But you want it to be an amazing experience for your chinchilla as well.
That means getting the cage set up perfectly and outfitting it with some fun toys.
But what are the best chinchilla toys?
There are so many out there, and many of them just aren’t very exciting for your chinchilla.
And some can even be dangerous.
Keep reading to learn which toys are safe and also ones your chinchilla will love to play with.
13 Best Chinchilla Toys Compared
Chinchillas enjoy toys that provide mental and physical stimulation and that they can chew safely. Toys that promote chewing give them a safe and natural way to file their teeth.
All of the following meet these requirements.
The table above shows you the items I order for my chinchilla most frequently.
While your chinchilla may have different tastes and favorite toys, the toys above should make about 99.9 percent of the chinchilla world happy, and do so at a low cost.
You can click on any of them and go buy them right now.
But if you have about 3-minutes to spare, I recommend reading the full post below to get a full understanding of what kind of toys chinchillas like and how to use the best chinchilla toys to your advantage.
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Be sure to check out my full digital eBook “Avoiding Critical Mistakes Ultimate Chinchilla Care eBook” to have the best advice, tips, and tricks and supply recommendations to make adopting and caring for a chinchilla much more comfortable and easier to understand.
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Understanding These Chinchilla Toys
If you referenced my table above, you saw what I believe to be 13 of the best chinchilla toys.
Some of those chinchilla toys are more necessary than others.
You also likely noticed that most of the chinchilla toys discussed all promote healthy mental and physical stimulation as well as the ability to keep their teeth filed and healthy.
The rest of this post gives you the tips you need to ensure that your chinchilla is getting what it needs, when it needs it.
Let’s start with ensuring that you don’t use these recommended chinchilla toys to substitute for human interaction and playtime.
Even The Best Chinchilla Toys Don’t Substitute For Human Interaction
If you read any of my other blog posts, you know that I’m a big advocate for ensuring that you allow your chinchilla time out of the cage as much as possible.
Ideally, you will do this daily.
This is part of the reason I recommend purchasing the Pop-Up animal play tent above.
This solves the issue of not having a safe area for your pet where it is not exposed to wires or cords it could chew. Chinchillas always need an area that is 100% fully chinchilla proofed.
This allows you to grow a closer bond with your chinchilla over the course of time. A smaller, confined space for interacting, holding, and petting your new chinchilla helps you bond faster.
The point here is simple.
Don’t overextend and oversupply on chinchilla toys and then forget that your chinchilla is still an affectionate pet that craves interactions with you.
Chinchillas are friendly and social creatures, and nothing can take the place of quality time out of the cage and bonding with you.
Structuring Your Chinchilla Cage Properly With Toys, Accessories And The Essentials
Anyone beginning the journey of adopting a chinchilla must realize how much of a priority the chinchilla cage itself is.
It’s the essential item you purchase from the very beginning.
The cage needs to be large enough. It also needs to support all the natural behaviors your chinchilla will want to display. This includes a great deal of jumping and climbing.
On my list of recommended chinchilla toys, you will notice that I included things like wooden ledges, lava blocks that connect to the cage, and wooden bridges.
Make your chinchilla cage the most fun, playful, and comfortable home as possible for your chinchilla.
They live in this cage for 23 hours a day for 15-20 years. How would you feel with a small boring cage with no toys or activities?
Not good I’m assuming.
It’s one of the reasons you must spend the money on a cage that supports this and if you are on a budget, the cage absolutely comes first and remains priority #1.
In my post that discusses the best chinchilla cages, you will notice my number 1 recommendation is the Critter Nation 2 Dual Level Cage.
If you haven’t done so already, you can read my review for that cage here.
It is plenty large for 2 chins, but I use it for just one. It allows you to put all these essential chinchilla toys throughout the cage, without giving up comfort or space.
It’s the cage I’ve been using for over 1 year now. I am so happy I bought it and have no reservations recommending it to all of my readers.
Other Tips And Tricks To Consider
Outside of these essential items to keep in mind, I have a few additional helpful tips for you to put into practice for you and your new chinchilla.
First, consider other options as well, such as toilet paper rolls. With your supervision, a chinchilla will have a blast chewing and playing with cardboard.
I don’t necessarily recommend this outside of your supervision, just in case your chinchilla decides to ingest some of the cardboard.
However, during playtime, this is a great option.
Another tip I have for you is never to forget how much joy a dust bath brings to a chinchilla.
Sure, the best chinchilla toys all over the cage are fantastic. But nothing beats a dust bath, and some time to come out of the cage to roll around.
Be sure to keep this practice routine and to afford this to your chinchilla a few times per week at a minimum.
Ensure You Always Stick To Chinchilla Safe Toys
Let’s assume you hated every one of my recommendations for the top chinchilla toys above.
That’s fine with me.
However, if you decide you want to craft your own, or purchase alternatives, the only advice I have is to ensure you are using chinchilla safe materials and sticking to safe chinchilla toys.
For example, you will notice how I recommended the chinchilla wheel that I did from Kaytee above.
This is because it doesn’t have openings where your chinchilla’s feet can slip and cause injuries. They can also cause overheating and heatstroke.
The same goes for chinchilla exercise balls. Chinchillas shouldn’t be using hamster balls, or any other type of exercise balls, due to the potential of overheating from the lack of ventilation inside hamster balls.
Another potentially dangerous toy for chinchillas are stuffed animals. It is not generally a good idea to give your chinchilla a stuffed animal, because it will likely chew it up. It could potentially ingest dangerous materials.
Use what you wish for your chinchilla, but exercise some common sense and do your homework, and you will be in great shape.
Best Chinchilla Toys: Final Thoughts
Let’s recap briefly the initial question that landed you on my blog in the first place, and wrap up our post on the best chinchilla toys.
What kind of toys do chinchillas like?
Chinchillas like toys that provide mental and physical stimulation, that also allow for them to chew and file their teeth.
Regardless of which chinchilla toys you opt to use, it may take some trial and error. For example, my chinchilla is not the biggest fan of hammocks. But many others love them.
On the other hand, my chin absolutely loves most of the other recommendations on the list provided for you here today.
All chinchillas are different and have different likes and dislikes. Use some trial and error until you find the best toy for your chinchilla and watch the relationship grow.
Chili and I wish you the best of luck with your new chinchilla and hope it enjoys whatever toys you decide to offer!
What is your opinion on the best chinchilla toys?
Chili and I love to encourage feedback and conversation on all our posts from all of our readers.
What do you believe to be the top chinchilla toys? Does your chinchilla like to play with something not included in this list?
Be sure to share your thoughts, concerns, and stories by dropping a comment below.
As always, Chili and I appreciate you stopping by. We will catch you next time.
Colleen Snider says
Why do you recommend a plastic wheel? Do you know the age when they can start using the wheel. I read someone else’s post and they said 6 months. That was the first I have seen on the topic.
Josh Martin says
I would say 6 months is a great starting point. Before this point, your chinchilla is still going through several changes. As far as why I recommend plastic? I stick to solid and plastic to avoid wire construction where your chinchilla’s small feet can slip between the openings and potentially break or cause an injury. I recommend the same for the bottom of the cage. Use plastic trays when possible instead of wire bottom cages if the budget permits such as the Critter Nation 2 cage or something similar.