Why Chinchillas?

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Megan

Dot lives forever!
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Lets here it...Why chinchillas? How did you get your first? Is your first still with you? Lets share some stories!!
 
I saw a chinnie at a pet store when I was about 10 years old and wanted one ever since. I am all about cute, furry, and exotic! About 3 years ago my boyfriend at the time surprised me with a chinchilla as a Christmas present from PetSmart. I named him Neeko. He was so full of personality. Being as he was a surprise I had a few questions about his care and found an online community dedicated to chins. I fell in love and became addicted, and my little furry family grew! I now have 6 chinnies and love every one of em. Unfortunately Neeko passed a year ago due to an unfortunate accident. I still miss him greatly and am so thankful that he was brought into my life and I was introduced to the wonderful world of chinmom-ship. :)
 
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Well, I knew about chinchillas since I was in love with the movie "My Neighbor Totoro" as a kid and once had looked up pictures of totoro and there was a picture of a chinchilla there. After that I always kind of wanted one.
It wasn't until I was in college and got my own apartment that I got one. My apartment didn't allow dogs and I wanted a pet that interacts with you so I asked about chinchillas. My landlord said so long as they're caged that it would be okay.
So I got Chibi, my standard, from a friend of my mom's. She was bred from petstore chins, but she's also my nicest.
After a couple months, I got Mei, my beige, as a friend for Chibi, but Chibi didn't like Mei..
Well then later I ended up getting two more, Kona a black velvet, and MuShu a mosaic who came from Peggy. So here I am with 4 chins.
I still have Chibi, she's only 2 years old, will be 3 in May.
I want more, but moved back in with my parents, so I'm having to wait for that..
 
My mom had chinchillas (and every other animal in the world) when I was a kid. They always had a special place in my heart, since I was the only one they seemed to like. I bought 2 chins in college, and started breeding years later. Now I love them still, and I married a man that loves them as much as I do, so that is why we have so many!
 
I lost my GP and wanted a bunny. I went to the petstore..( I know, I know) but there I saw a chinchilla. and fell in love. luckily as it turned out he was on hold so I had to search for one...now I have 46 (todays count)
 
Might as well tell my story too!

When I was younger, I'd say 8/9 my best friend at the time was dead set on getting a chinchilla. We went around to petstores with her mom to see them. Even held them a few times. I personally thought they were UGLY. Didn't understand why she'd want one of those things??? It wasn't until several years later, where I saw hedgehogs on Animal Planet and wanted one.. Doing my hedgehog research, I found out about chinchillas. There was a certian person who told me stories about her chin, and I just fell in love. I found two amazing breeders, who were willing to give a kid a chance(I was about 12 at the time), and July 29th, 2001 Jasper and Digit came home. Sadly I lost Digit about two years later, but I still have Jasper!! From there..my love for chinchillas has grown! I never thought I'd be where I am today, considering I thought they were ugly at one point!

Oh and my friend? Never did get her chinchilla!
 
I was always curious about chinchillas for as long as I can remember. My girlfriend's mom at the time knew a lady, her dog groomer, that had a couple of females and she was looking for a new home for them because her husband had hunting dogs that were stressing themselves and them out. Somehow we got on the topic and I got the groomers phone number, went and checked them out and picked them up shortly after that. I still have both of them, almost 11 years later. Both girls, Alexis is a black velvet and Montana is a standard.

Rich
 
/sigh. I got into chinchillas because of my ex. He always said he wanted to breed his chinchilla (that he had gotten from a previous relationship). So I told him I would do the research cause I wanted to do it right. Did some research, found out that since Door was from a pet store, we shouldn't breed him, and went out and bought a preg (who wasn't suppose to be preg) female and a breeding bonded pair. And I've grown ever since. He has since started to resent them.... Since we broke up, he still has two, but he won't get any more after they are gone.
 
I went to a local petstore my sophomore year of high school, saw the chin they had there. They let me pet him, etc. Next day, I went to school, started talking to one of my teachers, and told him about the chins I'd seen, and he told me he had chinchillas, offered to give me a baby for free (Cage and all) and I was hooked.
 
My first chin was a total impulse buy (I know, I know). Mom and I were in a pet store and I saw this one chinchilla that I completely fell in love with. He was a homo beige and I named him Hugsy (in the cage they had the chins in, he was sleeping with his arms around another chin).

Even though I did just about everything wrong (wire wheel, too many raisins, food with treats, etc.), he was with me for 14 years. Sometimes I wonder if I had known then what I know now, would he still be here.

After he died, I was devastated and didn't think I ever wanted another chinchilla; but thanks to some wonderful members on CnQ, I was able to open my heart to two other chins. One, Riley is still with me; the other Willow, crossed the bridge a year after I got him. Now, my herd has grown to include four other chins (Jet, Msytie, Little Bit and Scout) and I can't imagine life without them!
 
I saw my very first pair of chinchillas at the vet's office that I worked at back in 1992. They were a pair of standard grey's boy and a girl that one of the vet tech's kept in the break room. I thought they were the coolest animals I had seen and I had my share of rodents (guinea pigs, gerbils etc). I then rescued a pair of ebony chins (who actually had pedigrees) from someone who was giving them away in the newspaper the next year. I had them for years until they passed away just before my daughter was born.

