I think I want to breed

[Courtney.Tiedt]

Currently, I am a horse breeder of lovely little sport ponies. I love breeding and understand all the ups and downs that come with it. I have a small farm with 3 brood mares because over populating isn't my goal. My SO and I got our first chin last year from a breeder. I honestly couldn't tell you anything about his breeding. I do know she seemed very reputable ( lots of trophys in her chin room) and her chins were well taken care of! We got our guy as a pet and he has the sweetest personality! A year and half later we decided we wanted another. I bought an equally as sweet guy off Craigslist. Haven't a clue about his breeding, but I love him all the same! The more I play with my guys, the more I think I would love breeding them as much as I do my ponies. While I do breed as a hobby, I insist on breeding the best to the best. In the horse world there are far too many back yard breeders and I refuse to be one of those! I would like the same to carry over into my chin breeding. I don't want to do it for the money, just for fun, but I don't want to be back yard crazy chin breeder either! My first question (or plea I should say) any and all advice is welcome! Second, would it be bad breeding to go ahead and get a nice female to breed with a male I already have strictly for learning purpose and sell them as pets? I don't want to invest in another male if I don't have to at this time since I am not sure I will absolutely breeding chins

Again any and all advice is welcome!!

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

I would recommend reading the stickies in the breeding section, they are full of really great information. Next, does your first chin have a pedigree? And if you don't have it are you able to get it from the breeder? The chin you got off of craigslist should never be bred. Period. Too much of a risk of passing on traits like malo. Other than that, there are lots of threads and knowledgable people on this forum to help you out.

 

[Chinmama]

The best way to go about breeding chinchillas is to research, find a mentor, go to shows and learn all you can before you start breeding. Don't just throw two chinchillas together to breed for pet quality chinchillas. That is not breeding for quality and to better the species - that is back yard breeding.

 

[ticklechin]

Why not be a rescue instead, the chin world has way to few of them.

 

[mercynursie]

Well said Dawn! I second that idea.

 

[Courtney.Tiedt]

I'd be interested in becoming a rescue, but wouldn't have the slightest clue where to start!! I had no idea there would be a need for a rescue with these guys. I mean they are pricey animals... Why would anyone mistreat or abandon them!

 

[ticklechin]

There is a HUGE need for rescues, the group I have worked with has right now 37 chins avaliable for adoption and 19 waiting to get it, the hotel is full.

 

[Tagna]

There is a real need for more rescues for sure. Just look at the thread I have in the health section and there is an excellent example of people not looking after their pet. I have rehomed over 50 chins and there are 18 in my rescue now. I do have foster moms to help out.

Start with getting a vet fund and then start with one rescue.

 

[mercynursie]

Definitely need more rescues than breeders. Unfortunately people buy chinchillas not realizing the cost of continual care(which is a drop in the bucket compared to "expensive" purchase prices). They fail to learn that these animals do require special care/exotic vet,etc in addition to having a long life span.Plus with the economy today, unfortunately many breeders are going out of business too.

 

[Dreamlite]

I have scaled way down on breeding and rescue on the side. Its sad that people get chins without doing research first. there aren't many people around here that are willing to surrender even the very sick chins so I don't get many rescues.

 

[Zoaea]

You can buy a pet chin that is still high quality, so if you wanted to look into your current males I would contact the breeder you bought your first from. My chin 'pet' won Champion female but most chinchillas sold for pets were considered not worth keeping for the breeders herd... I would never use a pet chin that wasn't at least first place in a chin show with a pedigree. The craigslist chin should not be used as mentioned before because you cant find any information on his family history and potential hidden genetic flaws.

To start: I would go to sanctioned chinchilla shows (MBCA and ECBC, NOT fairs) where you can network with breeders, see what chinchilla qualities look like, and maybe even get your pedigree male evaluated by experienced persons. Also, if you do decide to start with a pair, a show can be a good place to pick up an animal as you can see the judges comments and don't just have to take the word of the seller on the animal's quality.

Before you start I would also make sure you have a vet fund for emergencies, my female ended up needing a spay with her first litter, luckly one kit lived but I almost lost my very loved pet of 5 years when she had several complications. I'm never using an animal I'm so emotionally invested in again! Your's are males but there is still the risk of death at the hand of a grumpy female so you might not want to use him even if he is high quality, up to you.

For breeding you also need cages, cages that are both baby and pregnancy safe (normal pet cages are neither), holding cages for weaned babies while they wait to be sold or 'grown out' if you show, and spare cages for quarantine/sickness, or if the chins decide that they hate each other. Baby safe is 1/2" space or smaller, and you don't want high cages/shelves for the pregnant chin. There should be more detail about proper housing on different threads here.

Lastly, finding a couple breeders that can mentor you would be the most beneficial, esp if you go to a show you can know the quality of animals they raise and talk to them about their tips and tricks. They can go over pitfalls and mistakes that you can avoid, and they usually love someone thats open to actually listening to their advice! ^_^

I would plan long and hard before starting, and maybe it will be that rescue would suit your area better.

 

[MyzarandGemma]

Where are you located? There are lots and lots of breeders, but I agree that rescues are definitely in need. The only one in AZ in AZChins and Susan is overrun! Most of them she will have to keep forever because many people are more interested in kits than in older chins.

I would definitely stay away from breeding the chins you have now if they do not have pedigrees. It's those chins that end up in rescue because their parents didn't have a pedigree or were not meant to breed and the kits end up with malo or fur chewing and owners decide they don't want to deal with that. It's just like horses. My mom used to breed Arabians and you would NEVER breed an animal without a reputable background, as you probably know being a pony breeder.

 

[Courtney.Tiedt]

I'm located in Nashville TN. Any hook ups?

 

[Chinmama]

Volunteer Chinchillas is in Nashville: http://www.freewebs.com/volunteerchinchillas/

 

[ticklechin]

Erins chins does rescue and Encantadora are both in Tenn and members here.

 

[Courtney.Tiedt]

Our first chin actual came from volunteer chin I believe. I'm pretty certain. She is the one that sent me here

 

[Courtney.Tiedt]

I contacted the breeder from the link above and she is the one who sold us zazu! She is sending me the pedigree!