Breeding problem I never considered

[MyFuzzies]

I think you are right. Maybe I am so disheartened because it was my first home placement, or because I was friends with the guy, or maybe I was just naive. It does make me want to take a step back, sell the few chins I bought purely for breeding that are unfriendly, and buy some huge new cages and spoil the heck out of my babies. Appreciate them for what they were originally to me, wonderful little pets.

I have 5 fur-babies and spoil them COMPLETELY rotten!! Although the chinnie babies are just oober cute there's no way I could breed. It's just not for me in alot of ways. I think you did the right thing in your situation with making sure that baby didn't stay with these people. As a breeder it IS your responsibility to make sure your babies go to a good forever home. It's really sad that there are so many ignorant people in the world that they can't follow a few instructions.

There are alot of breeders out there that just don't care where their animals go and all they can see are $$$. When someone that is truly in love with their animals and tries to share that with others the way you did, well, I can't imagine how heartbreaking that can be for you.

I wish you all the best in whatever you decide to do. I'm sure your chinnie clan wouldn't mind being totally and completely spoiled as PETS

 

[MegFarris]

I might suggest buying a used cage to sell with your baby. A glass water bottle and ceramic bowl are cheap to include also. If someone already has a cage, make sure they send you pictures of the set up first. I've had people send me pictures so I could tell them what they did right and what needed to be fixed before their new family member came home. It's a lot harder, but at least you know your baby's had a good start. Good Luck!

 

[Jaina_Organasolo]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I don't blame you for running away with your baby. I am a purely pet owner with a potential interest in breeding but it's the one part i'm not sure if i could cope with.
I do wonder, however, if you had made him pay for the baby - would he have taken the whole thing more seriously? Maybe the cost of a baby, would have made him think to spend the money on the suggested equipment? Just a thought.

The breeder who bred my Chins had second hand cages and equipment for sale to people who didn't have the right thing; he also wouldn't let anyone take the Chin home in an unsuitable container.

To me, having Chinchillas is a privaledge, and i take pride in the fact that a breeder trusted me with his babies - not someone i was just buying something from.

 

[Vyxxin]

Yep, you definitely don't want to go large scale. Sad thing is that this happens ALL the time. It doesn't matter what people tell you, they'll care for any given animal in any way they see fit once it's in their home. If you decide you'd still like to breed, keep it very small scale as you will soon find yourself overrun trying to find the perfect homes. Now, I'm not saying you are wrong for doing so...but it can be rough getting people who "meet your expectations" I'm with whoever said that you should've explained what was wrong with everything. I've been to petstores that were VERY convincing...I KNOW what is good and bad and even I have nearly been convinced to buy certain items as "chin safe"

 

[greychins]

Unfortunately, this does happen a lot. I can't count the number of times I've sold people chins and then something happens... and yet they seemed like such a great home... I sold a pair of older boys a while ago - I sold them with their QC cage and glass water bottle and chin spin and everything...the people seemed PERFECT!! I mean they just acted like they loved them to death, we talked about their care - I even made SURE to mention that these chins really ran on their wheel. While they were there (when they came to see the chins before they actually bought them) the chins ran on the wheel, and I mentioned that they'd do that in the middle of the night and everything... so they emailed me back like a week later, "oh they run on that wheel and it sounds like a freight train in the other room...and we have poos everywhere (which I also told them about, and showed them a part of my chin-room that wasn't vacuumed after 1 day) and so we have to get rid of them." They didn't want me to take them back- they wanted me to help them find someone else to buy them... I suggested some online classified sites, and the forum, and newspaper ads and I said I could take them back if they needed to get rid of them quick... never heard from them again...

Yet they seemed so perfect! I mean how much more can you prepare moreso than selling with a cage and all accessories...and I TOLD them how they run on the wheel 24/7 and how they poo EVERYWHERE? Like did they expect that because they were in a new home, the chins wouldn't run on the wheel when they were sleeping and to only poo in one corner? I mean it's like the people who get German Shepards and say "we didn't realize how big it'd get..."

I have a lot of spare cages...mind you, not great cages, but like superpet cages that would be reasonably ok for one chin...and for the latest few I've sold, I've start including a cage and maybe an extra food bowl that I'm not using (we seem to have so many spares of everything)...and then in these cases, I feel a little bit better about those homes. Not like that prevents bad care...but it at least keeps people from discussing with me good cages (and me thinking "oh good they'll get a good cage)...and then they go out and buy a 10g acquarium for the chin...and then email me and let me know how it's a little cramped, what brands did I recommend?

