New chin owners with a few questions!

[TheKelleys]

My wife and I recently got 2 chinchillas from our local pet store. We have a boy and a girl. The pet store manager gave us a fantastic deal and told us to look in to breeding them. Do you think they will have babies??

Also, we are wondering what sort of toys they enjoy that are safe for them? Please feel free to send us links to things that are good for them! Also, what brands of treats and foods do you use?

 

[tunes]

Hello and welcome.

Can they have babies? Yes. Should they have babies? Nope. The pet store manager is not very bright. He has no idea where those chins came from and you could easily have a brother and sister. It is never recommended to breed any animal (chin, dog, cat) without a traceable pedigree, which you cannot get through a pet store. Please, keep them in two separate cages. No interaction at all. No play time, no visiting. It literally takes seconds for them to breed.

If you take a little time to read through the various forums on here you should find all the answers you need to take care of your new additions. There are many, many threads on nutrition and treats. I always recommend new owners keep a notebook while they are reading and jot down the things they want to remember or that they need clarification about.

 

[HolyBegeebers]

Welcome to your new pets.

I second not breeding the two and keeping them totally separate all the time if they are male and female. (Double check their genitalia to make sure they are male and female.) Do spend some time reading the forum and learning a little bit more about your new friends.

We'd love to see pictures!

 

[Godofgods]

Third on not breeding them. There are enough chins trying to find homes already. Aside from that, chins are still special needs animals. You cant learn enough about them in a short period of time, much less having never had them before. And chin babies are a whole nother issue with even more special needs and precautions of there own.

And thats all assuming a pregnancy goes smoothly. If not you could be looking at weeks/months of special treatment and no sleep, massive vet bills, and even a dead baby chin or mother on your hands. It is not something to take lightly. And not something to do on a whim.

Also, learn the differences between male and female genitals on a chin. (A lot harder then you might think.) Pet stores very often get them wrong. Its best to find out for yourself.

 

[akane]

You should never breed pet store animals. They often come from mills or large irresponsible breeders who do not keep track of health or pedigrees breeding unhealthy or related animals together. Pet stores then often get in litters at a time so that the animals you buy are full siblings which is frowned upon because it can bring up those genetic health issues that the irresponsible breeders never paid attention to.

If you want to breed you should find a responsible breeder who has been breeding for health and traits that are important to the animal like good coats and teeth on chins and for all animals good reproductive ability so you are less likely to lose mothers and babies to problems. Also people that keep pedigrees without inbreeding unless they have a very good reason with lines that have shown no bad traits and have thought it out well.

 

[mercynursie]

:flowers7:WELCOME!!! Fourth input for not breeding.Hopefully she isn't already pregnant, but if she is be prepared for any complications including vet expenses for c-section/hysterectomy/infected uterus etc.I also support legitimate rescues.The rescues are overflowing with perfect chin pets. It just hurts my heart to think that you could have adopted a rescue chin(alot of rescues have pairs that are bonded or not capable of reproducing and are adopted out together) plus saved some money.First thing to do TODAY is to locate an exotic vet who is experienced in chinchillas and get the phone number/directions. Check the posts on here and see if a good vet is listed close to you. Not many vets really know much about chinchillas,many won't even see them at all,others may treat your chin incorrectly.I don't know of any emergency vet clinics that have chin knowledge.Welcome to the wonderful world of chinchillas.Glad you found this site,it is a wealth of information! Please don't take my/our posts as being too harsh.Most of us are just thinking about the health and well being of your new critters! You will most likely find more things that the pet store told you that are totally wrong and could cause problems.I don't think anyone who owns chins could honestly say that they never did something that was wrong! You just need to change it when you find out about it.Again,welcome to CnH and hope to see more posts and pictures of your new pets.We always looove pics of the chins!

 

[tunes]

They often come from mills or large irresponsible breeders who do not keep track of health or pedigrees breeding unhealthy or related animals together.

