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[Gizmo]

Well, I haven't had a pet for several years... my last pet was a hamster named Zippo, she was a great pet.  I'm thinking it's about time for a new one, and I've been looking into chinchillas.

They just seem so cool!  I've been doing my research on them, they seem as though they're higher maintenance than a hamster, but they have a longer lifespan, are very soft, and seem very social and all.  I'm going to be checking soon to see if my local pet stores have any chins... if I do get one, I'll love going through the process of having my first chin with you folks 

I've already decided on a likely possible name for my first chin, which can sorta go with either gender.  I'm using it for my username here, since I'm so bad at coming up with usernames   Gizmo... and yes, I did steal it from gremlins

Looking forward to many hours of fun with a cuddly little chinchilla!

-gizmo

[null]

Instead of getting a chin from the pet store you should look around for a local breeder. You're more likely to find a better quality chin for a cheaper price than you would at a pet store.

[Summer]

Hi  I bought My first one from a pet store, I over paid Not that I don't love him. Chinpo is fav. But I wish I had him from a breeder. I got my other two from one and they more happier.  They are better quality. Chinpo has a missing toe, that's why he was in there.

[tinabeana]

I agree!

I fell in love with Maggie on the spot... but she's from Petsmart and $150 was a bit much for a under socialized, standard grey of unknown age and origin.

A breeder an  hour away sells standard grey chins for about 75 dollars, and provides info about their birth, care and breeding. They also handle the chins they sell as pets daily. If I get another chin it would most likely be through them.

[Gizmo]

I don't know if there are any chin breeders near me...

But I did go look around at the pet store today.  They had 2 chinchillas, along with a bunch of things that you can get for them.  The cage didn't look bad, it had the dust bath built in and all.

The chinchillas were probably the friendliest critters in the room.. they came over to me, sniffed me, etc...whereas when I tried to pet the guinea pigs they ran away from me

It was $100 for a chinchilla

[null]

He's a directory of breeders, there might be one near you.

http://www.chinchillaclub.com/breeder/index.html

[Summer]

Hi I got Chinpo at petsco, I paid $180 for him. He did come right up to me, He is very friendly. http://www.chinchillaclub.com/breeder/index.html is how I found a really good Breeder. 

[Gizmo]

Well, the pet store by me is a tiny ma and pop kinda store, and they do take very good care of their critters.

I went in to the store today and I actually held/pet the the chins for the first time... soooooo soft   
I can't wait till I actually get one.

They don't seem like bad quality at all... maybe not perfect, but not bad

[Summer]

  Hi do they know were the chins come from? My grandpa uesd to own a pet shop, not all ma and pa stores are good. But there are some.

[Stacy]

I got Roo from a tiny ma and pa type store also. She did know how old he was and what sex but she has a friend that had a male and female she bread and let her sell the kits. She also had 1 female in the store that is her pet. I think with pet store it depends on the kind of store. I would not get 1 from PetSmart or some where like that. I also would never breed Roo because I don't know if his mom and dad had any health problems, but I love him to death and I am very glad I got him. When I decided to get a chin I called a lot of pet shops to see if anyone had any and a lot of places did but they had no idea how old they were or anything else. I did have 1 man that told me he had 1 that was 8 weeks old. I went to look at it and it was huge. If it really was 8weeks it will grow into the bigest chin I have ever seen. It was about the size of Roo and Buddy and they are both going on 1 yr.  

Getting from a good breeder is best but if you must get one from a pet shop you should never breed it.

[chinchillagrl06]

Good luck with your search. Keep researching. There is something new to learn about these critters every day. There is nothing wrong with  petstore chins, but it's better to get from a breeder because they can usually give you more information about them like their birthdate, their genetic history.
You'll love having chinchillas.
I am on a couple of different forums. You can never learn too much about these critters.  Read all you can here and ask questions. There are a lot of very knowledgable people here. I am also a member of www.chins-n-quills.com and I read www.chincare.com often. This is my favorite place to hang out and post though.

If you do decide to get those chins at he petstore, ask the owner for as much info on them as you can get.

[Summer]

They exactly right. I couldn't have said it better

[Gizmo]

Yup... I've searched every site related to chins I could find trying to learn as much about them as I can before I get one ^^
I want to get all the supplies and everything set up before I get the actual fluffball ^^

They said that the chins were 7 months old... not newborns by any means, but not ancient

[Jo Ann]

Hi Gizmo,

The cage didn't look bad, it had the dust bath built in and all.

Do you know who makes them?  The big ranchers have their cages with a dust bath built in, but I did not think the pet stores carry them.  I'd love to see a picture of it and/or find out where they come from.

 
Jo Ann[/i]

[chinclub]

That may have been  a superpet type cage.  I have seen them with a little hole that connects to the plastic super pet dust house and gives the chinchillas access to the dust at all times. 

You don't want this.  First, for some reason most chinchillas will choose to sleep in their dust house and will pee in the dust.  This is a great breeding ground for germs and sickness.  2nd, you don't want your chinchilla breathing in its dust bath on a regular basis.  3rd, constant dust baths will dry out a chinchilla's skin.  Lots of chinchillas can not handle a daily dust bath without serious skin dryness.  Could you imagine if they spend prolonged amounts of time in there every day! 

Other cages, like the ones Joann was talking about have a dust bath that is attached to the cage but it pivots so you can push it into the cage for dusting, and then pull it back out until next time.  Its a great time saver for people with large herds because you just go down the lines pushing in and pulling out baths in a matter of seconds.  I sure wish I had those!!!  It takes me forever to match each chinchilla up with their own dust bath (sharing is a no-no if they don't share a cage) and then pulling out all of those dust baths and storing them away.