Advice for 8 year old chin?

[valrociraptor]

Last night I realized my chin, Sandy, is 8 years old! I thought she was only 6.

I've read that this is starting to get old for a chinchilla, taking into consideration that she is a rescue. She was 5 when I got her and I have had her for 3 years.

She doesn't seem to be behaving any different or anything like that, so I'm not worried it is quite her time. But I was wondering if there was any advice on how to care for an "old" chinchilla or if I should just keep doing what I have been doing.

 

[tunes]

Just do what you are doing. I have a chin here who is 20 years old, several who are in their teens. They don't do anything any different than the other chins do. If you notice that Sandy is slowing down, maybe not able to jump quite as well, then I would consider going to a one level cage and maybe shorter out of cage times if she tires out, other than that, just keep on keepin' on.

 

[valrociraptor]

okay thank you!

 

[EternallyCynical]

As Tunes said, just keep truckin'. My boy's around eight and he's got no health issues and jumps around and makes messes like a little hurricane, no signs of slowing down. Chins usually live a good long time, so eight isn't THAT old when you consider how long many live. I prefer to think of my fuzzball as 'middle aged'. He certainly doesn't act like he's feeling the years.