A New Addition

I turned 25 at the beginning of the month and for my birthday my darling hubby surprised me with the option of getting a hedgehog or another pet of my choosing.  At that point I had two hermit crabs, Ziggy and Lady Stardust, who I introduced here, but had been off and on curious about adding a more interactive pet to the family.

 I'm mildly (okay, maybe extremely) obsessed with two-toed sloths and find hedgehogs absolutely adorable.  It wasn't until my hubby suggested a chinchilla on my birthday that I really even knew what they were.  Of course I had heard of chinchillas, but I had never seen one in person or really given them much thought.  I had no idea they were such popular pets.  After visiting with a chinchilla at a local pet store, doing lengthy online research, and watching countless YouTube videos, I had pretty much decided a chinchilla was the right choice for me. 

Hubby found a listing online from someone local who was looking to find a new home for her chinchilla.  Last Sunday we meet with a teenage girl and her father and we decided to bring this adorable chinchilla, Lucy, home with us.  Originally we were going to purchase a chinchilla from a pet store, but they seemed so nervous and skittish and we figured finding a chinchilla from a breeder or current owner would be a better option.  Lucy had a sweet and playful character and she seemed like a good fit for us.  Lucy's previous owner had kept her in a smallish cage and I knew immediately that I wanted to give her an environment that would allow her to jump and play and live comfortably.  That same day we bought Lucy this huge cage (3' x 2' x 5') and she seems to love it!

She spends most of her time relaxing in her Timothy hay house and on this granite slab that stays nice and cool (chinchillas prefer temps between 60-70 degrees).

She makes quite a show when she's running and jumping around her cage, going from one level to the next and having all sorts of fun while doing it.

Lucy is crazy about her Timothy hay house.  She relaxes in it, sits on top, enjoys it as a snack, and uses it as a trampoline as she hops from one level of her cage to the next.

At this moment it was the perfect little spot to enjoy some lunch.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Lucy, dear readers.  You'll likely be seeing lots of her in the future as I'm rather smitten.