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[Jo Ann]

Glad you got it ... it's just the basics, but sometimes the simple things are what we need to remember the most. 
My website and many others will give you even more information.  It takes time to sift through it all and even longer to absorb it.!   

 
Jo Ann

[chinchillagrl06]

I just wanted to add that Cheerio is absolutely adorable!

[chinsgrandma]

She would appreciate that compliment!  I did not know about the different mutations before I made the decision to go find her (or let her find me, as the case may be, she more or less picked me) but when I saw her coloring (ebony) I thought she was just so beautiful.  She spends a lot of time staring at herself in the full length mirror in my daughter's room, with good reason I should say.

I did not pick any of my animals except for my parrotlet, who I picked when he was an egg so that doesn't count!!   My rabbits came to me from rescue groups.  My first rabbit was a total whim, I saw her with a rescue group a few weeks before Easter and had these visions of someone taking her home as an Easter bunny then never looking at her again, so I snapped her up real quick and spoiled her rotten.  The only thing she didn't have was a friend, so I took her to another rescue group and let her choose a mate for herself, after which I promptly had her spayed  because we were NOT having babies!!!

Cheerio was at a breeder with about 10 other chins and she came up to me almost immediately when I crouched in front of the cages and I just knew my daughter would adore her.  I took my daughter the following night to see how they got along and it was love at first sight.  I could tell Cheerio was nervous, but they were a definite fit.

I have not smelled anything since I wrote this original posting (par for the course I suppose).  Last night I was in the room with my daughter and we were both laying on the floor doing whatever we were doing (writing) and the little imp was all over us, climbing on our backs and heads and sitting in our papers with that "what gives??" look on her face.  She is definitely finding her way to trusting us a lot more.  I thought it might take her a little longer since she was older and lived with the breeder for a long time, so I am happy to see that she is coming around as nicely as she is!   

[Jo Ann]

Yes, Cheerio is beautiful and looking very healthy!   

   I see you are beginning to really notice her personality ... the more you learn about their personality the closer you bond with them and visa versa.   

 
Jo Ann

[chinsgrandma]

It is interesting for us, having never owned one before.  In a lot of pets, once they see you are the hand that feeds them that's pretty much all it takes to establish at least the groundwork for something meaningful.  Honestly this little fuzzball didn't seem to give a hoot who was feeding her that whole first week or two she was here, she seemed genuinely ticked off at being taken from her home and I spoke to my daughter at length about this.  She is 12, so its not like she is a little one who can't understand.  But now Cheerio is really coming out of her shell and showing us who she is, so its a new encounter every day.  Last night my daughter went in to take a shower and we didn't want to send Cheerio back to her cage so I stayed with her until my daughter came back.  I was lying on the floor and Cheerio came up to me and looked at me with that "waddaya doin'?" look and I said "yes can I help you?" and she bolted with the tail upright, it was absolutely hysterical.  I could tell she was playing with me, because she came right back with this look on her face that was priceless, like she was taunting me ("yeah, just TRY to catch me old human lady!")

I remembered having a dog that would do that, he would run up to me with his tail in the air taunting me to chase him, then take off if I made the slightest move.  She was doing the same thing.

I saw the box about the magazine on the home page, that's a shame because I was hoping to find a magazine to subscribe to.  I am going to take some time later and explore the back issues that are available and maybe buy one of those if the topics are relevant.

[chinchillagrl06]

I love it when they play with you. Monkey and squirrel will jump all over me, they think I'm their own personal jungle gym.

Here's a picture of Squirrel using my head as a springboard! The little brat!

[chinsgrandma]

ACK!  That's what she did to me the other night.  She was dying to get on my daughter's dresser and that was the one place we wouldn't let her go because she had clean laundry stacked up there and Ms. Fuzz was all covered in dust.  But she got up on my head (she has figured out that my daughter is not tall enough) and I felt her two back feet catapult off my head.   I am SO glad they don't have claws!!!!

[Jo Ann]

Hi Chin's Grandma!

   You can order the back issues of the printed magazines (there were 9) 
    Don't forget to check out the section entitled Books on the ordering section at: http://www.cafepress.com/chinchillapet/235261  There is a collection of articles from 2000 to 2003 in one big magazine that is not listed in the regular printed magazine order section, this one is a special one, before we started the regular magazines.
    Also, there you can connect to the past articles ( http://chinchillamagazine.com/pages/ ), of not only the printed magazines, but the on-line-magazines before that also!   
    We could get the regular printed magazines going again, if we could get more people to write articles and participate more.  If we can get enough people to start submitting articles again, maybe we can get it going again.   

     
Jo Ann

[chinsgrandma]

Ok, I have a question!!

I went reading some of the other subjects and saw a few comments about a "nice neck".  In my unprofessional opinion, Cheerio does not HAVE a neck.  Do other chinchillas have a "defined" neck?  She is one big fuzzball aside from her tail!  See here?  NO NECK!

[Jo Ann]

Hi Chin's Grandma,

     When you look at a side and top view of a chinchilla when he/she is on all fours and close to the ground, the "nice neck", is no neck.  There will not be a narrowing of the neck from any view of the chin.

    They also need to look like a "brick" from the sides and the top, rather than a triangle. The front shoulders and back hips should be equal in size.

     From the picture above, I see no neck on Cheerio. 

 
Jo Ann

PS This is getting more into the breeding aspects of a chin.  I'm going to start a question on that section of the forum with your question, if that is OK with you.  :-[  Is that agreeable, Chin's Grandma?

[chinsgrandma]

Yes!  That is fine by me!  We are not going to be breeding at any point but I find it all interesting to read.

When I got her from the breeder, she said that Cheerio was a "pet quality" chinchilla.  Does this mean that she is "unable" to breed?  I know it drastically lowered her price, which was great because we really loved her and would bring her home regardless of price, but I didn't know they were classified in different categories like that by breeders?

[chinclub]

It means that she had some undesirable trait that the breeder didn't want to breed for.  In our herd we call a chinchilla "pet-quality" if it is off color, has poor fur quality, or doesn't have the right size and shape.  These things are determined by show quality.  It doesn't make the chinchilla any less healthy or wonderful as a pet, it just means it probably wouldn't be rated very high at a chinchilla show.  We will also call a chinchilla "pet quality" if we do not know the history of a chinchilla.

[Jo Ann]

  Hi All,

This portion (the last 4 posts above this one) only has been copied under Breeding 101 "No Neck/Pet Quality" at: http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=81.new#new

[Jo Ann]

Chinchillas would make good acrobats ... they bounce everywhere! (and are not particular what they are bouncing from or to).   

Always remember to cover/secure any liquids when your chin's playing!

 
Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

What a beauty, I love her.
Have enjoyed reading this thread.
Just wanted to say, I call them farts.
That little puff of a smell they can let off, when angry, startled, or all out scared.
Funny Jamie, I have heard very little about them
I guess they are not big enough to hear, and hardly last long enough to smell.