How and how much chinchillas sleep, sleep patterns, positions and places to rest

Chinchillas are highly valued for their silky and expensive fur. But it was he who almost caused their disappearance. In recent years, the popularity of this animal as a pet has increased greatly. And many new owners are faced with the fact that they simply do not know how to provide proper care for this animal.

In the wild, chinchillas are nocturnal animals.

In nature, chinchillas are nocturnal, so during the daytime they are less active and, as a rule, prefer sleep to wakefulness. Their owners must pay attention to how and how much the rodent sleeps, since sleep is also an indicator of the chinchilla’s general health.

Why does a chinchilla sleep during the day?

Under natural conditions, chinchillas sleep from sunrise to sunset. The nocturnal lifestyle is explained by the fact that at this time the main natural enemies of fluffy animals - foxes and tayras - sleep. When predator activity decreases, chinchillas wake up and leave their shelters in search of food.

It is worth noting that some predators (eagle owls, owls, buzzards) continue to hunt chinchillas even in the dark. However, at night, the furry animals, which are predominantly gray in color, blend into the surrounding landscape, making them almost invisible.

This weather dependent fluffy

Experienced chinchilla owners, observing their behavior, came to the conclusion that the sleep of many of their pets - although not all - is also affected by the weather. So, on a rainy or windy day, an animal can doze with its eyes half-closed . They sleep more both when it is hot outside and when the humidity is high.

Pros and cons of the animal as a pet.

Sleep duration

The daily routine of domestic chinchillas is not very different from the routine of their wild relatives. Because the tendency to sleep for long periods of time is inherent in furries at the genetic level.

On average, an animal's sleep at home lasts 10-12 hours.

However, this indicator can vary significantly depending on the age, health and character of the pet. For example, pregnant females, babies and adults can sleep 1-2 hours longer. And the younger generation and young animals are more active, and are awake from 12 to 14 hours a day.

Animal skeleton

The body structure of chinchillas provides them with reliable shelter and makes it possible to survive in rocky mountain conditions. The chinchilla's skeleton tapers when necessary. The need may arise when an animal hides in narrow crevices from predators and bad weather. There are 5 toes on the front legs of rodents, and 4 on the hind legs. The hind legs are longer and stronger than the front ones, which allows the animals to jump high.

How to determine the age of a chinchilla?

By external signs it is easy to determine the age of the animal. Determination is possible in several ways:

By weight: at two months of age - up to 300 grams, at six months - up to 500 grams, per year - up to 800 grams.
On the heels: young individuals have delicate skin on the heels. To determine age more accurately, the paws of an individual whose age is unknown can be compared with those for whom this indicator is known.
According to the muzzle: with age, the muzzle becomes longer.
In size: at 3-4 months a chinchilla is close to the size of a guinea pig, at 6 months and after the animal can be compared to a rabbit.
By the color of the teeth: up to 2 months, the teeth are white, and when chinchillas grow up, the color of their teeth becomes orange.
By sexual characteristics: in males, testicles appear by the fifth month of life; by the age of seven months, the genital organs are already easy to distinguish from female ones.
According to the ear flaps: chinchillas with the beige gene begin to have flaps on their ears by the age of 5 months. There should be more than 2 of them per year, and in an adult at the age of 3-4 years, all the ears are covered with spots.

Places to sleep

From a physiological point of view, chinchillas can sleep anywhere. Their natural habitat is rocks. Therefore, in nature, animals sleep in crevices, where predators cannot reach them. If there are no ready-made shelters in the rocks within the range, chinchillas dig holes. In them they hide from danger and rest during the daytime.

When kept at home, naturally, fluffies do not have the opportunity to sleep in familiar conditions. In such a situation, the pet rests in a cage. Favorite places for chinchillas to sleep:

in the house;
in a hammock;
on a bed of hay;
directly on the sports equipment - in the tunnel or on the bridge.

The first days after moving, the fluffies usually sleep, huddled in the corner of the cage. When adaptation takes place, they choose another place to relax. Sometimes pets fall asleep right in the arms of their owner. This indicates complete trust and a relaxed state of the fluffy.

