Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => General Chat => Topic started by: Deeliteful on February 13, 2009, 10:54:42 AM
-
I have been perfectly happy with Chuppers all by himself for the last couple of years. Yet in the back of my mind for the last several months there has been this nagging thought about him being alone . The rats have buddies. The Dog has buddies even My hermit crabs have buddies , but my chinchilla is all alone.
So ocassionally I will go look at craigs list or the classifieds for the area and yesterday I saw an add that caught my eye. So I figured I would go have a look at the little chinchilla no one wanted anymore. We drove the hour to the place and the people were very nice people. The chinchilla was the daughters pet and she was off to college and Mom didnt want to take care of it but you could tell they cared about the little fella but were a bit clueless about how to care for him.
He was on cedar shavings . His dust bath was left in the cage . The food bowl was full of food and it looked like he had been peeing in it . The water bottle was nasty from the dust of the dust bath that was always there. They did not give him grass like you should . They would give it to him as a treat at night. However sitting there in his cage was the sweetest little guy and my heart just went out to him.
Now my chuppers I still call her a him . I thought she was a he for years until closer inspection revealed he was a she and the chinnie I was now looking at is for sure a boy . This is one of those very obvious males . The add didnt say the sex and the people didnt know either So I had to look and while it was the wrong sex I believe this is the right chinchilla. I brought him home. I have gone to look at chins before and never had this feeling . I simply had to have him.
So he is here now . In all his manly glory. I figured it would take a few days to adjust and oddly enough I think he is adjusted . He comes right up to me and wants attention . He doesnt cower away , He is bold and wants that chest rub and chin scratch soon as the door is opened. His name is MeeKeeMoo. Its the name he had when I got him and I thought it was perfect so we are keeping it for now.
However, Back to the whole reason I even went to look at MeeKeeMoo. Chuppers is still alone. So I am looking into having MeeKeeMoo neutered. I have read the pros and cons but I would really love it if they could co-habitate . Chuppers needs a pal and I think MeeKeeMoo does too. I just dont even want to try putting them together right now I know it takes just a few seconds for the deed to be done.
So after its done and He is healed . I will then begin to introduce on a more personal level . Right now its just then looking at each other from several feet away . Chuppers in very interested and MeeKeeMoo stares back. However if they dont get along I am prepared for two cages . Or a split cage or something . I feel its worth a try . I wanted to give him a good home . I do not plan on getting rid of him any time soon. He is wanted here.
-
I had the same sort of problem. I wanted to get Chong neutered so he can live with Cheech and their two daughters. I thought about it for months and months and I decided that if I trusted the vet enough I would get it done. My only problem was that my vet moved to another practice so I'm waiting til the summer when I can afford to get there and back and there again if there are any complications.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that there are risks. There always are with any animal and Chinchillas are very tiny too. But think about it this way: if you get it done and he does die, it's horrible, but so was his old life. If you trust your vet enough my opinion is you should do it. I know a lot of people wouldn't agree with me, but that's how I feel.
There is no right or wrong decision with your own pet.