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> From: Whitney Price <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: hampster vs gerbil
> Date: 22 February 2000 01:50
>
>
> The chinchillas I saw at a local pet store were awfully cute and so
curious
> they both came to the cage wall and pressed their noses through when we
got
> close. They would "mouth" any fingers put through the wires but did not
> bite. I think they'd be good for a small child because they're bigger
than
> gerbils, but like I said my four year old son does fine with the gerbils.
Chinchillas are definitely not suitable for children. They hate being
restrained and are even less inclined to sit still than gerbils. Chins
love to run around and will come to you and jump all over you, but on their
terms. They are rather like cats in that respect. They are also
nocturnal, and don't really get going till about 9pm.
If you wan't something that will just sit there and let you cuddle it, have
you thought about rats? The males in particular will sit quite happily on
your knee and be petted for hours. They just love being stroked and
cuddled. They also rarely bite
SUe
