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I have, what appears to be a black velvet/ebony cross baby. Cricket was born on 8/4/11 and her coloring has only gotten more distinct. The issue is, neither of her parents is a black velvet. Her mother is an extra dark ebony white and father is a Shoot's extra dark standard. Knowing that black...

November 1st marks the founding of Whimsy's Menagerie & Chinchilla Rescue! We're now in our forth year and going strong. Just this year alone we've found new homes for more than 100 chinchillas. As you can imagine, the chin rescue and supporting store has become a full time job and keeps us...

I've been working slowly with a sapphire line and have found it difficult to tell the difference between a white s/c and a white sapphire in new kits. I have one mommy in particular whose pedigree lists her as a white, possible s/c (confirmed now). She gave birth to a sapphire female and white...

A pet owner contacted me when their chin started showing signs of loose stool. When she said there was mucus involved, I told her she needed vet care, not home remedies. Long story short, the chin died of intussusception . They had a necropsy done where the vet determined it was caused by a...

Has anyone experienced a chin who drools that is NOT malo related? I had an animal come visit for a weight check who showed signs of drooling. I expressed my concern to her owner who had a vet look into tooth issues. Vet ruled out malo upon visual exam. Yes, I know that isn't conclusive. The...

I woke up this morning to find one of our chins in labor. No kits had been born at the time I first checked, but when I checked again a moment later I found a kit convulsing and gasping while mommy was busy with the umbilical cord. The poor thing was passed with the clear amniotic sack still...

...what life is like running a home-based rescue? We made a video about it! *shhhh* Now you'll know all my secrets. ;) http://www.whimsys-menagerie.com/

Breech born kits are not uncommon and can result in injury or death to the mother and/or baby. This morning I witnessed and assisted with a footling breech. After washing and unraveling the mass that the poor mama passed, it was only then I realized what it was. This poor baby was stuck in the...

I received word last week about a wildlife rehab that had taken in chinchillas over the years. Apparently they had a broad, but limited understanding of the animals in their care. They asked us to take the chins and brought them to us in two large groups of inbred families, and what they thought...

I've been working on a line of dark eyed beige and just have to share this success story. This little pinkwhite boy is about 10 weeks old now and so far is everything I hoped he'd be. Both parents come from reputable lines and are fully pedigreed (pinkwhite from JTCHINS and our beige girl...

An animal control office in Northern Virginia called to ask for our assistance. 25 chinchillas were surrendered by an individual this past weekend. No pointing fingers or naming names, although if this person is part of the forums, I hope you take this wake-up call to heart. :banghead: These...

Is the weaning to 4 months age group a suggestion, or a strict guideline? I can understand the weaning part, but I have an adorable little guy who is a bit over the 4 month mark, but not really large enough for a "regular" show. Can anyone enlighten me on the rules please?

I don't usually post about litters born here. But two of my favorite girls gave birth today and yesterday. The litters are small. One survived yesterday, two today. I just HAD to share pictures of two of them. First is our very first tan. Mom is an extra dark ebony from JAGS, dad is a...

We've all see it. That nasty white scale that forms on the bottom of the cage that's like cement. Protein particles adhere to plastic and metal cages and can look so nasty. I've found a remedy that works very well and would like to share with you all. Spray on oven cleaner works breaks...

We've seen many situations both good and bad. This is one of the worst cases yet. A family was told that the two chins they adopted off craigslist were both boys. Wrong again. The brother sister pair bred, reproduced, but were allowed to continue breeding nonstop. The poor things were crammed...

I woke up early this morning to find that my sapphire girl with 6 week old kits had prolapsed. She's at the vet's office now for surgery and is to be spayed. The kits are younger than I would normally wean, but are healthy, robust and all weigh very close to 200 grams each already. She'll be...

I have searched the internet relentlessly trying to find those cute little animated chinchilla pictures. Can anyone point me in the right direction or post some they've found? Thanks!

Found one of our chins with a broken leg. My regular exotics vet is not in today, and my back up is closed. The office I usually go it was open and they invited me to come in. However, when I got there they informed me that none of the vets in that day see exotics. They would not even give her...

I love how the Ferret Nation cages allow for modification of removal of the bottom storage shelf to allow for the addition of a third cage. The Critter Nation cage is tool-less and has silly posts that stick out the bottom into the (very wobbly) storage portion. Has anyone come up with a good...

It's been a frustrating couple of months here with rescue chins coming in mixed gender groups with pregnant females. As a rule, I hold all females for a minimum of 4 months to determine pregnancy all the while keeping stringent weight records. The last two totally took me by surprise though...