Chinchilla Facts: The cute creatures Chinchillas are basically a type of rodent which are a bit larger and robust than the squirrels. Chinchillas are the natives of the Andes Mountains and their name is derived from the Chincha people of the Andes. These cute little bundle of joy used to live in areas like Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile but in today’s time they are only found in wild in Chile. There are some amazing Chinchilla facts that very less people are aware of.
Although being such a dreamy creature, they are now declared as the critically endangered species because of their 90% population loss in last 15 years. The major cause of their extinction was hunting by humans because of their super soft fur.
This is also one of the facts about chinchillas that there are two living species of chinchillas which are Chinchilla brevicaudata and Chinchilla lanigera.
One of the most amazing chinchilla facts is that they are totally odor free and absolutely clean creatures unlike the other members of the rodent family. It is known to very less people that there is any species like Chinchilla is in existence.
Chinchilla Facts: Interesting Facts about Chinchillas
So, if you want to know more about some chinchilla facts then we have some amazing information on it. There are these amazing facts about chinchillas that would leave you a lifetime fan of them. These cute adorable animals have always been a little bundle of surprise but now you can know all of it through this piece of information.
1). Chinchillas are the nocturnal creatures which means that they have the tendency to stay mostly awake at night. They mostly sleep in the day time which means they have no contact to direct sun light. Therefore it is better to place a chinchilla cage in dark.
2). Chinchillas are so compassionate and sweet creatures and have tendencies like humans. If the female chinchilla is not able to produce milk then other chinchilla can adopt the babies. Also, male chinchillas do not try to kill the babies, in fact they baby sit them when mother chinchilla is not around.
3). Chinchilla facts is that they are very sensitive to excessive heat and humidity. They cannot withstand a high temperature at all. The ideal temperature of chinchilla home should be 15 degrees centigrade to 25 degree centigrade.
4). You must not judge them by their size because chinchillas can jump from even 6 feet. They use their tail to balance their body while in the air. Therefore, they easily live in the mountainous areas.
5). Another surprising yet interesting chinchilla facts is that they grow their teeth for a lifetime. Their teeth can grow even 12 inches per year. However, some safe stuffs should be given to a pet chinchilla to gnaw so they do not end up hurting themselves.
6). This may sound weird to you but chinchillas can become totally mature by the age of 8 weeks only. This is the reason that male kits must not be left with female kits or mothers. Because at this early age they cannot carry another kit.
7). This is one of the most common chinchilla facts that they have the softest fur ever. This is the major reason for their hunting too. Their fur have 50-80 hairs per follicle whereas it is 2-3 in humans.
8). This is really surprising to know but chinchillas have the capability of ‘fur slip’. Well, in this condition, when a chinchilla is stressed or frightened or mishandled then they have a large amount of fur falling off their skin. This does not affect their health as it can grow back in 6 months.
9). If you have seen the chinchillas then you must know such chinchilla facts very well that it has big eyes. But very few people know that their eyes are not fully developed. So, they see or rather feel the things through their whiskers.
10). Here is something funny about them. Instead of taking water baths chinchillas take dust baths. Yes, you heard that right. To get rid of the dirt and oil from their fur, they take dust bath and for this they roll into the dust.
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11). Like most of the rodents, chinchilla facts about living them in groups is common. Yes, chinchillas live in groups of around 100 members. They use sounds like chirping, grunting, squealing and barking for communication. This proves that how social they are.
12). Chinchillas have a short term of lifespan. In their natural habitat they usually survive for 10 to 14 years. But when they are born and brought up in captivity then they can survive for 15 to 20 years easily.
13). Unlike other rodents, chinchillas do not have any specific mating season. They can mate throughout the year and the pregnancy lasts for 111 days. And when the new offspring come, they are ready to mate after just 8 weeks of their birth.
14). There is some chinchilla facts which are really astonishing and show their capability clearly. Chinchillas have the same hearing capacity as humans. Their hearing range is equal to humans because of the similar cochlea. Therefore they are often used in research of auditory system.
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15). Chinchillas are quite similar to mice in some of the things like eating. They hold their food in their front paws and for this they sit on their haunches. Also, they cannot eat a lot and some loose timothy hay and hay based pellets is enough for them.
16). If you are petting a chinchilla then you must be aware of one of those chinchilla facts that they are really active animals. They need a lot of toys and wide space around them. Also, as they are really social they need a companion otherwise they get so attached to their human.
