With patience and proper training, a chinchilla can make an ideal pet. Chinchillas live about fifteen to twenty years and grow to about 15-20 inches, nose to tail. Owning a pet chinchilla can be very rewarding, as they have the tendency to bond quite closely with their caretakers.

Chinchillas are nocturnal animals, originally from the Andes region of South America. They are cold weather creatures with an extremely thick fur coat, so care must be taken that they do not become overheated. Their lush, dense fur is parasite free. They are most active at times of dawn and dusk, and because of their playful nature, chinchillas require a great deal of room to run and climb. Choosing a proper cage is an important part of caring for your pet chinchilla. The cage should be very large, with wheels, ramps and platforms for running and climbing.

Approximately twice a week, you should provide a dust bath for your chinchilla, as this is how they keep their thick fur clean and healthy. Ten to fifteen minutes is generally long enough; any longer and you risk drying out your chinchilla’s coat. Always use commercially available dust made specifically for chinchillas, as it is specially designed to mimic the dust available in their natural habitat and to remove oils and dirt from their luxurious coats. A small goldfish bowl or other partially enclosed container will help reduce the amount of dust scattered as your chinchilla rubs and rolls in the bath.

Chinchillas are fairly easy to train, if you have the patience to take them through the steps of handling gradually. Begin by sitting near the cage so your chinchilla can get used to your presence. Avoid loud noises and quick movements so you do not startle the animal. When you begin interacting with your pet, do so in the evening as you will receive a more lively reception. Once your chinchilla is used to being touched, maintain socialization with frequent handling.

This is part two and the conclusion of How To Care For A Hamster.

In the previous post of How To Care For A Hamster, I discussed whether or not a hamster is the right pet for you and how to set up an ideal environment for your hamster. You also learned what to feed them and the basic steps of bonding with a hamster. If you’re seriously considering a hamster as a pet, make sure you do some good research ahead of time.  It also would be a smart idea to buy a book on hamster care 101.

In the meantime, read below for more top tips on how to care for a hamster.

Supply Them With Chew Toys
Just like dogs, hamster also feel the need to chew on something, so make sure to keep a stock of special chew toys made specifically for hamsters. Made with wood and/or minerals, hamster chew toys come in a variety of styles and even flavors- truly a treat for your little hamster to enjoy! Check with the store clerk before buying the actual product to make sure you’re getting a quality product.

Learn Hamster Health 101
A hamster may look tiny and fragile, but when he is taken care of properly, he will have minimal health problems. You should know the basics of hamster health and if they need to see the vet. Pay close attention if your pet exhibits any of the following signs (it’s time to consult the vet as soon as possible):

• lethargy
• frequent sneezing
• lack of appetite
• your hamster seems to act or look abnormal (puffy cheeks, damp tail, loss of fur)A few common hamster health issues include abscesses, infections (mostly skin or respiratory), and diarrhea. Never try to diagnose and treat the animal yourself. And never give a hamster medicine unless your veterinary approves.

Rats are not on most people’s list of potential pets. But longtime rat owners George W. and Debbie E. of Seattle  say, “We can honestly say that having pet rats is every bit as rewarding as owning a cat or a dog.” They say rats are cute, intelligent, curious, and very social. The key to living happily with them, as with most pets, is to show them love.

They also need lots of space (including some safe space outside their cage), playtime with their owner, and other rats. If you have a room in your home that can be rat-proofed, this will let them follow their urge to explore. (Rats in the wild sometimes can range up to six miles a day.) Set aside an hour a day to spend with them. And don’t plan on keeping just one rat – they can get depressed when solitary.

It goes without saying that, if you own both males and females, they should be spayed and neutered.

There are definite personality differences between males and females. While males are less active and more cuddly, making them easier to care for, they have a stronger scent. They’re also more prone to mark their territory — more smells, in other words.

There are difficulties in owning rats, of course. People may think they’re dangerous, or just be put off by them. Rats like to chew — you’ll have to watch them around your leather couch, for example –  and may even carry small objects away to enjoy in private. Their natural lifespan is short, only two to three years, so you’ll probably find yourself saying goodbye to them too soon.

Next time, we’ll go into more detail about the kind of environment pet rats need — food, toys, and litter. We’ll also talk about the best way to find a pet rat. (No, it’s not setting a trap out by the garbage cans in the alley.) Meanwhile, you may want to check out The Rat Fan Club and The Dapper Rat.

