Author: JoAnn
Of Luv'n Chins
How and Why I Became, and Still am a Breeder
My first encounter with chinchillas was a beautiful white mosaic male in a pet store. He was the most beautiful and the softest thing I had ever touched ... and he touched my heart in a way like no animal had that I had ever seen before. It was love at first site. I had to learn more about these wondrous, precious little fur balls, even if this one would never be mine. (With a $599 price tag, he was beyond my reach at that time.) As the weeks went by, his family was brought into the store and I found myself spending a couple of hours a day 3 or 4 times a week with them. After a few months, the complete chin family had died, due to mishandling and lack of knowledge by the caretakers in the store. Sadly, in the future, I would find this to be the norm and not the exception to the rule. It was heart breaking. I vowed to get my own chins someday and know how to properly care for them.
But, I had to find out more about these curious little creatures before I got one, so I went to the library and the internet daily and began to spend hours studying them ... the information available was sparse and often conflicting, but, the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. I am still learning from and about them today. I learned about their origin, how they were almost extinct in the 1920s. How a man by the name of M. F. Chapman brought them to the USA to raise for their pelts. What a twist of fate, if it had not been for him and others like him, chinchillas would surely be extinct and the world today would be without the special little creature known as the chinchilla. I could not understand how someone could do this to these precious creatures, but, with out them, we would not have these darling little furbies for pets today. I say 'pets', but they are more than that, they become a family member, not 'just a pet'. A healthy chin can live to be over 20 years old, if properly cared for.
A year and a half after seeing the first chin, for my birthday, I got my first two chinchillas. Two beautiful standard gray females. Little did I know then, the changes in my life and life style these beautiful girls would make in my future. One, Smokey, had damage to one eye, but I still loved her just the same ... I don't even notice it now, unless someone sees her and asks what is wrong with her eye. To date, she has given me three beautiful litters and I think, is carrying her fourth.
Shortly after acquiring my first two chins, I found Jamie and the Chinchilla Club and other chin owners and breeders there. By Christmas the same year, I was asking for two males to go with my pretty little lady chins. The two boys and many others were to be purchased from Jamie's wonderful herd in the times to come. I found other breeders ... like Jim Ritterspach, who was also dedicated to high quality, healthy chins. I was hooked ... a chin-a-holic!
My purpose to dedicate myself to the future good of all chinchillas led me to get Jamie to build a web site for me. I wanted others to have a place to go to learn all that I had learned and will learn, along with other resources on chinchillas. I provided the information and Jamie created the website for me with the information I had provided. I am still up-dating the information on it as I learn more and more.
I wanted all the colors ... each was so beautiful and each chin with it's own special personality. By April of the following year, I had purchased 16 more chinchillas, a total of 20 chinchillas in 5 months. I became almost an instant breeder, with still much to learn. I was putting every spare penny I had and a large portion of my time into the chins ... with no regrets! It would be well over a year before the first kit was born, but, in the mean time I was learning about, and enjoying the kits I had acquired as they grew into their adulthood. They were doing me more good than any medication I had ever taken. As each kit grew up, my mornings, days and evenings were filled with laughter, smiles and purpose ... I felt alive again. I had gotten my 'second wind' on life itself, thanks to these wonderful little fur-balls. They, and the care of them, had become my little 'nitch' in life.
No matter how many kits are born, I find my self (then and still now) in awe at the birth and growth of each and every kit. Within minutes of birth, they are running around playing. They each look like a miniature adult with a baby face ... fully furred, eyes open, curious and playful. Each time one is born, you will hear me exclaim in pleasure ... "Bill, we have a new baby!" He will drop what ever he is doing to come to see and enjoy this new life. The sweet little squeaks they make assure me of their happiness to be in this world. Many times I found my self asking how had God had made such perfect little creatures that give so much and ask so little? Just recently my vet's assistant made the statement: "Somewhere out there their has got to be an ugly animal, because the chins got a double dose of beauty." I have to agree with her. :) Not only did they get a double dose of beauty, but curiosity, playfulness and love, too.
How can I part with even one? It is hard, but I have to remind myself, I am sharing the joy of having a chinchilla with others. I am very picky as to who gets to adopt one of my babies and make it a point to keep in touch with each adoptive parent for up dates, pictures and stories of their antics.
The first kit that left us went to my brother's girlfriend ... this made the first departure a little easier in some ways. We still keep up with little Gizmo and know all the pleasures he brings to Stephanie. I feel very privileged that all, except one, has made it a point to keep in touch with us over the years. We not only get to see them grow up, but get to see the kits that they produce.
We now have 91 chins, sadly, to many for me to feel each is getting enough attention. So some of the later generations of the original kits will be returning to Jamie to help rebuild her herd. We know she will give them the best of care and stay in touch and keep us updated on each one of our babies, so I am comfortable with this. The remainder will stay with us, giving us more kits and helping us to extend the wonderful world of chinchillas to others.
Patience is the optimum word with chins, particularly the white chins when it comes to births. I have learned, as a general rule, the whites seem slower to produce. It took Cotton, a pink white, and his mate, Eileen two and a half years to give us their first litter, but have since had another litter and are working on a third. Missy, a white mosaic, after a year and a half of 'false pregnancies' (the last two weeks of pregnancy of every other female, she would swell up like she was pregnant, only to 'deflate' the day after the other moms would deliver). Finally, she surprised us with her first litter, two male white mosaics, four months ago, from what we had thought was just another false pregnancy. We had given up on Jo-Jo and Puff, a white mosaic, and decided one or both of them must be sterile. I am ecstatic to announce, after 4 years, our Jo-Jo (one of the first two girls) and Puff, one of our first males, finally gave us their first kit last week ... a beautiful white mosaic male. He was well worth waiting for!
Each chin has its own little 'style' or personality; this is one thing that keeps your interest in them ... no two are alike.
If you are interested in becoming a breeder, please realize there will be many changes in your life and life style when you become a breeder. Do not take this goal on with rose colored glasses. There are many ups and downs to breeding chinchillas ... to make it a life-time adventure, you must accept the good with the bad ... it will definitely be a mixture of both. Breeding for me, and should be for all, in my opinion, a labor of love, not a 'job'.
I will end this with a "Good luck" wish for all the new and future chinchilla breeders and a healthy and happy life for all their chins. Please take proper care of these precious gifts from God.
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