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[chinclub]

We did this once before on the last board I think.  I love to see everyone's set-up (your chinchilla room, or your chinchila cage).  Its fun to see how everyone does it.

I'll start.  I have over 100 chinchillas and here is a picture of my chinchilla building and my breeding room.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Have you raised the cages a tad Jamie? She asks with envy.
I wish I could have something like that, but sales of kits in Newfoundland just wouldn't warrent it.
I have about 30 most of the time, with just 8-10 kits sold per year.
My chins have their own room, 10x20, in the basement with our furniture show room in one end and a large work shop at the other.
All my cages are home made, except for a few conversions. One cage used to house a snake,it's some kind of a display case, and one chin cage came with a rescue.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Debbie,

Looks like you have put allot of work into those cages ... beautiful!

The one that use to house a snake ... is it glass enclosed?  If so, careful with the lack of ventilation for the chin/chins in it.  I think the ones you've made are prettier! 

Jamie's is wonderful with that 12 foot ceiling ... been there a few times ... it always looks like the picture ... wish I had her energy! 

 
Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Thanks Jo Ann,
yes and no, the snake cage has glass doors and sides, but the top has been replaced with mesh. I placed another glass divider in it so it's two cages in one.
Most are made from pine and mesh, or metal shelving units, plexie glass and mesh.
I like plexie glass for the sides& back, and mesh for the tops and doors the best. Fit a steel pee pan and it makes for very easy cleaning.
My new 4 cage unit I used recycle tempered glass panels for the floors. Keeping on eye on the dishes and toys I put in there, but they love to sit on the glass when it's warm. The bonus is it doesn't stain, or hold any odors, and wipes clean easily.
The cage on top was a vent we had made for out side the house.
It was to big, so converted it into a cage as well.

[Jo Ann]

Wonderful!  I would have never thought of using tempered glass ... no stains, no odor, easy to clean ... great idea!  Time-saving and safe!   

 
Jo Ann

[Misskitz]

Hi every one i don't have a chinnie room just one 5 story cage, with 3 houses, 2 wheels 1 water bottle 2 food bowls and 2 adorable chinnies!

[FluffBall]

for all you folks that have a ton of chinnies do you play  with all of them or do you leave them in the cages?
I am just not sure how you have all that time for all of them?
maybe cause I have 3 kids and they tak up most of my time but the chins ae night owls and that gives me 1 on 1 time with them and also relaxes me so I can go to bed happy and calm

[chinclub]

Hi Fluffball,
No I don't hold all of my chinchillas and they don't get playtime outside of the cage.  But these chinchillas were born into breeding systems like this and never learned to enjoy outside cage time or enjoy being held so they don't miss it. They get their affection from their mates.  Plus all of my chinchillas are in breeding and trying to handle a pregnant female that isn't very comfortable with it could be harmful to mom and babies.  I do put hanging toys in each of my cages and the handful that do like attention get plenty of it.   

It is a full time job!  Both of my kids are in school now so I take that time to spend out in the chinchilla building. During the summer my kids each have jobs and can help me feed, water, and sweep.  Their favorite job is hunting for the babies. The chinchillas are used to my schedule so the ones that like human interaction are always at the front of the cage for alittle kiss and a scratch. 

[Jo Ann]

Hi FluffBall,
   
    Jamie and I have traded breeders and all, so most of our chins even come from the same lines.  We both do the same, for the same reasons.  We love all of our chins and we give each a treat or two every day.  Some will grab them and run to the back (they don't seem to want to interact with humans), while others will take it and then stand there wanting to be scratched and/or rubbed.  This is all they know and they enjoy the comany of their mates and kits.  It is a much more 'natural' way of life for them.

   Of course, we have our 'favorites' ... mostly those that are retired or that we do not want to breed (maybe because they had it rough as a kit ... siblings hurt them and it stunted their growth), or a female that had problems delivering ... these we allow to share bigger cages and keep each other company and they will get more 'personal attention' than our breeders. 

   We handle our kits  that will be adopted daily, so that they will be use to interacting with humans when they leave us and go to private homes. 

