General information about chinchillas. Chinchillas

A description of a chinchilla will help you write an essay and learn a lot of interesting things about these animals.

Description of chinchilla

The chinchilla is a rodent of the chinchilla family. The body of chinchillas is covered with soft, thick hair of gray, ash or white. More than 40 were bred in the 20th century different types chinchillas, whose coat color has more than 250 shades.
Chinchillas have a round head and a short neck. Coarse hairs grow on the tail. The body length is 22-38 cm, and the tail grows 10-17 cm long. The weight of a chinchilla reaches 700-800 grams, while females are larger and heavier than males.

At night, chinchillas can easily navigate thanks to their huge eyes, which have vertical pupils. The whiskers of mammals grow up to 10 centimeters in length. Chinchilla ears are round in shape and have a length of 5-6 cm. In the ears there is a special membrane with which the chinchilla closes its ears when taking a sand bath.

The chinchilla's skeleton can be compressed in a vertical plane, so the animals can crawl into the smallest crevices. The chinchilla has short but rather strong legs with small, tenacious claws. Claws help free-living chinchillas navigate the rocks in the crevices of which they live. Chinchillas have very strong teeth, like all rodents.

How long does a chinchilla live? The life expectancy of a chinchilla reaches 20 years.

Where does a chinchilla live? Its natural habitat is the desert highlands of the Andes in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.

What does a chinchilla eat?

Like all rodents, the chinchilla eats seeds, cereals, herbaceous plants, lichens, bark, moss, legumes, cacti, shrubs, and insects.
Domestic chinchillas are fed dried foods: apples, carrots, nettles, hay, dried dandelions, nuts, dried fruits, as well as special foods. You should not feed your chinchilla many fresh vegetables and fruits, as this can lead to stomach problems.

Chinchilla breeding

Chinchilla couples are monogamous. At the age of 7 months, the animals reach sexual maturity. The female can give birth to offspring up to three times a year. On average, two cubs are born, but sometimes more. The duration of pregnancy is about 115 days. The male helps the female care for the chinchillas. Small chinchillas are born with open eyes, with fur, and can move around on their own.

Chinchillas were hunted for their beautiful fur and their population declined. IN at the moment There are chinchilla farms where animals are raised for their fur. The chinchilla has also become a popular pet.

Chinchillas see poorly, but they are well oriented thanks to their sense of smell;

The chinchilla does not have sweat glands, so it does not smell of anything;

An adult chinchilla has orange teeth. Cubs are born with white teeth, which change color as they age.

Chinchillas do not bathe in water, but in sand or dust: they do not stay on water and immediately get wet;

Chinchillas can jump up to 2 meters and even higher, and they can also sleep upside down, vertically and horizontally;

Chinchillas do not shed, but they may shed their fur, especially when attacked.

Among the variety of pets, chinchillas in many ways have a number of advantages. Firstly, their fur does not have an unpleasant odor or shedding. Secondly, they do not make noise, are clean, affectionate and friendly. Thirdly, chinchillas are very beautiful.

Description and features of chinchillas

Beautiful, furry little lumps that came to us from the south of America are chinchillas. Although they live in the southern part of the continent, hot weather tolerated very poorly. At home, animals live in the mountains, in gorges and rocks. Moreover, their skeleton is so complex that they can easily, in case of danger, fit into any narrow crevice.

Anyone who has seen a chinchilla in person at least once will not remain indifferent. Her neatly folded body, with beautiful soft fur. When you touch it, you want to touch it, stroke it, how pleasant it is to the touch.

At the same time, it is so thick that natural environment its habitat, the animal never freezes. After all, the optimal temperature for a chinchilla’s life is fifteen degrees Celsius. Interestingly, many hairs grow from one hair follicle.

photo of a chinchilla in nature

Chinchillas come from the rodent family. But presumably, porcupines in general are considered their ancestors. These small animals grow up to half a kilogram. The body length is no more than thirty centimeters, and one third of it is a beautiful squirrel tail. Females are slightly larger than their male counterparts.

Chinchillas have short fur, slightly longer on the tail. As standard, they gray. There are also white and black colors obtained by crossing.

The animals have a very beautiful, small and neat muzzle, with dark small eyes. A small nose, and a constantly moving mustache. Chinchillas' ears, almost round, like two locators, are located on the sides of the head.

The body is neat, round, soft. The hind legs are much larger than the front legs. With their help, a chinchilla can jump very high from a standing position. They always sit on their hind legs.

Their forelimbs, much smaller in size, are tucked in front, towards each other, with well-defined toes. The chinchilla eats with the help of its front paws, carefully taking with its fingers what you offer.

Domestic chinchillas are very kind, vulnerable animals, with an easy-going character. They quickly get used to their owner, and even wait for him to come home from work, demanding attention.

Therefore, anyone who buys such a miracle should be prepared to pay a lot of attention to their pet. They have one weak organ, the heart. Therefore, animals cannot tolerate loud sounds or sudden movements. They can simply die in fright, from a broken heart.

Chinchilla price

If you decide buy a chinchilla, there will be no problems with this. There are a lot of breeders now. There are also entire chinchilla farms. When purchasing, be sure to request a chinchilla card. It records the number of crossings and with whom. Because, having acquired a brother and sister, do not expect healthy offspring.

Price on chinchillas different, the most inexpensive, these are gray standards. They cost three, four thousand rubles. Next come the beige ones, a little more expensive. A white Wilson can be bought for 5-7 thousand.

Well, the most expensive and rare ones are black Wilsons. They sell from seven thousand and above. Since Wilsons are bred by crossing, it is not a fact that if you take a white or black chinchilla, you will have the same offspring.

Chinchillas at home

You need to immediately decide why you are getting a pet. For different purposes, different ones are needed chinchilla cages. If you want a friend for yourself, you need a large cage. Chinchillas need space. And it is desirable, even a two-story one, for the animal to run and jump, since at night it is very active. With many stairs, playhouses.

