# What Do Chinchillas Eat?

> What chinchillas eat: Herbivore — hay, chinchilla pellets, and limited treats, foraging style, and seasonal shifts in High-altitude rocky slopes of the Andes; domestic worldwide.

- **Species:** Chinchilla (*Chinchilla lanigera*)
- **Conservation status:** Endangered
- **Diet:** Herbivore — hay, chinchilla pellets, and limited treats
- **Habitat:** High-altitude rocky slopes of the Andes; domestic worldwide
- **Lifespan:** 10–15 years in captivity (shorter in the wild)
- **Top speed:** Agile leaper; can jump 1.8 m vertically
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/chinchilla/what-do-chinchilla-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/chinchilla/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

Chinchillas are small rodents from the high Andes, famed for the densest fur of any land mammal — up to 80 hairs per follicle. Wild populations are endangered from historic over-trapping; domestic chinchillas are popular pets that need dust baths, cool dry housing, and gentle handling.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## Extraordinary fur

Chinchilla fur is so dense that fleas and parasites struggle to penetrate it. Native people and later fur traders valued pelts so highly that wild chinchillas were trapped nearly to extinction by the early 1900s. Today international trade in wild chinchilla fur is restricted.

## Help protect the Chinchilla

Wild chinchillas were trapped nearly to extinction for fur; habitat loss still threatens the few populations that remain.

[Donate to protect habitat](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/appeals/habitats/)

---
Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/chinchilla/what-do-chinchilla-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.