The importance of water in the life of a chinchilla

For the life of any living being, the most important factors are air, drink and food. This is what is primary for survival.

How long can a chinchilla live without water and food

If a chinchilla can live without damage to health for about 3 days without food, it can do without water for more than a day. These are approximate options.

You should not experiment with animals, checking the correctness of the given options. You can not leave a rodent without food, and even more so, without drinking, for no reason.

The only reason for the forced starvation of the animal can be a violation in digestion – diarrhea. And then at this time it is recommended to give the animal hay without restrictions.

There is no reason to deprive the animal of drinking. Moreover, you need to take care of a sufficient amount of fluid during the period of illness, in the heat.

With the forced deprivation of the animal of drinking (during transportation), you can give the rodent a slightly dried apple. A little liquid in it will allow the chinchilla to hold out for a while.

But you can’t get too carried away with apples – they can provoke intestinal relaxation.

How much water does a chinchilla drink per day

There is no exact data on how much a rodent should drink per day. The norm for each individual animal is individual, it depends:

• from age;
• activity;
• ambient temperature.

Chinchilla puppies drink very little. The owners may not notice how much the amount of liquid in the drinker has decreased. Thus, the animals mislead the owners that they do not drink at all and are absolutely healthy. The drinker should always be in the cage.

Sedentary chinchillas drink less than active animals. The same applies to sick rodents.

In the hot season or when the animal is in a heavily heated room, the chinchilla drinks a lot of water, in winter, autumn and spring – less.

The approximate average amount of drink consumed per day by one animal is from 10 to 40 ml.

Checking how much the animal drank is easy. To do this, put a mark on the drinker in the morning, check the remains the next morning. You should not take readings during the day – these are animals of a twilight lifestyle, they often leave drinking and eating for the night.

What water to give a chinchilla

Some owners believe that only boiled water should be used to feed a pet. This is not true. There are no microbes in boiled water, but there are almost no useful substances in it either.

The best water for chinchillas:

• purchased bottled, intended for human drinking;
• cleaned with a filter;
• well;
• spring.

Important! In no case should you give your chinchilla fluoridated water. Not everything that is useful to a person is not harmful to an animal.

Purified water by reverse osmosis must be mineralized by installing a mineralizer on the filter. Otherwise, from such a drink there will only be harm. Too much purified water washes away minerals from the body of the rodent, which are necessary for it to function properly.

Why does a chinchilla not drink water from a drinking bowl

Chinchilla is an animal that reacts to any changes in life with stress. A change of place, a new cage, a change of partner, a noisy scandal in the family or a holiday – all this can provoke the animal to refuse food and drink. Experts advise what to do in this case:

1. If the owner is sure that the chinchilla has not been drinking water from the drinker for a day, you need to offer her some water from a spoon.
2. If the rodent does not want to drink from a spoon, you can force him to drink from a syringe. But this is in extreme conditions, since the animal can experience even more stress because of this.
3. You can offer the animal a dried apple – a little liquid will enter the body with the fruit, and when the rodent calms down, it will again begin to drink from the drinker.
4. If the animal does not experience stress, but is simply still small or was previously watered from a bowl, you should accustom the chinchilla to a drinking bowl. To do this, it is enough to remove the drinking bowl, wait a few hours and show the chinchilla how the drinker works: make the water flow out of it. Chinchilla quickly understands how to use this device.

Video: what kind of water can be given to chinchillas