How mainstream are chinchillas?

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chillathechinchilla

Active member
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Messages
39
Hello everyone. I have discovered something about Bella Swan that will forever boggle my mind forever. And yes, it has to do with chinchillas.

I was searching videos through YouTube, when I came across a Twilight deleted scenes reel.
Now if you know anything about this movie, the scene when Bella goes into Edwards room for the first time she rummages through his stuff right? (It's a rhetorical question. Just nod and say yes) It's kind of hard to explain. Just watch the video below through this link, and start watching at 5:34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYP2kq3forw&list=FLzpgogjJbvSx4hKwtxkL75w&index=25&feature=plpp_video

Comment on your reaction/if you knew.

Because I swear when I bought the Twilight extended version, this clip was not in it.

Now because they deleted that scene, millions of people missed the opportunity of knowing what a chinchilla is.

So thank you Catherine Hardwicke.

From: Chinchillas & their poop around the world.

So my question to you people
is...

Are chinchillas mainstream?
And if this clip was in twilight, Would the pet chinchilla we know today be mainstream.

Let me know what you think.
 
Havn't you already posted this same thing in another thread? You can just add on to that thread instead of making a new one.

Imo, with all the crazy twilight fans (no offense anyone!) that little mention of a chinchilla could of became a mainstream thing. It kind of makes me worried though, with good owners there are bad ones. Kids think "ohhh a chinchilla, how cute!" and get it like that. I'm glad it didn't make it into the movie to be honest, how many kids are going to do proper research to keep the chin healthy and happy if they did get it just because Bella mentioned she had a chinchilla.
 
Totally offtopic; remember back in the day when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hitted the movie theaters? In france (I live in Belgium next to it) people went crazy for the red cheeck turtles (no idea what their actual name is, you know the little ones with red cheeks that everyone used to have in a little plastic smelly container with a plastic palmtree in it).

After a while however, these became too big for people to hold in their house, and too dangerous for children (biting is what they do, and pretty hard as well) so people dumped them into the wild in natures everywhere in the country.

There was a certain stream where they would stay alive however, and grow even bigger. The summer after various people needed to go to the hospital since they were attacked while swimming by turtles, they had wounds and there were even a few missing fingers and toes.

The turtles could survive the harsh nature, but there wasn't enough food supplied by the eco system so they ent to search for their own.
Just as a reminder what some silly movie's can lead too :p And keep in mind ifyou go swimming next year; they are working on a new ninja turtles aswell :p
 
Chinchillas are not mainstream nor should they be. They are exotic animals with special requirements.

Chinchillas going mainstream may be good in terms of vet care over time(i.e. more exotics vets), but in general would be a disaster for chinchillas. The media glamorizes everything, but the truth is that chins are not for everyone.

Life changes for us all, but the audience that the Twilight series targets (what, 14-25?) is the age group that is probably the most in flux with school, moving for jobs and starting families. If chinchillas were to go mainstream, they would be sitting in shelters in the same numbers as dogs and cats. I am not trying to start a debate, simply stating my opinion.
 
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The turtles are called red eared sliders. I had one named Raphael after the ninja turtle lol that was about 10 years ago tho. He was good tho i dont think he ever bit me :)
 
first i honestly dont think they would have became that mainstream because of just that... if Edward, jacob, or bella had a chin then i honestly think we would of had a problem... I just think people would go crazy for their poop to make those rain makers.
 
I agree. I don't think it would come from that, but if one of these blockbusters ever have a pet chinchilla, then I can see a lot of young people asking for chinchillas.
 
I honestly dont know that there would be that big of a problem if chins went mainstream... Yes there would be more in shelters BUT more people would want them as pets and some of those people would start breeding. AND more people would be against the use of their fur/skins as coats or laboratory subjects.
I know that years ago when rabbits were viewed as chins are now many were mistreated (broad term including being kept in a cage that is bad for them) just because of lack of information... Now they are very common pets and most people treat them the way they should be treated. YES there are huge rabbit farms but those are mostly for meat, chins dont have much meat so that is not a problem :)
I feel like it would be good for chinchillas in general if they got more popular for the reasons i just said but im sure there are more Pros & cons im not thinking about, does ANYBODY agree with me?
 
I honestly dont know that there would be that big of a problem if chins went mainstream... Yes there would be more in shelters BUT more people would want them as pets and some of those people would start breeding. AND more people would be against the use of their fur/skins as coats or laboratory subjects.
I know that years ago when rabbits were viewed as chins are now many were mistreated (broad term including being kept in a cage that is bad for them) just because of lack of information... Now they are very common pets and most people treat them the way they should be treated. YES there are huge rabbit farms but those are mostly for meat, chins dont have much meat so that is not a problem :)
I feel like it would be good for chinchillas in general if they got more popular for the reasons i just said but im sure there are more Pros & cons im not thinking about, does ANYBODY agree with me?

I think it would be an issue if Chinchillas became too mainstream. Sure people would breed more, and probably be mostly backyard breeders. The type of breeders who breed, breed, and breed any pair of chinchilla to get as many kits as possible for a profit. Also those that would just breed for "cute babies" not worried about the health of those kits. That means the quality of chinchillas would decrease. I really doubt it will help the cause of breeding quality, healthy chins for responsible owners.

As far as your rabbit comment, every Easter bunnies and chicks are bought up in large numbers. Mostly by parents whose kid's begged for them, and the parent(s) don't know how to take care of them. Many pet bunnies and baby chicks are then re-sold, or put in shelters after Easter once parents figure out they are too much hassle for them to have.
 
Have to agree with the above. There's already enough people who breed whatever they can get their hands on, just look at craigslist and see those "oops, we had another 'accidental litter' posts that pop up a few times a year, from the same people." We had someone come over awhile back asking about breeding chins. We told em about MCBA, the forum, showing, and so on.... thankfully, in the end, they decided to breed meat rabbits. Turned out that even though chinchillas are one of the more expensive small animals, they though they bred too slow and they wouldn't make any money. Well... they wouldn't. But that's not the point of breeding... If chins got too mainstream, you'd get everyone and their cousin trying to get a variety of colors, breeding poorly-furred mute to poorly-furred mute and churning out babies that would be sold the second they were weaned. With that, they never get to see if the babies might grow up to be quality or not, to develop any issues or not... basically, they could be churning out malo chin after malo chin and they'd never know (much less care). With responsible breeders, that doesn't (or at least shouldn't) happen, but with everyone and their cousin breeding to meet the demand... it wouldn't surprise me.

As a rescue, we already get in enough chinchillas that I can't imagine what would happen if they went more mainstream. Just this year, at least half of the chins we've gotten in have been ones where the kids begged their parents for the chins and after... maybe a week/month, the kids lost interest. In one case, the parents still kept the chins for 5 years, but eventually they made their way here. And they're still here, we're not lacking rescues at the moment. If there were more in the mainstream, we'd be overrun.

With the rabbits -- sadly it's the same thing. We got in one rabbit this year that was purchased as an easter present 3 years ago... and eventually was left to sit in her cage in the corner, being cleaned whenever someone "felt like it." The kids no longer wanted it, parents didn't know how to are for it, nor did they care to learn... one of the older (18+) kids finally called us and brought the rabbit over. She's now happily being a house rabbit. But the point is, rabbits are more mainstream, and look at what happens to them! They're snatched up, people get tired of them, and they get stuck in cages or rehomed. I would hate to see MORE chins in that situation.
 
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