I didn't get back into chins until 2004 when my children were older and could help take care of them. Now that they are older the chin addiction is back in full force. :p
 
Out of the blue, I had a dream that I raised chinchillas. A coworker just happened to be rehoming one and it was love at first sight.
 
My very first chinchilla was from a petstore too. My friend at the time (this was way back in Junior high) had a chinnie and I fell in love with them.

After Pookie died my first year of University I was very devastated. It wasn't until a year later that I saw Scoot at the petstore when I was shopping with my fiance and I instantly fell in love.

12 chins later and I am the luckiest/happiest chinnie Mom out there. My boys bring so much laughter and happiness into my life. Even though I'm a full time University student I still make time for my fluffs and couldn't imagine my life right now without them. They really are stress-relievers and sooo funny to be around.

Fiance loves them too which is also a huge plus! :D
 
10 years ago I went with a friend to visit one of her friends who was living in a motel (one of those pay by the week places--uummm efficiency hotels I think they are called)...Anyways, this girl owned a chinchilla and a monkey (she worked in a zoo)....the monkey was shaking this poor chins cage and the girl said that she really wanted to find a home for the chin...she also said she was short $75 rent so I gave her $75 and took the chin...and that is how I got Chi Chi the killa chinchilla....she is now 13...for years it was only me and her but she would cry at night and I looked it up on a website and the sound she made was the same sound listed for lonely and wanting a friend....from there I got a male free off of craigslist but knew I couldn't put them together...then I saw another ad on CL from a guy getting rid of his herd....I went and got a mom and her baby girl....Chi Chi hated both of them and the mom turned on the baby...so of course I had to get Chiquita a friend and along came Chimi and Changa....but Paco hated Changa (both males) so I had to add...right...lol....so now 10 chins later



Laura
Chi Chi, Paco, Rosalita, Chiquita, Chimi, Changa, Chuey, Pedro, Gomez and Guadalupe....
 
I had a friend who owned a pet store. A bunch of us would hang out there and she had a chinchilla in the back. Didn't have a clue about chins. We would go in and say, "hi buster" to him. Well, she went out of business and another friend took the chin and gave him to me for xmas. (At the time, I was renting a house and couldn't have a dog.) So I got a book on chins, learned what I could, fell in love, and had Buster for 13 years until he died.

After he died, I adopted Idgie from a local pet store that took her in when her owner couldn't care for her anymore. We've been together for a few years now.
 
I always wanted one, and my mom wouldn't let me have one. I don't know why, I had guinea pigs, rats, gerbils, and other pocket pets.

I researched them for a long time (since I couldn't have one). I got Tilly in 2006, then potato chip syndrome kicked in and I got George and his brother. From there Tilly's dam was for sale and I bought her. While I was there I saw a gorgeous standard I couldn't live with out and got her also.

Since then I have had some babies and bought and sold some. I keep the male kit JR out of Georgia and George, and traded the female for Gidget. I bought Mr. Chin and Maurice. Those are the 8 I currently have.
 
One day when I was in fourth grade and had just gotten out of dance class, my mom and I had stopped at the pet store to buy some dog food or something of that sort. As we walked in, I spotted the chinchilla they had "on display," and immediately fell in love.
Yet, it wasn't until the summer before 8th grade that I finally got one. We had just moved into a more stable environment and my mom finally said I could get one of my own. I remember all the research I had to put into it to convince her. I also remember finally finding the chinchilla I would get in the newspaper. I literally was jumping all around because I was so excited. Bringing home Reggi, was one of the best days I could have ever wished for.
My numbers grew and grew until I had upwards of 18. And at that point, my family's life went into shambles and we were forced to downsize dramatically.
Four years after my first chinchilla, I sit here with three of the greatest fur kids you'll ever meet. I wouldn't trade them for the world. They are spoiled and great and I don't know what I would do with out them. I do plan on upping the numbers in my herd, eventually. But as I think through my near future, I don't think it would be fair to them to get more until I am out of school, which could be a while, as I plan to join the army and then go for a doctorate degree in psychology. But for now, this is all I need, and I am happy for the chinchillas I do have.
 
I fell in love with the animal when I was about eight. We had just bought a vacation home in Tahoe, and our neighbor there had about five of them. I would go to the pet store and look pitiful until they let me hold one. My dad had a very strict rule about rodents [no one is allowed to get them except for Ellie (my sister)]. After a while, I gave up on my dream. Almost ten years later, I was in Petco and saw they had two chinchillas. This time, I was determined to get one, but not rushing into anything, I came home and found the Quills equivalent of this forum. Upon further research, I decided to get two standards from a nearby breeder. Sometimes I worry about what I will do once I move to uni, but then I look over at their just-bathed faces, and know I wouldn't have things any other way.
 
I saw my first chinchilla years ago at my local fair, and thought they were absolutely adorable and knew at that moment that I had to have one, one day. The price tag was more than I could pay at the time, and then I kind of forgot about chins for awhile. I was searching CL one day and a lady in my area was moving and had to sell her chins, and she had a female, in particular, that had to be sold seperately from the group because she did not get along with the others. She had a complete setup with her and I knew this was finally my time to get one. She was a beautiful mosaic and I fell instantly in love with her. Even my husband, who can't understand my passion for animals, has fallen in love with her. I instantly became an addict, but because of limited space and Tink's dislike of other chins, I can only have one. But she was one of my best adoptions ever.
 
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