Yes as said above they can last along time I had 2 male ( brothers from the same batch ) not a good idea normally as they can fight, they lasted years so it is one thing to think of when getting them ie what will I be doing in 10-15 years ! one was 14yrs the other 18yrs ( there mum got to 22yrs ! )
Very easy to look after, put some hay in the little rack every day, fresh water every day if you put a bowl in they will tip it over ! I had a metal bowl that dropped into a holder on the side of the cage, water bottles with a nozzle thing that fit to the outside of the cage will be nibbled within seconds so it needs a metal holder, chinchilla food pellets again in a metal bowl in a holder on the side of the cage, they can have a treat now and again but dont over do it little bit of apple, a raisin every now and again.
2 pine wooden boxes small hole at the front and a removable lid( for cleaning out) so the could hide in them, one on the bottom of the cage one on the top shelfthis one fastened down.
The cage I made had was 1″ square weld-mesh it was about 750mm x 750 mm base the hight was 1300mm ish it had 3 pine shelves and a bigger mesh one, if you look at a cage the base has a extra bit on the bottom this is so you can slide a plastic tray or painted wooden tray of sawdust or shavings in, if cleaned out weekly they dont smell I used to scoop the shavings from their ‘pee area’ ( yes they peed in one area of the cage ) and put fresh shavings down part way through the week.
Roses tin ( other sweet tins too ) with fine sand put this in the cage for about a hour every day ( or on the floor with lots of paper ) this is what they bath in fantastic to watch 😆 start brushing them young as sometimes they dont like it one of mine hated being brushed so he only got brushed when he was sheding his fur dont be worried if you see big tufts of fur as for each folical there is 50 ish hairs so they sometimes look a bit scruffy
They are nocturnal but will come out and play anytime if they dont want to play they wont, they can do nibbling ( mine had a chunk of breze block and plumice stone to keep their teeth down ) so if you let them out be warned ! chins chew everything its their mission in life 🙂 so plastic things are a no-no in the cage and the wooden thing will need replacing every now and again.
Hope this helps a little 🙂