If someone asked you what you thought was the most popular dog breed in America is, you probably could guess which one that was. Well, okay, I would have a tough time picking between Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. The correct answer is a Labrador Retriever. As the number one  dog in America, this dog consistently keeps its spot as the number one dog. Why? Well, most people say it is because it is usually seen as a good “family dog.” This is because they are typically great with children and other pets. For some reason they are also one of the easiest dog breeds to train.

For similar reasons, Golden Retrievers are the number two breed in America. Coming in at number three for 2009 are those small Yorkshire Terriers. “Yorkies” are the smallest and mightiest terriers of them all.  Number four are those German Shepherds. These dogs are some of the most intelligent and most loyal dog breeds in the world. This, of course, could be assumed by the fact that they usually are chosen to work alongside the police forces’ K9 teams.

Snoopy allowed the Beagle to claim the number 5 sport in 2009. Beagles are medium sized and used to be commonly used as hunting dogs. Weiner dogs, or put more formally, Dachshunds, are the 6th most popular dog of 2009. I actually am surprised by this. I did not realize that so many people actually enjoyed the funny, unique body shape with that long body and short legs. Dachshunds have one weakness, they have been known to nip at strangers and other dogs.

Coming in a number 7 is the Boxer. Boxers play well with children, are extremely loyal and are low maintenance dogs. The Poodle is also a popular dog, as well as a Shih Tzu. Shih Tzus are cute and fuzzy and have become extremely popular with Hollywood celebrities. Rounding off our list at number ten is the Miniature Schnauzers. These dogs love people and non-aggressive play.

This list, of course, is not an end-all be-all list, and everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.

Walruses are extraordinary sea creatures that live primarily in the cold, north Arctic region.  What is known about walruses is that they are close to becoming extinct due to the fact that many people hunt them for various reasons.  Fortunately more people are becoming aware of the walrus and are working together to save them from the verge of extinction.  Here are even more facts for those who want to know more about the walrus.

A single walrus tusk can weight up to 3 pounds.

A walrus can have anywhere from 400 to 700 whiskers.

Their blubber skin really is just about five inches of thick fat skin to keep them warm.

The reason that all full grown walruses have tusks is so that they can pull and prop themselves up on ice.

Walruses are social animals, as they stay in groups together and have their own means of communication with one another.

They are often very protective of each other. If one walrus is heard or seen being attacked, the other walruses will come intervene.

They cannot move on land very well, but they are fantastic swimmers thanks to their flippers.

Walrus skin is usually brown, thick, and wrinkled.

Male walruses are called bulls.

Female walruses are called cows, and baby walruses are called calves.

They are carnivores, as they eat crabs, mussels, and clams.

The word walrus is Latin for a “walking sea-horse with teeth”.

Walruses are related to both seals and sea lions. All three belong to the Order Pinnepedia.

Male walruses can weigh about 2000 pounds. Females usually weigh about 1800 pounds.

In New Hampshire, one of the biggest pest problems is skunks.  They tend to roam around, digging up gardens and harassing people and pets.  So, I have dealt with my fair share of the little buggers.

In the cities, the skunks are definitely worse.  My dad lives in one of the cities of New Hampshire, and at his house, the skunks are more obvious and populous than anywhere else I’ve been.  They just wander into yards, eating grubs and trash, while occasionally spraying things.

Our biggest problem is the fact that they love to live under our shed.  The skunks would build a nest under it, so in order to block or trap them, we used chicken wire to block off all but one way out, and placed a Havahart Skunk Trap there.  The skunk woke that night and stumbled into the trap, so the next day we just carried him off to a new home.  The next year, a mother moved in but was hit by a car two days later.  So, we assumed all was fine, but the yard still smelled every night.  We looked around and learned she had babies under our shed.  So, using the same technique we trapped all four babies, one at a time.

In the smaller town in which my mom lives, we have similar problems.  Often, I can look outside at night and see a skunk sitting in the middle of our yard.  They tend to burrow for grubs or, occasionally, nose around our chicken coop.  One afternoon a skunk ambled into our yard. This was very odd, because skunks are nocturnal, so we thought it was rabid, and we couldn’t see it well enough to tell.  The skunk went over and managed to slip into the coop.  The chickens began to freak out, thinking, ‘Who are you and what  do you want?!’  Fearing it would hurt them, my step-dad grabbed a .22 caliber small game hunting rifle and leveled it at the skunk but couldn’t fire because the girls were jumping in the line of fire.  Fortunately, the skunk left.

Skunks will harass you, but by taking some measures, you can fend them off.

