The Chipmunkery, a colony of semi-wild chipmunks

Welcome to the home of my colony of Chipmunks. I have been keeping Chipmunks as pets for many years now and I have found their popularity have increased over recent years. I have never judged myself as an expert on Chipmunks, what knowledge I do possess has been gained from my own experience watching and caring for my own Chipmunks and reading books and other information on the Internet.

So what is a Chipmunk and where do they originate?

A Chipmunk is a type of ground squirrel, they are small burrowing rodents which are very fast and active, they love to jump and climb and are amazing escape artists, which I learnt from a mistake I made some time ago, when one of my diluted Chipmunks escaped.

There are many species of Chipmunks around the globe, the most common being in the genus Eutamias, these originate from the coniferous forests in Northern and Western America, Canada, Mexico, Mongolia, siberia, Korea and China. Chipmunks in the genus Tamias are found in the deciduous forest areas within Eastern Canada and North America.

The latter species of Chipmunk are a larger Chipmunk, they have a body length of between 137-186mm and a tail length of 78-133mm, whereas the European and Asian Chipmunk are smaller with a body length of 80-160mm and a bushy tale of 60-140mm.

Due to the interbreeding of species in captivity a 'dilute' Chipmunk has been bred. This is a white Chipmunk which has very faded brown markings and ruby eyes, this must not be mistaken as an 'albino'. True albino's are pure white with pink eyes.

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