Are Petsmart chins okay?

[Dreamlite]

Have you checked other local classifieds? Places like hoobly or craigslist? If you are going to get a chin without a pedigree or backround why not get one that is looking for a new home. There are several listed on both those place in your area. I personally hate pet stores. Half of my rescues I get in are directly from the pet store. They buty them expecting to sell them quick for top dollar and when they sit in their store for months I get a call to 'get rid of it'. But that's not to say all pet sores are bad. My 1stcchinwas from petco. He was great but developed malo at 4 yrs old. Like everyone has said it your choice, there is no clear cut line here. Go with your gut. If the chin looks healthy and you feel comfortable with it, then go for it. You are here with plenty of great information.

 

[devonmariexoxo]

Have you checked other local classifieds? Places like hoobly or craigslist?

I've been looking there, yes. But I haven't seen any posted that quite fit what I'm looking for. Maybe I'm too picky for my first chin. Haha.

 

[pants567]

Everyone has given some really good advice on making your decision, so I'll say something different. I used to work at Petsmart and took it upon myself to educate customers and even other employees in the petcare (where I was, ya know the place you sit and stare at animals for an hour and forget why you came in the first place ) about the proper care for the chinchillas. My petcare manager was also well informed about chins and we did the best we could for them, sometimes we would bring in things that we paid for out of pocket so they'd be less miserable. So my advice would be to talk to the petcare manager (not the store manager they typically don't know much about animals to begin with) and see what they know. As everyone else has said, you never know what will happen in the future be it malo or just darn unlucky chins as far as what their background is. I would have bought a chin (if I was allowed to have 2) when I worked there, but now I would not. I was the one taking care of those animals so I knew they weren't being mistreated, but now I don't know what other employees may be doing to them. Though on that same train of thought I may buy one anyway just to get it out of that little box.

As for being too picky, you have every right to be picky! It is your pet/family member who will be with you for a very very long time! You can't choose blood relatives, but you can choose furry ones! Hope my bit helped.

 

[devonmariexoxo]

That's a good viewpoint! And I guess picky doesn't hurt, if just makes finding my future chin kind of hard. Haha.

 

[Lillybabe]

Your ad hominem attack is pitiable.
Your posts are self evident, the meanings there for everyone to see .....
I was simply challenging your assumptions.

You keep throwing in these generalisations .......

Again, I say, really? The most vicious chin I have was sold to me as a breeding male by a 'reputable' breeder - he's tiny and he's nasty.

Some people have good experiences and some bad - not every pet shop should be tarred with the same brush.

My most friendly chins came from Petco and Petsmart, the nastiest came from a breeder that also had malo and had a few loose screws in the head, this was from a "reputable" hobby breeder.

Both of you use quotations around reputable. This means they aren't truly reputable therefore, they are worse than a petstore. At least a petstore typically makes no claims about the genetic quality of a pet.

Claire you haven't disproved my point. You said that I make generalizations but then you discrete the breeder you mention. If they are not truly reputable then they have nothing to do at all with my generalizations.

You are not only challenging my assumptions but rather you are implying I am intentionally being insulting and rude. I have done nothing of that nature. I merely said that if someone can't take the time to put into finding the right pet for them that it might be questionable whether or not they should have the pet. The meaning is clearly not evident if you keep inferring things I haven't written.

Obviously the written poster is both researching chinchillas and is looking into options of where to get them. I have no qualms with them and never wrote anything intended to insult them.

 

[DevnChip]

I have to say that this post is the most informative single post I've seen in all the time I've been coming here for info, on several levels. Thank you to all of you for providing all the sides of the petstore pet delema. Mine is the second thankyou for the indepth, to-the-point description of the collection of chins for sale by brokers from a breeder's POV. I too have never had it explained to me so clearly and I'm thrilled to be able to answer that question now with certainty when a stranger asks about store chins.

Another question just answered is "am I being too picky". I asked myself the very same thing when I went in search of my boys. I was given a guilt trip by a well meaning co-worker for not going to a local shelter and picking one of their chins because I was looking for a boy and not a standard grey. I loved my standard grey and find my boys falling short of the very high bar he set, but I couldn't "replace" him with another. Not just yet. And I was finding it very hard to go through a day without a little fuzzie face in my life. So yes, I asked that question a lot during that short period of looking before I went and picked up Miesha. Everyone has their reason for searching for what they search for. It's your search. If it's meant to go another way, it will happen on your terms when it happens. Your plan will get you there, so no, you're not being too picky. That little fuzzie face will show you when you meet it and look into its eyes.

