Do Chinchillas Chew Wires? [Yes, Here Is How To Protect Them]

do chinchillas chew wires

Chinchillas are one of the most curious and high energy animals we can choose to adopt. Especially when they are awake and out for playtime. They can jump and climb on just about anything, and it’s a hoot to watch and to interact with our chinchillas. While this may seem like all fun in the beginning, we still have individuals who have recently adopted a chinchilla who have several questions. One of those questions is about making a room safe for chinchillas to play in. Do chinchillas chew wires? After owning and raising my own chinchilla, here is what I can tell you about this topic.

So, do chinchillas chew wires? Yes, chinchillas do chew wires. It’s imperative to cover all wires in the room where your chinchilla will be allowed out for playtime. Chinchillas are curious animals and love to chew. Exposed wires are another item that a chinchilla will attempt to chew if given a chance to do so.

With that being the case, what’s the best approach we can take to keep our rooms completely chinchilla proof? Well, surprisingly enough, you have several options, and I wanted to take the time here in this post to break down exactly how I set up my chinchilla play area and how I ensure my chinchilla is always safe for playtime.

The more understanding you can gain about your chinchilla’s behavior and how chinchillas act the better.

Let’s get started.

More About Chinchilla Proofing Play Areas, Avoiding Electrical Cords and Where to Begin

Chinchillas will chew on just about anything if given a chance and without proper supervision. Trust me, I know from experience. I’ve had my 1-year old female chinchilla for quite some time now, and she is an avid chewer.

Electrical cords or any cord for that matter are no different and look equally enticing for your chinchilla to take a bite out of. If it’s something that can be chewed, you can consider it one of a chinchilla’s favorite things to play with. Hands down, no doubt about it.

Additionally, part of owning a chinchilla means you that you remain an ethical pet owner. Part of this with owning chinchilla’s means that you dedicate at least a small amount of time each day to get your chinchilla out of their cage and interact with them. It’s nothing difficult and nothing that makes owning a chinchilla a hard task.

Chinchillas are very social, loving pets and need interaction either with you or another chinchilla. Too long without social interaction can make your chinchilla stressed out and feeling a little down in the dumps. This is when chinchilla owners begin wondering what the best approach to creating a room in the home that’s chinchilla safe may be.

Making a Play Area Chinchilla Safe for Interaction and Playtime

Now comes the part of the equation where we need to chinchilla proof the room we want to interact with our chinchilla in. To do this, we need to understand a chinchilla a little better. First and foremost, chinchillas poop just about every step they take most of the time.

With this being the case, it makes life much easier if you choose a room that you can quickly sweep or vacuum up the poop with ease. Don’t worry; however, chinchilla poop doesn’t smell and its dry hard nuggets. In fact, chinchillas don’t smell in general unless they are having some form of a health problem taking place.

Additionally, chinchillas will pee. Yes, even if they are potty trained to pee in a litter pan, they may still urinate during playtime. My chinchilla will rarely pee outside of her cage, but it’s certainly possible, so that is another factor to consider. This has led me to use only rooms in my home that have hard floors and no carpet. It makes clean up very easy just in case.

Lastly, before touching on the electrical cord problem comes the temperature concerns you run into with chinchillas. Never forget that chinchillas have incredibly dense fur. Over 80 hairs per follicle. Chinchillas also can’t sweat.

If you keep this in mind, it’s easy to understand that you need always to be using a room that has low enough temperatures to allow your chinchilla to jump, climb and play without running the fear of your chinchilla overheating.

If you have these primary concerns taken care of, we can move onto the last primary concern which comes down to electrical cords and keeping them away from our favorite furry pets. You have several ways to go about this and luckily, I plan on covering all of them for you that I’m aware of.

Keeping Chinchillas Safe from Electrical Cords and Avoiding Chewing

electrical cord covers so your chinchilla cant chew cords
The Cord Wraps I Use So My Chinchilla Can’t Bite The Wires

Now comes the fun part. Keeping your chinchilla safe from electrical cords and where they can’t chew them easily. One of the easiest ways to do this is to obviously have no electrical cords in the room you want to use for chinchilla playtime. This often much easier said than done.

