What to do? (more than one question)

[Christina Noraas]

So as of right now, I'm planning on giving away the babies to families that are prepared to take in a chinchilla, no charge, except for a down payment type thing that i would keep until they have all that is nessisary and give it back unless if they want to buy supplies such as dust and food that they are already using. Along with that they will have to sign a contract, basically saying that if they neglect to take care of the babies, if they wish to no longer have them at some point in time, or if I find out that they are being used for breeding, that they will be subjected to come back to me.

Is this a good idea? If yes anything else I should add?


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I'm also having conflict with my concious with keeping Penelope. I do not want Rex or her to manage to get out and her getting pregnant again. I do not want that at all. I understand that I got very lucky with this litter of kits and nothing went wrong. I'm moving into an appartment that allows pets, having more than one chin isn't the issue, I just don't want anything happening.

I was thinking that I could give her to Josh's sister because she already has 2 females and extra cages... but she doesn't take good care of the ones that she has....

Then I was thinking that I could give her back to the person that gave her to me... but I wasn't sure about that.

I feel very guilty about wanting to give her away, but I only want to do it to keep her safe and healthy. I'm not even sure if I want to give her away at this point, I just want some more input on the matter. I'll have the room and the financial means to take care of them both, but I just don't want the CHANCE of it happening. Especially with both of them being escape artists.

Also, Josh has a ferret, so in the appartment the chins will be in a room with a door and his ferret will be in another room. So I don't feel comfortable with spliting the chins between rooms incase of any interspecies interactions.

 

[greychins]

I think your contract is fine. I actually have one of my own, my "adoption application" (for rescues) which has a section where they agree that they have to at least contact us if they decide they'd like to rehome their chin, BEFORE they make any efforts to rehome the chin to anyone else. I think it's a great idea (hence, I use it). I've only once had a chin come back (owner got in over their head, went from 2 chins to 9 in a month) and two degus come back (owner had a baby and got a job that got a new job that had a long commute), but it's nice to know that people do read it and call when it's that time...

Regarding how you said you wouldn't want your chins to get out and the one to get pregnant... if you're even reasonably careful, that simply isn't an issue. I have my breeder chins, but after their quarantine, the rescues go in the same room. I have yet to have any chins get out of their cages and impregnate any other chins, and quite a few of my cages are single-chin cages... and they do fine. You just have to make sure that the cages are closed-- with me, the last thing I do before I leave the room is make sure every cage is closed securely.

I just read that they are escape artists - find a way to secure those doors, or you may simply want to get new cages. The cages we've had which have allowed our critters to escape never stayed here long. And don't get me wrong, we haven't gone through a slew of cages, but if it doesn't keep them in the cage like a cage is supposed to, it's not worth having, IMO.

If you already don't think Josh's sister cares well for her chins, then I would not give her any more.

If you're looking to rehome her, and finding a good home, here is what I suggest. The way we rehome rescues is we put up ads on various classified sites (craigslist, hoobly, and so on) and then when we get responses, we ask the people to read our care packet and fill out our adoption form. And we do have, right in the ad, that potential homes will be asked to do that, no exceptions. Some people we never hear back from after we email the care packet and adoption form, but others will email back saying they read they care info and have questions, and then they'll send the adoption form back and all that... and it's just got basic chin care stuff on it, but it helps with peace of mind. As of yet, while we've been using those two, I've never had a chin go home with someone that I wasn't really happy about. It seems that the people that do that are good homes. I attached both the care packet and the adoption form, to give you ideas of how we do it.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Thanks a lot Greychins, I probably won't end up rehoming her, but I'm just taking it in to consideration right now and deciding whether or not if it would be beneficial towards their health, that's what I'm basically worried about right now. Also, thank you for attaching the form and packet I will definatly look at that and compare it to what I have typed up for mine for the babies.

 

[greychins]

No problem. It always better to be prepared and not need to be, than to not be prepared, and need to be, so it's good that you're considering the alternatives. Take care.