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Chinchillas need to chew on things to stop their teeth from getting too long. Apple wood sticks are one of the best chew toys.

This is actually a surprisingly interesting topic. Wild chinchillas get most of their water from food, but pet chins don't.

The problem is that pet chinchillas aren't used to eating lots of watery foods, which besides causing diarrhea from containing too much water, can also cause bloat. Wild chins eat watery foods on rare occasions, storing tiny bits of succulent plants in their burrows for when water is scarce.

It's best to feed your chinchilla hay and hay pellets, and dry snacks, rather than watery foods. So, yes, water bottles are necessary.

You really don't need much. That's because it's not for your chinchilla to burrow in. All it's for is to mop up your chinchilla's pee, so using any more than an inch or so would be wasteful.

Chinchillas don't have pouches for their young. They are only distantly related to marsupials (like we are!)

Owners typically give their chinchillas pellets each morning. They can then be sure their chins have access to pellets any time they want them—but a controlled amount, so they won't be put off their fresh hay.

Experienced owners call them 'death balls', and there's good reason for that.

Exercise balls are completely unsuitable. Your chinchilla likes to navigate using its senses of smell and hearing, neither of which it can use in a ball. The tiny slats in the outside of the ball can trap and break your chinchilla's toes. If your chinchilla has to pee, it has to pee all over itself, in its fur. And chinchillas can overheat easily, and exercise balls make that worse.

So, no—they're not suitable!

Chinchillas shouldn't have exercise wheels with slats or bars. That's because they can break their toes in them. The one in the picture above, for example, isn't ideal.

Better are wheels that have solid sides. These don't provide as good purchase for your chinchilla's feet to run on, but they're much safer.

Hay contains a small amount of water, but not enough for chinchillas. Water bottles are better than bowls, because chins can accidentally pee or poop in their bowls... Or sit in them... Or tip them over...

Yeah, don't use water bowls.

Gnawing and chewing is a behavior you cannot train a chinchilla out of. Bitter sprays can have some effect in that they encourage chinchillas to chew other things; but your chin will still want to gnaw on stuff when it's outside its cage. You would have to spray the entire room from top to bottom for this to be effective.

Cheese is far, far too fatty for chinchillas. If you feed it as a frequent snack to your chinchilla, it will gain weight.