If you buy an animal for breeding offspring, you will need a dorm cage. After all, one male needs three, or even four girlfriends. The structure must be built in such a way that the male can safely move to each female. And under no circumstances should they meet in the same room, otherwise fights and injuries cannot be avoided.

Chinchilla care generally minimal. They are fed once a day, evening time. Since chinchillas are nocturnal animals, they sleep all day. There must be a drinking bowl in the cage, only with boiled water.

Food plate - make sure it is ceramic and not plastic. Since your pet can easily chew through the plastic, swallow it and die. Hay feeder. Edible chalk is a must for their body.

A pebble for grinding down teeth, because chinchillas’ teeth grow constantly. And if you don’t grind them down, they will grow to such a size that the animal won’t even be able to eat. Also, a small birch or aspen log.

The chinchilla will happily chew on it. A sand bath, but it needs to be placed in the cage once a week, where the fluffy will bathe. Then remove. And the filler, it is sold at any pet store, wood pellets or large sawdust. The litter is changed once a week. The chinchilla is very neat and goes to the toilet in one place.

Home chinchilla eats more grass food. Her diet consists of eighty percent grass, and twenty percent grain. Do not feed your chinchillas leaves or fruits from stone fruit trees as this will kill them.

The little animal will eat it with pleasure, but only one piece of the apple. You can give one nut or a handful of unroasted seeds once a week. She will also like a piece of bread. They should always have hay in their cage.

At home, chinchilla very quickly gets used to its owner. When you see him, stand at the edge of the cage, take hold of the bars with your front fingers and look to be picked up. If you don't give them maximum attention, they can become sad and die.

Fluffies happily sit in their arms, not even thinking about biting their breadwinner. Their fur has no odor and does not fall out. Let your pet go for a walk. But be sure to be careful not to go near electrical wires.

The animal’s diet should contain vitamins:

Vitamin A (retinol) - Important for maintenance good vision in chinchillas, mucous membranes and immune system. Found in bananas, pumpkin and raw carrots.
B vitamins in legumes and cereals are necessary for good metabolism, growth and development of the animal.
Vitamin C ( ascorbic acid) is one of the most important vitamins necessary for maintaining and promoting health. IN large quantities it is found in rose hips and sorrel.
Vitamin E helps maintain healthy skin and gonads. Contained in almonds and walnuts.

Minerals and trace elements are also very important for chinchillas.

Calcium useful for strengthening teeth and bones. It also helps the body resist infections and diseases. It is found in large quantities in nuts, dried fruits, and seeds.

Potassium – an essential element for the cells of the body, and also normalizes the functioning of the liver, heart muscles, strengthens blood vessels and capillaries. Contained in dried apricots, sunflower, dandelion leaves.

Zinc necessary to maintain strong immunity. Ensures normal development and functioning of the gonads. Contained in sprouted wheat grains, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and legumes.

Iron Primarily required for the production of red and white blood cells.
Found in beans, peas and green leafy vegetables.

Magnesium affects energy processes in all organs and tissues. Sources include nuts, oatmeal, and buckwheat.

Folic acid for chinchillas it is important for the formation of milk in lactating females. Contained in beans, wheat, vegetables, dried fruits, oatmeal.

Baby chinchilla

Chinchilla fur

Of course, it is considered the most beautiful, warm and one of the most expensive chinchilla fur. It serves as a canvas for various fur products– hats, mittens, chinchilla fur coats.

Since wool does not fall out and does not cause allergies, the skins are in high demand and products made from them have a high price.

Some types of chinchilla coloring

At home, chinchillas are mainly bred with the following colors:

standard gray, the most common color of chinchillas, in nature, by the way, the animals are exactly this color. Color saturation varies from light to dark gray.
black velvet. This color is characterized by black diagonal stripes on the front legs, black back and head, and white belly. It is not recommended to cross animals of this color with each other.

white, distinguished by white fur, dark “mask” on the head, dark gray diagonal stripes on the front legs

beige. Fur color varies from light to dark beige. pink to dark red eyes and pink ears, sometimes with black dots.

homobeige, light cream fur with a pinkish tint, light ears pink color, eyes with a light blue or white circle around the pupil.

ebony, the resulting individuals can be light, medium, dark, very dark. Chinchillas of this color are distinguished by a beautiful shine and particularly silky fur.

purple color is quite rare. The animal's fur is dark lilac, its belly is white, and diagonal dark stripes are located on its paws.

Sapphire has a soft blue tint of fur with the presence of ripples.

Chinchilla diseases

Gastrointestinal tract disorder. The reason for this is inappropriate feeding. Its symptoms are diarrhea, constipation, and bloating. This disease occurs as a result of feeding moldy food, poor quality food, or poor quality water.

Cages on a chinchilla farm

Urolithiasis is most often observed in adult males. The symptom is bleeding inflammation of the bladder.

Conjunctivitis in animals can occur due to mechanical damage, exposure to various foreign bodies, dust), chemical (disinfectants, smoke) or bacteriological.

Dental diseases. It has been established that as animals age, they develop dental problems, especially tooth growth and periodontal disease. Since chinchillas’ teeth grow throughout their lives, they must be able to grind them down on a hard surface; the absence of “grinding” elements leads to gum wounds and difficulty in feeding.

Where do chinchillas live, what family do they belong to, do they have family ties with a rat or squirrel, and ? Such questions are often of interest to fans of these funny little rodents.

Chinchillas are cute, funny and cute animals that many people keep as pets.

Due to their thick iridescent fur, fluffy animals have also become the object of attention of fashionistas who want to show off in a luxurious chinchilla fur coat. Therefore, in nature, the number of these amazing animals is catastrophically declining.

choosing a cage for a furry pet is one of the most important stages. The rodent's home should be spacious and roomy, with several shelves and made of durable, safe material;
the cage must be equipped with a feeder, drinking bowl and house. If the size of the cage allows, you can design it additional accessories(hammock, ladders, tunnels and toys);
one more important point is . They feed mainly on cereals and hay, so you should choose high-quality grain or granular food for your pet;
The Indians believed that the chinchilla animal did not drink water at all, but this was not true. Although rodents drink little, there should always be fresh, clean water in their cage;
once or twice a week, furry rodents are given sand baths so that the animal’s fur looks attractive and well-groomed.

