When choosing your future pet, take your time observing the animal in its cage. It should be cheerful and alert. Beware of those that seem withdrawn. Because chinchillas are nocturnal, visit the pet store at night when they're most active.

To assess your potential pet's behaviour, start by inserting your hand through the bars of its cage. It should sniff you and demonstrate curiosity. You can then slide your entire hand into the cage; the chinchilla should climb onto your hand without too much hesitation.

Take the time to touch the animal, because its dense fur can easily hide abnormal thinness underneath. You should also check its droppings in the cage, and inspect its overall appearance.

It's not a good idea to let your chinchilla roam unsupervised in your home. Houses contain a number of hazards, and because chinchillas like to nibble everything in their path, they can easily electrocute or poison themselves.

Chinchillas sleep all day long, so it's important to place your pet's cage in a very quiet room, preferably one not used during the day. You might want to move the cage to another location at night so that your chinchilla won't keep you awake. Chinchillas prefer a cool and dry environment. You can even use a dehumidifier in a basement room that's too damp. Chinchillas handle cold much better than they do heat.

The ideal chinchilla cage is large, with several platforms to allow the animal to climb around easily.

A few available bedding options for lining the bottom of the cage:

1. Wood shavings: avoid cedar
2. Hay or straw: comfortable, but requires frequent changing
3. Newspaper: not very absorbent and dirties feet and fur
4. Corn cob: often taken to be food, which can cause problems

Accessories:

1. Water and food bowls
2. Sand bath
3. Shelter: wood or cardboard
4. Platforms: small, well-fastened wooden boards
5. Branches: attached firmly to the bars of the cage
6. Basket of hay
7. Exercise wheel: suited to your pet's size
8. Toys

A few toy ideas:

1. Paper bags
2. Cardboard boxes
3. Empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls
4. Natural wicker basket
5. Old magazines or books
6. Cat balls
7. Parrot toys
8. Small apple-tree branches, oven-disinfected

Chinchillas have a fragile digestive system, so they have to avoid overly rich foods. Your pet's diet should consist of chinchilla food, hay, water and a small quantity of fruits and vegetables. It's important not to give in to whatever your chinchilla seems to like best: they lack the instinct to choose foods that are good for them.

However, feel free to let your pet eat as much chinchilla food as it wants: it's not the kind of animal that gains weight unnecessarily. Because of their nocturnal rhythm, it's best to feed chinchillas at the end of the day. If you change the kind of food you give yours, go about it gradually, as chinchillas' intestinal flora are fragile and don't take well to sudden changes.

Your chinchilla should always have dry hay at its disposal to help prevent digestive problems and hair balls. Although it's okay to give your pet alfalfa, it should not be the sole component of the hay you give it.

It's very important to provide your chinchilla with fresh water at all times. Some chinchillas will prefer to use a water bottle, whereas others prefer using a bowl. You'll have to find out which one yours prefers.

When you introduce fruits and vegetables to your pet's diet, do so slowly. Some chinchillas' digestive systems are more fragile than others' and won't handle fruits and veggies well. Vegetables are easier to digest, so you should favour them over fruits.

Recommended veggies include asparagus, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, celery stalks, cucumbers, dandelion leaves, endives, escarole (broad-leaf endive), green peppers, parsley, parsnips, radicchio, rapini, romaine lettuce, spinach, turnips and zucchini.

Recommended fruits include apples, bananas, blueberries, grapes, melon, oranges, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, plums, raspberries and strawberries.

Avoid avocados, which are toxic to chinchillas, as well as potatoes, which contain too much starch.

Here are a few ideas for treats you can give in very small servings:

1. Raisins
2. Dried cranberries
3. Oats
4. Sugar-free oat cereals
5. Hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts
6. Sunflower seeds
7. Unsalted, shelled peanuts
8. Seed mixture for parrots or rodents

Foods to avoid:

1. Grape and apple seeds
2. Cherry, apricot, plum and peach pits (fruit of the genus prunus)
3. Chocolate
4. Sweetened foods
5. Alcohol
6. Milk
7. Soft drinks
8. Coffee or tea
9. Mineral blocks for rodents

Chinchillas are proud animals that spend a lot of time grooming themselves. Their rather special fur requires a sand bath. The type of sand used is very specific and should not be substituted with something else.

You should provide your chinchilla with a sand bath several times a week, every day if possible. After 15 or 20 minutes, you can remove the bath from the cage; if you leave it in, it will get soiled very quickly.

The bath itself should be large enough to allow your chinchilla to roll itself in it. Fill it with a few centimetres of sand. If it hasn't been soiled, you can re-use it.