They are not hard to take care of, but you do need alot of knowledge when owning one to keep it safe and healthy. So many things are dangerous for chinchillas and can hurt them. Even most of the stuff at the pet store that says 'chin safe' are not really chin safe, and they certainly do not have good chin foods. They need to be on a good healthy pellet. Vets can be very expensive, the cage you need will be expensive because they need a good size cage, and then all the assessories will add up. it's also very hard to find a good exoctic vet. They are some cons.. don't get me wrong, if i had to do it all over again, I will still get chinchillas. I love them. Just wanted to let you know some of the cons. Also, they are not pets you can cuddle. They need at least an hour a day of supervised playtime out of their cage.
If you really want to learn what one needs to know when owning one, get back to me and i'll give you some chinchilla forum links and you will learn lots. Also, your age [there is a reason why i asked that, and you don't have to be exact, just if you are an adult over 18 or are younger]