But I really feel you never can prepare enough... I've had several people who I've almost deleted their emails or voicemails (because of horrible spelling/grammer, southern-hick drawls [not that they don't care for their chins, but a lot of them want to keep them in outside rabbit hutches in my experience], etc), but then upon talking to them, they've been great homes, went out and bought QC's and Chin Spins and everything, like the type of home we all search for, the ones that end up joining the forum and just being really interested in the chins... but then sometimes the ones that seem they'll be perfect just...end up not so much.

I agree with whoever said it above -the hardest part is finding good homes. You have to weed through like 20 bad ones to find 1 good one.

 

[SunshineChins]

I just had a pair of girls surrendered here due to the fact that (and I quote)"their poop goes everywhere and I have to set them out on the back porch". I tell people that bedding and poop does go everywhere and if your a neat freak like me a shop vac is a great idea to have.

 

[Cinder and Me]

Yeah, that is horrible. In one ear, and out the other!
So sorry this happened, but I'm really glad you grabbed the kit and ran!!

Did he have anything to say to you, when you saw all the junk?

 

[heymom32000]

This is one reason we are no longer breeding. The last set of chins we sold were picked up. I got home and a few hours later my phone rang. The guy who bought them called to tell me they did not survive the trip to his home. I don't know what happened....they were quite healthy when I gave them to him. We were so upset. Besides it is so hard to find good homes for them.

 

[ForCHINate Chins]

I had the same thing happen here a couple weeks ago, but with a rescue. A family contacted me about adopting a rescue. I sent them my care sheet as I always do with people interested in adoption. I asked them to read through it and contact me if they had any questions and if they would like to proceed with the adoption process. They called me and wanted to know the ins and outs of chins...what's ok, whats not ok, etc. I went over the cage, feed, water, hay....everything and I mean everything....I was on the phone with the lady for 2 hours! She wrote it all down, knew how important the things I went over with her were, even her husband got in on the conversation and wanted to know everything about them and their care. SOooo....the time comes to pick the chin up.... what do they go and buy? A plastic filled super pet cage, a run about ball, a plastic crap wheel, no hay, junk pet store feed, etc....I was sick to my stomach. I had to tell them they could not leave my house with a chinchilla. Their son got mad and he and I exchanged words (snotty 18 year old) the daughter cried (snotty 17 year old) her boyfriend started yelling at me, etc. I told them I'm gonna stand my ground and that's it...I explained to each one of them how important the things I went over with them were to me and if they still wanted a chinchilla, that was fine, but they were not taking one of my rescues and putting it in those conditions....I just will not allow it. they can either once again go over my care sheet and start the process all over again, take the pet store stuff back and get better stuff for the chin, or they can choose to listen to the people at our local petsmart whom I know first hand know nothing about chinchillas whatsoever because I've spoken with them trying to give them at least a little information about them and they look at me like I'm crazy and they know everything because corporate sent them a sheet about chinchillas....they don't even know that chinchillas are nocturnal animals...whatever!!!!

My main concerns were the cages bar spacing....they insisted on a younger chin and the younger chins I have here are rambunctios and like to wall surf...the super pet cage has 1" x 5" spacing that is horizontal....the chin would most likely wind up with a broken leg or worse. Not to mention all the other crap they had for it. I do feel sooooo sorrry for the chin they did wind up with, but I could not let them take one of the rescues here. I couldnt' stop them from buying a chin at pet smart, though. But I have to look at it like a lot of people said....you can't really control where they go, but you can do your best to get them into the best homes possible. I screen every applicant, I let it be known that I have everything here for a fraction of the price they're gonna pay at the pet store and they can pick it up from me if they'd like. I give them every opportunity to do good for the chin they adopt and I can't say that I've heard back from 0 people who have adopted from me, thank god! I'd say that I'm in contact with about 75% of adopters on a regular basis. Most of them get their food, dust, toys, etc from me.....so that does ease my mind a little that I know they're getting what they need, but that other 25%, I do worry sometimes about them.

I say stand your ground...good for you for not leaving the chin there and its their fault....not yours that they didn't listen to you in the first place.