Breeders out there.

[furrylovables]

So I get another phone call today about a cage I was selling months ago. The lady tells me she has 2 babies, a female thats 3 months and a male that is 5 months. She purchased them from a local breeder in her area, and the lady told her she didn't have to worry about the female getting pregnant until she was a year old, so she could house the two of them together in the same cage.:hair:How could she do this to these two babies?:cry3: She's giving out wrong information to new chin owners. This is the 7th call this month about the same problem. I recieved a beige female about 3 weeks ago from a lady who thought she bought 3 males from a Pet Store and it happens that she bought 2 boys and a girl around 5 months of age that was housed together. They were at the Pet Store for 2 weeks together and she had all 3 together for 3 weeks. Another breeder told a gal that chinchillas can't get pregnant until they reach 4 years old. I could go on and on about the other calls, but it will only get me more upset. What can we do?

 

[starleomach]

Who are these breeders passing on this information? Are you sure she didn't mis hear maybe the first breeder was saying they shouldn't get pregnant until 1 year old? Too bad there isn't a system to weed out the backyard breeders....But I do know sometimes it is the buyer not listening or sometimes they go and do it any way then try to blame you.

a few years back I had a guy buy a beige female from me, to breed at a later date he bought her at about 5 months and she had placed 1st at a show. He took her home and after promising he would wait until she was a year old he still put her in breeding at 5 months. She died from pregnancy complications. I was very specific and he had agreed to wait but didn't any way but he still felt I should have replaced his animal.
I of course did not for so many reasons. He has since got out of chinchillas after losing several other females to breeding complications She wasn't the only poor girl he did that too. thankfully he only got 1 from me but a shame for those other poor girls.

There are as many bad buyers as bad breeders out there.

 

[AZChins]

A lot of those people only hear what they want to hear. You have to tell them that a female WILL die if she is bred too young, all the kits WILL die. It won't be fun and happy time, it will be abusive and torture to those animals.

Honestly, I don't understand why the **** anyone wants to breed. I've been doing this a long time and it is so much work and worry. Why do they want to be like me? It isn't like ONE PAIR is going to be easier...they still have the potential for serious problems. When they have problems a vet visit is necessary, if there isn't money for the vet visit no breeding should occur. Sometimes it's $1000 for an emergency c-section because that's the only thing that can be done...if you don't have the $1000 to begin with or are not willing to go into debt over it, don't breed chins. It's very simple.

I had someone call yesterday and I sincerely doubt he will listen. He read in a book, yes a petstore book, that it was necessary to raise baby males and females together so that they could be bred! WHAT!? Yes, there is a book that states that that is the correct thing to do. The author should be slapped with a lawsuit over that one. It's not stupid advice, it's incredibly cruel advice. All the energy that should be directed at the growth of the mother is given right to the kits. Even if she doesn't die, it screws up her body pretty much forever. Oh, let's not forget that maybe a chin with a super tiny pelvic opening may be able to push out the babies through sheer will...but that increases the chance of having her uterus prolapse a few days later. FUN, huh?

Sorry to rant... I have to deal with this issue all the time with people. They never seem to listen to me because what do I know...

 

[furrylovables]

Sorry I didn't reply earlier girls are crazy today. My kids I mean. Anyway she said the breeder told her that you can house them together while they are young, to bond now, and she wouldn't get pregnant until she was a year old. When I have new owners call me about chins they buy elsewhere, I usually have them on the phone for about 30 mins. to an hour, helping them understand dos and dont's with their new chin. their are alot of suprised owners out there not getting the basics. And Pet Stores out their don't help at all, neither do the manufactures of chinchilla products. The chinchilla food with all the crap, the edilbe logs and treats that are out there need to be thrown out.

 

[AZChins]

That's about right. I do the same thing. Lots of time on the phone with people sorting through everything. Petstores just mess everything up, it seems. It's a drive to make profit off of an animal that doesn't consume things that are that profitable! They don't need the treats, they don't need the fancy food. They need $5 to $10 a month's worth of pellets and hay. It's REALLY hard to make much off that, so they invent things that they claim are necessities. It's sad...

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

That's just wrong in so many ways! :hair:

There should be penalties for that.

 

[ABBY W.]

Ok, so the breeder who said this is an idiot, obviously. The owner who believed it and didn't bother to do research is also an idiot.

I can't tell you how many times I get phone calls from pet owners, local pet stores, and shelters with questions on how to handle problems that should never have come up. There was a pet store here where my brother's girlfriend worked. They had a chinchilla that was very sick, so she called me and asked me to come look at him. When I got there, he was on his side, breathing heavy, was unable to stand, and had not consumed food or water in two days. It looked to me like heat stroke, especially since they had him in the reptile area, which was heated for the reptiles! I told the store owner that this boy was suffering and would likely not survive another 24 hours, expecially without emergency intervention. I asked him to take the animal to a vet to at least be put down, if he wasn't going to treat him. He refused. I asked if he would allow me to take the little guy to be put down, at my expense, he said he would only do so, if I BOUGHT THE CHINCHILLA!!! I was furious! I tell everyone I know not to patronise that store, and the store owner knows it.

Unfortunately, as long as pet stores can sell chinchillas, they will. I won't even get started on irresponsible breeders! I have had people come to me wanting to buy chins to breed with pet store chins. I flat out refuse to do it. I tell them all the reasons why this is a bad idea, but I am sure at least some of them don't listen to me. One lady actually said I was just worried she would compete with me for buyers!

 

[AZChins]

Abby - I would have killed that store owner, seriously, I would have killed him. What a giant ***!! I'm getting angry just reading that, I can't imagine how you felt.

I've had people tell me that I was worried about them competing with me for buyers a few times. That's laughable because I don't compete with anyone! What they don't understand is that we don't do this to make money...and it doesn't really matter all that much if we sell the chins, you know? I've turned people down because I don't want them breeding one of my babies, it has nothing to do with anything but I don't want my chins put into a bad situation. When I find a home that chin is going to be treated BETTER than I treat it...the new home is going to have people that love and cherish that precious little animal. Anything less is not worth my time...

 

[furrylovables]

I talked to the lady again today, now I have the whole story. She purchased the chins from Craigslist, not big breeders only have 2 pairs of breeding chins. They didn't even know the sex of the babies they posted. The lady who bought them read up on the internet to deterime the sex and found out she bought a boy and a girl. She even contacted the vets office and the vet told her that females couldn't get pregnant until she was 260 days old, which is around 8 1/2 months old. I can't believe this!! She seperated them yesterday and they are both sad babies, not being able to play with each other She says it all her fault, and I reassured her that those people who listed them on craigslist should of done their research being breeders, known the sex of them and NEVER sold them as a pair to anyone! They should of been sold seperately. She feels bad for her son, cause he wanted babies and they wanted to watch them grow into adults.

 

[AZChins]

Ick... I hate backyard breeders.