Chinchillas are active little guys. Even though they are smaller than guinea pigs and other rodents, they need more room to move and jump around. Chinchillas have super strong hind legs that are built to jump and even the big chinchilla cages aren’t large enough to handle them.

That means giving your pet extra out of the cage room to run and jump around in. But it has to be a room that is well monitored and that is closed off to everything else. You would be surprised how tiny of spaces these guys can go through, so if there are any gaps or cracks leading to somewhere he shouldn’t be plug them up first.

Before letting your chinchilla run around anywhere, make sure you are comfortable with him. When it’s time to get back into the chinchilla cage, you want to be comfortable picking him up without getting attitude in return. If he isn’t ready to get back in, then just put some food infront of the cage to bait him back in.

One of the best places and the easiest is the staircase. Just use baby gates to block them off and let your chinchilla get a workout running up and down the stairs. If the idea of giving so much freedom to your chinchilla is scary, a rodent ball is a great idea too. If in a ball, still remember to close doors and confine the space he can run in. Also if he is running around freely make sure to remove all cords and wires that he could potentially find chew-worthy.

Make it a regular event to have play time, your chinchilla will learn to expect it and will behave better knowing it’s going to happen again. Plus this is a great time to clean the cage.