In the big kingdom Animalia, there are many different phyla. One of these phylums is the Chordata phylum. One class in this phylum is Mammalia, and an order in this class is Rodentia. The family Chinchillidae, is a family in this order. In the family Chinchillidae, the animals are all large rodents and their bodies are all very similar. For example, they all have thick, soft fur, big eyes and ears, bushy tails, and fleshy pads on their feet.

 

The most common species in this family is a species called Chinchilla Lanigera, that is part of the genus, Chinchilla. A chinchilla is a rodent with a head and body like a rabbit's, mouse-like ears, and a squirrel's tail. Female chinchillas are usually bigger than males, and can weigh up to 800 grams. Male chinchillas can weight up to 500 grams.

 

The length of either a male or female chinchilla's head and body is about 225 to 380 millimeters. The tail can measure around 75 and 150 millimeters. Like many other animals, the chinchilla has many different colors its fur can be. The most common color is gray, but other colors include white, beige, ebony, silver, mosaic, and many more. Some chinchillas' stomachs are a yellow-white color, but others are the same as the chinchilla's back.

 

There are probably over 100 different colorings for a chinchilla. Wild chinchillas are found in many countries in South America. Some of these are Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. The chinchillas live very high up in the Andes Mountains, about 3,000-5,000 meters to be exact.

 

They burrow little dens in cracks and crevices in between rocks on the mountains. Being herbivores, chinchillas eat many kinds of vegetation. Grasses, seeds, roots, bulbs, and mosses are some of the things they eat. Domesticated chinchillas eat some of the same things, but more varieties. Chinchillas are nocturnal, so night time is the time when wild chinchillas gather food, and domesticated ones eat the food that should have been left out by their owners.

 

Sometimes chinchillas will come out in the daytime, but not that much. At around eight p.m., chinchillas will become active for the night. Chinchillas reproduce sexually, with about two litters per year. Baby chinchillas are called kits. Two - three kits are the average number of young a chinchilla will have. A chinchilla's gestation period is approximately 111 days.

 

When the little kits are born they weigh around 2 and 2.5 ounces. They are born with all their fur, eyes wide open, and all their teeth. These tiny teeth will allow them to eat so they can live. Wild chinchillas can live up to ten years, but with good care, some domesticated chinchillas have been reported to live up to 30 years!

 

There is one way, sadly, that a chinchilla's life could be ended. At one time, chinchillas were almost extinct. This is because, since the 1900s they have been hunted for their soft fur. A chinchilla pelt is considered the most valuable in the world by some. It takes over 100 chinchilla pelts to make a coat that would sell for as much as 100,000 dollars!

 

To keep this from happening, some people form clubs to help save the chinchillas. Also many people are chinchilla breeders. They breed and sell chinchillas. People can buy them and keep them as pets. There are many people who have one, or even multiple, chinchillas as pets. Chinchilla owners have said that chinchillas are smarter than rabbits, and more fun than rats.

 

There is one very interesting fact about chinchillas that is different from most animals. This is that a chinchilla's fur cannot get wet. To bathe a chinchilla, owners have to buy a special kind of dust. The owners put this special dust in the chinchilla's cage, and it will roll around in it to get itself clean. You only have to do this about once a week because chinchillas are odorless, and are very clean animals. Many pet owners want that in a pet.

 

These characteristics, habitat, feeding, and reproduction tips will give you some good knowledge on what chinchillas are all about. You might even consider getting one of these soft, friendly critters for your own! Sources: Babinszki, Andy. "The Chinchilla Page."

 

Author: Kaitlyn D.

Date Published: April 2006

 

http://www.babinszkicom/chins/background.htm, 1997. Burton, John. The Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of the World. Lexington: The Stephen Greene Press, 1987. Hughes, Greg. "Chinchilla Cloning Gone Wild." Greg Hughes - Dot - Net. 2006. . Jones, Clyde. "Chinchilla," World Book Encyclopedia. 2000. University of Michigan. "Animal Diversity Web." http://animaldiversity.org, 1995-2005. Wales, Jimmy. "Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/chinchilla, 2001. Zenpanda. "Sleeping Baby Chinchilla Take 2." Zen Life Among the Mountains. 30 Oct. 2005. .