Need help and advice !?!??!!

[Worldofnight]

My brother got a chinchilla shortly after I did . I have been going to his house helping take care of the chin from day one because he wasnt as good or knowledge about chins as I was.Although he still feeds his chin treats from the pet store and keeps some plastic in her cage he loves and takes care of her fairly well. But I just found out today that he smokes weed in the same room that the chinchilla stays in ! I cant imagine that that is any good for the chin. My brother says that he has an exhaust setting on his window fan and he uses it when he smokes and his chin never reacts differently when he smokes but Ive never been there to see for myself . Im not sure what to do ... Ive asked him to give the chin to me but he seems to care enough to not just give me the chin but its hard to know my own brother could be endangering a chin. Is the smoke from the weed harmful to the chin ? Should I call some type of animal abuse organization? Im just stuck between a rock and a hard place and I know nothing about the issue. Please Help !?!?!?!

 

[Asha]

I can't imagine any type of smoke whether from cigarettes, weed, burning something in the kitchen, etc would be good for a chin to be around. I don't even spray any type of Febreze/air fresheners around my chins for fear of irritating their respiratory system. I would definitely remind your brother that chins are prey animals, meaning they hide any type of sickness or pain because its their nature. Your brother may not think his chin is acting any differently when he smokes, but the chin could easily be hiding any discomfort because of being a prey animal. This is the same reason why we must all be so attuned to how our chins act "normally" when we are around them based on their individual personalities/temperaments so that we can detect any changes that may come up and take action before it is too late.

I'm sure its probably really hard for you since he is your brother, and you don't want to get him into any trouble with an animal organization. Is there any other chin savvy people you know that would be willing to come with you to talk to him about this issue? Perhaps if multiple people are telling him that what he is doing is unhealthy for the chin, then maybe he will start to listen. Sometimes it helps people to hear an additional perspective from someone that is not family. Try not to make it into an argument, be respectful about it and reiterate your concerns that you have expressed before. Let us know how it goes!

 

[melbur10]

weed is very high in tar content and is actually more harmful as a plant material than tobacco (BASED ONLY ON TAR CONTENT-cigarets by far have many many WAY more harmful chemicals)

that being said, i would not get to upset over the issue unless he is blowing smoke in the chins face, hot boxing the room (no ventilation purposely to create a cloud, or hot boxing the chin in a small box etc purposely to get it high)

i know many many weed smokers who have animals some of them are dumb and choose to get the animals high. and some of them are actually responsible and have a fan running or burn outside away from their animals.

personally even with ventilation cigaret smoke is much more of a concern to to me. it sticks to EVERY thing and stays and is quite toxic. its actually used as a pesticide which says a lot.

to take some ones animal away based solely on the fact that they smoke seems a bit harsh... we are not marching into peoples homes taking pets away because they smoke cigarets (tho honestly we probably should in some cases)...
to call animal abuse on your brother seems a bit much since charges could be laid against him.

just some info.

 

[momenteller]

I wouldn't say he needs to give up the chin, just smoke in a different place; car, outside, etc. Maybe if he isn't so concerned with the health of the chin, you can hit him in the pocketbook. Tell him that smoke inhalation could easily lead to an URI in a chin, and it would be expensive to treat.

 

[Worldofnight]

Ok thanks for all the advice, I just tend to be really paranoid. It doesnt bother me that my bro smokes weed I was just concerned for his chin.Thanks agian for all the info Ill bring all of this to his attention

 

[AZChins]

I hope you can convince him to do it away from the chin. I've heard so many times from so many breeders and ranchers that it is such a bad idea to have anyone smoke anything around chins. It is good that he has an exhaust fan, but he should be partaking away from the chin since it just isn't a good idea. Chins have delicate respiratory systems as Kate said.