While chinchillas are hunted for their fur, they’ve also become popular choices as pets in recent years. Those kept as pets tend to be the long-tailed chinchillas, with larger ears, longer tails, and thinner bodies. Like other rodents, they need to take dust baths to maintain healthy fur. A dust bath means rolling around in the dust or sand to removeparasitesfrom the skin.
Pet chinchillas require attentive health care from humans. As they have dense fur and lack the ability to sweat, they can overheateasily. Thus, they have to be kept in a temperature-controlled environment. Moreover, chinchillas can be easily upset and frightened. When they are unhappy, they may chew their own fur or that of their cagemates. While they may be super cute, make sure you know how to take care of a chinchilla before you get one as a pet.
In addition to making good pets, chinchillas have also made contributions toscientific research. For over 50 years, scientists have used chinchillas as research animals to study their hearing systems due to their large ears and sensitive hearing.
混合題型
1. B, D
2. (1) Release their fur if bitten. (2) Pee on their attackers.
