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[aaa18256]

Hello everyone 

I am not a chin Owner yet    I am looking to get one here in the near future. It's just the place where I am staying at now wouldn't be the best place to have a chinchilla since they have no ac and it gets pretty hot down here in Tn. But this gives me more time to research everything and be prepared once I do get to go get a chinchilla. It' so funny though I hadn't really heard of chinchilla's before until my boyfriend showed me one and after that I fell in love now I drive him crazy with my obsession hehe. So I hope to make some new friends on here and When I finally get my chin or chins  I will post pictures and let everyone know.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Aa haa you sound like your well on your way to an addiction, welcome to my world.
I had no idea what they were until I drop into my friends Ma & Pa pet shop 12 years ago.
I did some research, and bought my first. The next Christmas about 6 months later my kids bought me a female for him.
After the first littler I was hooked.
And yes I had the family drove nuts   I ate, slept, and breathed chinchilla ever since.

[Petco Chinchillas]

Welcome to the CC forum!!  You will love chinchillas! Although it takes a long commitment.
  I knew what chinchillas were, but I really didn`t care. ( immature days  )  Then, I saw 2 chins and, boy,  I NEEDED A CHINCHILLA!!!!!!! I got mine from a breeder.          

[aaa18256]

Thanks so much for the welcome to the site  I love this site I look at it alot expecially when i have downtime at work. Just trying to research all i can before i get one  plus I love reading some of the stories about the different things they do and their personalities hehe makes me wish I could get one now  but soon just have to have patience  .

[Petco Chinchillas]

If you do get a chinchilla, please buy it from a breeder. I am not saying that chinchillas at pet stores don`t deserve a chance, it`s just that pet stores are more interested in making a profit than giving you a good pet.  Chinchillas usually live 10+ in the wild, but some have been known to live up to 20+!!!  That is the kind of chin you want!   Pet stores may say that their chinchillas are 3-4 months, when really they may be older or younger. Since most pet stores don`t breed their own lines of chins, they may not know exactly where their chin came from.   A good person to contact for answers about your problem is Jo Ann. I now she sure did help me!!



   BTW, I am from TN, too!

[aaa18256]

Oh yeah I definitly plan on getting one from a breeder and not a pet store I went into a pet store last night just looking around and I asked them about the sex of the chinchilla they had and they didn't even know that  . Though I feel bad for the ones in the pet stores cause I know they can't be happy living in those conditions  . Where in TN are you from?

[Jo Ann]

   Hi!  Welcome to the Chinchilla Club Forum!  {    And soon ... to the Wonderful World of Chinchillas!    }

Air conditioning is a MUST for chinchillas that live in an area where it reaches 75 degrees or above.  I'm a former Tennessean also.

Please do try to get one from a good breeder, rather than a pet store.  Pet store employees usually know little about the chinchillas they sell.  As a general rule, they do not know how to properly care for them and therefore can not help you learn how to care for them.  A chinchilla is not like normal "pets", they become 'part of the family' and need special care to live a full, happy, healthy life.      It's best to know the background they came from and any family/medical history that is important. 

I get calls/e-mails almost daily from all over the country.  Just this week, I got a call from a lady I had helped before about her 'pet store chin' that is now showing signs of seizures.  Seizures can be caused by many different things ... one is hereditary ... but there is no background information on the little one.  The lady will now have to have some expensive blood work done on her chin to find out what is causing the seizures and IF it can be helped with a change in diet or the use of medication.   When you have a 'pet store chin' and it comes down to medical problems ... everything is usually a big ? mark.

Yes, pet store chinchillas need homes, too ... BUT ... the more chinchillas purchased in pet stores, the more chinchillas will find their way to pet stores to be sold.  Pet stores are in business to make money ... if it is no longer profitable, they will stop.   Most national chain pet stores get their chinchillas from a distributor, with no information about the chinchilla.  Some Ma & Pa pet stores get them from local breeders ... this is better ...    ... but still not as good as having the breeder to fall back on if there is a problem.

Chinchillas look cute in pictures ... then you touch them ... there is nothing like it ... They have the softest fur known to man!  Instantly you fall in love ... or so you think ... then you take one home and see all it's cute antics, sweet looks, big dark shiny eyes, the way they beg and the love they offer ... an unconditional love ... this is when they change your life  ... forever!  If you have a heart at all ... you have just made a lifetime commitment to these precious little furbies.     

Are you planning on getting males or females?  Have you considered breeding?  That is a really big step ... one to be taken with extreme caution!

   Jo Ann

[aaa18256]

Yeah Me and My boyfriend have decided to get one from a breeder. When we are able to get one of course,  since Like you said we would know it's background and also they are handled more so they would be alittle more used to humans.

Wow It sounds like you are a very busy person Jo Ann I don't see how you keep up with it all but I guess you are just used to it by now .  I am not sure if I am going to get a male or a female I trying to decide that now. Are there any pros and cons to either sex?.

Not sure about breeding I doubt we would do breeding mainly we want a chinchilla or maybe two chinchilla's just as pets.

Also by the way thanks for the welcome and the Information 

[Jo Ann]

   Every chinchilla is different, no two are exactly alike.  Each has it's own special personality.  I've never noticed a difference in which would be the best, male or female or any of the colors.  Chinchillas, as a rule, are very friendly and usually will not bite with out good cause and/or without warning you first.  If you pay attention to the warnings and know them, you will probably never get bitten.  There is one slight step in their self-defense methods that I have seen between the male and the female that is different. 

The warnings are usually as follows:
1) They try to run away and/or hide from you.
2) They try to push your hand away with their paws.
3) They fuss at you (usually while standing on their hind legs).  Sometimes #2 & #3 are reversed.
4) The female will, at this point, sometimes, but not always, stand on her hind legs, ears down, hips up and forward and she will spray you with urine.  (Remember, this is a self-defense method and one that she also uses against predators to protect her kits.)  I've never had a male spray me.  Not all females spray, but those that do are usually very accurate up to 7 feet away.   
5)  If you persist, at this time, you usually get a firm nip (not enough to break the skin, but strong enough to get your attention).  Unless the chin is really mad or very scared and then he might skip this step all together and go to the next step.
6)  If you are a glutton for punishment ... the next and final step will be a good hard bite (sometimes to the bone) that will bring blood.

I've only been bitten 3 times in well over a decade, withas many as 200 chinchillas at one time.  (One was when a chin was trapped and injured under the central air system, the second was when I had to take a kit from it's mom because the kit had died and she did not want to give it up ... and the last was a strange chinchilla that did not like strangers and was being groomed at a show (this can be stressful for a chinchilla).

Hope this helps.

   Jo Ann