Chinchilla Lifespan

The answer to the question „How long do Chinchillas live?“ is „It depends“. Many books and websites quote a maximal Chinchilla lifespan of 20-26 years. However, as only a few humans reach the maximum theoretical age of more than 100 years, so do only very few Chinchillas reach their top age.

While the life expectancy of Short Tail Chinchillas is actually over 20 years, that of Long Tail Chinchillas (our pets) is lower. It is agreed among experts that a life expectancy of 18 years is the best that can be expected, but even an age of 15 years would be a sign that the Chinchilla stems from a healthy breeding stock and has been kept under optimal living conditions.

Chinchilla Lifespan and Genetic Predisposition

The life expectancy of a Chinchilla depends primarily on its genetic predisposition. Even if the animal is kept under non-optimal conditions, but has a good genetic setup, it can grow very old. Over the last couple of years we unfortunately have seen an increase of animals with a much lower life span than expected. These are animals that stem from poor breeding stock, often inbred parents, or are offspring from emergency rescue litters. Commonly such Chinchillas only reach an age of about 5 to 8 years, or die even younger due to inherited diseases such as heart disorders or tooth anomalies. Such animals are also much less resilient against bad holding conditions and diseases.

The Impact of Holding Conditions on Chinchilla Life Expectancy

Apart of genetics the two other main drivers that affect longevity of Chinchillas are the living conditions and the food provided to these pets. A detrimental effect on their well-being is induced by:

Keeping them in a wrong cage that is too small, made from the wrong materials and materials that could hurt the Chinchilla
Putting them together with an inappropriate partner Chinchilla leading to life-threatening bites, injuries, falls, and a weakened immune system due to stress.
Bad hygiene, which can lead to fungal, bacterial or viral infections; On the other hand too much hygiene can weaken the immune system.
An improper diet that can lead to dental problems, organ damage and digestive problems, all of which can be fatal.

In this context it needs to be said that the nutrition of the pregnant and nursing mother animal as well as that of the baby Chinchilla in the first life weeks also plays a vital role for the future development of the young and adult Chinchilla. If feeding mistakes are made during the development if the offspring in the womb, or after birth it will irretrievably affect its health for a lifetime, e.g. on the jaw and the teeth.

Chinchilla Age in Human Years

If you want to learn how old your Chinchilla would be in human years refer to the table below.

Chinchilla Age	Human Age
1 Year	15 - 17 Years
2 Years	18 - 20 Years
3 Years	21 - 23 Years
4 Years	24 - 27 Years
5 Years	28 - 31 Years
6 Years	31 - 35 Years
7 Years	36 - 39 Years
8 Years	40 - 43 Years
9 Years	44 - 47 Years
10 Years	48 - 51 Years
11 Years	52 - 55 Years
12 Years	56 - 59 Years
13 Years	60 - 63 Years
14 Years	64 - 67 Years
15 Years	68 - 71 Years
16 Years	72 - 75 Years
17 Years	76 - 79 Years
18 Years	80 - 84 Years
19 Years	85 - 90 Years
20 Years	90+ Years