It’s the same for me as well. The room I keep my chinchilla in currently is the same room that I use for my home office in my basement. While I’m checking all the other boxes by having hard floors, cold temperatures, and a relatively safe environment, I surely would have been exposing my chinchilla to electrical cords without proper planning in advance.

So here is what I did about it.

I started by using zip ties to organize all the wires neatly. I did this with my computers and any other device or item in the basement that had a cord exposed that my chinchilla could have quickly begun chewing on. Simply take as many wires for devices that are close together and neatly bunch them together and zip tie them tightly together.

This makes step 2 much more manageable.  Step 2 to keeping your chinchilla safe involved you purchasing any form of cord protector or cord wrapping. For my room, I opted to purchase the Velcro wrap around cord protectors. It’s thick, cheap and super quick and easy to wrap all your cords with.

I did this on every cord in the basement except for my iPhone charger which I simply unplug and set aside when it comes to getting my chinchilla out of the cage for playtime. This is all you really need to do when it comes to cords.

Ensure they are all wrapped, blocked and covered, and you are well on your way towards having a room that isn’t filled with cords for your chinchilla to bite.

Other Considerations to Keep in Mind To Keep Your Chinchilla Safe During Playtime

couch pushed against wall to protect chinchilla from cords
Push Furniture Flush With Walls To Hide Your Cords From Your Chinchilla
No legs on the couch to prevent chinchilla from getting to cords
Be Sure To Have Furniture Flush With The Floor

If you have cords that are tough to cover perhaps behind a couch or other furniture, I have a few other tips you can implement to keep your chinchilla from having access to chewing on the cords. Another trick I use it to make sure the legs on my furniture are removed.

For example, on my couch, I removed the legs so that she can’t run underneath the furniture and chew any cords and be in an area where it’s hard for me to stop her or prevent her from doing anything else she shouldn’t be doing.

Additionally, you can block other access in the room using clever techniques such as tall enough boxes or even baby gates if you have potential areas in the room where your chinchilla could locate a cord or anything else dangerous for your chinchilla to chew on.

Last Option. Consider A Bathroom as The Last Resort for Chinchilla Safety

A lot of individuals including myself will opt at times just to use a bathroom. It’s not necessarily the point to create this big magical room for your chinchilla to play in. A clean large chinchilla cage should be your chinchilla’s main hangout most of the day.

The playtime is designed for you and your chinchilla to bond and begin getting comfortable with one another. A bathroom is usually free of cords and has nothing dangerous for your chinchilla to harm themselves with which includes cords that your chinchilla may eventually chew on. Make sure to close the toilet lid, however. I could see this being a crazy YouTube Video from someone in the future. Don’t’ let it be you.

Bathrooms also check the boxes we discussed previously by having hard floors, and they are easy to keep an eye on your chinchilla during playtime. Although I don’t use this method anymore, I still thoroughly recommend it if it’s the only way you can keep your chinchilla safe from cords that they may potentially chew or hurt themselves with.

Final Word. If Your Chinchilla Can Find a Cord, They Will Absolutely Chew It. Exercise Caution

At the end of the day, whatever your chinchilla can get to, they will sniff and chew on. They are curious and like to explore. If they feel comfortable with you, they will likely not be hiding under fixtures or furniture causing too many problems, but if you let your chinchilla out of the cage for a decent amount of time per day, the potential for danger and issues will always be around.

Be sure to wrap your electrical cords and never allow your chinchilla to play with cords or chew on them. This can ultimately lead to death and be a sad for moment for everyone. With the tips I’ve laid out here in this post, you should be well on your way towards providing a safe, ethical and perfect playroom for your chinchilla.

Chinchillas make great pets so take some time to set your home up accordingly and enjoy the laughter and love they can bring to your lives.

What’re your thoughts on chinchilla proofing a room effectively? Do you have any further recommendations I haven’t laid out here in this post? Be sure to drop a comment below. As always, I appreciate you.

Josh Martin


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