Our planet has long been inhabited by thousands of species of living creatures and plants, many of which have not yet been studied or are poorly studied. Species that have gained particular popularity among humans are listed in the Red Book. As a rule, these are animals with valuable fur, one of which is chinchilla. This animal is used for fur production, but more humane breeding of chinchillas as a business: at home, for the sale of live animals to beauty lovers. Moreover, it brings no less profit, breeding in order to obtain fur.
What are chinchillas
Chinchilla - fluffy animal of the chinchilla family, belongs to the order of rodents. Chinchilla comes from South America. Northern rocky areas at an altitude of 400-5000 m above sea level - their habitat.
The animal reaches 22-40 cm in length, of which 10-17 cm is occupied by the tail. Chinchilla is an animal with a short neck and a rounded head, its body is covered with thick fur of ash color, thanks to which the climate of the mountains is not terrible for rodents. The weight of an adult is 800 g. The eyes of a chinchilla are black in color, with vertically arranged pupils, which allows them to navigate at night. Chinchilla has a mustache 8-10 cm long, rounded ears that reach 6 cm and have membranes, which gave the animal the opportunity to close them when taking sand baths. The skeleton of chinchillas is designed in such a way that the animal can be compressed in an upright position in order to crawl into the narrow slots between the rocks. The front legs are equipped with five fingers, the hind legs - four. The hind limbs are 2 times longer than the front, due to which chinchillas make high jumps. Chinchillas have a developed cerebellum, so they have excellent coordination of movements, which in rocky terrain is essential for survival. Chinchillas live up to 20 years, in captivity, this period is halved.
Chinchilla breeding history
When the Spanish conquerors approached the coast of South America, there was no limit to the admiration for the warm fur clothing of the locals. Chinchillas got their name from the name of the tribe of the Indian people - Chinchas. It was the beginning of the fur trade for delivery to Europe. Wild chinchilla was almost exterminated. All attempts to transfer them from the mountains for breeding ended in failure, because attempts to breed chinchillas at home as a business failed. The conditions for keeping chinchillas were not known at that time.
M. Chapman was the first to succeed in transporting 11 chinchillas to North America. Females brought offspring, after which the development of Chapman’s experience in captive breeding of chinchillas began. North America, Canada, Europe and South Africa successfully began to breed animals. Today, chinchillas are very popular among exotic lovers who breed chinchillas as a business. At home, this is a fairly profitable business.
Chinchilla Breeding Business
In today's economy, to open a business you need to choose still unoccupied niches. Breeding chinchillas at home as a business is a great idea that does not require special skills and a large initial capital.
This type of business has high profitability and quick payback, therefore, if you develop a competent business plan and take its implementation seriously, you can get good income. Are you interested in breeding chinchillas at home as a business? Where to start, how to succeed - you will learn all this briefly. As in any business, the main thing here is patience, accuracy, following all the rules for caring for gentle animals.
In the process of familiarizing yourself with this type of activity, you may find that breeding chinchillas at home as a business provides several opportunities for profit:
- selling chinchillas as pets;
- sale of cubs for breeding;
- sale of animals for the production of fur.
The content of chinchillas at home
Before you start breeding chinchillas at home as a business, you just need instructions for keeping chinchillas in your apartment.
The first thing you need to start organizing a business is the arrangement of the place of residence of animals. Chinchilla is a very active and agile animal that needs enough space for jumping and running. For these purposes, it is necessary to purchase or build a cage with a minimum size of 100 cm in width, 80 cm in height and 40 cm in depth. The cage should be located in a dry and bright room and be made of unpainted metal with a mesh size of 1.5x1.5 cm for the bottom and 1.9x1.9 cm for the walls and ceiling.
It is desirable that the cage has a retractable tray for changing litter. Chinchillas are very clean and have no unpleasant odor, so the litter can be changed once a week.
Breeding chinchillas (as a business at home) has only positive reviews. Opinions are expressed about chinchilla sellers as people who are passionate about their business, not only selling rodents, but also helping customers take care of their new pets.