    Some of the larger ranchers are even helping to re-populate the chinchilla's natural locations (the Andes Mountains) with their best chinchillas, so that the wild chinchillas will not become completely extinct.  It would be impossible to have these chins interact with humans ... it would defeat their purpose of surviving in the wild.

    We are into breeding chinchillas as a hobby, because we love them and want to share them with others, not for the money (or we'd stopped long ago) and not to be mean to them (we love them), but to see that they are cared for properly and to educate their new chin parents (humans) on how to properly care for them so that they can have long, happy healthy lives in their new homes.   

 
Jo Ann

[FluffBall]

I guess I could never be a good breeder cause I would always want to play with them and let them out and stuff 
I even hate seeing the pets in the stores in their cages all the time Petland is my fav though they are always taking all their animals out and interacting with them

[Jo Ann]

We'd love to take them out, let them run and play, but with so many, there is not enough hours in the day.    They could get hurt, or even killed  ... there would be, without a doubt, some that would not get along and they could injure or even kill each other.   There would be indiscriminate breeding ... maybe even within the same family or between chins that would carry the lethal factor  ... or breeding of females to young and small to safely carry kits ... she would probably die, with the kits, during delivery.    Being a breeder is a big responsibility ... we have to do what is best for the chinchillas ... not what we would like to do or what we think would be more fun for the chinchillas. 

The chinchillas that you see in pet stores, for the most part, came from a distributor, the distributors usually keep them in huge cages ... males in one ... females in the other.  They do not play with them.  The distributors buy them from (as a rule) large ranches where they are touched by human hands twice ... once to find out if they are male or female and the second time when they are packed in shipping crates for the distributors to pick-up.

When they reach the pet stores, most if not all of the employees there know little about how to properly house, feed, take care of and even handle the chinchillas.  Therefore they can not educate people that buy the chinchillas from them.  They could care less, all they want is the money from them.

You hit a real sore spot when you mentioned Petland.  Our local Petland is the very reason I am breeding chinchillas.  See the next post, please ....

[Jo Ann]

Here is part of an article that will help explain (the whole article is in the magazine archives)

Author: JoAnn
Of Luv'n Chins


How and Why I Became, and Still am a Breeder


My first encounter with chinchillas was a beautiful white mosaic male in a pet store. He was the most beautiful and the softest thing I had ever touched ... and he touched my heart in a way like no animal had that I had ever seen before. It was love at first site. I had to learn more about these wondrous, precious little fur balls, even if this one would never be mine. (With a $599 price tag, he was beyond my reach at that time.) As the weeks went by, his family was brought into the store and I found myself spending a couple of hours a day 3 or 4 times a week with them. After a few months, the complete chin family had died, due to mishandling and lack of knowledge by the caretakers in the store. Sadly, in the future, I would find this to be the norm and not the exception to the rule. It was heart breaking. I vowed to get my own chins someday and know how to properly care for them.
 

   This is in reference to the local Petland.  Also, not mentioned in the article, the parents gave birth to a beautiful female white mosaic kit while there ... I decided, when I saw, it less than 12 hours after it was born, I had to have it.  I took the money I was saving for one and paid on my little Misty and everything she would need.  I went to see her daily and played with her whole family. By the time she was 6 weeks old everything was paid for in full.  I had to be out of town for 3 days when she was 8 weeks old (but Petland would not let me take her home until she was 12 weeks old).  When I got back, I stopped at Petland even before going home.  My Misty was injured and they didn't even realize it ... but I did, the minute I saw her in the corner just sitting there shaking! Not playing like she normally would be doing.   Later I would find out someone had improperly handled her and broken a rib and punctured her lung. She died a very slow and painful death. The assistant manager (the so-called-breeder) took her home with him that night ... she died during the night.   The reason I refer to him as the so-called-breeder is because the housing provided for them was from his specifications.  They were in a glass/wood enclosure with a florescent light on them 24/7, no air flow, a bowl of water, a plastic hut and a plastic dust bath container left in the cage 24/7.  The wood was press wood covered with a plastic covering that ate on constantly. And they were fed a mixture containing nuts ... giving the female liver failure due to a fatty liver from the nuts. It took me another year and a half before I could get my first chin ... during this time, I spent hours and hours daily, learning every thing I could and am still learning more each day.

