I was still looking for a good used one when ours died.

Their dust baths are no big deal. They are fun to watch them roll around in them and really enjoy themselves. We used a shoebox rather than buying a bath container for him. It worked great.

Would I get another one? Absolutely! Hopefully our next one we'll know more about and we'll have many years together with it.

Good luck in your decision!
Sher

Share, thanks for your input. The other question I had was how often do you need to clean the cage? This is ignorant, but having had a rabbit that used a litter box, do chinchillas use anything like that, or do they just go anywhere? Is their poo easy to pick up like a rabbits'? BTW, I've seen several used chinchilla cages for sale on craigslist near where I live, that might be an option for you in the future?

This is a really old post, but as an advocate of chinchillas I felt the need to point out a few things in case anyone should read it. I own four of the little balls of fur and let me tell you, they are the cutest, sweetest, softest and trickest things I have ever known.

People with allergies are quite happy with chinchillas since they do not have dander. It's typically the dander that gets to people. But they do create quite a dust storm in the bath and the main staple of their diet is hay, so those two things can create a problem. They only shed heavily once, maybe twice a year. You don't need a huge cage but one that is roomy enough to have several "layers" or shelves is best: there are several websites that have great cages, martin's cages, ferret nation, azchins, and quality cage.

They are a big responsiblity though. They have very specail needs and if not met they will die and it can happen rather quickly. There are specif brands of pellets to feed them, not the petstore kind with lots of extra, but plain pellets that are timothy hay based or aflfa based like oxbow or mazuri. They need lots of hay, and fresh water. they need daily exercise outside of the cage, but you have to watch them as they chew everything. They are sensative to chemicals and have very delicate bone structures.

Also and maybe most importantly is that chins are unable to regulate their own body temp. and must have a cool draft free environment. They over heat very quickly, especaily in those balls. It is fatal if you don't act fast.

They are wonderful pets, don't misunderstand, but they need to be with someone that can devote the time and money they deserve. check out the chins-n-hedgies forum for more answers and TONS of information on chinchillas.