Wanted to say Hello.

[LMW]

Hi, my name is Luann and I am new to the chinchilla world.... who knew there were so many chin lovers out there   I picked up my very first chin on Aug 20, his name is Hennesey and he is just now starting to love on me.  I have done research on chinchillas and I think I am going to start breeding them.  On Aug 23 I picked up 4 more chinchillas (3 females and 1 male)  I am just allowing them time to relax in their new home with me and I handle them once a day so they will learn that it is I that needs their love    The lady that I bought the 4 chins from said that the beige chin is pregnant and should be giving birth sometime in September.  I would love to become a registered breeder, but I am unsure how to go about it..... any helpful tips??  Also, is there really a high demand for chinchillas?  Like I stated before, I really would love to breed them, but then again I do not want to end up with 50 chins running about.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Hi LMW,
 
Congratulations on your new addictions.... I mean additions......... one in the same in the chin world.

I do not want to end up with 50 chins running about.

sure that's only a small herd.
I started with one, then a mate and I like around 30.
So just the one color beige? The rest are grays?
You need a good gray line to keep your colors true.
Can wait to hear all them.

[chinchillagrl06]

Welcome! Glad you found us here! We'd love to see pictures of your chinnies. 

[Summer]

  Welcome That's how I got started! 

[Chins To Love]

Congrats on your new family, you're gonna luv em. Post pics when you can. Glad you're here.

[LMW]

I have 1 beige female, 1 grey/silver female, 1 violet male, and 2 standard grey males.  They are all great, they love to be held, and when I am holding one the others begin to chatter at me as if they are saying, "hey, its my turn...pick me pick me"  I am loving them.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Luann,
Welcome to the Wonderful Crazy World of Chinchillas!

... I am new to the chinchilla world.... I picked up my very first chin on Aug 20... I have done research on chinchillas and I think I am going to start breeding them.  On Aug 23 I picked up 4 more chinchillas (3 females and 1 male)...  I handle them once a day so they will learn that it is I that needs their love    The lady that I bought the 4 chins from said that the beige chin is pregnant and should be giving birth sometime in September.  I would love to become a registered breeder, but I am unsure how to go about it..... any helpful tips??  Also, is there really a high demand for chinchillas?  Like I stated before, I really would love to breed them, but then again I do not want to end up with 50 chins running about.

    You are taking on some mighty big responsibilities when you become a breeder.  They can live to be 20+ years old, that's a long-term obligation.
     How old are your chinchillas? 
     Do you have them caged separately, or together?
     The beige one that is pregnant, do you have her in a separate cage away from the others? 
     What size is the wire on the cage that you have the pregnant female in?
     The chinchilla is relatively new to the pet world.  There is much to be learned about it.  Most people that see a chinchilla thinks it's cute.  When they touch it ... they are in aw at how soft the fur is.  But most people do not know much more than that about a chinchilla.
     If you want to breed for the money in it, you will be very disappointed.  If your chinchillas are properly cared for, they cost you more (money-wise) than you will ever make off of them.  With new breeders joining the ranks daily, many of which know very little ... compaired to what they need to know.
      Sadly, the price and quality of chinchillas will be/are going down.  Sad about the price going down has nothing to do with income and everything to do with it.  If a person can not afford to pay much for a chin, how are they going to afford the exotic pet vet bills, should it become ill?
     If you are thinking about breeding, keep in mind you are responsible for where you place your chins and for the proper education on chinchilla care of the new chin owner.
      You might want to read: Do You Have What it Takes? 
 At: http://www.geocities.com/jobernstein1949/  I like to see someone go into breeding with their eyes wide open, so they will not go into shock afterwards.

 
Jo Ann

[LMW]

Jo Ann

My chinchillas range from 1-3 years in age, I have my beige female with her mate in a large cage with the wire squares small.  One female is housed separate, and my standard grey female is with her mate in a large cage as well.  I understand that chins live a long time and I am fine with that.  I really hate when I get so attached to a furry friend and then they die on me....it breaks my heart.  I am not planning on getting rich by breeding chinchillas, I want to breed them mainly to share them and allow them to have loving homes.   Thank you for the helpful site...it is very informative.  I will have pictures of my furry friends soon.  I am still learning my way around this site.

Luann

[chinclub]

Hi Luann,
Welcome to the forums!!  Chinchillas are wonderful pets and watching the miracle of birth is wonderful when it all goes OK.  One thing you won't have to worry about is ending up with 50 babies. A female usually only has 1-2 babies a year (although its not uncommon to have 3-4) and if you give them the rest they need between deliveries it should come to about 1 litter the first year, 2 the next, and one the next.  So one average one female could give you about 7 babies in 3 years.  Some more, some less.

Here are a few articles I would recommend:
Chinchilla Pregnancy 101 = it talks about chinchilla reproduction, breeding, pregnancy and delivery
http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/preg.shtml

Understanding Quality Chinchillas- Don't miss this one. It talks about good quality and how to pair them.  Even if you are never going to show and will only sell as pets its your responsibility to be sure that every baby you produce is the best it can be.  We should all be striving to improve the animals we love by being very careful about the pairs we put together.
http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/fur.shtml

One big dilemma with breeding in pairs is that the female can get pregnant the day she delivers her babies.  This is bad because if she is pregnant and trying to nurse her babies it can be very hard on her.  This means that you will need to remove the male before she has her babies.  This has its own set of problems because the male can go into depression when he is taken out.  You have to watch him very closely because sometimes he will stop eatting and drinking and can die.

You will also need a very good vet on call that will see expotics, and a complete first aid kit in case something goes wrong.  I would suggest reading over the breeder sections of the forum because we have had a lot of topics on problems with girls needing c-sections, mothers dieing after birth, having to handfeed the kits, etc.  You should have some plans for what to do if things go bad.  If you are prepaired it won't be as scary when the time comes.

   I realize that these last posts from me and Jo Ann don't sound very optimistic.  Please don't think that we are trying to talk you out of breeding.  We both understand the love of being a chinchilla breeder.  We just want to help you know what to expect.  We have seen people get sold animals with all of these wonderful promises and sometimes people tell you whatever you want to hear just to make a sale. (Not to say that is what happened to you...) We just want you to be prepaired for what is to come.

If you don't mind huge vet bills, staying up all night to feed babies, and always paying way more out than you will ever make on your chinchillas  WELCOME TO THE CLUB!!!   

[Misskitz]

Welcome to the wonderful world of chinnies!