This statement gets repeated so often and it is incorrect. Chinchillas in pet stores come from chinchilla ranches. Almost all ranchers wholesale their animals to pet stores. They are running a business and it is just another outlet for selling their chins. They don't interbreed them or breed unhealthy animals just to sell to pet stores. If they did, before long they would have no one returning to buy more. The same people who have their chins oohed and aahed over from shows sell animals to a pet store.

The problem lies in not knowing if the chins are related or if they have a genetic defect that could be brought about by breeding two chins who happen to carry it. For instance, a chin can live its entire life as a carrier of malo and never develop it. However, if you put that carrier with another animal who either carries or has malo (which may not have shown up yet) you end up with offspring with a terrible and fatal disease.

 

[akane]

If they were responsible breeders making sure they bred healthy chins and kept pedigree records you wouldn't have to worry about genetic defects like malo showing up when you bred them together. Call them what you will majority who sell to petstores are still breeding for profit and quantity not quality animals or we could get our breeding chins from pet stores.

 

[ticklechin]

Where do you think those that breed here on the forum do with all those chins? Many MANY of the respected breeders on this forum wholesale their animals, it does not make them a bad breeder, its makes them smart businessmen/women. And malo can happen to ANY chin at ANY time as long as it has teeth.

 

[tunes]

akane - I hope you haven't bought from any large scale breeders (or small scale for that matter, who don't like to admit to wholesaling because of pet folks who get outraged) who are members of MCBA or ECBC. If you did, then you are most likely buying from irresponsible, out for profit breeders.

Here is the reason you should not (though many do) get your breeding chins from a pet store. The wholesaler comes to the breeders barn and says I need X amount of chins. The breeder starts going through his/her cages and pulling animals that no one wants (standard after standard after standard) because they aren't flavor of the month. If they have a contract with the wholesaler, then they have to pull any and all animals they can to fulfill it. That means pulling kits from top showing animals if necessary. I once had a rancher tell me that someone buying from a pet store may have the next National champion because he had to pull from his top show chins to fulfill a contract.

The wholesaler then takes 100s and 100s of chins back to his barn and parcels them out to whoever he has a contract with - Petco, PetSmart, etc. Do you really think for the amount of money he's making that he's going to take the time to provide pedigrees with all of those animals? Of course not. Nor would the breeder selling them to him. Do you really think that PetSmart or Petco would provide a pedigree that tells you where the chin came from? Think about that. If they did, where would you go to buy your next chin? It wouldn't be from a pet store.

So it would be very easy for you to be breeding brother to sister, mother to son, etc. I have been breeding for going on 12 years now. I still won't line breed. If there is a hidden genetic defect (and NO breeder can claim to have a herd of animals with absolutely 100% defect free animals at all times) you could be locking that trait in because you just combined the two together. Why do that? If you want breeding animals with pedigrees, go to a breeder. If you want a pet, go to a pet store.

I realize that new breeders feel compelled to make derogatory remarks to those who have been in the business for many, many years and for whom it IS a business, but you should really be aware of your facts before you comment.

BTW, JAGS started their herd with a pet store chin. I believe it took grand show at Nationals. Something for you to ponder.

 

[ticklechin]

I would rather those chins who are not needed in a herd be sold to wholesale rather than to a research facility or culled to a garbage can, sounds harsh so be it.

 

[Dreamlite]

Very true dawn. There are worse things than winding up at a pet store but I also agree that they should not be bred. Knowing genetic backgrounds are important. You want to bred for health as much as possible and unfortunately there is no way to know unless you get them from the breeder.

 

[sassyandclassy]

I don't know anything about the breeding aspect as I just got my first chin about a month ago and I don't plan on breeding her ever.

However, as far as the treats go-
Mine absolutely LOVES lava bites! she will nibble on it a bit and roll over (like shes in a dust bath) and goes through one every few days.
She also really likes chewing on applewood sticks.
The more treats and things you give her to nibble on the less she will nibble on plastic things in her cage or you!