Hello! I am the proud owner of seven chinchillas. Not quite three years ago, I decided to try a new pet and found a standard grey male chinchilla for a good deal, so I jumped on it. I named him Bartholomew after the Flash (sounded like a good chin name to me and I was a bit obsessed with the Flash then), Barry for short. I immediately fell in love with him. After a little while, I decided to double check his gender, just in case. Looking back, I should've checked sooner. His previous owner was kinda sketchy and Barry always acted scared and hated to be held, pet or anything. Having had experience with different rodents before and doing my research, I found that my beloved little guy was a girl. It was then I changed her name to Annie. For two years, it was just me and her. Over those two years, she warmed up to me and now is super friendly and sweet. Last fall, I was feeling guilty about not getting her a buddy. I'd read in many places that chinchillas are social, so I finally decided to get her a friend. That is when I got Wolke (which is german for cloud and pronounced volka), a mosaic male. Annie and Wolke bonded almost instantly. After all the research I had done about introducing them, I was pretty surprised at how well they got along. Obviously, it wasn't long before they were in a cage together. I had anticipated that I would get babies from the two of them, but I hadn't anticipated the wait. I'd read that their gestation period is about 111-128 days, but I was impatient and excited so it felt like forever. It wasn't until April that she finally gave birth to three adorable kits. There were some complications, but due to a vet's help and constant care everything turned out fine. Now, several weeks later, Nutmeg, Ash and Ebony (I didn't realize at the time that she was an actual ebony 
) are weaned off their mother and growing fast. A little while after they were born, I found a pair looking for a new home and it wasn't long before I adopted them into my chinchilla family. Of course, by now all the females are separated from the males, babies and adults alike, but the new pair, a mosaic female-Yuki (japanese for snow) and a standard grey male-Barry (yup, I recycled Annie's original name), were not previously separated. Their previous owners had never separated them unless Yuki was obviously pregnant. Her last pregnancy was missed until they found a dead baby outside the cage. That was back in March and Yuki and Barry were still together at the time. I have them separated now, but with that knowledge, I wouldn't doubt that she is pregnant, especially since she is currently over two pounds. So I now have seven chinchillas, with possibly more to come. They have plenty of space now, but I am getting another cage soon to give them more (since some of them aren't quite finished growing). So that's my story. I found this website right before I got Annie, but I haven't been on here much until she gave birth. I hope to learn more about chinchillas here and possibly even get some friends.
) are weaned off their mother and growing fast. A little while after they were born, I found a pair looking for a new home and it wasn't long before I adopted them into my chinchilla family. Of course, by now all the females are separated from the males, babies and adults alike, but the new pair, a mosaic female-Yuki (japanese for snow) and a standard grey male-Barry (yup, I recycled Annie's original name), were not previously separated. Their previous owners had never separated them unless Yuki was obviously pregnant. Her last pregnancy was missed until they found a dead baby outside the cage. That was back in March and Yuki and Barry were still together at the time. I have them separated now, but with that knowledge, I wouldn't doubt that she is pregnant, especially since she is currently over two pounds. So I now have seven chinchillas, with possibly more to come. They have plenty of space now, but I am getting another cage soon to give them more (since some of them aren't quite finished growing). So that's my story. I found this website right before I got Annie, but I haven't been on here much until she gave birth. I hope to learn more about chinchillas here and possibly even get some friends.
