How could you give them away to customers? I would fall in love with them and keep them all for myself!! Some breeders, sadly 
, love money more than chinchillas and would sell them at some pretty high prices. Good for your son though. Chinchillas are far better than hedge hogs. Jessica L. 
There are some breeders that sell for the money ... there are some that sell because they don't have room for those little ones being produced ... there are some that sell them to help pay the upkeep on the others they have ... and some allow them to go to loving homes because they want to share all the love a chinchilla has to give. Chinchillas, being what they are, have a reputation for being ... sweet, loveable, mischievous, entertaining, soft, funny and #1 in the begging department.
Some that sell their chins at a high price are 'in it for the money' ...
but ... some that sell their chins at a high price is because:
1) They are a higher quality chinchilla and are show quality and breeding quality as apposed to just a 'pet quality'.
2) They put out allot of money to get good high quality breeders and need to recoup some of that {I paid $1,400 for a pair of ebonies}
3) They have some major upkeep. Some build one or more buildings that is just for their chinchillas ... it has to be heated and airconditioned, running water, the works.
4) Some breeders put out $300 to $1,000 a month on food and supplements every month ... some of the big ranchers spend more than that.
5) If a chin gets sick, they not only have to worry about that chin, but about the whole herd ... what ever made it sick might be contagious ... I bought another ebony chin and paid $700 for it ... it was sick, but none of us knew it at the time. Within 3 days, it was at the vet's ... after 6 days of having this chin, I had a $724 vet bill + $124 for an autopsy ($1,548 - not counting the expenses of the trip to go get it and us having to stay in a hotel overnight ... because it was so far to travel) I had a dead chinchilla on my hands, in less than one week of purchasing it. The rancher I purchased him from is well known not to replace an animal (due to the fact, the death of the chin is usually the fault of the new owner not caring for it properly), but, when I saw them next, with a copy of the vet bill and autopsy report ... the rancher replaced the chin. I still had the vet bill to pay, but, I chose the chin and I chose to take it to the vet. So, I paid the bill and I quarantined my herd for 9 months ... so there was no money coming in during that 9 months, but plenty going out, but I was not willing to take the chance of infecting the whole chinchilla community. I had followed the proper precautions of the quarantining new comers, but this virus was airborne and could travel from one room to the next. This was several years ago. No other chins were effected and all is well.
5) Then you have to think of the cost of the cages and the time it takes to build them, bottles, stoppers & tubes, bedding, the time it takes to feed and water the chinchillas daily and time for cleaning the cages, keeping the building in good condition, inspections, shows, travel, meetings, I could go on and on with reasons the good chinchillas are usually priced higher than the 'pet chinchillas'.
6) Some breeders price their chins a little high to make sure the person buying it has the ability (money-wise) to take care of it.
7) The often years spent taking care of the chinchillas and researching them involves not just weeks or months of studying, but very often, many years of experience and learning. Their time is worth something ... would you work 8 to 15 hours a day, and, at times, 6 days a week, for free?
If you take the cost of the building (if there is a separate building), or the room/rooms in the home used for raising chinchillas, the cost of the upkeep of the building/rooms, the cages and the costs of building the cages, the cost of both parents of the kits, the food, water, air conditioning/heating of the area the chins live in, medical expenses, hours spent taking care of them, food, supplements, bedding, record keeping, website expenses .etc, for about six months (if the pair produce a litter twice a year), then that little chin does not seem so expensive, especially when you consider it's life expectancy. I've never seen anything but red ink at the bottom of the page since I started as breeder. To make money off of it, you have to be willing to sell to pet owners, other breeders and pelters. To make money off it, you have to have 500 to 5,000 chinchillas and be willing to work 8 to 15 hours a day, usually 6 days a week, spend money to go to shows, and field days, to learn even more about your precious little fur ball.
That's just the working part of it, there is a very big drain on you emotionally, when you are a full time breeder and some hobby breeders that take raising chinchillas properly and seriously.
You might want to read:
http://www.luvnchins.com/Breeding101forBreeders.html , and especially this one:
http://www.luvnchins.com/Breeders.htmlHave a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Jo Ann
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Topic: Mom...I'm glad we got the chinchillas...What was I thinking!?! (Read 6353 times)