Chinchillas were originally traded for the fur and became nearly extinct in the wild. In 1923 Mathias F. Chapman brought chinchillas to the United States. Since the 1960's chinchillas have become much more popular as household pets. Now many chinchilla breeders only raise chinchillas for the pet market. Chinchillas make great pets as many of them enjoy being held and being taught tricks. Each chinchilla has its own distinctive personalities that will lead the chinchilla to different habits of sleep, playfulness eating, and temperament.

  Chinchillas are small rodents that originated from the Andes Mountains in South America. Chinchilla fur is the considered to be one of the softest in the world. Their fur is so dense that common parasites like fleas cannot survive due to the high density. Chinchilla fur is roughly 30 times softer than human hair and contains about 20,000 hairs per square centimeter.