Advantages of an animal as a pet

When choosing an animal to live in a cage, many cannot decide for a long time which pet to prefer: a rabbit, a hamster, a rat, a chinchilla or a guinea pig. All these animals are small in size and are also very easy to care for. However, it is chinchillas that have the most impressive list of advantages. Among them are the following advantages:

Despite their easy-going nature, chinchillas are very independent. When the owner is at work all day, the animal will not miss him too much and suffer from lack of attention.
Chinchillas are completely odorless. The fur of these pets is anti-allergenic.
Animals can be trained. They remember commands well if you don’t forget about training and treat them kindly.
Chinchillas are very kind and tame pets. They will never just bite a person, unlike hamsters or guinea pigs.
They are positive and energetic, move funny, constantly jumping and frolicking.

Don't forget about the appearance of these creatures. Surprisingly soft and plush fur, fluffy tail and cute face will not leave anyone indifferent. In addition, the animals have a cheerful and kind disposition. All this makes them ideal pets.

Sleeping positions

Chinchillas, like people, can sleep in the most bizarre positions, some of which even alarm their owners. In most cases, furries prefer to relax as follows:

Sitting . In this case, the chinchilla can simply fold its front legs or lean them on something in the cage. This position seems uncomfortable, but the pet feels quite comfortable in it.
On the side . It is believed that a chinchilla sleeping on its side experiences complete relaxation - it is absolutely happy and satisfied with life, and also understands that nothing threatens it. This position is a favorite for pregnant females.
Curled up . This is how young animals usually sleep. From the outside, fluffies look like little kittens. This pose also indicates a relaxed state of the animal.
Standing, resting your front paws on the bars of the cage . In such a case, it is safe to say that the chinchilla is tense. By falling asleep while standing, the animal does not exclude the possibility of an attack by a predator or other enemy. In this way, the fluffy is trying to save time - in case of danger, he can immediately run away.

If chinchillas are kept together, you can observe how the fluffy ones sleep tightly pressed against each other. This pose indicates a good relationship between animals.

Some pet owners are concerned that chinchillas sometimes sleep with their eyes open or half-open. However, this is quite normal. If your pet's eyes are slightly open, this indicates that he is simply dozing. Most often, a similar picture can be observed during a sharp change in weather conditions. Chinchillas are weather dependent and thus often react to changes in weather.

It is worth noting that if, in addition to open eyes during sleep, the pet exhibits additional alarming symptoms (convulsions, rapid breathing, inappropriate behavior), it must be taken to a veterinary clinic for examination.

Features of care

Chinchillas have long been tamed and feel comfortable in human society. They have a developed desire for socialization, so caring for their pet is more likely to become one of the pleasant worries than a duty.

Chinchilla diet

A balanced diet is the key to chinchilla health.
These animals eat hay, special food, nuts, barberries, rose hips, and dry bread crusts. They love fruits: plums and apples, and will not refuse raisins or dried apricots.

When purchasing food, you need to make sure that the expiration date has not expired, and also study its composition. Hay ensures the normal functioning of the animal’s intestines. In summer, the diet can be diversified with a small amount of hazel, nettle, birch and apple tree branches.

Food is placed in the feeder once a day in the evening between 17.00 and 21.00. The chinchilla also consumes chalk, replenishing the content of mineral elements in its body. You should limit the amount of high-calorie foods, the consumption of which causes obesity.

This negatively affects the reproductive ability of chinchillas.

Bathing

Chinchillas can only swim in sand

To maintain their fur in proper condition, the animals take sand baths. For such a procedure, they need a special container - a bathing suit. This is a plastic or tin container measuring 20x20x30 cm. The bathing suit is placed in the cage twice a week for 30 minutes. It is not recommended to leave the container for a longer period, as the chinchilla may mistake it for a toilet, and the sand will need to be thrown away.

In addition, frequent sand baths dry out the animal's skin. A chinchilla bathing is quite a funny sight. If possible, a transparent container should be used to allow the procedure to be observed. You can make the container yourself from a three-liter jar or pan.

