Any of you that didn’t know yet about Chinchilla? Well, many people many not familiar enough with this animal. Their shape looks like big mouse where their ear is bigger and larger from any mouse own. Chinchilla also rodent animal so that’s why people usually compare them with another rodent animal like Hamster, Guinea Pig, and Gerbille. To increase your knowledge about differences between hamster and another rodent animal we already compare hamster with Guinea Pig and also hamster with Gerbille.
If we compare it with hamster, literally Chinchilla is bigger than Hamster. As appearance, Chinchilla tends similar to mouse or let’s say angora mouse because of their hairy. As posture, they may similar with hamster because they can ‘stand up’ and carry their front feet that become of their hands.
This animal become so famous in Instagram because of their charming appearance. Their cuteness expression brings them to the top popularity rodent pet animal, especially in Japan. Not come from Japan, Chinchilla is endemic animal of America. They are living in cold highlands. They are also as native animal from Andes Mountains in South America. In their wild live they live to colony. Historically, Chinchillas lived in areas that included parts of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile, but today, colonies in nature are only known in Chile.
How’s about their treatment? Is it similar with Hamster? Here are some points for you.
- Living in the sky
They are living as colony and live at high elevations up to 4,270 m (14,000 feet). It is so high and so cold on that elevation so that’s why they are living in the sky. Because of low temperature that make everything cold up stair, Chinchilla didn’t bath with water. They can freeze if they playing with water but still for daily consume, they still need water.
- Volcanic bathing
Because of low temperature that can froze anything including water, Chinchilla didn’t bath using water. They are bathing with volcanic dust of mountain. Mountain will make a dust of their activity so that’s will be using to bath. If you pet them and your home didn’t locate on mountain you can make special dust made of pumice so they will rolling out there.
- Supper cotton hair
Chinchilla’s hair claimed 30 times softer than human’s hair. The density of chinchilla fur also reaches 20,000 square cm of hair. This soft hair they can earn because of their habitual volcanic bath. Their thick hair rejects parasites, such as fleas, and reduces loose hair.
- Industry
Chinchilla’s hair claimed the most high-quality in the world. That’s why people raise them to earn their hair to use as basic ingredients make warm clothes such as coats, jackets, warm hats, scarves, and others. Trade in Chinchilla fur at the international level starts in 16th century. The colour is usually very flat, which makes it ideal for small clothes or large layers, although some large pieces can be made entirely of fur. A single, full length coat made of chinchilla fur may need 150 pelts, because chinchillas are relatively small. Although hunting wild chinchillas is illegal, they are now almost extinct due to continuous hunting. Domesticated chinchillas are still bred for fur.
- As pet
The type of Chinchilla that usually pet in home is Domestic Chinchilla and Silver Mosaic Chinchilla. Domestic Chinchilla are descended from Chinchilla Ianigera, long-tailed chinchillas, and are more common in the wild after other species, chinchilla chinchillas, or short-tailed chinchillas, have been hunted almost to extinction. So, they have thinner bodies, longer tails and bigger ears. Silver Mosaic Chinchilla are popular pets although they need extensive exercise and dental care. Because their teeth continue to grow throughout their lives, and because they do not have the ability to sweat, they need a temperature-controlled environment.
- Costa Rica’s President
Uniquely, there is Chinchilla on Costa Rica’s president’s name. it is Laura Chinchilla. She was born March 28th 1959. She leads and become a president of Costa Rica since May 8th 2010 after being a winner on Costa Rica’s election on February 7th 2010. She is the first female president on that country. Maybe her family so loving to Chinchilla so they use it on her name. Long live, President Chinchilla.
Now we here, the conclusion. As treatment side, Chinchilla relatively far similarity with Hamster. Chinchilla usually raise as industry remind that their hair is the softest in the world. It is different with Hamster where is people raise them in dozen as industry to become a pet without taken anything from theirs.
From shape, Chinchilla is bigger than Hamster. Adult Chinchilla can same as big as three months cat which is it’s really big far from Hamster. Because of their big size, it is impossible to equate them with Hamsters. Both Chinchilla and Hamster has growing teeth so it is matter to give them toy to decrease the growing process.
Their treatment may same each other, but as appearance, utilization, and habitual, Hamster and Chinchilla is pretty different. It is like 65 point of 100 if we can said as score.