How can anyone think this is ok?

[Cuddlebug]

I recently got an email from a woman wanting to purchase a pair of kits. She said that she and her daughter had done a lot of research on chinchillas and wanted whites. OK, not a problem until I read the next line, which read, "we would like to get babies that are just past the stage of getting their mother's colostrum and bottle feed them so that we can bond with them dearly at this young age".

I usually am very east going, but this one really made me see red! How on earth can anyone even consider doing this?

I emailed her back and explained why this is not a good idea. I tried to be nice about, but I wanted her to understand why this is not a good idea. Hopefully, she doesn't find some backyard breeder who is will to sell kits that young to her.

 

[EMSChins]

I have spent the past 7 weeks handfeeding 4 kits from 2 different litters (one is an orphan and the other three, mom's milk didn't come in). I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I have had 7 plus weeks of sleepless worrisome days and nights and hoping and praying that the kits will be healthy adults and not adversely affected by not having their mothers milk. I know they will be okay - but how much better would they have been with their own mothers milk is the question I ponder over continually???

Why in the world someone who has supposedly done tons of research would want to take a healthy kit from a mother who has milk and a healthy relationship with their kit is beyond me???!!! Sounds like an emotional disturbance!

It just goes to show you that there are all kinds of people in this crazy world!!!

 

[chinchillasrox]

That is just sad..... i did it and NEVER WANT TO DO IT AGAIN!!!!!!

 

[addictedtochins]

There are other ways of bonding then ripping a kit from its mother! Ask her next time she has a kid if I can have her at day 4!

 

[dcfluegel]

yikes - makes me glad I found somewhere like this forum to do research I feel comfortable/ confident is in the best interest of my chins...

 

[ErinsChins]

That's terrible!

 

[AZChins]

I've had people ask about that before. It's stupid and I tell them that it's stupid. You don't have to mince words, just tell them that it is a dumb idea to want to bottlefeed a baby chin.

 

[ChinnyMom]

There are other ways of bonding then ripping a kit from its mother! Ask her next time she has a kid if I can have her at day 4!

this is exactly what i would have said! perfect!

 

[tunes]

That's because people think you can only bond with kits. Nobody educates them on how much more satisfying it is to forge a relationship with an adult chin. Just like with any other animal, they think babies are cuter and more impressionable.

 

[amignatowicz]

i'm about to adopt 2 adult female chins. i do agree that it may be easier to bond with kits, however i think its more satisfying to bond with adults.

 

[javachin]

Ignorance at its best! People are amazing...

 

[greychins]

So far I've never had that request... but I think part of the problem is that people don't want to be educated. Every once in a while we get in a pregnant rescue and end up adopting out the kits - and we will have a mailbox full of responses for one ad for a kit, versus no responses for our ads about the adults for adoption. I educate - I tell people that the adults are calmer, easier to hold, will interact more, and so on... but basically, a lot of the time, the response I get is something along these lines: I don't care, I want the baby or no chin at all.

I personally would rather adopt an older animal. Having experienced owning kittens (which, note, I no longer have) and owning a dog that I purchased as a puppy... I would much rather start with an older animal. Sure, the babies are cuter - the kittens were adorable and the puppy was just oh so cute... but the puppy wasn't potty trained, chewed up a lot of stuff, the kittens knocked over everything I owned, dug in my plants, and were little terrors. Since I no longer have the kittens, I cannot comment on how they are now, but for the dog -- I much prefer my dog how she is now. I often joke that she's a "useless" dog (in the most loving way, it's sort of a running joke) because she can be found lying on the floor/couch sleeping much of the time, and during the time she's awake, she just pads around the house following someone and then plopping down at their feet. I much prefer that, and the occasional play session, to the psycho puppy that I had to watch 24/7 with eyeballs on the back of my head as she dug through my trash and shredded every napkin and kleenex in sight, making it look like it snowed 365/24/7 in my room.