Important: unlike other domestic rodents, chinchillas live a very long time. With proper care, a pet can live fifteen to twenty years.

Chinchilla lifestyle

IN wildlife these rodents lead night image life and at home, the animal is active only in the dark.

And if you have a furry pet at home, get ready for the fact that you will have to adapt to such night mode day.

Some owners try to teach the animal to sleep at night and stay awake during the day, but experts do not recommend this. If you do not allow your chinchilla to rest and sleep during the day, your pet will become nervous and irritable, which can lead to stress and psychological disorders.

Do chinchillas have intelligence?

Fluffy rodents can confidently be called smart and quick-witted. Many chinchillas skillfully manipulate their owners, begging them for a treat or another walk around the apartment.

Cunning pets take advantage of the fact that the owner cannot resist the offended expression on their face and rush to please the pet with a tasty treat or open the cage. Knowing about this weakness of the owner, many chinchillas put on an unhappy and distressed look, and the smarter ones even grab the bars of the cage with their fingers, begging to be released into the wild.

Features of character and behavior

Chinchillas very rarely show aggression

And the behavior of two animals, even from the same litter, can be radically different.

Like people, chinchillas are divided into four types based on their personality.

Cholerics

These are nimble, agile and active animals. During the day, animals sleep, but they have very light sleep and the rodent wakes up from the slightest rustle. During waking hours, the pet inquisitively explores its surroundings and all objects that interest it. Pets of this type are very timid, and if the animal is frightened, it will rush around the entire cage in panic, sweeping away everything in its path.

Sanguines

Chinchillas belonging to this type are also active and curious, but not timid and react more calmly to loud sounds and rustles. Rodents do not like to sit in one place for a long time and will happily walk around the apartment if the owner allows it.

Phlegmatic people

Phlegmatic rodents are calm and balanced. They spend the whole day in their house, preferring sweet sleep to active games. Even during waking hours, phlegmatic pets move slowly and lazily, freezing in one place for a long time and looking at everything around with an attentive gaze.

Melancholic people

These are the calmest and quietest animals. They are so timid that when there is a loud sound, they can hide in the farthest corner of the cage and not come out for half a day. It is not advisable to let melancholic rodents out for walks throughout the house, since the animal will not run, but will find a dark and quiet crevice, from where it will be very difficult to get it out.

Sanguine chinchillas are the easiest to tame. Animals of this type are more trusting and have excellent memory. Phlegmatic animals can also become tame and willingly sit in the owner's arms, although it will take a long time to tame them. But animals belonging to the choleric and melancholic types are quite difficult to tame, since they are wary of people and are constantly distracted by extraneous sounds.

Important: females are more intelligent than males, they are much easier to tame and quickly get used to their owner.

Features of collective and solitary keeping of animals

In a chinchilla family, the female is dominant

Chinchillas feel great alone and can live their entire lives without a mate.

But, if you decide to have several furry pets, then follow these rules:

For breeding, it is advisable to buy an already formed pair.
A female and several males can get along well in one cage.
Do you plan to breed these rodents? Then buy two males, as the boys will get along well with each other.
Two females will never get along in the same cage and fights between females cannot be avoided, therefore.

Reproduction

They become sexually mature at the age of eight months.

The female carries the cubs for one hundred to one hundred and ten days. Given such a long pregnancy, the chinchilla is not allowed to give birth more than twice a year so that her body has time to recover.

Most often, two babies are born to rodents; rarely, there can be three or four babies in a litter. Female breastfeeding newborn babies breast milk. If the mother does not have enough milk, the cubs are transferred to artificial formula. Babies are introduced to a full-fledged adult diet when they reach the age of two months.

In conclusion, we can say that these are extremely sweet, shy and vulnerable creatures. Therefore, knowing everything about chinchillas, one can only wonder how it is possible to exterminate these amazing and wonderful animals because of a fur coat or gloves.

Video: who are chinchillas

Who is a chinchilla: what does this unusual animal look like and what is it like as a pet?

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The chinchilla is an active rodent with a beautiful fluffy tail, large beautiful eyes, and beautiful thick fur. Warm fur protects the animal from sudden changes in temperature and cold, as they live in the highlands of the Andes. Chinchillas are wonderful pets for pets. They are smart, quick-witted, playful, funny, energetic. They are easily tamed and get used to people, and are also very clean. The chinchilla is listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and natural resources. They are bred for fur production on specialized farms.

About the breed:
If you take a first glance at a chinchilla, it may seem that you are looking at a mouse, only of a larger size. But they have nothing to do with the mouse family. Their beauty has become a determining factor in the popularity of this species of animal. Chinchillas have beautiful fur, shiny and thick, shimmering with bluish silver. The animal has huge beautiful eyes. If we also remember their intelligence, friendliness and unpretentiousness, it turns out that you simply cannot find a more ideal pet for the home!
Peculiarities appearance chinchillas are explained by natural necessity. Large ears - to hear the approach of the enemy, long mustaches - for orientation in space, thick fur - to protect from frost, a very sensitive nose - also for safety. But chinchillas have poor vision; other senses compensate for it. Therefore, the chinchilla is very nervous and timid. Mostly they live up to 10 years. Chinchillas have been little studied, so if a pet gets sick, not every veterinarian will be able to understand why it happened and how to deal with it. Therefore, it is better not to let your rodent get sick.

Titles in other languages:
Chinchilla - Chinchilla (Latin).
Chinchilla lanigera is a species of Coast Chinchilla (Latin).
Chinchilla Brevicaudata - species of Large short-tailed chinchilla (Latin).

Classification:
Species: Chinchilla lanigera, Chinchilla Brevicaudata
Genus: Chinchillas
Family: Chinchillas
Superfamily: Chinchillas
Suborder: Porcupines
Order: Rodents
Infraclass: Placental
Class: Mammals
Type: Chordata
Kingdom: Animals.