Wish I could help you in your search, but more knowledgeable than me have given you the best advice here.

Again, thank you all for this great post. I hope the person I sent here actually came and got to see this.

 

[devonmariexoxo]

Obviously the written poster is both researching chinchillas and is looking into options of where to get them. I have no qualms with them and never wrote anything intended to insult them.

Well, I am not insulted, as the starter of this thread, if it makes you feel better. All I wanted was to know some info on the best place for me to find a chin in my area.

 

[devonmariexoxo]

Another question just answered is "am I being too picky". I asked myself the very same thing when I went in search of my boys. I was given a guilt trip by a well meaning co-worker for not going to a local shelter and picking one of their chins because I was looking for a boy and not a standard grey. I loved my standard grey and find my boys falling short of the very high bar he set, but I couldn't "replace" him with another. Not just yet. And I was finding it very hard to go through a day without a little fuzzie face in my life. So yes, I asked that question a lot during that short period of looking before I went and picked up Miesha. Everyone has their reason for searching for what they search for. It's your search. If it's meant to go another way, it will happen on your terms when it happens. Your plan will get you there, so no, you're not being too picky. That little fuzzie face will show you when you meet it and look into its eyes.

Thank you for posting this part. I've been worried that being so picky will make it to where I'll never find the perfect chin, especially since I'm after one of the more popular fur colors. Haha. So this part of your post made me feel better! And I'm glad the answers to my question caused some responses that are helpful to others and not just me.

 

[Dragonflye]

The bottom line, I think, is this- a chinchilla is a living, breathing being and is no less worthy of a loving home as you or I or any other being. A chin has no control over where it ends up. You can get a chin with health issues from a pet store, you can get a chin with health issues from a breeder- reputable or not. Pick an animal that you connect with and can live with, whereever it is from.

You could buy a chin from a PS or a breeder and I don't think either way you are being irresponsible. It is clear that you have done some research.

 

[devonmariexoxo]

You could buy a chin from a PS or a breeder and I don't think either way you are being irresponsible. It is clear that you have done some research.

Hahaha. Yes, definitely. That's what I've been spending like all my free time doing recently! I want to know as much as possible about chins before I bring my first one home, so it can have as good a life as possible!

 

[starleomach]

Chinchillas at Petsmart as mentioned typically come from unreputable breeders. This means that they may have been neglected since the day they were born. They may have been inbred with brothers or sisters and could have any number of health ailments. There is just no way to know.
.

Most of what you said is accurate, you won't know the age or background..but the statement of petsmart chinchillas comming from unreputable breeders is not true. Petsmart chinchillas come from ranchers who wholesale their animals...they are some of the best breeders out there., Mind you the wholesale animals are the lowest usually of their stock so they may not be the best quality, but the breeders are reputable

 

[jess32247]

Most of what you said is accurate, you won't know the age or background..but the statement of petsmart chinchillas comming from unreputable breeders is not true. Petsmart chinchillas come from ranchers who wholesale their animals...they are some of the best breeders out there., Mind you the wholesale animals are the lowest usually of their stock so they may not be the best quality, but the breeders are reputable

Does that apply to all the animals they get? Whole sale/ lower quailty animals from reputable breeders?

 

[Lillybabe]

Most of what you said is accurate, you won't know the age or background..but the statement of petsmart chinchillas comming from unreputable breeders is not true. Petsmart chinchillas come from ranchers who wholesale their animals...they are some of the best breeders out there., Mind you the wholesale animals are the lowest usually of their stock so they may not be the best quality, but the breeders are reputable

Thank you for letting me know this but others already said the same things. I was not aware of the wholesale process. I'd always been told they came from backyard breeders.

@devonmariexoxo I am glad you did not feel insulted. As I said that was never my aim.

 

[bchins]

They are not always lower quality, but typically we don't like to sell wholesalers our great quality ones, mostly pricewise. But, in this group that I just sold, probably 70% at leastwere were pretty nice quality. I use them more as an outlet to thin out the lesser quality animals in my herd and only keep the best. Very nice people to deal with, must day that.

 

[Claire D]

Both of you use quotations around reputable. This means they aren't truly reputable therefore, they are worse than a petstore. At least a petstore typically makes no claims about the genetic quality of a pet.

