Chinchilla or Rabbit, help me?

Question

My community website has a woman selling a recently bought Chinchilla (black velvet) for $100 (+2 cages, food, toys ect) because her 7 year old is scared of it (lol).

My sister's friend's rabbit (lionhead) just had babies, and is willing to give me one for free, just the rabbit.

I have experience of owning hamsters, I've had 6. My family owns 2 dogs and 8 birds.

I've wanted a Chinchilla/Rabbit for a long time. I love animals and I want another new one (I have a hamster right now.) I don't have time to train a dog, and fish are too boring lol. I'm a full time college student student and I work about 25 hours a week, other than that I'm home all the time.

What are the PROS and CONS of owning either a Chinchilla or a Rabbit. Money isn't really an issue for me. Just which one do you think will better suit my lifestyle. And which one will be easier to bond and take care of.

Answer 1

chinchilla pros-they are so cute!  they are pretty low maintenance and they are pretty clean

cons-they are delicate-my friend once let hers out of the cage into her room.  it went crazy and ran into the cabinet, banged its head, and died of internal bleeding.  

rabbit pros-they r cute too, and cheaper than chinchillas

cons-they smell a lot worse, and p**p alot so you'll have a harder time cleaning up

i personally think u should go with the chinchilla because they r cute, not many ppl have them, and $100 for it and everything it needs is a really good deal!  they usually sell for at least $200!

Answer 2

Hmm, thats tough, but I'm a bunny lover, and know more about rabbits than anything..Especially chinchillas.

Pros to a bunny are

*Their Quite

*Pretty clean

*Can be litter trained

*Cheap diet

*Very friendly

*Can be kept inside or out

* Need attention, but love to have their quiet time too

*The bunny is free, and you can easily find cheap/ free cages/ items

Cons to a bunny

*Males may spray urine if un altered

*Females have their bad days sometimes

*If you want to own more than one bunny, it's best to have all females

* Need exercise

Some pros and cons to a chnichilla

Pros

*Cute

*Exzotic

*I think friendly

*Comes with items

Cons

*Rare, therefore supplies is harder to find

*Pretty expencive

And I really don't know anything else about chinchillas, but feel free to email me.

Answer 3

You should get a rabbit!!!!

They are easy to take care of. You just buy some carrots, lettuce, and pellets..

Answer 4

Rabbits! They are gentle, affectionate, and easy to take care of.

Answer 5

rabbit i have 2 they are sweet pets.

Answer 6

DEFINITELY rabbit! Rabbits are very kind and gentle. They are also very easy to take care of.

Answer 7

ok now i have heard chinchillas are EXTREMELY fragile. if you drop it once it will die. as for a rabbit,well my rabbit has been dropped and its fine. but a rabbit needs grass so im not to sure how that would work out. i have never had a chinchilla but they are very cute! but so are bunnies!

Answer 8

I had to make the same decision before and it was really hard but the rabbit won my heart! Chinchillas are expensive to take care of. It's really up to you.

Answer 9

one of my friends has a chinchilla and it is great but you should get it a big playground cage thing.  i don't think there is really any cons to chinchillas.  rabbits cages can smell and they are very high maintenance.  I would go with the CHINCHILLA : )

Answer 10

Pros of owning a bunny:

You can put it's cage outside and it wont smell

It can survive on grass if you have no food

They dont have to be played with

And it's a baby so it will like you more because you are the parent

Pros of owning a chinchilla

they are soft and cuddly

they dont need too much attention

they sleep a lot and play alone

Cons of owning a bunny

they bite and can be vicious ( i had a vicious rabbit who would flip out everytime i tried to put food in it's dish)

they reproduce easily

their teeth can grow too long and you have to take them to the vet

Cons of owning a chinchilla

They need dust baths

They smell

they bite

they make a lot of noise

they're skittish

they live for a really really really long time like 20 years!!!!

Answer 11

Well the cons of a Chinchilla is that they can be very mean, sometimes they can be nice, but the few that i have had, have been mean. I played with them socialized them to maybe change the way they acted but nothing worked not to mention they take dust bathes which my mom was allergic too. Yes they are adorable, yes they are soft, and they can sometimes be nice  but they are often moody. They are mostly if not always nocturnal and they don't like to wake up during the day. Rabbits on the other hand were much easier for me to care for and i am off doing different activities often. I have been raising and breeding rabbits for 10 years now and i love every minute of it. I currently have 24 rabbits, 18 being babies. With rabbits all you need is a cage big enough for a lion head i would recommend a 24 x 36 inch cagehttp://www.wigginsinc.com/Rabbit%20Equip... , it is a medium sized cage for a small rabbit but will give it enough room to be happy, you will need a water bottle, go with the biggest one you can find for rabbits you will like it in the long run, and a medium sized ceramic food dish so the rabbit does not tip it over. You will also need plenty of wooden chew sticks, a few toys if you wish, food, timothy hay, alfalfa only while it's a baby or if it's pregnant, and some pine bedding wood chips for the cage bottom. Make sure you get a cage that has a wire bottom so that your bunny isn't sitting on soiled bedding. I would also recommend going to a near by feed mill to purchase the food, hay, and bedding. You can get it in large quantities and for less money. I always purchase a 50 lb bag of 16% Buckeye rabbit pellets, and a large bag of pine bedding which usually totals to $24.00. At pet store a large bag of pine bedding is $20 and the food is $10. Since you will only be owning one rabbit at the moment you can probably get by with a 25 lb bag. Rabbits are loving, silent, soft, and litter box trainable. The con is they pee and p**p alot, but what animal doesn't. I love my rabbits and i wouldn't trade them for anything, i actually sold my 3 chinchillas for a rabbit. My choice would be a rabbit they are cheaper to care for, no shots or vet visits needed unless you notice something unusual. Just in case you were interested and lion head rabbit is a cross between a Netherland Dwarf, and a Jersey Wooly. If you plan to show the bunny the mane will only keep for about 2 years and then it will begin to fall out, but that shouldn't stop you from loving the adorable bunny. If you have any questions feel free to email me or i.m me. I think a rabbit would fit your lifestyle better. But you are the one that has to live with the animal. I hope your choice makes you happy.