In the cage, it is necessary to place shelves with a width of 15 cm at different heights so that the animals can move around them. Be sure to also have a house for the rest.
A drinker and feeder should be installed on the front wall of the cage. The best option is drinking bowls and feeders with fastening to the rods, since the bowls placed inside the house are doomed to be turned upside down during the games of the animals. Nearby you need to establish a manger for hay.
In the cage, it is necessary to establish a zone for taking sand baths, but not on an ongoing basis. It is enough to put a bathhouse filled with cialite for half an hour. Excessive swimming in the sand is harmful to the skin of chinchillas.
If you started breeding chinchillas at home as a business, the maintenance should be carried out in accordance with all the rules, one of which is the mandatory presence of an air conditioner. It is necessary to install a thermometer near the animal’s house so that you can adjust the temperature level. Chinchilla does not tolerate heat, this is especially true for the summer period. The comfortable temperature range for the chinchilla is 18-23 degrees, the minimum is 14-15, the maximum is 28, going beyond the minimum and maximum can lead to the death of rodents. Animals do not like the sun and prefer silence.
Feeding
Chinchilla belongs to herbivores, so you can feed it with grass plants and specialized chinchilla feeds. Dry hay and water should always be freely available in the cage. Chinchillas are very fond of feasting, you can give her a slice of dried apple, carrot or hawthorn berries.
Health and Treatment for Chinchillas
Chinchillas are no more susceptible to disease than other animals. However, difficulties may arise due to the narrow profile of doctors. Therefore, often the veterinarian cannot determine what the pet is sick with. Mostly chinchillas are prone to problems with teeth and gastrointestinal tract.
Home breeding
Breeding chinchillas (as a business at home) imposes a very great responsibility on you. Before you bring chinchillas to your home, you need to select worthy parents for future babies.
Choose animals of those colors with which you want to work in the future, do not start colorful animals. Analyze the reputation of chinchilla breeders from whom you can buy adults, find out the purity of lines, pedigrees.
If breeding chinchillas (as a business) at home is your first experience, it is not worthwhile to get a lot of individuals at once, it will be enough to try your hand at one family consisting of a female and a male. Chinchillas are dominated by females, therefore, when meeting future partners, it is better to plant a female with a male.
Pregnancy and Birth Chinchillas
In the wild, chinchillas gave birth and took care of children on their own, and this skill has been preserved for them to this day. Usually, delivery occurs in the morning and is invisible to the owner, as a rule, it is only a couple of hours. The pregnancy of the female lasts about 105-115 days. In one litter, 1-3 cubs are usually born. The female is able to produce offspring up to 3 times a year. A distinctive feature of chinchillas is the birth of pubescent and sighted cubs weighing 35-50 g. Kids can immediately move, and after a couple of hours and run around the cage. But the cubs can be separated from the mother no earlier than the 8-10th week.
Several conditions must be met:
- During the week after the birth of the offspring, the chinchilla cannot be bathed in the sand, so it is better to remove the bath from the cage.
- It is also necessary to provide mom with vitamins - give raisins, almonds, dandelion leaves, nettles.
- For the safety of the kids, you need to remove all the high shelves.
- Protect the cage from drafts.
- Keep the house clean.
Inventory
Chinchilla is an active animal, which needs devices for grinding teeth and things that stimulate curiosity and interest. Therefore, it is important to equip the house of chinchillas with objects that provide the animal with physical activity and serve as a source for entertainment. If you don’t provide the chinchilla with toys, it will start to gnaw shelves, houses, a drinking bowl, this will not only bring additional costs for home improvement, but also cause problems with teeth. Toys should be made of natural material, without sharp corners.
As toys you can use:
- driftwood, thick branches;
- tunnels made of cardboard, wood, plastic;
- hanging toys in the form of wooden balls, whetstones;
- ladders.
Business with pleasure is the key to success
As you can see, the contents of the chinchilla will not cause any difficulties. Not only breeding chinchillas at home as a business, the profitability is high, it is also a very exciting process. If you are a lover of not only exotic, but also small animals, then this activity will appeal to you.