Aging Chinnies?

[ChinchieRoo]

Hi,

I have a 10 year old and a 9 year old chinnie. I was wondering what are the oldest chins that you know of? Also, does anyone have info on aging chinchillas? When are they considered seniors? Does their activity levels change, etc. I would be interested to find out more on this. Thanks.

 

[ticklechin]

I have 4 that are 9-10 years old and one 17 1/2 year old, the only thing I do for the 17 year old is he gets 10ml of critical care a day for his digestion. As far as energy goes, I can't tell the difference betweem my younger rescues and them.

 

[ChinchieRoo]

17 years old! Wow, that is good to hear. I just don't hear too much about older chins. I was wondering if I can expect them to slow down or sleep more. Things like that. Thanks for the post.

I have 4 that are 9-10 years old and one 17 1/2 year old, the only thing I do for the 17 year old is he gets 10ml of critical care a day for his digestion. As far as energy goes, I can't tell the difference betweem my younger rescues and them.

 

[chin_gal]

My oldest chin got to be 12-13 yrs old before I had to get him put to sleep (I found him in his cage dragging his back end, and the vet said at his age and the looks of his problem, it was kindest to put him down). But, up until that point he was just as spry as any of my younger chins. I think they have to be ooooold for them to start really slowing down (I would say upwards of 20 and beyond, I suppose, since Dawn's at 17 is still young at heart). And as far as the oldest chinchilla I've heard of, I think they were 25-26 years old? Yeah, they can live a long time!

 

[Essentia]

My oldest is 8, so he's barely an adult. The oldest I personally knew of was 26, but he passed away 2 months ago.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

One of my rancher friends had an old male that I called "Grandpa", because he was so old. He was born in 1988 and died last fall. He was kept in the chin barn with the rest of the chins, but was retired and not in breeding.

 

[AZChins]

My oldest is 19 going on 20. She hasn't slowed down at all. There's several that are 14 to 17 years old in the chin rooms now, too.

There was a chin that was 28, but that one died years ago. I think that was right. I like the older chins. They're calmer and they make less mess usually. My first chin is going to turn 14 in a couple months and he looks as good as any younger adult chin, and he's the sweetest little fella in the world, too.