fully understandable about exposing the chin, I am really comfortable with my other breeder, and havent really had any problems, but understandable if you dont know the other breeder that well and dont know their chins.
Not fussing at you, just trying to let you think a little more objectively about putting two chins together from different breeders/owners .... I use to be the same way ... THEN ... SOMETHING happened to make me open my eyes ...
I had purchased many chinchillas from a breeder I trusted very well and had done business with for quite some time ... this breeder is very well know and has been in the chinchilla world for a very long time ... I will not mention the breeders name.
I paid $700 for an ebony, took it home, because it was a bit fussy, thinking it needed more personal time, I kept it separate from the rest of my herd ... something I had not done before with this particular breeders chinchillas, because this breeder had a fantastic reputation and I had never had a problem ... but it was a regular practice with others. Within 48 hours, it seemed not to want to eat or drink very much. I took it to my vet. It was clearly loosing weight and showing signs of not being able to easily swallow and having a little difficulty breathing. The chin was placed in an oxygen tent, where it had to stay for 3 days and nights. My vet seemed to work with her tirelessly, searching the internet to find someone that might have experience with these symptoms in a chinchilla. Nothing worked ... after 3 days, and $784 vet bill later, the chin died.
Now, it was not the $700 price I paid for the chin or the $784 vet bill ... it was my whole herd I had to be concerned about......
I had to know why, so an autopsy was preformed. At the base of the esophagus, a wart was found. It was a wart caused by an air-born virus and never heard of in chinchillas before ... in goats yes, but not in chinchillas. The wart had grown to the size that the food the chin tried to eat would not be able to enter the stomach. Now was the real dilemma ... my vet let me know it was caused from an air-born virus, would take 9 weeks to 9 months to become apparent ... it definitely did not come from our home or chins. The rest of my chins, because this one was isolated from the others, should be safe, according to the vet. But, because the chins were in the same building (our home) and that we have central air ... I would not feel safe for my chins until the 9 months had passed ... in the meantime, I, myself, quarantined my chinchillas and refused to allow any of them to become adopted until the quarantine time was over. None showed any signs of being ill. After a year of no adoptions, we had a full house, but a safe and healthy herd. Come to find out ... the breeder I had purchased the original chin from had just purchased it, along with others from a breeder going out of business ... a breeder that my breeder had know and trusted. No other chins fell ill and my breeder later replaced the dead chin with one they had raised. A lesson I will never forget, it happened many years ago ... but, now I look at all the happy little faces we have and remember to
Quarentine Every New Chinchilla!Please keep in mind ... NO ONE is perfect, things happen ... quarantine ALL chinchillas that are new to you!Hope you will take this to heart and think about it.
Jo Ann
Author
Topic: A moral dilema - I really need some advice. (Read 7323 times)