17). It is so known to everyone that how beautiful the fur of chinchilla is. But this fur is not limited to a single color and comes in variety of colors. It can be silver-grey, beige, tan, violet, sapphire, white and black and also combination of these colors.
18). This is one of the sure shot chinchilla facts that chinchillas live in mountain areas and hence high altitudes. Therefore their blood is thickened because of having extra red blood cells. This helps them in carrying more oxygen. This helps them in breathing properly in hilly areas.
19). Some of the physical features of chinchillas are as follows. Their weight is 400-500 grams. The cute chinchillas have a length of only 10-14 inches and their height varies from 4 to 5 inches. They can bread twice in 12 months and has a lifespan of 10-15 years.
20). Chinchillas are quite cute and simple animals and according to the chinchilla facts they eat seeds, grass, fruit, small insects, tree barks and even frogs. And in contrary they are the prey of wild cats, large birds, skunks, snakes and even dogs.
21). Chinchillas regulate the process of Caecotrophy. According to this process, they digest their food by eating it twice. They digest the food once and then excrete it to digest it again. This behavior is also seen in guinea pigs and rabbits.
22). Chinchillas are so adjustable when it comes to sleeping. According to one of the chinchilla facts they can even sleep upside down like bats. This is because in mountains they have to sleep in tiny holes. Not only upside down but they can sleep in whichever position they want. You name it and they can sleep like it.
23). Chinchillas are very social as I have mentioned earlier. Therefore they can be easily pet by humans. Also, unlike other rodents, chinchillas do not bite when they are being picked up by humans.
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24). You must have seen mice and rats smelling so badly. But chinchillas are totally opposite of it. They do not stink at all. In fact chinchilla facts claim that they do not smell at all which means they are totally odorless.
25). This is a very important fact for those people who are thinking about petting the chinchillas. Chinchillas can only eat specific food. And most importantly they cannot eat meat at all. Therefore they must be feed properly.
26). This has been mentioned earlier that chinchillas have the hearing capacity just like humans. They have big ears and therefore they can listen and detect easily if there is any enemy coming to catch them. This works as a defense mechanism for them.
27). This is one of the widely known chinchilla facts that they have a very dense and soft fur. Because of this much density any parasites and fleas are not able to live in it. And hence their fur is not at all causes any allergy to humans.
28). They live in the mountainous areas and their body is adapted to just like that. Their physical structure is also developed in such a way that they have pads on their feet. This helps them to grip the surface to climb the rocks easily.
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29). Although chinchillas have very small tails but it helps them a lot to create balance while jumping from one position to another one. And this balance is also very much important to them as in mountain areas they have to travel through a lot of rocks.
30). Chinchillas have the softest fur in the whole world. And this is the reason that people used to hunt them for their fur instead of their meat. And as a result they became critically endangered species. However, their hunting has been legally banned now.
31). If you are keeping the chinchillas as pets then you would have to make sure that you keep objects around them which they can chew. These can be toys, pumice stone, wood and anything else which is safe. Otherwise they would end up chewing the electric cables to stop their teeth from growing further.
32). Chinchillas have their biological mechanism different from the rest of the rodents. They have to keep their body cold as they cannot bear too much heat. Therefore they send blood to their large ears to keep their body cool. And as a result their ears remains red most of the time.
33). If you want to compare the human hairs with chinchillas then you are going to be shocked with the chinchilla facts. The fur of chinchillas are 30 times softer than the human hair.
34). This may sound a bit weird to you but chinchillas cannot vomit at all. And in the Caecotrophy process, they do not excrete food from mouth but they poop it and eat it again. They do not find it gross like humans.
35). Chinchillas are some amazing animals and if you are petting them then you would not face any problems. Chinchillas do not require any sort of vaccinations and they do not get fleas too. However they do need specialist vets too.
36). As you know chinchillas are very social and they care about their fellow chinchillas too. When they sense any danger then they produce high-pitched squeaky sounds to warn their rest of the friends.
37). Apart from the tail that balances, chinchillas have long limbs too which helps them to jump higher and higher through one rock to another.
38). Chinchillas make one of the cutest and most loving pets ever and easily get along with the humans.
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Conclusion
If you are reading this, then it means you have gone through the entire list of the interesting chinchilla facts. I hope these fun facts would have helped you to glue your eyes to the screen. People can never imagine that even the smallest of the creatures can have such amazing things in them.
Nature is so vast and versatile in its creation and we must not kill any of its child for our own benefits and especially the babies like chinchillas. This endangered species is on a verge of extinction and it can be stopped by the combined efforts only. I hope these chinchilla facts would create some awareness about them.
