Chinchilla less

Hello! I am new to the forum (and to chinchillas) but not to forums in general. I spend a lot of time on aquarium and hermit crab forums because I have keep 4 freshwater aquariums ranging from 10 to 29 gallons, and one 40 gallon hermit crab tank.

I work at small veterinary hospital where I basically feed and walk the animals and keep the place clean. Unfortunately, I don't get a lot of hours, so I am looking for a second job at the moment. I have been trying to save up for a car, and am currently somewhere around $1500, and I am still learning to drive haha.

Anyway, the reason why I am telling you all this is because I have a very important decision to make! Someone nearby is selling baby chinchillas ( here http://williamsport.craigslist.org/grd/4666527248.html ) and I have always wanted one. If I am going to get a chinchilla, I want to start out with a younger one so this is probably a good deal for me.

I know someone that has a male who is about 3 years old, that I babysit occasionally, but I have no real experience with chinchillas besides that so I will be doing a lot of research and asking a lot of questions if I decide to get one.

What I am here for, is to ask if I should get one, in my current position. I am only 18, working on my second job, taking online college classes starting next year. My parents are not together, so I go back and forth between their houses every few days. I have fish tanks at both houses so I am always doing something involving animals.

Would a chinchilla be ok with that? If I were to be gone for a few days at a time? I know they like to be handled and be out of their cage, which I would definitely do when I am home. So basically, the chinchilla would be out and played with for a few days at a time, and then on the days I'm not there, I would just have my siblings checking on him/her until I felt comfortable with them getting it out. I could "chinchilla proof" my room so he/she could get out and run around with me while I'm taking care of my fish or doing whatever else.

So I can spend the money (even though I probably shouldn't) and I can make sure it's being taken care of properly (because I hate when people buy animals and then mistreat them), but I don't know if I can give it a ton of attention every single day if that's what they need.

I would appreciate any input here because my parents aren't really helping. My stepmom loves the idea because we have been talking about it for a while, my mom doesn't think I need to spend anymore money, and my dad is in between.

So what do you think? Or rather, what would you do?

I would say, as long as it has lots of stuff to do in its cage, and some form of human interaction daily, be if it's your siblings, parent, or yourself, I would think it would be just fine. If I were you, I'd get two of the same gender so they can keep each other company while not having to worry about babies. And they live a long time, and I don't think you'll be living with your parents for the next 20 years haha so it's not like they'll have to endure it forever.

Would it be best to wait? Perhaps. I think you'll be even more prepared once you're on your own and with more income. But I also think now you could handle it. And it will have company from your family vs. when you're on your own and you're the only one.

I hope that helped!!

My sense of logic kicked in between now and earlier when I was all excited about the baby chinchillas I found. I think it probably is a better idea to at least wait until Christmas time or sometime next year. By then I should have my second job and know for sure if I will be able to handle one.

I contacted the person selling the babies and I am going to ask her if she might have some more babies later on when I am more prepared. I'm not sure if she is an actual breeder, or if she just let them breed once.

Until then, I'll just do all the research I can and save up more money. So I will probably be asking a lot of questions here for a while.

I think in your current situation you should wait one getting a chin, you are really at a cross road in your life right now, still living with your parents but getting into the adult world. Chins can live 15-20+ years, do you know where you will be living in even 10 years time?
They may not be that expensive to buy, and day to day costs aren't bad (if you stick to basics), but to property get it set up costs several hundred dollars $300-500 easily. You also need an ac unit where they are being kept (chins need the temp below 75 F), which if you don't already have one adds on to the cost. You also want to make sure you have money aside for the vet since chins are exotics you have to pay for an exotic vet which is more then a normal one ($30-100 for a normal visit depending on the vet). An emergency visit can easily run into the hundreds to thousands of dollars.
This is an older link so the prices are quoted a little low, but gives you a fairly good run down of cost to expect http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5679

I'd advise you to also do lots of research on this forum, before getting a chin, to make sure you fully know what you are getting into. I'm not trying to scare you away from them, it's just they are a lot more expensive and live a lot longer then any other pet rodents so it's something to consider.

They don't need a ton of attention everyday or even to get out of cage time everyday, but their social needs are similar to a parrot. They are highly intelligent for a rodent, so they at least need to be talk to everyday, and it's not advised to leave them more then 24 hours without someone checking on them. Most do not like to be handled, but do enjoy out to cage time, many a little to much and don't want to go back in their cage which is at odds with the not liking to be held, lol.

Just to throw my own experience in, I am personally glad I didn't have the opportunity to get a chinchilla before I did. Getting out on your own is HARD, and pets make it way harder.

In addition to costing money few of us have much of in our teens, they require care we may not have time to give. I say this because, as Amethyst said, chinchillas live a LONG time. It may just be inconvenient now, but what happens when you're working to support yourself with more than one job. Or if you go to college (which you totally should), what happens if the dorms don't allow animals? Can you find enough work to support yourself and an animal in an apartment while you go to school?

Chinchillas are wonderful animals, but I would personally stick to fish until you're established. Then you'll be able to get whatever you want!

I agree that I should wait.

I have 4 fish tanks and 1 hermit crab tank that I take care of and put alot of my money into. If anything is going to make it difficult to move, it's going to be them haha. Plus, my hermit crabs will probably be with me for another 10-20 years. They can live just as long as a chinchilla.

As for college, I will be taking online Aquaculture classes starting in January, and even if I do go to college later on, I'm going to make sure it's somewhere nearby so I don't have to leave my fish and crabs!

So technically, a chinchilla wouldn't make it any harder on me, but between two jobs, and all of my aquarium maintenance, I don't know if I would have the time to give it all the attention it would need.