Interesting interpretation ...... incorrect, but interesting. Inference where it was not written.

Claire you haven't disproved my point. You said that I make generalizations but then you discrete the breeder you mention. If they are not truly reputable then they have nothing to do at all with my generalizations.

You are not only challenging my assumptions but rather you are implying I am intentionally being insulting and rude. I have done nothing of that nature. I merely said that if someone can't take the time to put into finding the right pet for them that it might be questionable whether or not they should have the pet. The meaning is clearly not evident if you keep inferring things I haven't written.

Whilst this little interplay of words is mildly amusing, your use of ad hominem attacks and lack of proof reading of your own posts for context ('discrete the breeder you mention.') undermines your own argument.

You have given generalisations; others on this thread have provided specifics and personal anecdotes - one counters/challenges the other. However, disproving generalisations is not the aim of the exercise because it's pointless.... someone will always say a generalisation trumps specifics because specifics usually only cover a finite number of issues. Generalisations cover an infinite number of possibilities and can always be argued as 'correct' if one chooses.

I could go back through your posts and pick out the pertinent words and phrases again but there's no point and I will not continue to waste my time. We must agree to differ, especially since this interplay serves no useful purpose.



Now, back to the actual topic ..........

devonmariexoxo has responded positively to all of the specific information given (including specific, personal examples) and I wish her all the best in finding a furry pal, wherever she buys it from.

 

[kay]

Having read through this thread im very surprised that pet shop chins are from reputable breeders I originaly thought when first researched getting my first chin in 2009 the advice given from uk forums was to go to a reputable breeder not a pet shop, sounds like its pot luck to have a long lived healthy chinchilla.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I would say it's a gamble when purchasing a petstore animal. I do know of good ranchers who wholesale but then again I know of some who do not show or care about quality and just churn out pet quality chins to fill their wholesaler's orders.

 

[smhluvsmh]

I have both. Gizmo, my standard, came from petsmart. Not show quality, but beautiful. Loving, easily handled. We have had her for a year and a half, not a single problem. We wanted a friend for her, she didn't, so we adopted Sterling and Micah from our local rescue. She is also a breeder and these two were hers, that didn't quite turn out to be show quality. They are mosaics and just gorgeous. They have pedigrees. We have had them for a year now. They have both had eye issues but nothing major. I guess my take is, after going both routes, I am more comfortable knowing where S and M came from and would not go the petsmart route again only for the reason. G is a doll though and I would never change getting her.

 

[Lillybabe]

Interesting interpretation ...... incorrect, but interesting. Inference where it was not written.

Whilst this little interplay of words is mildly amusing, your use of ad hominem attacks and lack of proof reading of your own posts for context ('discrete the breeder you mention.') undermines your own argument.

Umm, excuse me but aren't you the one now using "ad hominem" tactics? I wasn't aware we were expected to spell things perfectly or to notice every typo made. I am severely dyslexic and just finished my Master's degree, I am far from ashamed of my errors in spelling. Now I am being put in a negative light for this? I also fail to see how typos or poor spelling makes anything I have to say less valid. Would you aim the same statements at a nonnative English speaker? Isn't this a bit judgmental and discriminating? You do realize you also misspelled "generalizations" four times after commenting on my misspelling of the word discredit?

I would also argue that I provided specifics. I mentioned my experiences with my first chinchilla who I rescued and my current chinchillas who I got from a breeder. I discussed what I have seen at Petsmart and other petstores. Those are specifics and anecdotes are they not?

Secondly, how can my *opinion* be incorrect? It is my opinion that a disreputable breeder is worse than a petstore. This can't be correct or incorrect as it is how I feel about the subject. The original poster asked for opinions. No one can prove the quality or lack of quality of Petsmart chinchillas as every Petsmart is going to have different quality. Some Petsmarts may go against corporate policies that are bad, etc. While others may uphold them. I was told the plastic igloo use and the no hay while there were customers were both corporate policy.

I do not see how any of this is off topic. We are still discussing Petsmart and the quality of chinchillas from various sources. I am fine with agreeing to disagree, but it is different when I am personally being attacked for my opinions.

 

[Sandi]

devonmariexoxo, have you looked into veterinary care for a chinchilla in case you should ever need it? It is very important to have a vet on hand that has experience and very good knowledge of chins.