Chinchilla love to chew. As well as helping to keep their continually growing teeth short it helps keep them occupied.

If you are buying boredom breakers always check what they are made of. Not all woods are safe for chinchillas.

Don't be limited to buying your boredom breakers, you can make your own. Always use safe wood and if glue is required ensure it is non toxic.

If you have access to willow, apple sticks etc it's cheaper than buying them, it just requires some prep and you're time.

Preparing the Wood

Once you've found your wood, you want to make sure your chinchilla can handle it. Break up the wood or twigs into pieces of no more than 5 inches. Any more than that and your pet might struggle to get a grip on it.

Boil the wood for 15 to 20 minutes, and then scrub off the tannins and remaining detritus with a toothbrush or scrubber. You can also soak the wood in hot water and then scrub it, repeating until the water runs clear. Or combine the two processes,

Once the sticks are clean, spread them out evenly on a towel and allow them to air dry. An optional step once the sticks are completely dry is to place the sticks on a flat, foil-lined cookie sheet and heat them in the oven.

As for how much wood to give your chinchilla, the amount is up to you and your pet. He'll happily chew as much wood as you give him.

A cat tree can easily be adapted for chin play time. A rocky out crop isn't really viable in you chin room but with a little time and imagination a cat tree can make a great alternative. Support posts can be cut to a more suitable length. The end caps can be removed quite easily if you score through the glue first. Then the posts can be cut using a handsaw. You just need to stick the cut end of the sisal back down and reinsert the end cap. Chins love to jump so this allows for that. You can hang boredom breakers and attach hides. Always attach a cat tree to a wall though, so as it doesn't tumble and risk injury to your chin.

Over time, having observed how my herd interacts with their habitat, I've made numerous changes and upgrades. Most recently, I replaced the cat tree with "the play tower" I designed and made it from chin safe kiln dried pine. It has lots of levels, hanging bordem breakers, forage box, dark corners and lots of entrances and exists. My boys absolutely love it. Valium can usually be found sleeping in it. I made it will full access for easy cleaning and access to my chins by having the front hinged to fully open up. On the side I fitted 2 perspex domes that the boys love to look through. I found them on Amazon, they are being sold for installation in garden fencing for dogs to look though. Best of all they were a bargain at just under £6 each.

A dust bath is essential for your chinchilla to keep clean, and they love it. Almost anything can be used as a bath, but be warned.....you'll find dust everywhere after.

Again, this was another element I made myself. I sourced a pine bread bin from a free site. I thoroughly washed it and disinfected it. Then I removed a section of the front and replaced this with a perspex sheet. In the one end I cut a hole the same size as a chin safe tube. Having a tube helps remove excess dust from your chin.

Never leave a dust bath in a chinchillas free play area, they will use it as a potty and over use can lead to dry skin issues.

Although they are hoppers and not runners, some chinchilla do enjoy a quick razz in a wheel. Womble will razz for brief periods several times a night, whereas Prozac thinks its just for pooping in and Valium, well, lets just say it would be too much effort for him. Ensure the wheel has a diameter of 14 inch or bigger, it can damage their spine curving it backwards. Either metal of wood are ideal. Never a plastic one, nor a ball, as used by hamsters. Your chin will damage their spine and is likely to over heat.

If your chin stops playing with a certain boredom breaker, don't throw it away, put it up and replace with something different, they're probably just bored with it.

"Since chinchillas are very active animals, it is preferred to house them in a large enclosure, such as a room of their own instead of a small cage. If kept in a cage, the chinchillas should have a large area replete with shelves or other obstacles on which to play. The cage should be taller than it is wide, as the chinchilla's natural environment is very mountainous. Chinchillas also need other forms of stimulation, such hanging wooden toys, large wheels (over 16 inches in diameter and not constructed of mesh, as chinchilla legs and toes can easily get caught), or paper towel tubes. Wooden sticks and chew toys are also good options, but conifer woods (especially cedar) should be avoided because of high content of resins that are toxic for chinchillas. Birch, willow, apple tree or manzanita are all safe woods for chinchillas to chew.^[16] Plastic in the cage should be avoided at all times. Chinchillas are often voracious chewers, and any ingested plastic can cause blockage in the intestines. As with most small animals, red cedar bedding should never be used due to its toxic nature.^[17] The cage must have good air circulation. The chinchilla lacks the ability to sweat; therefore, if temperatures get above 25°C (77°F), the chinchilla could get overheated and may suffer from heat stroke"  Ref Chincare.com chinchilla exercise and environmental stimuli.

Always do your own independent research and form your own opinions, many articles can be contradictory, which can be confusing. But remember - It's your pet, so it's your choice. Breeders can be a wealth of information. However, their main concern is business and profit. If you ask a breeder where they learnt chinchilla don't need much space or the ability to exercise, or theyll die if they do, most will tell you "a breeder", this perpetuates the myth. Most breeders don't have time or space to encourage enrichment, believing what they preach (based purely on what another breeder had told them) only serves to validate their own chinchillas environment and lack of enrichment. Some to the point "it's just an animal, it doesn't need any more".

I have encountered many breeders who in one breath claim "they don't need it, you can't compare them to wild chinchilla", but then they'll tell you that chinchilla are "shy, flighty, must have small safe place to hide and sleep".....these are natural traits of a chinchilla, inherent. Breeders tend to contradict themselves readily, picking and choosing for the breeders own benefit the natural traits and needs of a domestic chinchilla that are convenient for the breeder. In all my research I have never come across any recorded evidence to prove chins only require a small-ish cage, that they can die from too much exercise, that fur chewing is hereditary, in fact all available scientific research proves the contrary. Any living animal needs to be allowed to express it natural instincts in order for it to lead a happy, healthy life. 

You are welcome to come and join us on Facebook,  we are developing a group for like minded chin parents to share stories, pictures, videos and safe, friendly advice, where no one is berated for believing chins require more than a 3 x 2 cage and a few ledges. Just seach for us, The Individualistic Chinchilla.

The most important thing to take away with you, regardless of your own opinions is to enjoy your chinchilla, you'll never have a dull moment with these fat flumps in your life.

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