We all love our chinchillas, and we can never stop learning about them. So we thought we’d come up with a top 10 list of facts about chinchillas. After all, the more we know about our pets, the better we can look after them and the more fun we get from doing so.
Top 10 Chinchilla Facts
1. Chinchillas Have Adapted to Living in Mountainous and Rocky Environments
Originating from the barren slopes of the Andes, chinnies adapted to living in crevices and gaps at high altitude – often over 12,000 feet in height. To cope with the cold they have extremely dense fur, and the pads on their feet are hairless and fleshy to allow them to gain a good foothold on the rocks of the mountains.
2. A Chinchilla Can Live at High Altitudes
The red blood cells of a chinchilla can carry more oxygen than those of other rodents or rabbits. This helps them cope with living at a high altitude where there is naturally less oxygen in the atmosphere.
3. Chinchillas have Unique Defence Mechanism Called “Fur Slip”
Because chinchillas are prey animals, they have a defense mechanism known as ‘fur slip.’ If grabbed by a predator they have the ability to lose a large patch of fur, leaving their would-be attacker with simply a large clump of fur, hopefully allowing the chinchilla to escape.
4. Jumping Comes Natural to Chinchillas
Chinchillas can jump over six feet in height. That’s likely to mean that they can easily make it to the top of your fridge!
5. Chinchillas Have a Very Similar Hearing Range to That of Humans
This means they can hear the same pitches and tones as us, although their large ears mean that their hearing is somewhat more sensitive than ours.
6. Chinchillas Can Sleep Upside Down
This is because they naturally sleep in small crevices or holes and can squeeze into the tiniest of spaces. They can also sleep upright or on their sides.
7. Chinnies Communicate With Vocal Sounds
These sounds include things such as grunts, chirps, barking sounds and squeals.
8. Chinchillas Digest Their Food Twice!
Their food passes through their digestive system and is excreted to be re-ingested. This is the same as both rabbits and guinea pigs, and is a process known as caecotrophy.
9. Chinchillas are Pack Animals
In the wild, chinchillas would live in groups of up to 100 members. They are highly social animals and do better kept with another of their own kind when living in captivity.
10. Chinnies Sit Funny When Eating
When a chinchilla eats he tends to sit on his haunches and hold food in his front paws.
So – how many Chinchilla facts did you know? It was a hard decision to know what to leave in and what to leave out. But we’ve tried to include some of the more unusual Chinchilla facts in this list. After all, knowledge is king – and none of us ever stop learning. It’s fun, learning more about our pets – and every little thing we discover about them makes us better guardians for the smallest members of our family.
And lastly, if you are a chinchilla owner and you are looking for better hay than the store bought stuff, we sell the highest quality timothy hay online and deliver it fresh to chinchilla owners acrossed the country.
Till next time – love those chinnies…
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