Giving Chins as Christmas Gifts

[ticklechin]

Train a young chin? Good luck with that, teenage chins for the most part only think about one thing and its not being trained, older chins are much easier to train, I have done it many times.

 

[Pikaia]

I agree with what everyone has said. I don't think chins should be given as Christmas/birthday gifts UNLESS the person has done their research and understand what goes into a chinchilla's care. It's a huge responsibility, as all pets are. I never recommend a parent buy a chinchilla for their child. If the parent is willing to take care of the animal after the child loses interest, maybe. Chinchillas are different creatures, they are not kid friendly in my opinion. They are more an adult's pet. Someone that has patience and understanding.

Chichi was a 5 year old's pet before I got her. She's always been the nervous type. She's very skittish and I don't ever think she will change from that. I'm not sure if being the child's pet scared her and now she doesn't trust? When I went to pick her up, I could tell she was grabbed/handled and she did not enjoy it. That's just how kids are. They want to grab at everything and I don't know if younger kids understand how fragile chinchillas are...

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I agree 'IF' a chin is to be for Christmas the parents should be willing and want to help care for the chin. The PARENTS should have done the research about the proper care of chinchillas or at least researched with the child. If the gift is for another adult, that adult should know about it first and should have done research themselves. I am getting requests NOW for chins for Christmas. Even if I had any left that would be ready for Christmas I would NOT sell them now. I have already told 3 people this week, that if I did have any babies left for Christmas I would not sell to them because it sounds like 'an impulse buy to me'

 

[symphle]

My wife and I haven't lived in Arizona too long...AZChins, are ALL of your Arizona customers rude butts? We too received rude and off color phone calls this Christmas. The most common one was "what is your cheapest and youngest?". We even had someone call to ask if we would accept a TRADE for an Xbox 360! I WAS SEETHING!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Symphle,

It is not limited to Arizona. We have those same kinds of questions here in California. I once had a guy chew me out because I would not ship a chin to him in the middle of summer. He threatened to sue me for not selling him the chinchilla. Some people.

 

[Teddykay]

I don't like the idea of giving chinchillas as gifts, or any animals for that matter, but especially chinchillas. Chins take a lot of work to care for and you need a lot of supplies for them. The person might not even have enough money to pay for all the supplies or they may not have the time it takes to raise a chinchilla right. If the person really wanted a chinchilla and knew they could take care of them properly they should/would of bought one themselves.