The fur of these animals is highly dense, so it takes a long time to dry. Animals should not come into contact with liquid, as this can lead to their death.

Why does he sleep a lot?

On average, an adult chinchilla sleeps 10-12 hours a day. But sometimes the duration of sleep stretches to 14-16 hours. This is a big concern for novice owners. As a rule, there may be quite understandable reasons for furries resting too long:

age up to 3 months or over 10 years;
meteorological storms;
phlegmatic temperament;
unhealthy diet – containing a large amount of simple carbohydrates in the diet;
too active games and, as a result, overwork the day before;
stress or severe fear.

However, too much sleep can also occur due to pathological reasons. For example, a concussion as a result of a fall or other injuries, as well as certain diseases (anemia, vitamin deficiency, heart attack, stroke, neurological disorders, diabetes).

Therefore, if your pet previously slept normally, and then suddenly switched to a longer rest, you need to contact a veterinarian. Since some of the listed diseases can threaten the life of the animal. The specialist will examine the little patient and, if necessary, select the optimal treatment.

Video on the topic

Experience shows that a chinchilla’s daily routine largely depends on the daily routine of its owners . If during the day the owners are at work and there is silence in the apartment, the animal sleeps peacefully. In the evening the owners return, and he immediately perks up.

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But if you don’t touch the chinchilla, then it will continue to sleep, and its activity will develop closer to the night, when the owners already want to sleep. The most important thing in this situation is to balance the desires and capabilities of both. And find a compromise option.

How to train yourself to sleep at night

Typically, a chinchilla's sleep pattern does not coincide with that of the owner and other family members. This brings significant discomfort to all household members. However, there is a way out of this situation - the fluffy one can be transferred to a “human” daily routine. There are three ways to shift your pet's schedule:

Organize active games for the animal immediately after waking up . This way he will get tired quickly and fall asleep in a few hours. As a result, he will sleep at night with all family members. It is worth noting that in order to develop the habit of sleeping at night, you will have to entertain your chinchilla in the evenings for at least a month.
Extend daylight hours artificially . In simple words, turn on the light in the room with the cage 2-3 hours before sunrise. This will lead to the chinchilla going to bed earlier and waking up earlier. Accordingly, subsequent sleep will also occur earlier. Gradually, in this way, it is necessary to shift the furry's schedule until it completely coincides with the daily routine of the family.
You can “exhaust” your chinchilla by giving it the opportunity to walk around the apartment immediately after getting up in the evening . In this case, the cage will need to be closed so that the pet does not have the opportunity to return to its house and rest. After 3-4 hours of walking in open space, the animal will become very tired. After which you can open the cage. Fluffy will return home and fall asleep without his hind legs.

The listed methods can be used individually or combined. It is worth noting that in order to develop a stable habit of night sleep, consistency is necessary. Even if a chinchilla does not respond to such “training” for a long time, do not despair. Sooner or later, the pet will still get used to the new regime.

If you cannot retrain the animal, under no circumstances should you become irritated or scold your pet. Moreover, punish him. This will lead to a loss of trust on the part of the animal and a deterioration in relations with the owner.

Every chinchilla breeder should know how and how much a chinchilla sleeps and how to properly organize the pet’s sleep schedule so that no one experiences discomfort. The main thing is to act gently and consistently. This will help maintain a trusting relationship with the furry and a favorable psychological environment in the family.

Manifestations of aggression

When under stress, a chinchilla can become aggressive. We once bought a young female, brought her home, put her in a cage, and did not bother her for the first few days so that she could get used to the environment. The animal turned out to be wild; its previous owners did not tame it in any way. When trying to pick it up, the female stood up and shot out a stream of urine. Such an act is the highest degree of aggressiveness in chinchillas. We managed to gain trust with walks on the couch and pumpkin seeds.

