I couldn't beleive this...

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

I found these chinchillas quite a while ago on craigslist, I e-mailed the owner, and gave him a piece of my mind. I cannot stand it when chins look disgusting and the owner is still trying to sell them. I beleive the price on them was $300.

The owner e-mailed me back saying they they had found a great home, and insisting that his chinchillas look healthy and he gives them dust baths every week, and just going on and on about how great he treats his chins.

I didn't even answer, I just continue to hope that these chinchilla found a home that actually knows what they are doing, and can help them live a better life.

But what do you think?

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

I think the guy is a complete idiot! even a novice chinnie owner could see that those poor babies had not seen a dust bath in quite a while!

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

I tried to find the e-mail from him, but I couldn't seem to locate it =/ I must've accidentally deleted it. darn.

 

[Sierra]

They look so unhappy and how can you NOT tell that they need a dust bath seriously. They look so greasy. I also home that they have found a better home.

 

[Bam.Bam]

Poor things. That man must be confused. They look so unhealthy, both coat-wise and weight-wise. What the **** kind of 'dust' was he using?! They just look so sad

Hopefully the person who purchased them knew something about chins and took them in to get them in better shape.

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

I'm hoping they knew what they were doing, and didn't listen to this man's advice, but I keep picturing some inexperienced newbie that listened to every word this man said. Even if this has happened, i'm crossing my fingers that they've done their research and are giving them proper dust baths and care.

Maybe the man was using some kind of sand or other product from a petstore.
The eye of the chin in the last picture doesn't look too healthy, so it's a possibility, but it may also just be the angle of the picture.

 

[tknoir]

Yeah..those chins are not happy campers. It reminds me of someone who used to be a horder..all her chins looked like this and she wouldn't bath them for weeks at a time. There is no way they are regularly cared for.

 

[AZChins]

Poor buhbuhs. The new owner will have to do better with their care. It looks like a lot of different cages stacked there. Granted, I do have a room with all different types of cages...but those chins are treated like royalty since they are my quarantine group. They watch TV all day and get a dustbath nearly every night.

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

wow. Just, wow.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/pet/1692517019.html

I feel so bad for these chins and it kills me that I can't do something for them. Obviously, they haven't found a new home =/
poor things

 

[Tillygizmo]

also, is that lettuce in their cage?

 

[tunes]

Get an address to go see them then report them to the authorities for neglect. Not much will happen, but it'll annoy them a lot.

 

[starleomach]

writing to people to "give them a peice of your mind" never makes it better. You will just make them defensive. Try a nicely worded email it will be taken much better and perhaps heeded

 

[Essentia]

writing to people to "give them a peice of your mind" never makes it better. You will just make them defensive. Try a nicely worded email it will be taken much better and perhaps heeded

Absolutely agree. When you get aggressive with someone it's human nature for them to automatically be defensive, especially when it's about a pet they truly believe they are taking good care of. Explaining something to someone in a calm manner (without being at all pushy) will go a whole lot further.

If I see someone on CL who has an ugly chin (as in not dusted, etc.) I always send them an email explaining how pet store dust just doesn't do a good job and how they can save so much money in the long run by ordering blue cloud online. While they may be looking for a new home for the chinchilla, it may be something that actually sticks in their mind that they pass on to the person taking the chinchilla from them.

 

[CJR]

He feeds them vegetables twice a week.

They look so miserable. If I had the money, I'd go get them right this instant. Poor little ones...

 

[Essentia]

He feeds them vegetables twice a week.

They look so miserable. If I had the money, I'd go get them right this instant. Poor little ones...

Unfortunately every single chinchilla book says that is ok, and recommended. To help people understand that their care may not be ideal, this is a fantastic website to send to them in an email. petchinchillas.info

 

[ticklechin]

Stacie also has a really good quality website, www.chinnation.com, I refer customers to her site when they ask about chin ownership.

 

[jordanln97]

He's obviously doing this on purpose. Treating them poorly, saying they're spoiled and he takes the "Best" care for them. Send this @#$% to PETA or the Detroit SPCA, those poor things would be out of there in no time! I hate people who think they know everything when they haven't done any research and just based it all on opinion.

 

[Carol~Anne]

They have lifeless eyes that are prevalent in chinchillas that aren't being cared for properly. :cry3:

 

[Essentia]

He's obviously doing this on purpose. Treating them poorly, saying they're spoiled and he takes the "Best" care for them. Send this @#$% to PETA or the Detroit SPCA, those poor things would be out of there in no time! I hate people who think they know everything when they haven't done any research and just based it all on opinion.

Unfortunately you are wrong. Chinchillas are considered livestock which means basically all they need to have to be "properly cared for" is food and water. The SPCA doesn't give two poops about if the chins are properly dusted or given veggies twice a week. Don't even get me started on PETA...

And once again let me say as much as it sucks, he could have read one of the many chinchilla books to do his research. In that sense, he is spoiling them and treating them correctly (short of them not being dusted often enough, or at all). Not everyone knows about chinchilla forums.

You ranting and raving about how he is doing this on purpose, especially when you have no idea about the situation, isn't helping anything, especially those chins. It's our job, as people who know the correct way to care for them, to try to teach others who don't, but think they do. People trust what is written in a book and what they are told at a pet store. Shoot....even what they are told by some vets who don't know better.

Take the admin here, Tunes, for example. She is all over yahoo telling people the correct way to do things and trying to get them on this site. If more people even did 10% of what she does there wouldn't be 1/4 as many of the undusted, veggie eating chins out there.

 

[Ippo456]

...... I have a horrible feeling this person might be a backyard breeder .......