The Chinchilla Handbook

By Sharon L. Vanderlip

Native to South America, chinchillas are small mammals known for their luxurious, soft fur and boisterous, playful personalities. They are quiet creatures and very low maintenance pets. However, there's a lot you need to know to keep this long-lived rodent happy and healthy.

This updated edition of the Chinchilla Handbook provides a wealth of information on:

History, including ancestral origins and human interactionsGuidance on choosing the right chinchilla for you and your familyCreating a safe and natural housing environmentDietary needs, including good and bad vegetables, amounts, and the importance of hayUnderstanding behavior and social cuesKeeping your chinchilla healthy - potential concerns and common preventionsPlanning for and raising kits when births are expectedMore

The Chinchilla Handbook and other books in The Pet Handbook series have a large page count and are written, designed, and illustrated with more extensive and detailed coverage of each title's subject pet.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 143800687X
• ISBN13: 9781438006871
• Release Date: July 2016
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.5" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

THE IS THE ONLY CHINCHILLA BOOK YOU EVER NEED

"The Chinchilla Handbook" is the only chinchilla care guide you ever need. This book is very detail about every single behavior that chinchilla have. I have my chinchilla for almost two years, I was been looking around for some chinchilla book to read. This is the ONLY one I recommended!

This book tells you EVERYTHING you need to know!

This book tells you EVERYTHING you need to know! I read this book cover to cover and found it was FULL of interesting facts and information about Chinchillas. I recently took in two chinchillas that the owner could no longer care for. Before I bought this book, I knew nothing. Once I read the last page, I have since been able to teach others about proper Chinchilla care. I HIGHLY recommend this book for every beginner!

Everything About Chinchillas

"The Chinchilla Handbook" makes a great companion book to Dr. Vanderlip's standard, "The Guinea Pig Handbook," by the same publisher. Profusely illustrated by Michele Earle-Bridges to enhance the well-organized, straightforward text, this book covers everything the novice (and veterinarian) should know about chinchilla history, suitability as pets, anatomy, housing, feeding, behavior, health care and reproduction. This comprehensive book concludes with information about color inheritance and the fascinating world of showing chinchillas competitively. A helpful list of chinchilla affinity groups and recommended publications precede the detailed book index. Among the many user-friendly features of the book are the well-organized tables and summary boxes which condense the essential facts about these charming little creatures into easy-to-find bites. The health management aspects of the book point the reader to the most common problems likely to be encountered with chinchillas, and practical advice about avoiding them and deciding when to seek the help of you local chinchilla veterinarian. A great, but compact, book for chinchilla lovers and veterinary staff alike, and a welcome new addition to the Barron's series of pet owner handbooks. It goes alphabetically on my shelf next to Dr. Vanderlip's manual's on "Degus" and "Dwarf Hamsters." Phillip T. Robinson, DVM Dipl. American College of Zoological Medicine