Agreed, it is rather user-friendly; nice, clean lay-out.
One suggestion I'd make is to increase the number of links to informational sites. For example, when I click on Chinchillas on the left, it goes directly to CnF. An alternative is to have it go to another page. And that page could have a description of CnF and a link to it, a description of CnH and a link to it... there may be other chin sites, but I don't claim to be an expert on chins... I'll leave that to someone else.
Instead, I'll chime in a bit more on the hedgie side of things since I know that a bit better. When you click on hedgehogs, instead of going directly to CnH, it could go to something like an "info/site directory" page (there must be a better word for what I'm thinking...). And that info/site directory page could list several vetted sources of information including Chins-n-Hedgies, HedgeHog Central, Hedgehog World, and some of the active Hedgehog-related Yahoo groups. Each of these could have a link and a little description of what they are.
Or maybe, to keep things clean, you could just have those (sorry don't know the technical term) "sub-tabs" for each different informational site. Kinda like how when you click on rescues, a couple different ones pop out.
Anyway, the reason I'm suggesting links to multiple sources of info is that, when you're a newbie, you want to get your hands on as much info as possible. Geez, before I got my hedgie, I think I read just about every single post on CnQ, HHC, HHW and a few other sites of questionable repute. Even today, while I'm mainly on CnH, when something big comes up (like very sick hedgie), I'll expand beyond CnH to the other groups pretty darn quickly... mostly to HHC and the Yahoo groups since there are folks who post on boards like CnH who never/rarely venture into Yahoo and there are Yahoo Group folks who never/rarely venture onto the bulletin boards.
You could do the chin and hedgie world a service by bringing together, listing, and promoting quality sources of information. Of course, you'll have to do some thinking about why a site should or should not make the cut and then review those decisions from time to time (good sites can turn to rubbish; small crummy sites can grow in size and quality).
And, of course, same holds true for the ferrets, guinea pigs, and so on... But I'd be really operating way outside my knowledge base to suggest any other sites for them.
To sum up, I think you have a good eye for design given what I'm seeing in your visual layout. Of course, I love to see CnH as a resource for the hedgies as it's my favored stomping ground
And I think you have a great opportunity to bring things together for people.