Chinchilla bites are not aggressive. Firstly, the chinchilla, like a rodent, tastes everything, including outstretched fingers. Secondly, an attack on a larger creature with an attempt to bite is not typical of rodents. It happens that chinchillas bite each other, showing dominance. Just in case, when handling an animal, do not put your hands near its face.

What can be taught

What is the easiest way to teach a chinchilla:

Get used to your hands
Teach her to sit on your shoulder
Respond to your name
Go to the toilet in a designated place
Several verbal commands such as: “come to me”, “no”, “home”, etc.
Sit on the scales

And on this list are skills that many people doubt are possible to train. But nevertheless, with enough effort, you can teach the animal:

Gopher pose - chinchilla rises on its hind legs when asking for treats
Kiss – you can teach the animal to kiss you when you bring it to your cheek or lips.
Walking only on the hind legs is difficult and takes a long time to learn; rarely does anyone succeed.

Alarm sounds

Chinchillas will sometimes make restless noises at night, most often due to loud or suspicious noises/movements in the room. Chinchillas make this sound at night in the form of short signals, similar to barking, to notify their fellow tribesmen of possible danger.

Most often, a chinchilla makes such sounds at night, when it has only been living with you for a few weeks, and only after a while they will stop when the animal has completely settled into its new home.

Sometimes animals with a difficult past that have experienced a lot of stress will make the sound involuntarily during sleep. It turns out that the chinchilla has terrible dreams at night.

Dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract

Diseases of chinchillas associated with the digestive system are directly caused by violation of feeding rules. This is an axiom. This category includes the following:

catarrh of the gastrointestinal tract;
tympany;
flatulence.

Catarrhal inflammation of the gastric mucosa occurs due to eating low-quality feed, for example, affected by mold, or containing toxic substances. Cathars are distinguished:

Both the first and second types of chinchilla disease have similar symptoms. Animals lose their appetite, feces become liquid, the animal’s fur loses its shine, and exhaustion sets in very quickly.

With acidic catarrh, stools have an acidic reaction, which is associated with fermentation processes and the abundant formation of organic acids in the intestines. The color of the stool is grayish-brownish with an admixture of gas bubbles. The animal defecates very often.

Alkaline catarrh is characterized by putrefactive processes in the intestines. Liquid feces have a dark brown color, a very unpleasant odor and an alkaline reaction.

Tympany (stomach bloating)

Occurs as a result of eating unusual food (for example, fresh cabbage) or a large amount of wet, easily fermented food. As a rule, excessive stretching of the stomach walls under the influence of gases leads to hypotension (weakened motility) or atony (lack of contractions) of the stomach.

The animal is depressed, the abdominal wall is tense and painful. Often the chinchilla lies on its side, moaning. The enlargement of the abdomen is clearly noticeable; when lightly tapping the abdomen, a characteristic tympanic (drum) sound is heard.

In addition to pain, the increased volume of the stomach exerts mechanical pressure on the organs of the chest and abdominal cavity, causing a sharp deterioration in overall health.

To treat tympany, use a solution of lactic acid (in a five percent dilution) at the rate of 3-5 ml per individual. The animal is forced to actively move, which promotes the release of gases. Taking medications orally in case of tympany is ineffective; injections of painkillers and antispasmodics are prescribed to relieve pain.

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Flatulence (bloating)

More often it occurs simultaneously with tympany and has causes and symptoms similar to the latter. Accordingly, treatment for intestinal flatulence is almost the same as for tympany.

Tympany and flatulence can lead to death, and quite quickly. If the acute attack has been relieved, the animal is prescribed a starvation diet for 12 hours, and then for three to four days, fed with a half dose of food, paying special attention to the composition and quality of the diet.

One of the problems associated with feeding is constipation. In this case, the feces become small and dry. The animal hunches over, strains, and sits for a long time with its tail raised. Often, constipation is caused by complete replacement of roughage with concentrates and lack of hay. To facilitate bowel movements, flax seed, which has a laxative effect, is added to the diet. Advanced cases of constipation lead to coprostasis (stagnation of contents in the intestines) or rectal prolapse. If you are unable to cope with constipation in your pet, it is better not to experiment and show it to the veterinarian.