Chinchilla habitat:
Habitat: Andes Mountains South America. But you can also find it in other parts of the mainland, in northern Chile and western Argentina. They settle on rocks because there are rocky crevices there that chinchillas use as burrows. The mountains are for them familiar environment habitat, so they are remarkably adapted for mountain life. Chinchillas are nocturnal animals. They navigate well in the dark thanks to their senses. In case of danger, chinchillas hide in narrow crevices. Dates can fit into the narrowest ones, since their skeleton can shrink vertically. But not much is known about life in nature, about chinchillas. Basically, all knowledge about their behavior comes from observations of domestic animals.

Description of chinchilla:
The external indicators that nature has endowed the chinchilla with are for their own safety. Large locator ears warn of impending danger and catch sounds; Whiskers - replace vision, help recognize objects and determine the distance to them. Chinchillas have a well-developed cerebellum, which is why they calmly and deftly move through the mountains. Poor vision is compensated by quick reaction. Although chinchillas have poor eyesight, they are endowed with the ability to see well in the dark.
The body is 20-40 cm long, and big ears-6-7 cm, and the mustache can reach 10 cm or more. The hind legs can grow twice as long as the front legs, have four fingers, and the front legs have five grasping fingers. In the wild, chinchillas live in small colonies. Their funny feature is the way they wash themselves. They use sand for washing volcanic ash. They have a special membrane in their ears that covers their ears when swimming.
Chinchillas' fur is soft, silky and thick. One bulb will grow up to 60-70 fluffy hairs. The hair length reaches 4 cm.

Chinchilla nutrition:
The places where chinchillas live in nature do not indulge in a variety of food. They feed on plants that grow in the mountains. They eat cacti, moss, lichens or small insects. Food can be the bark of trees or shrubs. At home, food can be varied. You can update it only once a day, that's enough. Chinchillas are fed grain or special granulated food, which are sold in stores. It is recommended to feed chinchillas coarse hay. From cereals you can feed buckwheat, rolled oats or stale bread. It is useful for pregnant females to give a hawthorn or rose hip berry a day. The water must be fresh and changed every day. Pregnant females become picky when it comes to food. If she gets tired of a certain type of food, she can simply throw it out of the cage. In this case, you need to update your diet. A boring type of food can be returned to the diet only after three weeks, not earlier. Their delicacy is a piece of apple, hibiscus, hawthorn berries, and carrots.

Chinchilla breeding:
A chinchilla begins to bear offspring at the age of six months, approximately 2-3 times a year; babies in a litter range from 2 to 5, usually 2-3. A chinchilla bears offspring for 3.5 months. After a week, newborn babies can already feed on their own, at 1.5 - 2 months. the cubs can be removed. Chinchillas are monogamous and form a stable married couple. During selection, chinchillas are sometimes kept in colonies in which there are 4 females per male. A pregnant female is very restless, so there is no need to disturb her. The offspring of chinchillas are born pubescent, sighted and with erupted teeth.

Chinchilla content:
It is better to choose a large cage for a chinchilla, about 0.5 m cubed. Chinchilla loves space. The cage should have toys, shelves, and climbing equipment. The tray with bedding can be changed once a week, because chinchillas do not have a bad odor. To prevent an active chinchilla from turning over the bowl and drinking bowl, it is better to screw them to the walls of the cage. You also need to buy a container with sand for bathing for the chinchilla. Just put her in the cage for half an hour no more than twice a week. The temperature to the cage also deserves special attention. In the heat, a chinchilla can die. She is very timid, so protect her from sudden movements, sharp sounds and other irritants. Only in good conditions and with caring owners a chinchilla can live for many years. A chinchilla takes much less time to care for than a dog. She is very unpretentious.

In northern Chile.

Chinchillas inhabit dry rocky areas at an altitude of 400 to 5000 meters above sea level, preferring northern slopes. Rock crevices and voids under stones are used as shelters; in their absence, the animals dig a hole. Chinchillas are perfectly adapted to life in the mountains. Chinchillas are monogamous. According to some reports, life expectancy can reach 20 years. Chinchillas lead a colonial lifestyle; They eat various herbaceous plants, mainly cereals, legumes, as well as mosses, lichens, cacti, shrubs, tree bark, and insects from animal food.

Chinchillas live in colonies and are active at night. Their skeletons compress in a vertical plane, allowing the animals to crawl through narrow vertical cracks. A well-developed cerebellum allows the animals to move perfectly on rocks. Large black eyes, long whiskers, large oval ears are not an accident: this is an adaptation to twilight image life.

Exploitation of animals as a source of valuable fur on the European market and North America was started in the 19th century, there is still a great need for skins to this day. One fur coat requires about 100 skins; chinchilla products are recognized as the rarest and most expensive. In 1928, a chinchilla coat cost half a million gold marks. In 1992, a chinchilla fur coat cost 22,000.

The long-tailed chinchilla is kept as a pet and bred for its fur on numerous farms and private rabbitries. The fur of the small or long-tailed chinchilla is grayish-bluish, very soft, thick and durable. The fur of large or short-tailed chinchillas is of somewhat poorer quality.

Now the rodent is protected in its original habitats in South America, but their range and numbers have been greatly reduced.

Biology

The biology of chinchillas in natural habitats has been little studied; basic data on behavior, reproduction, and physiology are obtained in artificial conditions. Most of the data relates to long-tailed chinchillas due to their mass breeding in captivity.

The chinchilla's head is round in shape and its neck is short. The body length is 22-38 cm, the tail is 10-17 cm long and covered with hard guard hairs. The head is large, the eyes are large, the ears are rounded 5-6 cm, the vibrissae are 8-10 cm. The hind limbs are four-toed, twice as long as the front five-toed ones, and allow high jumps. The toes on the front paws are grasping. There are 20 teeth, including 16 molars, which grow throughout life. The ears of chinchillas have special membranes, with the help of which the animals close their ears when they take sand baths; Thanks to this, sand does not get inside. Chinchillas are characterized by sexual dimorphism: females are larger than males and can weigh up to 800 grams; The weight of males usually does not exceed 700 grams. Chinchillas are adapted to nightlife: large black eyes with vertical pupils, long (8-10 cm) vibrissae, large rounded ears (5-6 cm). The chinchilla's skeleton is able to compress in a vertical plane, which allows animals to penetrate narrow crevices in rocks. The forelimbs are five-fingered: four grasping fingers and one little used.

