Chinchillas are of small sized crepuscular rodents belonging to the Chinchillidae family, almost the size of rabbit. They are found in the Andes Mountains of South America. There are two different species of chinchilla, Chinchilla Lanigera and Chinchilla Brevicaudata. Although they look almost similar, the tail and ears of Chinchilla Brevicaudata is shorter, its shoulder and neck are broader and is found in the wild. The Chinchilla Lanigera species can be kept as pets. Their standard color is grey and they can also be found in ebony, beige and other colors.

Chinchillas are endangered species. They can be kept as domestic pets, but are very shy animals and are not good with small kids. Because of their fragile bone structure, they should be handled with care and that might be the reason why chinchillas don’t like it when people hold them in their hands.

The life period of chinchillas is about fifteen years, when kept in captivity; some even survive till twenty or more years. They are noisy animals and make noises like squeaks, barks and chirps. They make noise to express their moods. They use a sweet chirping sound to attract another chinchilla for mating. They bark loudly when they get aggressive or scared. Chinchillas are social animals and can be kept together. When keeping the chinchillas of opposite sex, they should be neutered. A group of same sex chinchillas also does well, except that there is a chance of them fighting when a younger or older member is introduced in the group.

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As a child, most of us grew up with hamsters or friends who had hamsters. Even our children are fascinated with the small fuzzy creatures. There are many types of hamsters, dwarf, Syrian, Russian, Chinese, and hybrid. The hamster is a burrower so they prefer to have lots of bedding to hide under as well as tubes to create little nests in. The most difficult aspect of hamsters is telling if they are female or male and being wrong. Who has bought two hamsters thinking they were the same gender and ending up with ten hamsters? I certainly have.

A lot of biologists and geneticists use hamsters and other rodents to show genetic possibilities. In genetics, we often discuss the genome and how genes are dispersed in relation to eye color, hair color, and other traits. When you have hamsters as pets you are seeing this first hand. I had one gold hamster and one white hamster. When they bred I ended up with several color traits from gold, white, black, white and black to many more.  Half the fun for kids is seeing the baby hamsters grow up with different colors. It can be a great science project for school as well as having a wonderful pet.

Hamsters are relatively easy to take care of. You can feed them hamster food, vegetables, and little hamster treats to give them a good life. The bedding should be changed weekly or twice a week depending upon how many hamsters you have. The downside to hamsters is their short lives. Most live only a year or two making it difficult on the younger children.

There are lots of hamster accessories from tubes to wheels. Hamsters like other pets need to have exercise so giving them wheels to run on or having a hamster ball to run around the house in is good for them. The tubing and cages come in a variety of colors to add to a child’s fun. You can create straight pathways to other larger home areas or curve them around to reenter the same cage. Most of the caging is plastic and your hamster will try to chew or claw there way free. You will want to monitor their activity when you clean the cage to make sure they are not producing a hole. Some hamster owners go with a metal wire cage with tiny slits to avoid the chewing escape. Your preference will determine the type of accessories you purchase.

Handling hamsters should be kept to a minimum and you should always wash your hand before and after. Hamsters can have a tendency to bite if they are not handled at least once a day or if they become scared. Be cautious with little children.

Hamsters are a lot of fun for all ages whether you have a budding scientist or just want an easy pet your child can care for. You will want to make sure you feed your hamster properly by not over feeding them while maintaining proper exercise. When your hamsters procreate, you will want to separate out the mother and children from the rest of the crew. A cautionary note before concluding this article: Dwarf hamsters are very susceptible to infections with cedar chips because it can tear holes in their tiny mouths.

Degu belongs to the family of rodents. They are very friendly and intelligent pets when compared to other rodents. They are hassle free and demand less maintenance. Some people compare degus to chinchillas, squirrel and even gerbils. They have a tweed brown color and have a long tail with brush like hair at the end. The tail is nearly one to two third of the body’s length. They use it to maintain balance while climbing and while walking they keep it in upright position. Their belly is creamed color and there are circles around their eyes. Their ears are surprisingly big as well as their whiskers. They hinder the growth of their claws by nibbling on them, so they the claws don’t require grooming. Degu’s forelimbs are longer than their hind limbs. They are born with yellow teeth that turn orange after reacting to the chlorophyll present in plants, which also turns their saliva into orange.

They are originally found in Chile and are exported to other countries. There are some import restrictions on degu in America, so it is uncommon to find degus at pet shops, but they can be found in pet stores, all over Europe. Initially other countries brought them not as exotic pets but to conduct laboratory experiments. They do not have the ability to digest sugar, so they were used to test diabetes.

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Poor Exotic Pets. Pity those who got stuck in overcrowding conditions. Those inconsiderate owners should be punished!

Look Out Cat Owners. Is your Pet Cat having the same symptoms?

Check out this video report on a rehabilitative program involving pets which helps young patients to recover faster.

Well I not really against this move to allow their dogs to ride on boss but the thing is dog owners must be responsible enough to train their dogs to behave properly. Fines and penalties should be in place to punish those who let their dogs misbehave.

A good move by the Thailand authorities. Hope this will prevent and deter from irresponsible dog owners from abandoning their pets.