Chinchilla from pet store

[ChinsForLife]

I have planned to get a chinchilla from a breeder (Lone Star Chinchilla) so i made an advance deposit and now I am second guessing my decision. I am torn, the reason I decided to go with a breeder is
1. Because I thought the ones from the pet stores weren't healthy
2. I wanted a baby so i could have a stronger bond with her
Etc.
I have been on the wqiting list for over 2 months now and still no babies. Which wouldn't really be a big deal if summer wasn't nearing closer and getting warmer every day! I still have to wait 2 months after shes born to bring her home and she will jut be so young! I have nothing against my breeder and I have nothing against pet stores either. Any thoughts?

 

[ChinsForLife]

Any thoughts @Amethyst?

 

[ChinsForLife]

I just am worried about heat stroke. I have AC and chin chillers, etc, I would just simply feel much better if she was older.

 

[Amethyst]

Well my first question would be is the deposit refundable? If not you might not want to waste the money and just stick it out, there are some red flags but nothing completely terrible. Tf they will issue a refund though you might want to take it and look elsewhere. There was some other breeders mentioned on another one of your threads, you might want to check them out.

The thing with pet store chins is they do technically come from breeders, at least ones you get from big box stores like petco and petsmart. The stores put in an order and local breeders and ranchers sell off some of their chins. But most places don't know or wont say where the chins came from, so they could have come from a good local breeder that is just selling off "pet quality" but otherwise perfectly healthy kits from their show breeding lines, or could be a large scale pelt farm that doesn't care about long term health or lifespan selling off excess kits, or anything in between. So it's not so much they aren't healthy it's that you have no idea of the health, and no way of knowing genetic health. Also most pet store don't properly care for the chins they get in, so they are more likely to have issues like ringworm (from other animals and living in poorly ventilated glass tanks), giardia (from being given tap water if it's contaminated), as well as digestive issues from improper diet (fruits and veggies are commonly given) and also can possibly have a gut blockage from plastic, paper bedding, and/or cardboard that the store put in with them. The improper care can be navigated around somewhat by specifically ordering a chinchilla from the pet store or having them give you a call when then get chins in, so the chin is in the store for as short of a period as possible. That being said though, there are plenty of people that have gotten chins from pet stores and they lived perfectly fine and long lives into their teens.

With a breeder they should be able to give you the genetic history of the chins they breed, so you know if issues like malo run in the lines or not. Most breeders also try to be better about keeping on top of issue like ringworm or giardia, but they do happen, they also tend to be a lot more strict on what goes in the cage then even pet owners are, so much less likely to have been given unsafe items to chew on.

Getting a kit just increases the chance that they haven't been mistreated, it doesn't really increase the strength of the bond. Bonding with a chin can still take time and patience, it's something that is built over years. How social and friendly they are all comes down to personality and how they are treated. The chin I had the closest bond with I got as a rescued adult. Although a kit is a bit more sensitive to heat then an adult (like a human baby is more sensitive to heat then a few year old child) the temp should always be kept below the max temp (below about 75F with low humidity), so it shouldn't really be any more of an issue then if you had an adult chin. I like to keep the room at or below 68F so that if the power go out or the AC dies or something I have some wiggle room on the temp to give me time to figure something out before it gets dangerous for them. Since you are worried about a young kit you can look around and see if any breeders maybe have a kit closer to 4-6 months old that maybe didn't sell or they wanted to hold back to see how they grow as a show prospect, but have decided to sell them. Still young enough to hopefully only have known a good life but old enough to be a bit more temp tolerant.

 

[ChinsForLife]

I have decided to go stick with my breeder. He messaged today and said they have a standard gray male available! I'll attach a pic. He is 3 weeks old and I pick him up on April 18. (Or the 27) he said that he is around 10-12 oz already! I am so relieved as I was seriously considering going with a pet store! I really prefer my breeder but just was afraid something would happen. I am ordering the cage at the end of the month and getting all the supplies in about 3 weeks. Super excited!!!

 

[ChinsForLife]

Does that seem like a healthy weight?

 

[ChinsForLife]

@Amethyst?