4 premolars - small molars (one on each side of the upper and lower jaw).
12 molars - large molars (three on each side of the upper and lower jaw).

The molars, located at the back of the jaws, together with the premolars, form a group of cheek teeth. Its elements in the chinchilla have a wide, ribbed chewing surface for crushing and grinding food.

Molars are formed by transverse plates without cement (crowns of 2 parallel plates). The cross section of a molar has the shape of a square. The molars are set deeply in the jaw bones. The total length of these teeth is 1.2 cm (root length - 0.9 cm and crown height - 0.3 cm). The upper and lower molars are located opposite each other, touching the entire surface. Between the incisors and premolars there is a wide toothless gap - diastema; there are no fangs. This arrangement of teeth allows rodents to gnaw through relatively hard materials and spit out particles of the latter through the diastema, without even taking them into the mouth. Adult chinchillas have orange teeth, but baby chinchillas are born with white teeth, which change color as they age. Newborn chinchillas have 8 molars and 4 incisors. Incisors grow throughout the life of animals.

Teeth formula

Since in different species of mammals the teeth are homologous, that is, the same in evolutionary origin (with rare exceptions, for example, in river dolphins teeth more than a hundred), each of them occupies a strictly defined position relative to the others and can be designated serial number. As a result, the dental set characteristic of a species can be easily written down in the form of a formula. Since mammals are bilaterally symmetrical animals, such a formula is compiled only for one side of the upper and lower jaws, remembering that for counting total number teeth, you need to multiply the corresponding numbers by two. Expanded formula (I - incisors, C - canines, P - premolars and M - molars, upper and lower jaws - numerator and denominator of the fraction) for a set of chinchilla teeth, consisting, as mentioned earlier, of four incisors, 4 premolars and 12 molars, formula looks like this:

I	C	P	M
1	0	1	3
1	0	1	3

The sum of the numbers in the formula is 10, multiply by 2, we get 20 - full number teeth.

Type of dental system

Most animals have two changes of teeth - the first, temporary, called milk teeth, and the permanent one, characteristic of adult animals. Their incisors and premolars are completely replaced once in a lifetime, and molars grow without deciduous predecessors. But some mammals (non-edentates, cetaceans) develop only one change of teeth throughout their lives and are called monophyodont. Chinchillas are also classified as monophyodonts.

Reproduction

Chinchillas are mostly monogamous. Chinchillas mate at night. The fact of mating can be determined by indirect evidence: scraps of fur and the presence in the cell of a waxy elongated flagellum 2.5-3 cm long. C to a greater extent Reliability, the fact of pregnancy of a female can be determined by a change in her weight; the female’s gain compared to the previous weighing is 100-110 g every 15 days. Starting from the 60th day of pregnancy, the female's nipples swell and her abdomen enlarges. Pregnant females are fed high-quality, fortified and varied food.

10 days before birth, the nest box is filled with bedding (hay or straw) and turned over with the hole facing up so that the female does not scatter the bedding. A few days before birth, the bathing suit with sand is removed from the cage. The male (for his safety and the female’s peace of mind) is removed from the cage or separated from the female by a partition. During the prenatal period and during childbirth, the room must be quiet; taking the female is prohibited. As birth approaches, the female moves little and does not touch the food. Most often, the female gives birth in the morning from 5 to 8 o'clock. Childbirth lasts from several minutes to several hours and occurs without outside help. During difficult births, the female is given sugar in the form of syrup 2-3 ml or sand 1.5-2 g 3-4 times a day. The cubs are born covered with down, with erupted teeth and with open eyes and on the first day they are able to move quite freely. One-day-old chinchillas are weighed and their sex is determined (in females the anal and genital openings are almost nearby, and in males they are at a much greater distance). Newborn chinchillas have a live weight of 30-70 g. Older females can give birth to more cubs than younger ones (up to 5-6 instead of 1-2). A day after giving birth, the female can be covered by the male. During the year, a female can cover herself and bring cubs 3 times, but a third covering is not advisable, since the female’s body is greatly depleted. As a rule, the female produces milk on the day of birth, but there are also delays in the appearance of milk (up to 3 days). Therefore, if the cubs are sitting hunched over, with their tail drooping, you need to examine the female. If she does not have milk, the chinchillas are placed with a milk nurse or fed artificially with a special mixture for feeding kittens. During the first week, the cubs are given water every 2.5-3 hours.

A few days after birth, the nest box is installed with the entrance to the side so that the cubs can freely crawl out of it (for feeding). The lactation period lasts 45-60 days, at this age the chinchilla chicks are approximately weaned; they can be weaned at 30 days of age, especially if the cubs are fed with kitten complementary formula after weaning. Young animals grow quite quickly, month-old cubs are almost three times their one-day weight and weigh 114 g, at 60 days - 201 g, at 90 days - 270 g, at 120 days - 320 g, at 270-440 g and adults - 500 d. As a rule, transplanted young animals are kept in ordinary cages of several heads, females and males separately. Polygamous breeding of chinchillas is also often found, when there are 2 - 4 females per male; with age, the number of females can reach up to 4 - 8.

First mention

In 1553, the animal (apparently mixing with mountain viscachas) was mentioned in literature - in the book “Chronicle of Peru” [ ] Pedro Cieza de Leon . The name chinchillas comes from the name of the Peruvian province Chincha(Peru).

Breeding in captivity

The founder of captive breeding of chinchillas was the American engineer Mathias F. Chapman. In 1919, he began searching for wild chinchillas, which by that time were extremely rare. He and 23 hired hunters were able to catch 11 chinchillas over 3 years, of which only three were females. In 1923, Chapman managed to obtain permission from the Chilean government to export chinchillas. He managed to adapt the chinchillas to the lowland climate and transport them to San Pedro (California). These animals became the founders of a new species of artificially bred fur-bearing animals. At the end of the 20s, the number of chinchillas increased annually by 35%, in the early 30s - by 65%. In the 50s, chinchilla farms existed in most developed countries. Since the beginning of the 90s, there has been a trend not only in keeping chinchillas as pets, but also in breeding.

