by ktarcus

Created on: May 28, 2010

Chipmunks can indeed make excellent pets but be aware that they do need rather a lot more taking care of then your normal small pet such as a hamster or gerbil.

Coming from the same family as squirrels chipmunks in the wild tend to spend their days between foraging on the ground and climbing trees looking for food underneath bark or just to do a spot of sunbathing, they are indeed a smaller looking Squirrel and have many of the same traits excepting that they are not as ferocious and can be tamed enough to be handled on a regular basis.

To keep a chipmunk as a pet it is however advisable to study their needs so you may judge if you have the time or space for them, they need an enclosure as large as is possible within your home or garden as you can afford both financially and physically, they are indeed very quick moving and capable of many engaging back flips and jumps to entertain.Their natural habitat should wherever possible be mimicked within the cage.

Allowing the animals "free range" within your home(obviously with doors and windows closed) will ensure the maximum benefit for both the owner and chipmunk as they will come to interact because of their curious nature, an outside aviary type of enclosure is even better as the ground can be covered in bark for them to play and forage in and given more space and light when the owner sits in with them they are even more likely to become tame enough to be handled but please note the term handled is not to imply that these little creatures can or will automatically except being help and cuddled as say a dog/cat or even hamster. If there are small children in the house Under 5 years old I would suggest they be allowed access only with adult supervision because the little creatures are so fast.

Feeding is relatively easy as they will eat almost any kind of fruit you offer along with the usual compliment of small animal seeds and nuts contained in say hamster/rabbit food, they also adore peanuts in their shells along with any other type of nut both in and out of their shells, there are like many small animals a certain amount of foodstuff which are poisonous but there is so much information in the public domain via the internet that it is quite simple to attain all the knowledge needed to make owning a chipmunk a simple but joyous pleasure.

My recommendation would be that chipmunks do make excellent pets but research prior to purchase would be a good idea.

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