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Chinchillas are naturally playful and cheeky little pets, but this wonderful friendly nature will only come out if you set up your Chinchilla’s living environment so that it is as happy as it can be. A depressed Chinchilla does not make a good pet! Part of making your Chinchilla happy is setting up their cage with some basic chinchilla cage accessories.

The bare minimum that your Chinchillas needs are a durable and safe exercise wheel, a water bottle that’s easy to clean, a food dish and hay rack that they can not be knocked over, cage toys and an adequately sized cage that is properly placed within your home.  Here is a list of items I use:

• Chinchilla Shopping List
• Chinchilla Cages
• Chinchilla Food
• Chinchilla Food Dish
• Chinchilla Accessories

Size of Chinchilla Cage

Without a doubt, this is the most important tip for Chinchilla cages. Just like human beings we all want our house to be as large and as big as possible, money permitting of course! Well, Chinchillas are absolutely no different, so depending on the money you are able and willing to spend on your Chinchilla cage, it is always advisable to buy the biggest, largest size of Chinchilla cage your money will buy you. Chinchillas don’t necessarily need a mansion but they are very active pets who love to jump from branch to branch.

Choosing the Best Chinchilla Wheel

No matter what the size of Chinchilla cage you have buying a Chinchilla wheel, also known as Chinchilla exercise wheel enables your Chinchilla to run and run until it’s little legs are absolutely exhausted. A Chinchilla wheel in effect makes even a small Chinchilla cage bigger by enabling the Chinchilla to exercise itself and remain fit and healthy. What happens with the Chinchilla wheel is that it spins and the Chinchilla runs on top of it or inside it. The wheel is ideal if you are unable to allow your Chinchilla outside its cage very often. (note: Chins need out of their cage every day for a minimum of 30 minutes!)

Bottles and Feeders

Make sure you have a bottle which allows your Chinchilla to drink as often as it cares to. Keeping your Chinchilla hydrated is absolutely essential for its health and well-being. Remember that Chinchillas will chew anything in sight so glass bottles are best or metal tipped bottles that hang on the outside of the cage. For feeding your Chinchilla, make sure that the food bowl is ceramic or glass as once again a plastic one will soon be eaten by your Chinchilla which actually could kill it if it ingests the plastics. Ideally attach hopper-style feeders to the outside of the cage for ease filling, changing and cleaning.

Placement of the Chinchilla Cage

Many people mistakenly put their Chinchilla cage where they can see it on a regular basis. Many people end up putting their cage in the lounge or living room where they spend much of their time. This environment is actually bad for your Chinchilla because there is lots of noise either from your family or from the television. In all honesty, the best place for your Chinchilla cage is in a quiet area where they may have peace and quiet and not suffer from stress and shocks. Don’t forget to not put the cage in a cold, overly hot or draughty area. Chinchillas appreciate a regular temperature which is not susceptible to regular changes.

Chinchilla Toys

Once again Chinchillas can certainly be like human beings. As human beings, we love to play and be entertained. Your Chinchilla is the same. So once again when it comes to your Chinchilla cage make sure the contains a number of toys and activities to keep your Chinchilla stimulated and busy. There are a whole host of accessories which you can buy for your Chinchilla cage. Chew toys are especially good because your Chinchilla does need to grind its teeth down, so these are practical as well as for pleasure. Look for safe-wood chew toys, hanging parrot toys with bells, tubes, boxes, and swings. There are many more, but that should get you started. If you are unsure what is or is not safe-wood for your Chinchilla, please read “What Are Some Chinchilla Safe Wood for Chews, Shelves, And Toys”