Life cycle

The chinchilla reaches sexual maturity at 7 months (some later) and is capable of producing 2-3 litters per year, each of which has from 1 to 5 puppies, with an average of 2-3 puppies. The duration of pregnancy is 111 (110-115) days. They live up to 20 years, and successfully reproduce up to 12-15 years. With an increase in offspring from 2-3 to 5 puppies at a time. A chinchilla has three pairs of working nipples, which are enough for raising 3 puppies (1 pair is absorbed). Chinchillas are born with teeth erupted, sighted and covered with primary hair. From 5-7 days they begin to eat food. Young animals are separated from their mother at the age of 50 days, when they have a live weight of 200-250 g. Chinchillas stop growing by 24 months, when they reach a live weight of 450-600 g. The strongest and most fertile rodents, distinguished by high-quality hair, are left for the tribe . When grading (at 6-7 months), the chinchilla is assessed by physique, live weight, constitution, quality of hair and its color.

From 14 weeks of age in puppies (approximately), it is possible to determine the quality of the hair coat and predict it at 6-7 months. When selecting at 6-7 months, young animals with a live weight of at least 400 g, active, healthy, with normal development and thick gray hair with a bluish tint are left for the tribe. After the chinchilla reaches sexual maturity, hunting in females is repeated throughout the year with a certain cyclicity, on average every 30-35 days (with fluctuations from 30 to 50 days) and lasts 2-7 days. Animals exhibit the greatest sexual activity from November to May, with a maximum in January - February. The onset of heat in a female can be determined by her behavior and the condition of the external genitalia. The female becomes more active in the hunt, and the male begins to court her, snorting loudly. The female refuses the food and scatters it. The female's external genitalia swells and turns pink, and an open genital slit becomes noticeable.

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Notes

Literature

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Burton, J. 1987. The Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of the World. The Stephen Greene Press, Lexington, MA.
Grzimek, B. 1975. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York.
Jimenez, J. 1995. The Extirpation and Current Status of Wild Chinchillas, Chinchilla lanigera and C. brevicaudata. Biological Conservation 77:1-6.
Nowak, R. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th Ed., Vol II. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Kiris I. B. Chinchilla // Tr. VNIIZhP. Kirov. 1962. Issue 19. -WITH. 259-268.
Kiris I.B. Experience of keeping a chinchilla in an enclosure // Sat. works of VNIIOZ. Kirov.1971. Vol. 23. - pp. 49 - 91.
Kiris I.B. Reproduction of chinchilla. // Materials for scientific research. Conf., dedicated to the 50th anniversary of VNIIOZ // Abstracts of reports. Kirov. Environmental issues. 1972. Part 2. - P. 86 - 89.
Kiris I. B. Materials on the embryonic development of the long-tailed chinchilla // Sat. n-t inf. VNIIOZ. Kirov.1973. Vol. 40/41. - P. 97-102.

