Hi Sarah! Welcome to the Chinchilla Club Forum!
It is so sad to loose a little one, yet, they are best remembered by all the good times and memories they have left us with over the years.
Volley lived to be nearly 8 years old. I don't really know if that's a good or bad lifespan for a black velvet. Every website seems to have different life expectancies for these little guys.
You will find there is a difference of opinion on most everything when it comes to chinchillas. There are some basic rules that are close to the same in most cases, but then there are those who guess at answers because they do not want anyone to know they don't know something. The best ones to listen to are the old ranchers ... ones that have been in the business for 30 + years ... they know all the rules, tricks and needs for chinchillas ... BUT ... you also have to consider, they were not raising 'pets' ... their chins were kept in cages and away from the 'every day life' of humans ... those chins were not exposed to all the things that pet chinchillas are today.
Information is changing almost daily. Pet owners tend to take their chinchillas to the vet for attention ... the ranchers could not afford to run one to the vet everytime it sneezed ... they took care of the chins as a group ... their goal was and is, what ours should be ... to produce healthy happy chinchillas with the highest possible quality you can get. A chinchilla of high quality, that is healthy and is fed a good chinchilla pellet, hay and fresh water will live the longest and be the happiest it can be. They must have fresh air and good air circulation. A certain amount of light and a clean, calm home to live in ...
these are the basics all chinchillas need.
Now, chinchillas are exposed to other animals, different foods, a totally different atmosphere and a different set of germs, animals and circumstances than the ranchers' chins.
A chinchilla is capable of living past the age of 20, but, the average life span, is between 8 and 15 years of age ... usually, depending on it's diet, exercise, care and the habits of the ones who care for it.
Stress can take the life of a chinchilla as quickly as most anything else. Feline distemper is highly contagious to chinchillas and will usually kill within 24 to 36 hours. Chinchillas are vegetarians by nature, not by choice, their systems are not made to digest meat ... meat and meat by products will kill a chinchilla.
Nuts contain natural oils that a chinchilla can not digest, causing it to have a fatty liver, which kills.
The lack of enough fiber, to many treats and lack of exercise all combined together will also cause a fatty liver.
The signs of a fatty liver forming, can also be due to a process the chinchilla goes through, as it's systems are shutting down and it is dying.
The more I learn, the more I find there is to be learned. I've studied them for well over a decade and still have so much more to learn ... I don't think anyone knows it all, but all we can do is keep trying and studying.
There are three books that are full of
correct information you can count on to be right ... "
The Joy of Chinchillas" by the research team on California Chins at
http://www.cachins.org/ , "
After Forty Years ..." by Alice Kline, at:
http://www.mutationchinchillas.com/ and "
The Rancher's Handbook" at:
http://www.empresschinchilla.com/index.asp. They may seem a little pricey at first glance, but they are worth their weight in gold ... especially when it comes to your chin's health and life.
Jo Ann
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Topic: Hi there (Read 3592 times)