I had a Chin for a while... he was a great little critter (I used to joke about breeding them to make a coat
The dust baths he took were neat, but they are very fragile creatures, especially around the rib cage, I am not sure I would ever trust a child with them. One squeeze too hard, and you're looking at a nice vet bill.
Smokey died because of an affliction that happens to a lot of chins. Chinchilla teeth never stop growing, and the chin is supposed to chew on hard materials to wear down the teeth, but smokey never did...poor critter wouldn't eat near the end and I finally took him to the vet to have him put down (He went earlier because he woudnt chew -- vet said there was nothing that could be done)
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/web/site...chinchilla.asp