I'd like to take this moment to share with our visitors just why we so strongly believe in responsible chin ownership. A brother/sister pair came in last week in pretty rough shape. The previous owners were told both were boys, but when one of them started having kits, they realized the mistake. Unfortunately, chinchillas go into heat immediately after giving birth, so without separation, chinchillas continue to breed indefinitely.

This is bad for several reasons. In this case, the mated pair of chins were directly related. This weakens the offspring which makes them more prone to health related issues, not to mention just a reduced quality overall. PLUS, breeding back to back takes quite a toll on the mommy chin. It takes quite a bit of energy to carry kits. Imagine how stressful it is to nurse a litter and be pregnant at the same time! By being put into a constant state of pregnancy, this could very quickly wear down the mommy chin. In this case, her condition (and that of her brother mate and remaining kit showed obvious signs of stress in that all of them were pretty severely fur-chewed.

The following video shows a chinchilla birth gone bad. View with caution.

Please people, be kind to your pets and consider carefully the massive numbers of unwanted animals who already need homes. I hate having to tell people who breed their pet chinchillas that the offspring will most likely end up in my shelter within the next couple of years. *sigh*

As usual, it's been another exciting week here. First I would like to welcome x4 and Wombat back. Earlier this year one of our rescue babies went off to a new home as a same gender cagemate for another chin who had lost his buddy. Now the two of them are here for a four month visit while their chinmom completes her internship. It's been neat to see how little x4 has grown in size and personality!

We also have another new addition. Our beige and violet pair had their first litter. Z4 was born on Thursday and was followed by a sibling that didn't make it. The second in the litter turned out to be our first experience with a mummified kit. This is where the fetus dies in the womb and is reabsorbed.

Click here for pictures and commentary on the Chins-n-Hedgies forum. (Warning: not for the squeamish!)

On Saturday, Whimsy went to a chin show in Pennsylvania. We didn't show any chins this time around, but did get in touch with another long time chin owner who loves a challenge. She adopted Frida, Wallace, and Ross! I had concerns for those three. Since they are known to bite, I did not want to offer them for adoption to someone new to chins. Thankfully there is someone for everyone and this is no exception! Thank you, Ange, for offering a home for these three.

I thought that rehoming four chins this weekend would free up a lot of cage space. I was wrong. When Whimsy returned from the show we found an email from another local family who needed to rehome their fuzzfamily of 5. Mommy, Daddy, 6 month brother and sister and tiny baby sister are all settling in nicely here where they are under quarantine and evaluation. We have father and son sharing a cage and mom and her two daughters in another. The same gender split is working out nicely.