 
Jo Ann[/i]

[chinchillagrl06]

Awww.. that is really heartbreaking JoAnn.
I would love to someday open a petstore that actually knows about its animals and takes proper care of them. That is my dream someday.  We have 1 really nice pet store around here. I actually am friends with the owner. His sister is a hobby breeder of chinchillas, but they don't sell chins in the store. He had his own chin with him one day when I went in and I completely fell in love. I bought my first 2 chins from his sister. 

[tinabeana]

We bought Maggie from a Petsmart... I felt bad for her two cagemates. They were in a tall glassed in cage. Taller then me and in a half circle shape about 3-4 feet across, with one leapin' ledge about 6 inches off the ground. If I were a chinchilla I would have been terrified, not only are people always standing above them, but also the people's dogs also. Petsmart allows you to bring in "well behaved pets" (but the also have an obedience class held in the center of the school. what well behaved pet needs obediance school?).

I would get so irritated when I'd see people with dogs just leering at the chinchillas, rats and hamsters. Sure glass separated them but they had to have been frightened.

I wish we had bought her from a breeder, at least so I would have someone who knew her to ask questions.

Petsmart didn't know her age. I got several answers. One person said 4 months, one said 4-6 months, one person said less then a year and one person said it's impossible to know how old Petsmart chins are. The vet guessed she was around six months.

Also I would have preferred a chinchilla that was handled more. She runs up to me, jumps all over me when I sit with her and begs to be let out of her cage but she doesn't particularly like to be held or pet. Occasionally she'll stand near the bars and hold her chin out for me to scratch but that’s about it.

The local pet shop is no better. We go in there to look at the puppies and buy bedding but that’s it, the only other chinchilla products they carry are Kaytee products. We were in there a few weeks ago, and I was shocked they actually had a chinchilla.

The sign said "male and female $199 each or $350 for the pair," but there was only one in the cage. It was adorable, much bigger then Maggie and it’s coat was very nice looking, a lighter gray (I’m not sure of the official name of the color). So I ask the clerk it's gender and age and he says it's a boy and he has no idea how old. "He" was very friendly, ran up to me and sniffed, he let me rub his head even.

So I was there last time, and he's still there, and I ask the other clerk there about him. Well now he is a she, but we still don't know her age. This clerk said the other chin they had in the cage with her was her brother.  She said she wished the person you bought him would have taken this chinchilla too as they had gotten a long so well. I asked if the boy had been neutered and she said no of course not...

I feel really bad for that chinchilla, if we had more money and space I'd buy him too.

[Jo Ann]

I hope the 'brother and sister' weren't together to long.  A male chinchilla has the ability of impregnating a female chinchilla at the tender age of 12 weeks ... a female chinchilla has the ability to get pregnant between 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 months of age.  She is not old enough or developed enough to safely carry/deliver kits and would probably die in the delivery process.
     I love the remark

She said she wished the person you bought him would have taken this chinchilla too as they had gotten a long so well.

Apparently the person that said it has no idea that  chinchillas will mate with the opposite sex, even if they are related.  Insest is one thing you do not want with chinchillas, it usually means trouble.
    Most of your national chain pet stores get their chinchillas from a distributor.  On rare occasions they can get them from a local breeder, but that is very rare because most of the time a breeder that sells to a pet store will have to sign a contract that they will not sell their chins to individuals in that state.
     I hope who ever buys that little chin looks first to see if it is a he or a she.   
     If the sign is still up ... someone should tell them I want both chins for $350 ...(employee) but we've already sold the other chin .... oh, what did they pay for it ... (employee)$199 ... oh, good, then I can pay the difference, $151, and get the second one.     I don't think they would go for that.      but, I'd try.   

 
Jo Ann[/i]