breadfiend
New member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2022
- Messages
- 4
Hello! I’m Bread. I’m really happy to be apart of this community and wanted to properly introduce myself and Mocha my chinchilla.
As a kid on the autism spectrum, I got overwhelmed and very easily and had all kinds of trouble doing day to day things. I had a wonderful service dog who helped me when I was still in elementary school but when she passed away very suddenly, I was left in a tough situation for me and my family. Service dogs are very expensive and they have very long waitlists. My parents were desperate to help me and decided to get me a “placeholder pet”, a 10 year old chinchilla who needed rehoming from a family friend.
Mocha was in bad shape when I met her and she was probably the most aggressive little fluff ball you ever met. She hated all men and would try to tear off anyones fingers who came too close. Most of her day she spent facing the wall of the corner of her little bird cage and her fur was so greasy.
And despite it all, I loved her. I saw a bit of myself in that angry ball of rodent and quickly got to work on spoiling her. New cage. Better food. Dust baths! Vet visits and research. Above all, patience and respecting her boundaries.
Once Mocha realized she could trust me, she turned into the clingiest creature I ever met. She’s sitting on my chest now, snoozing, as I type this after 12 years of being mine!
She’s still a grouch and terrorizes my father to this day, but I still love her regardless.
As a kid on the autism spectrum, I got overwhelmed and very easily and had all kinds of trouble doing day to day things. I had a wonderful service dog who helped me when I was still in elementary school but when she passed away very suddenly, I was left in a tough situation for me and my family. Service dogs are very expensive and they have very long waitlists. My parents were desperate to help me and decided to get me a “placeholder pet”, a 10 year old chinchilla who needed rehoming from a family friend.
Mocha was in bad shape when I met her and she was probably the most aggressive little fluff ball you ever met. She hated all men and would try to tear off anyones fingers who came too close. Most of her day she spent facing the wall of the corner of her little bird cage and her fur was so greasy.
And despite it all, I loved her. I saw a bit of myself in that angry ball of rodent and quickly got to work on spoiling her. New cage. Better food. Dust baths! Vet visits and research. Above all, patience and respecting her boundaries.
Once Mocha realized she could trust me, she turned into the clingiest creature I ever met. She’s sitting on my chest now, snoozing, as I type this after 12 years of being mine!
She’s still a grouch and terrorizes my father to this day, but I still love her regardless.