An excerpt characterizing Chinchillas

– Which book?
- Gospel! I have no.
The doctor promised to get it and began asking the prince about how he felt. Prince Andrei reluctantly, but wisely answered all the doctor’s questions and then said that he needed to put a cushion on him, otherwise it would be awkward and very painful. The doctor and the valet lifted the greatcoat with which he was covered and, wincing at the heavy smell of rotten meat spreading from the wound, began to examine it scary place. The doctor was very dissatisfied with something, changed something differently, turned the wounded man over so that he groaned again and, from the pain while turning, again lost consciousness and began to rave. He kept talking about getting this book for him as soon as possible and putting it there.
- And what does it cost you! - he said. “I don’t have it, please take it out and put it in for a minute,” he said in a pitiful voice.
The doctor went out into the hallway to wash his hands.
“Ah, shameless, really,” the doctor said to the valet, who was pouring water on his hands. “I just didn’t watch it for a minute.” After all, you put it directly on the wound. It’s such a pain that I’m surprised how he endures it.
“It seems like we planted it, Lord Jesus Christ,” said the valet.
For the first time, Prince Andrei understood where he was and what had happened to him, and remembered that he had been wounded and how at that moment when the carriage stopped in Mytishchi, he asked to go to the hut. Confused again from pain, he came to his senses another time in the hut, when he was drinking tea, and then again, repeating in his memory everything that had happened to him, he most vividly imagined that moment at the dressing station when, at the sight of the suffering of a person he did not love, , these new thoughts came to him, promising him happiness. And these thoughts, although unclear and indefinite, now again took possession of his soul. He remembered that he now had new happiness and that this happiness had something in common with the Gospel. That's why he asked for the Gospel. But the bad position that his wound had given him, the new upheaval, again confused his thoughts, and for the third time he woke up to life in the complete silence of the night. Everyone was sleeping around him. A cricket screamed through the entryway, someone was shouting and singing on the street, cockroaches rustled on the table and on the icons, in the autumn a fat fly beat on his headboard and near a tallow candle that had burned out. big mushroom and standing next to him.
His soul was not in a normal state. Healthy man usually thinks, feels and remembers simultaneously about a countless number of objects, but has the power and strength, having chosen one series of thoughts or phenomena, to focus all his attention on this series of phenomena. A healthy person, in a moment of deepest thought, breaks away to say a polite word to the person who has entered, and again returns to his thoughts. The soul of Prince Andrei was not in a normal state in this regard. All the forces of his soul were more active, clearer than ever, but they acted outside of his will. The most diverse thoughts and ideas simultaneously possessed him. Sometimes his thought suddenly began to work, and with such strength, clarity and depth with which it had never been able to act in healthy condition; but suddenly, in the middle of her work, she broke off, was replaced by some unexpected idea, and there was no strength to return to it.
“Yes, I have discovered a new happiness, inalienable from a person,” he thought, lying in a dark, quiet hut and looking ahead with feverishly open, fixed eyes. Happiness that is beyond material forces, beyond material external influences per person, the happiness of one soul, the happiness of love! Every person can understand it, but only God can recognize and prescribe it. But how did God prescribe this law? Why son?.. And suddenly the train of these thoughts was interrupted, and Prince Andrei heard (not knowing whether he was in delirium or in reality he was hearing this), he heard some quiet, whispering voice, incessantly repeating in rhythm: “And drink piti drink” then “and ti tii” again “and piti piti piti” again “and ti ti.” At the same time, to the sound of this whispering music, Prince Andrei felt that some strange airy building made of thin needles or splinters was erected above his face, above the very middle. He felt (although it was difficult for him) that he had to diligently maintain his balance so that the building that was being erected would not collapse; but it still fell down and slowly rose again at the sounds of steadily whispering music. “It’s stretching!” stretches! stretches and everything stretches,” Prince Andrei said to himself. Along with listening to the whisper and feeling this stretching and rising building of needles, Prince Andrei saw in fits and starts the red light of a candle surrounded in a circle and heard the rustling of cockroaches and the rustling of a fly beating on the pillow and on his face. And every time the fly touched his face, it produced a burning sensation; but at the same time he was surprised by the fact that, hitting the very area of the building erected on his face, the fly did not destroy it. But besides this, there was one more important thing. It was white by the door, it was a sphinx statue that was also crushing him.
“But maybe this is my shirt on the table,” thought Prince Andrei, “and these are my legs, and this is the door; but why is everything stretching and moving forward and piti piti piti and tit ti - and piti piti piti... - Enough, stop, please, leave it, - Prince Andrei begged someone heavily. And suddenly the thought and feeling emerged again with extraordinary clarity and strength.
“Yes, love,” he thought again with perfect clarity), but not the love that loves for something, for something or for some reason, but the love that I experienced for the first time, when, dying, I saw my enemy and still fell in love with him. I experienced that feeling of love, which is the very essence of the soul and for which no object is needed. I still experience this blissful feeling. Love your neighbors, love your enemies. To love everything - to love God in all manifestations. You can love a dear person with human love; but only an enemy can be loved with divine love. And from this I experienced such joy when I felt that I loved that person. What's wrong with him? Is he alive... Loving with human love, you can move from love to hatred; but divine love cannot change. Nothing, not death, nothing can destroy it. She is the essence of the soul. And how many people have I hated in my life. And of all the people, I have never loved or hated anyone more than her.” And he vividly imagined Natasha, not as he had imagined her before, with only her charm, joyful for himself; but for the first time I imagined her soul. And he understood her feeling, her suffering, shame, repentance. Now for the first time he understood the cruelty of his refusal, saw the cruelty of his break with her. “If only I could see her one more time. Once, looking into these eyes, say..."
And piti piti piti and ti ti ti, and piti piti - boom, a fly hit... And his attention was suddenly transferred to another world of reality and delirium, in which something special was happening. Still in this world, everything was erected without collapsing, a building, something was still stretching, the same candle was burning with a red circle, the same sphinx shirt was lying at the door; but, besides all this, something creaked, there was a smell of fresh wind, and a new white sphinx, standing, appeared in front of the door. And in the head of this sphinx there was the pale face and sparkling eyes of the very Natasha about whom he was now thinking.
“Oh, how heavy is this incessant nonsense!” - thought Prince Andrei, trying to banish this face from his imagination. But this face stood before him with the force of reality, and this face came closer. Prince Andrei wanted to return to the former world of pure thought, but he could not, and delirium drew him into its realm. The quiet whispering voice continued its measured babble, something was pressing, stretching, and a strange face stood in front of him. Prince Andrey gathered all his strength to come to his senses; he moved, and suddenly his ears began to ring, his eyes grew dim, and he, like a man plunged into water, lost consciousness. When he woke up, Natasha, the same living Natasha, whom of all the people in the world he most wanted to love with that new, pure divine love that was now open to him, was kneeling before him. He realized that it was a living, real Natasha, and was not surprised, but was quietly happy. Natasha, on her knees, scared but chained (she could not move), looked at him, holding back her sobs. Her face was pale and motionless. Only in the lower part of it was something trembling.
Prince Andrei sighed with relief, smiled and extended his hand.
- You? - he said. - How happy!
Natasha, with a quick but careful movement, moved towards him on her knees and, carefully taking his hand, bent over her face and began to kiss her, barely touching her lips.
- Sorry! - she said in a whisper, raising her head and looking at him. - Forgive me!
“I love you,” said Prince Andrei.
- Sorry…
- Forgive what? - asked Prince Andrei.
“Forgive me for what I did,” Natasha said in a barely audible, broken whisper and began to kiss her hand more often, barely touching her lips.
“I love you more, better than before,” said Prince Andrei, raising her face with his hand so that he could look into her eyes.
These eyes, filled with happy tears, timidly, compassionately and joyfully lovingly looked at him. Natasha’s thin and pale face with swollen lips was more than ugly, it was scary. But Prince Andrei did not see this face, he saw shining eyes that were beautiful. A conversation was heard behind them.
Peter the valet, now completely awake from his sleep, woke the doctor. Timokhin, who had not slept all the time from pain in his leg, had long seen everything that was being done, and, diligently covering his undressed body with a sheet, shrank on the bench.
- What is this? - said the doctor, rising from his bed. - Please go, madam.
At the same time, a girl sent by the Countess, who missed her daughter, knocked on the door.
Like a somnambulist who was awakened in the middle of her sleep, Natasha left the room and, returning to her hut, fell sobbing on her bed.

From that day, during the entire further journey of the Rostovs, at all rests and overnight stays, Natasha did not leave the wounded Bolkonsky, and the doctor had to admit that he did not expect from the girl either such firmness or such skill in caring for the wounded.
No matter how terrible the thought seemed to the countess that Prince Andrei could (very likely, according to the doctor) die during the journey in the arms of her daughter, she could not resist Natasha. Although, as a result of the now established rapprochement between the wounded Prince Andrei and Natasha, it occurred to him that in the event of recovery, the previous relationship of the bride and groom would be resumed, no one, least of all Natasha and Prince Andrei, spoke about this: the unresolved, hanging question of life or death is not only over Bolkonsky, but over Russia, overshadowed all other assumptions.

