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[tudiebug]

I was at work the other day and a friend of mine said that a girl she knows is breeding chinchillas for extra money till she is done with college. now she got these chins from a pet store and she knows nothing about them and it bothers me that she is jumping into it without any knowledge about what can go wrong and that if something does that she will need the money to take them to the vet right away, i know its none of my business but i feel bad for these chinchillas i'll admit that i do have one kit that i don't know the pedigree of because i didn't have pedigrees for the parents and i no longer use them for breeding and i don't plan on selling the kit i've learned the hard way and i now have pedigreed chinchillas, am i being too sensitive or do i have a reason for being bothered?

[Abby W.]

Absolutely not!  I hate to hear about people breeding when they shouldn't be.  Your friend is being terribly irresponsible.  I would mention to her that  her pet store chins could be carriers for any number of negative traits, like heart murmurs or malocclusion.  If those traits are passed to the kits she will have some very sick, very miserable animals.  If she cares about them, she won't take that risk.

You might also mention that breeding chinchillas in small numbers never yields a profit.  I consider myself very lucky if I break even each month.  It is only profitable when done in LARGE numbers, several hundred or more.  So, she is actually probably going to lose money. 

You should also tell her about what things can go wrong and the possible consequences.  Is she prepared for a $1200 vet bill, if her female needs a c-section or an emergency spay?  Is she prepared to feed kits every two hours round the clock for weeks at a time if her female dies or is unable to nurse her kits?  These things are rare but they do happen.  And no one should be breeding if they are unable to take on those situations.

[ABC Chinchillas]

I have yet to make a profit. doesnt happen so hopefully she will give that up in a bit. Remind her that they have 1 or 2 kits twice a year and that is if you are lucky

[mylittlechinchilla]

No.. I would be upset too!  There are SO many irresponsible breeders out there, people like her.  That is how I end up with SO many rescues, people thinking they are going to make big money and don't get tired of the chins and end up in rescues or for sale to whoever will buy them..