Obviously, chins aren't quite comparable to something like a puppy, but the concept is the same - I would rather go with the older rescue....you at least know what you're getting. But unfortunately, not everyone feel that way - and it's obvious - because I will have deposits down on kits long before they're ready to go, while some awesome rescue chins will sit here for months or years waiting to be adopted.

And a bit more on topic.... I would NEVER want to intentionally hand-feed a kit. While I've handfed my share of kits for various reasons, they were all situations where I did not have another nursing mother and had no other way for the kits to get milk. To intentionally take kits away from mom to handfeed? Forget it. If they need to be handfed every 2 hours around the clock, I'm there. For the heck of it? ooooh no. Not happening. I don't think people often understand what they're getting themselves into when they make requests such as that. The sleep (or lack of) that is gotten for those 8-9 weeks is miserable and I always felt so drained afterwards... I wouldn't intentionally take that on if I could avoid it.

 

[jbcstratton]

They think hand feeding is all about bonding and day time feeding not trying to get them to eat every two hours DAY AND NIGHT. It just shows ignorant people are interested in everything, at least for a little while!

 

[ticklechin]

:OSarcasm: Tell them there will be plenty of time to bond with their new chin when they have to hand feed it due to malo or some other issue when they get it from some breeder with no morals or scruples who will sell them what they want.

 

[liewwan]

Wow that's just nuts the person wants to do that. Like all babies they grow up and have their own personality. Regardless of the endless hours you spend with bonding while they are young, they may act different later on in the years.
My boys when they were young refuse to be held or listen and care less about anyone, now that they are older they are more calm and are more bonded to me. My girls well it's a whole different story with they devil horns sticking out lol.

 

[RDZCRanch]

i'm about to adopt 2 adult female chins. i do agree that it may be easier to bond with kits, however i think its more satisfying to bond with adults.

It is not easier to bond with a kit. Kits are too busy developing their own personalities and trying to get away with x, y, and z to care about forming a bond with anyone. It's much easier to bond with an adult that has a more developed brain that can decipher the nuances of human emotion.

I used to sell kits to pet owners until I started getting them back. Much like any baby animal, chinchilla kits are terrors. They will get into anything and everything and test your limits. One of my girls even figured out she could bite her new owner and she would get left alone, she came back to me and 5 years later she's never bitten anyone else. Now, if I sell a kit, the kit goes with a same sex cagemate that is a well rounded adult. The adults teach the babies not to be total jerks.

I know a BYB that will sell an unweaned baby for people to handfeed. For her, it gets them out of her house faster and money in her pocket which is all a BYB cares about.

 

[Jenn]

It is a huge mistake to take any animal away from it's mother too early. It is not a new or unknown fact. Taking in kits so young could create so many health issues, and surely doesn't guarantee a greater bonding. I would have a difficult time not being rude with this family! lol. I think you had great restraint in withholding how you really felt about this. Hopefully she gets the message and doesn't go looking elsewhere.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I posted this thread so that people like this woman will see how wrong it is too take a kit away from its mother before they are ready to be weaned.

I , too, believe that it is actually easier to bond with an adult chin. When I purchase breeders, I purchase adults, that way I can tell what their personalities are like and what their qualities are. I have never had a problem bonding with any of them. The kits, on the other hand, even though I handle them daily, are little Tasmanian devils and could care less being held.

 

[davey]

thats horrible! and so is the thought that there might actualy be people out there that would do it glad iv found i site where people absalutely love chins

 

[Cuddlebug]

More stupidity!

I had a young lady here this morning that bought one of my chinchillas. While she was here, she and her mother were telling me about the girl's friend and her experience buying a chin. Apparently, the breeder that her friend went to encouraged the girl and her family to by a 5 week old kit (taken straight from mom). This way they could bottle feed it for a week or two and it would bond with them better than if they waited. Bad enough, right? It gets worse! The breeder charged them extra for the service (?) of selling them a 5 week old.

This is a breeder that has been discussed on here a few times. What will these clowns do next?