Pierre woke up late on September 3rd. His head ached, the dress in which he slept without undressing weighed down his body, and in his soul there was a vague consciousness of something shameful that had been committed the day before; This was a shameful conversation yesterday with Captain Rambal.
The clock showed eleven, but it seemed especially cloudy outside. Pierre stood up, rubbed his eyes and, seeing the pistol with a cut-out stock, which Gerasim had put back on the desk, Pierre remembered where he was and what lay ahead of him that very day.
“Am I too late? - thought Pierre. “No, he will probably make his entry into Moscow no earlier than twelve.” Pierre did not allow himself to think about what lay ahead of him, but was in a hurry to act as quickly as possible.
Having straightened his dress, Pierre took the pistol in his hands and was about to leave. But then for the first time the thought came to him about how, not in his hand, he could carry this weapon down the street. Even under a wide caftan it was difficult to hide a large pistol. It could not be placed inconspicuously either behind a belt or under an armpit. In addition, the pistol was unloaded, and Pierre did not have time to load it. “It’s all the same, it’s a dagger,” Pierre said to himself, although more than once, while discussing the fulfillment of his intention, he decided with himself that main mistake student in 1809 was that he wanted to kill Napoleon with a dagger. But it's as if main goal Pierre's goal was not to carry out his intended task, but to show himself that he did not renounce his intention and was doing everything to fulfill it. Pierre hastily took the blunt jagged dagger in a green sheath that he had bought from the Sukharev Tower along with the pistol. and hid it under his vest.
Having belted his caftan and pulled down his hat, Pierre, trying not to make noise and not meet the captain, walked along the corridor and went out into the street.
The fire that he had looked at so indifferently the night before had grown significantly overnight. Moscow has already been burning since different sides. Karetny Ryad, Zamoskvorechye, Gostiny Dvor, Povarskaya, barges on the Moscow River and the wood market near the Dorogomilovsky Bridge were burning at the same time.
Pierre's path lay through the alleys to Povarskaya and from there to the Arbat, to St. Nicholas the Apparition, with whom he had long ago determined in his imagination the place where his deed should be carried out. Most of the houses had locked gates and shutters. The streets and alleys were deserted. The air smelled of burning and smoke. Occasionally we encountered Russians with anxiously timid faces and Frenchmen with a non-urban, camp look, walking along the middle of the streets. Both of them looked at Pierre in surprise. In addition to his great height and thickness, in addition to the strange, gloomily concentrated and pained expression on his face and entire figure, the Russians looked closely at Pierre because they did not understand what class this man could belong to. The French followed him with their eyes in surprise, especially because Pierre, disgusted by all the other Russians who looked at the French in fear or curiosity, did not pay any attention to them. At the gate of one house, three Frenchmen, who were explaining something to Russian people who did not understand them, stopped Pierre, asking if he knew French?
Pierre shook his head negatively and moved on. In another alley, a sentry standing by a green box shouted at him, and only at the repeated menacing scream and the sound of a gun taken by the sentry on his hand did Pierre realize that he had to go around to the other side of the street. He heard and saw nothing around him. He, like something terrible and alien to him, carried his intention with haste and horror, afraid - taught by the experience of the previous night - to somehow lose it. But Pierre was not destined to convey his mood intact to the place where he was heading. In addition, even if he had not been delayed by anything on the way, his intention could not have been fulfilled simply because Napoleon had traveled more than four hours ago from the Dorogomilovsky suburb through the Arbat to the Kremlin and was now sitting in the gloomiest mood in the Tsar’s office the Kremlin Palace and gave detailed, detailed orders about the measures that immediately had to be taken to extinguish the fire, prevent looting and calm the residents. But Pierre did not know this; He, completely absorbed in what was to come, suffered, as people suffer who stubbornly undertake an impossible task - not because of the difficulties, but because the task is unusual for their nature; he was tormented by the fear that he would weaken at the decisive moment and, as a result, lose self-respect.
Although he did not see or hear anything around him, he instinctively figured out the road and did not make the mistake of taking the side streets that led him to Povarskaya.
As Pierre approached Povarskaya, the smoke became stronger and stronger, and there was even heat from the fire. Occasionally tongues of fire rose from behind the roofs of houses. More people met on the streets, and these people were more anxious. But Pierre, although he felt that something extraordinary was happening around him, was not aware that he was approaching a fire. Walking along a path that ran through a large undeveloped place, adjacent on one side to Povarskaya, on the other to the gardens of Prince Gruzinsky’s house, Pierre suddenly heard the desperate cry of a woman next to him. He stopped, as if awakening from sleep, and raised his head.
To the side of the path, on the dry, dusty grass, household belongings were piled up: feather beds, a samovar, icons and chests. A middle-aged woman was sitting on the ground next to the chests. thin woman, with long protruding upper teeth, dressed in a black cloak and cap. This woman, rocking and saying something, cried sorely. Two girls, from ten to twelve years old, dressed in dirty short dresses and cloaks, looked at their mother with an expression of bewilderment on their pale, frightened faces. A smaller boy, about seven years old, wearing a suit and someone else’s huge cap, was crying in the arms of an old woman nanny. A barefoot, dirty girl sat on a chest and, having loosened her whitish braid, pulled back her singed hair, sniffing it. The husband, a short, stooped man in a uniform, with wheel-shaped sideburns and smooth temples visible from under a straight-on cap, with a motionless face, moved apart the chests, placed one on top of the other, and pulled out some clothes from under them.
The woman almost threw herself at Pierre's feet when she saw him.
“Dear fathers, Orthodox Christians, save, help, my dear!.. someone help,” she said through sobs. - A girl!.. A daughter!.. They left my youngest daughter!.. She burned down! Oh oh oh! That's why I cherish you... Oh oh oh!