 

[ChinsForLife]

If you read the post on here, someome told me they havent been breeding these for long. That they got new ones so may not know genetic health... Idk. Definitely getting that little boy. They already put him down as sold. Just want to know. Chins & Hedgies

 

[ChinsForLife]

Sorry. Wrong link.

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Chinchilla & hedgehog pet owners forum. Chinchilla & hedgehog forums for emergencies, health, diet, nutrition, housing, feed, breeding, for sale classifieds.

www.chins-n-hedgies.com

 

[ChinsForLife]

Ughh. Sorry. Its the Lone Star Chinchilla thread

 

[Amethyst]

Does that seem like a healthy weight?

10-12 oz at only 3 weeks is huge! that would be about 283-340g (weight is normally measured in grams since you get a more accurate precise measurement) most kits are around that weight at 8-12 weeks old. I'm not a breeder so maybe they have seen different but normally kits are about 25-80g ( roughly 1-3oz) when born and gain a few grams (about 0.1 oz) per day while nursing, so it seems to average out to roughly 100+ grams (or 3.5 oz) per month old until about 4 months (so a one month old should be 100+ grams, a 2 month old 200+ grams and so on), so at that weight that is about the average weight of a 3 MONTH old kit not a 3 week old. So either that kit was born as a single and was an abnormally large kit to start with, it somehow gained super fast, or they told you the weight wrong.

There is a weight chart near the bottom on this page Weighing based on 91 different kits to give you an idea of average weight by age.

 

[ChinsForLife]

10-12 oz at only 3 weeks is huge! that would be about 283-340g (weight is normally measured in grams since you get a more accurate precise measurement) most kits are around that weight at 8-12 weeks old. I'm not a breeder so maybe they have seen different but normally kits are about 25-80g ( roughly 1-3oz) when born and gain a few grams (about 0.1 oz) per day while nursing, so it seems to average out to roughly 100+ grams (or 3.5 oz) per month old until about 4 months (so a one month old should be 100+ grams, a 2 month old 200+ grams and so on), so at that weight that is about the average weight of a 3 MONTH old kit not a 3 week old. So either that kit was born as a single and was an abnormally large kit to start with, it somehow gained super fast, or they told you the weight wrong.

There is a weight chart near the bottom on this page Weighing based on 91 different kits to give you an idea of average weight by age.

I thought so. He said he guessed it was around that size and would be around a pound or so when grown. He was the only one in the litter. Is it good or bad for them to be that big? Is he maturing faster or something?

 

[ChinsForLife]

Does he look that big in the picture?

 

[ChinsForLife]

Also, what age do they typically stop growing?

 

[ChinsForLife]

I would understand if he was wrong. We have done that before. We never weighed our dogs at home for whatever reason. We took the parents for annual check ups and the vet said one of our girls was around 12 lbs and we weighed her and she was 22 lbs!

 

[ChinsForLife]

Idk how he could have been that far off being a vet and all but we tried multiple times, multiple ways all and it was always the same!

 

[Amethyst]

I thought so. He said he guessed it was around that size and would be around a pound or so when grown. He was the only one in the litter. Is it good or bad for them to be that big? Is he maturing faster or something?

If the weight is right would worry about why is so much bigger then any other chin his size ever recorded, at the rate he is growing he will be a few pound when full grown. Similar to a cat, they are close to full size by 6 months, then slow down and are done growing at about 12-18 months (or longer if of certain mutations, not standard)

Does he look that big in the picture?

No he looks normal size, I would guess his age around a month old from the pic. A 3 month old is about the age/size you see when pet stores first get chins into the store.

 

[ChinsForLife]

If the weight is right would worry about why is so much bigger then any other chin his size ever recorded, at the rate he is growing he will be a few pound when full grown. Similar to a cat, they are close to full size by 6 months, then slow down and are done growing at about 12-18 months (or longer if of certain mutations, not standard)


No he looks normal size, I would guess his age around a month old from the pic. A 3 month old is about the age/size you see when pet stores first get chins into the store.

How big does he look to you? What would be your guess?

 

[Amethyst]

How big does he look to you? What would be your guess?

I would guess around 100g

 

[ChinsForLife]

When mama told me that I thought that was a little strange.