Chinchilla Cage – Things You Need to Know Before Purchasing
Finding the right chinchilla cage is important. Your pet deserves the best and safest environment to be its home. As a responsible pet owner, it is your job to find the right chinchilla cage for your pet, but there are certain special considerations you must take into account, and the foremost are the chinchilla’s needs.
1. The right chinchilla cage is the adequate size.
A chinchilla is a mammal that is used to having large areas to roam around. One chinchilla needs to have a minimum size cage of at least 30 inches in length, 29 inches in width, and 18 inches in height (76cm x 74cm x 46cm). Good chinchilla cages has to be the adequate size to allow the chinchilla to move freely.
2. The right chinchilla cage is made of the right materials.
A chinchilla is a rodent, which means it can and will gnaw on rubber, wood, and plastic. It is for this reason that the best chinchilla cages are made of metal which the animal cannot gnaw on and subsequently destroy.
3. The right chinchilla cage has the right spacing between bars.
Chinchillas are relatively small. If the bars of its cage is spaced wide, it can escape. A good rule of thumb when picking out chinchilla cages is that if the animal can squeeze its head out of the spaces, it can escape, since if the head can fit, it can wiggle it’s body out too. Do not be fooled by the seemingly big body of your pet. It is really just all fluffy fur so remember that rule of thumb to keep your chinchilla safely inside its cage. The spacing should not be more than 1 inch apart for housing adult chinchillas and no more than 0.5 inch apart if housing baby chinchillas.
4. The right chinchilla cage has good ventilation.
Chinchillas have very dense and thick fur. They are best in environments that are not exceeding 25 degrees celcius. Make sure that you pick chinchilla cages which offers good ventilation and allows fresh cool air to get to your pet.
5. The right chinchilla cage offers good stimulation and exercise.
One of the importance of having an adequate size cage is that your chinchilla needs a big exercise wheel to be happy. It also needs to fit its dust bath and nest box. Chinchillas in the wild lives in holes and cracks of rocks, it’s why they like hiding in nest boxes. They also have an active life and since you cannot let the chinchilla to roam inside the house, it needs a large exercise wheel to keep it happy and fit. Good chinchilla cages should be able to fit at least these 3 things: nest box, dust bath, and exercise wheel.
6. The right chinchilla cage is easy to clean up.
Chinchillas are very clean animals, so in the first place, it is not really difficult to clean up after your pet. Usually, if the cage does not have a collection tray for excrement, the chinchilla uses just one corner of the cage to defecate on, making the whole cage easy to clean. Just take out the tray and the cage basically is clean unless you need to change the beddings and the hay.
7. Great chinchilla cages are usually multi-level
A chinchilla cage should allow your pet to roam and walk around freely, it is for this reason that multi-level cages like those for ferrets are also great for your pet. Since chinchillas are originally from high altitude mountainous area, they are adept to climbing and jumping and will love the freedom and stimulation that a multi-level home provides. Just make sure that the levels and platforms are not too high because chinchillas are great jumpers who can jump really high and they might end up hurting themselves.
8. The best chinchilla cages are safe for your pet.
This is the most important consideration. Avoid any cage which is painted since the animal might eat the paint. Chinchilla cages also should not have wooden or plastic platforms and levels because your pet can gnaw on the plastic (hurting themselves if they ingest it too) and some woods are toxic to chinchillas if it has high resin content or has been treated with pesticides and chemicals. Choose a safe wood if ever you want a wooden platform. Avoid platforms made from cypress, cedar, chestnut, birch, cherry, mahogany, oak, teak, and walnut because they are toxic for chinchillas. There are over 20 toxic woods for your pet so make sure to research before adding a wooden toy or element in their cage.
Where to buy chinchilla cages?
Chinchilla cages are available at pet stores, but since not all pet stores readily have a chinchilla cage, it is best to search online at eBay and at Amazon for the best deals and choices by various manufacturers.
What is great about buying your chinchilla cage from chinchilla cages providers at Amazon and eBay is the fact that you can browse their product reviews as well. That means you will have feedback from fellow chinchilla lovers to help you choose the best chinchilla cage.
Chinchilla Cages - Top 8 Tips for Buying
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