Normal noise while eating

Before buying any rodent, you need to remember that they eat quite noisily, especially at night, when there is absolute silence in the house. Chinchillas are very active at night, so after playing and running around they immediately want to eat.

Chinchillas make a very loud noise at night when:

They chew their house and shelves
They chew on wood and mineral stones
Eating crackers and sweet sticks

After reading this article, I hope that it will be easier for you to distinguish the sounds that your pet makes and if he asks for help, then you will understand it. It is very important to recognize your chinchilla's requests so that its life is comfortable, as a result of which it will make less noise at night and disturb you.

Before buying a chinchilla, you need to remember that the chinchilla will live in a separate room from where the sound will not be heard, or you will have to get used to noisy nightlife. Of course, it is possible to train a chinchilla to sleep at night so that it makes less noise, and we have a separate article about this.

Interesting Facts

These rodents have a well-developed cerebellum, which helps coordinate the movements of the animals. Therefore, they deftly cope with climbing rocks and other obstacles even at night.
The chinchilla's whiskers - vibrissae - are also well developed. With their help, the animal gropes for food in the dark and hard-to-reach places.
Chinchilla ears can detect an enemy at a fairly large distance.
The animal's fur is unique - it is able to maintain the desired body temperature when the weather changes.
Animals can reject fur if a predator grabs it. The new cover grows in a couple of months. The thick undercoat prevents parasites from settling on the animal’s body.
Male chinchillas are easier to tame. The female can be offended if she is not the one picked up first.
These animals are very clean. The animal does not make a toilet near the feeder and water bowl, and its feces do not emit an unpleasant odor.
There is also no unpleasant odor from the animals themselves, since they do not have sweat glands on their bodies.
Chinchillas are easy to train. Simple commands “sit” and “stand” can be mastered by any animal.
They are nocturnal animals, so they sleep most of the day. No matter how much a chinchilla sleeps during the day, you cannot wake it up!

Reproduction

Individuals can be planted upon reaching six months of age. But it is still better to wait until one year of age for more successful mating and gestation. However, simply placing a male in a cage with a female or vice versa is fundamentally wrong. Before doing this, it is advisable to place their cages next to each other so that the animals can first get used to each other's smell. The process must be monitored to avoid injury. If the female is older or has been living in a cage for a long time, then it is unwise to put a male with her. She will simply kick him out of her house.

Signs of pregnancy

One of the most reliable signs is the swelling of the female's nipples. This occurs in the eighth week of pregnancy. In total, the gestation period lasts 100-114 days.

Indirect signs are considered:

absence of heat;
regular weight gain;
increased appetite;
decreased activity;
During pregnancy, females prefer to sleep on their backs.

Caring for a pregnant female

During the gestational period, the most calm and safe environment should be ensured. Closer to the date of birth, it is recommended to take an x-ray to determine the number of offspring. It is better to remove ladders and shelves in the cage. Hay serves as bedding, as it retains and retains heat better. You need to include more protein in your diet and increase the daily dose of feed.

Before giving birth, you should take care of remodeling the cage for the future offspring. The sand bath is removed a week before the birth and returned two weeks after. We need to set up a house for giving birth in a cage.

Childbirth

Typically, from 1 to 4 babies are born within 2 hours. In the normal course of the process, additional help will only interfere. The following are considered harbingers of an early birth: building a nest in a secluded corner using hay, straw and fluff from the sides and abdomen, decreased activity and appetite, stretching and stretching of the back to help move along the birth canal, swelling of the genitals. Labor usually begins early in the morning.

Prevention

To keep the offspring and the female healthy, it is better to mate pets no more often than once a year. During childbirth, you need to prepare disposable diapers, formula and hydrogen peroxide.

Newborn care

Newborn babies are adapted to life outside the womb. Their eyes are open and their skin is covered with fur. If there is a sufficient amount of mother's milk, additional complementary feeding is not required. Weight changes need to be constantly monitored. In general, the female copes with caring for the offspring on her own.