The 6 Best Chinchilla Toys of 2023

Best Overall

Quality Cage Crafters Chin Spin 15" Chinchilla Wheel

5

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While there are a wide variety of exercise wheels available for rodent pets, chinchillas have specialized needs that make many wheels unsuitable. Most important is to provide a large enough running surface since a wheel that's too small will contort your chinchilla's back, potentially leading to injury. Our favorite exercise wheel is the Chin Spin Chinchilla Wheel manufactured by Quality Cage Crafters.

The Chin Spin is all metal and wood construction, ensuring that there's no soft plastic for your chin to gnaw on or metal wires or spokes that might hurt their feet. It's got a broad, 6.25-inch running surface that will ensure that your chinchilla has plenty of space to exercise.

Mounting the Chin Spin in your chinchilla cage is also straightforward, with four metal brackets securing the wheel to the frame of your chinchilla cage, ensuring stability. Once it's installed (the manufacturer recommends hanging the wheel to be 2 inches above the cage floor), the Chin Spin is remarkably quiet, spinning on two wheel bearings. Of course, those ball bearings will eventually wear down or get slowed by dust and grit, which is why Quality Cage Crafters offers replacement bearings and straightforward installation instructions.

More than any other exercise wheel, we've found the Chin Spin provides the best combination of high-quality manufacturing, replaceable parts, and the best possible dimensions to support adult chinchillas. Plus, it's available in six different colors.

Best Hiding Toy

Emours Small Animal Warmly House Cage Hanging Bed

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Chinchillas love to hide, so it’s important for them to have little spaces they can retreat to for rest or play. This hanging bed from Emours is made from flannelette, making it a soft and warm spot that chins find irresistible. Your chinchilla is likely to use it for sleeping, as a private place to chew, and as an observation post of sorts since the Small Animal Warmly House Cage Hanging Bed has clips at each corner, so you can hang it from a high vantage. This combination of exploration and secure privacy encourages your chinchilla to climb and exercise while also providing a safe spot to nap or play.

The Emours hanging bed can be washed on a gentle washing machine cycle or hand washed with dish soap, wrung out, and air dried. But since it comes with a removable interior bed mat, you often will only need to clean a single component, allowing you to leave the bed hanging in place.

Best Chew Toy

Farmer Dave Pet Supply Natural Apple Chew Sticks

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Chinchillas love to chew, and apple sticks provide the perfect chewing medium. Apple wood is a hardwood, which makes it ideal for wearing down chinchilla teeth. While there's a wide variety of apple sticks available from online retailers, we've found the Apple Chew Sticks from Farmer Dave Pet Supply to be the best. They've been a reliable source of chew sticks for chinchilla owners for more than 15 years.

These chew sticks are hand-cut branches from organically-grown apple trees. That means they're free of pesticides and any potential contamination from chainsaw oil. Each is 5 inches long, which is a manageable size for chinchilla cages.

One advantage of buying apple chew sticks from Farmer Dave Pet Supply is the flexibility they can provide, with many different order sizes available. Since chinchillas need all the chewing they can get, there's no reason to limit their intake, as you would with snacks. This can make bulk buying a wise decision. While we've recommended a pack of 45 apple chew sticks, Farmer Dave Pet Supply has options for ordering up to 500 sticks at a time on either their own retail site or on Amazon. Other options include orders of 250 and 150 chew sticks.

Farmer Dave Pet Supply Apple Chew Sticks come in two different sizes, with packages approximately a quarter-inch in diameter and a larger size closer to a half-inch thick. Many chinchilla owners find that their chins only gnaw the bark off apple sticks, which might be a good reason to try a smaller, more manageable size.

Best Playpen

Pawaboo Small Animal Playpen

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A change of scenery from time to time can be really healthy for your chinchilla. The Pawaboo Small Animal Playpen can be easily set up inside or outside to provide your chin a new environment. There are more fully-featured playpens than the Pawaboo, but it offers the best blend of portability, simple setup, and spaciousness for chinchilla owners.

The Pawaboo folds down into a zippered disc (that even comes with a carry handle), then easily expands out into a six-sided space that's 52.4 inches across. Its hexagonal mesh is tough enough for most situations, while its floor is a waterproof polyester that will prevent chinchilla urine from soaking through to your floor. Plus, unlike many playpens for small animals, the Pawaboo has a flap that can be zippered over the top, preventing your chins from jumping out. It even comes with stakes you can use to secure it to the ground when outside.

The Pawaboo Small Animals Playpen is available in seven different colors.

Best Dental Care Toy

Kathson Chew Toys for Teeth Grinding

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Kathson Chinchilla Chew Toys combine shortened apple sticks with alfalfa cakes, creating a multi-layered treat that dangles and entices from a top bar of your chinchilla's enclosure. Alfalfa provides your chinchilla with fiber that promotes healthy digestion. The cakes are dried and baked twice to give them a nice hard consistency while maintaining the alfalfa flavor beloved by chinchillas.

Since the Kathson Chinchilla Chew Toys are strung on a metal wire, it's important to monitor your chinchilla when in use to prevent damage to their teeth if they get overeager.