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antipodi
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Sat Feb 04, 2006 5:25 pm
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 Introduction to Chinchillas
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Introduction to Chinchillas
Origin
There are two main types of chinchilla, the Brevicaudata, and Lanigera. Both are similar in general appearance i.e. have long back legs, short front legs, and four toes and an underdeveloped thumb, but the brevicaudata has a thick neck and shoulders and is heavily furred with a coarse hair that is lightly grey in colour and often tinged with a yellowish cast. It is the longer of the two types, but despite this it has the shorter tail. It's ears are shorter than those of the lanigera, and it's nose is flatter, giving the animal a stocky appearance. C. lanigera are narrow in the neck and shoulders and lightly furred. Also the fur is very silky and usually medium to dark grey with a bright bluish cast. Their faces are usually pointed and the ears elongated, making them appear very long and lean.
The brevicaudata type is now extinct in most of it's original range, from the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru to northern Chile and Argentina.  Some lanigera still live in Northern Chile, but the species is practically extinct in the wild. Both are protected by their governments, and wild populations are on the CITES endangered species list.
Both species were brought into the United States for breeding purposes (this will be covered later in this section). It was hoped that the two would breed together to produce offspring that were large and blocky, and covered with silky fur. Early attempts to cross the two resulted in sterility in the male offspring, and, since the lanigera produced the best fur the brevicaudata were dropped from most breeding programs. Experts agree that domesticated chinchillas are of the type C. lanigera.
Chinchillas come from the Cordillera and the Andes in South America. They range up to the highest levels including up to the snow line. Here they made their homes in gaps and crevices between large rocks, and covered a wide area down the western side of South America in countries such as Chile, Bolivia and Peru at altitudes ranging from approximately 3,000 feet to as high as 15,000 feet.The cold is not a problem due to their thick fur, which I will describe later. The humidity in such places is very light, rarely above 30%. It hardly rains, with any precipitation occurring as snow in the winter. For this reason, chinchillas do not need an oily, water repellant coat. The ground is stony to sand, and the plant growing period is very short. So chinchillas feed for most of the year on dry berries, roots, dry grasses, and bark. To enable them to utilize this nutritionally very poor diet, they have a very long intestinal tract which tends to be upset by too rich a diet.
Due to the lack of water in their natural environment, chins have evolved a method of bathing which does not involve water, the dust bath. They bathe in dry rock dust, powder themselves thoroughly with it, and then shake it off along with any grease and fur that might stick to it. We simulate this by providing a dust bath every day for their use.
Chinchillas are twilight animals who see well with their large eyes, so they are mainly up at dawn and in the evening. They shy away from harsh light and need a quiet place to hide undisturbed during the day. In the wild they will sleep in hollows, caves, and other similar hiding places. This makes them an ideal pet for people at work during the day. In such households the house is empty during the day, allowing the chin to sleep undisturbed. When everyone returns home in the evening they are wide awake and active in their cage.
In the wild they live in family units and communicate by means of soft bleating. When danger threatens, however, they can emit a loud barking warning which sends the whole family running for cover. When threatened they rear up on their hind legs and spray urine at their adversary, very accurately as I can tell you from personal experience. Young females are prone to this type of behavior, though it does tend to stop once the chin is used to it's new home and owners.
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