Cheerio arrived at Earthplace in 2015. She was surrendered by her owner. Cheerio’s favorite thing to do is to take dust baths.

General Facts

• Lifespan: the wild 8-10 yrs, Captivity 12-20 yrs
• Herbivores
• Crepuscular, which means active during dawn and dusk hours
• From South America
• Live in the mountains
• Have the densest and softest fur of any land animal
• Rodents which means their teeth grow continuously
• Predators are snakes and birds of prey
• Parasitic bugs cannot get to chinchillas because their fur is so dense
• Grey fur allows them to blend into the rocks