Though the Internet, this time of year, seems full of photos of dogs dressed as geishas and cats in hats, dressing up your pets for Halloween is a fad that’s not exactly sweeping the continent. In fact, according to Newsday.com:

An Associated Press-Petside.com poll showed that only 8 percent of pet owners plan to dress their animals for Halloween.

The reasons the non-participating pet owners give are pretty much what you’d expect: The animals, cats especially, just won’t stand for it; the owners think it’s demeaning; nobody would see the costumes anyway. (That one is certainly true in my neighborhood, where Halloween means firecrackers, and most pets spend the evening hiding in the quietest place they can find.) One man whose cat has severe allergies says her food is so expensive, he’s not prepared to spend any more on her. I doubt the cat minds.

I myself gave up on the idea almost 40 Halloweens ago, when I had to admit that our cat hated the handcrafted bunny ears I’d made for her. After shaking her head a lot, she managed to claw them off and get rid of them somewhere. I hadn’t realized they’d be uncomfortable, but I knew that cats didn’t put up with discomfort if they could help it.

Ever since then, much as I love my pets and enjoy Halloween, I’ve been aware that the two don’t mix well. That’s okay – two of our society’s faults are making special occasions so elaborate they’re not fun anymore, and expecting animals to act like humans.

There’s always a place – or should I say a site? – for funny pet photos. But if you can’t get yours into a costume long enough to pose, or if you just don’t feel like it – nobody minds, least of all your pet.

Throughout time, horses never have ceased to amaze us with their beauty and mystique.  As a member of the equus (equine) family, horses are related to zebras and donkeys. A long time ago, they would run wild and often were hunted for their meat and skin. It wasn’t until after the year 3000 BC, that horses were tamed and soon used as a method of transportation. In modern times, many people take care of horses and often ride them for recreational purposes.  Whether you’re fascinated by horses, or would like to take care of one (ore more), here are some awesome and useful facts about out favorite members of the equine family.

• Horses actually drink, on average, about 10 gallons of water a day.
• Not only can you feed a horse hay, you also can feed them grass, bran, and oats!
• Horses are herbivores, which means they don’t eat meat.
• Full grown horses are either stallions (male) or mares (female).
• Baby horses are often called foals, but once they reach one year of age, they are called yearlings.
• Colts (male) and fillies (female) are horses between the age of two to four years of age.
• Horses can live up to thirty years of age.
• They have much better vision than people. In fact, they can see two distinct images from each eye.
• Like most animals, horses can understand vocal tones rather than actual words.
• The size of a full-grown horse’s brain is about as big as a potato, but the heart of a horse can weigh 10 pounds!
• There are actually over 350 different types of breeds of horses and ponies.
• Adult horses have a lot of teeth. Mares generally have about 36 teeth, while stallions have close to 40.
• Female horses have longer pregnancy periods of about eleven months.
• Horses don’t really walk so much, they either gallop or trot.

Pets definitely are not allowed to inhabit the place where I live, but after my friend offered me a kitten for $30 that was medicated and came with food, litter, and a litter box, my roommate and I started to think about how we could house a cat in our 8 person suite. Well, all of our hopes and dreams came crashing down when one of the suitemates told us that she was allergic to cats, but that we could get a dog. Yeah, let us hide a Golden Retriever. The next animal we looked into getting was a chinchilla. This was because we heard that they were easy maintenance and that they did not smell.

How are chinchillas as pets? Well, they are little and weigh about a pound.  They are very furry and soft with cute ears and do not make annoying noises, but they are very energetic. As for the noises that they do make, they have the ability to chirp, squeak, and bark, so they are pretty interesting creatures. They are partially nocturnal and do not enjoy being disturbed during the day. They are high strung and have short attention spans. This makes them pretty skittish and most of them do not like to be held–making them not so suitable for children. Once a chincilla is accustomed to its owner it could become very attracted to this owner and allow the owner to freely touch its soft fur.

Chinchillas like to eat desert grasses because they cannot efficiently process fatty foods, high protein foods, or too many green plants. A lot of chinchilla owners feed their pets high quality, hay-based pellets, and they keep a constant supply of loose hay in order to sufficiently meet all of the chinchilla’s dietary needs.

The best thing about chinchillas is that they do not typically smell because they do not sweat. What this does mean is that chinchillas do not fair well in hot (over 80 degrees F) or humid weather because they can get overheated and may suffer from heat stroke. They clean their fur by taking dust baths. This dust that they roll around in is special chinchilla dust made of fine pumice.

Chinchillas can be gray, beige, white, ebony, and many other colors.