Pestsmart Chin info sheet....online

[Marie5656]

I am wondering if anyone here has taken the time to read over the info page about chins that Petsmart has on their website? Here is a link to it.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3893773

If this takes you correctly, you should be on the first page of the chin info. Just to the right of his nose, click on "more info".

Thi is the first paragraph under Product info:
Chinchillas are closely related to guinea pigs, and many Pet Parents find that their soft fur, lack of odor and clean habits are a few reasons why they make great pets. They keep their soft fur clean by taking a dust bath 2-3 times per week. (It's really fun to watch, too!) Nocturnal by nature, chinchillas are most active in the evening but can adapt to daytime activity. Chinchillas raised together can live together peacefully in same gender pairs. With regular, gentle handling, they will bond strongly with their Pet Parents.

Now, most of you here know much more about chins than I do, so I wonder what you think. For the most part, the info seems on the mark, based on what I have learned here. But I have a couple of questions on the above paragraph. First.."Closely related to the guinea pig"? Really. And the part about living together peacefully in same gender pairs , seems a bit misleading to me at least...as it may lead to the assumption that all paired chins will live together well.

Just wondering what those of you with more knowledge think of this.

 

[Luci]

i picked up this care sheet when i first got gizmo. i kept it handy at first and checked it every now and then. it does have a few good pointers. pet stores tend to get "treats" wrong though and dont mention quality food that breeders use, but for the most part, i found the brochure to be decent. but then again, i found this site only 2 weeks after getting gizmo so i didnt need to refer to it as much.

as far as the bonding of pairs, at least it mentioned same-sex pairs and didnt advocate for opposite sex bonding. it would be great if there was some way for informational sites like ours to get a small link at the bottom of their brochures though. not sure how/if its feasible but i definitely thought about it last year. i even messaged peggy about it. unfortunately many chains wont endorse other sources of information.

with that said, i wish they would constantly update it to be accurate. but then again, their version of accurate and our version are completely different.

 

[ticklechin]

For a quickie read it hits most of the important points spot on, better than alot of online care sheets I have read-from vets....

 

[minrex]

Chinchillas and guinea pigs are both hystricomorph rodents (Hystricomorpha is a suborder of rodentia, based on the anatomy of the animal's jaw and skull). Guinea pigs are thought to be fairly closely related to chinchillas; or at least more closely related than, say, squirrels or rats.

 

[Olallie]

learned one new thing today...

 

[mommyslittlechins2010]

some of that info is right like they can adapt you schedule. mine are up for a few hours durnign the day sleep and then get up about 10 at night and go till the wee hours then sleep then greet me when i get up then go back to sleep.. the dust bath part i only give mine a dust bath twice a week in the summer and one a week in the winter cause in the winter yu don't wanna dry up their skin soo much and in the summer it takes to excess oils off . chins don't sweat. i know when i frget to give my chin a dust bath for a day or two their fur starts to get funky feeling and i dont' like it...

i was in a pet smart asking about thier chinchills i didn't tell them i had one so i acted stupid . and i asked about treats the lady told me they can have all kids of treats, i was thinking no you goof !! you'll kill it. and then i asked how many treats can they eat? she dais three to 4 timesa day .. i was like girl you best get your butt to a comp and start reading about chisn casue your wrong.. they have no clue in a pet store on what they are doing with chins... the lady in pet co was honest with me that she didn't know much about them..

 

[greychins]

i was in a pet smart asking about thier chinchills i didn't tell them i had one so i acted stupid . and i asked about treats the lady told me they can have all kids of treats, i was thinking no you goof !! you'll kill it. and then i asked how many treats can they eat? she dais three to 4 timesa day .. i was like girl you best get your butt to a comp and start reading about chisn casue your wrong.. they have no clue in a pet store on what they are doing with chins... the lady in pet co was honest with me that she didn't know much about them..

See, I would rather have the lady in petco. I mean, granted, I know about chins. But I would rather that employees of petstores tell un-educated-chin-owners that they simply don't know, rather than guessing or making up stuff. I work at Meijer, and they always tell us that if we don't know, find someone that does, don't just make up something and say "oh this product is better than this one because..." unless you actually know, because then the customer can come back and say "well this team member named Ashley told me that this one does such-and-such and it doesn't." I'd rather be told that they don't know and that they'll either find someone, or even just "I don't know, sorry." Cause then at least you don't have wrong information.

 

[KristinC1983]

Out of a 10, I give it a 2...

maybe a 1 1/2, but it does have more info than a couple idiot sites I've seen on the internet! It still disgusts me how they say "Product Details", "product reviews"...

My chin is starting to move towards morning a little and sleeps later in the day. I go to check his hay, make sure he didn't pee in his new wheel again, and the rest, and he hops out, wanting to run around, lol. I"d honestly prefer him on a night schedule, though. I have much more time for him then after my daughter goes to bed!

The holding parts wrong and a water bowl?!...and up to 15 years-they could go much higher if cared for properly...I prefer to keep my guy's room (my bedroom, lol) at around 70 or lower-no higher-I like to put myself in their place with a thick, fur coat on and being basically unable to sweat-75 is too high in my opinion.

But all they say that is right is completely wiped out when you look at some of the products they sell, like the giant exercise balls, lots of plastic (not all a chewers, but many are), the treat-filled foods, wheels that are too small, unsafe bedding, and so much more ( http://www.petsmart.com/search/index.jsp?sr=1&kw=chinchilla&origkw=chinchilla&kwCatId=&view=all )-and not to be called a hypecrit before I admit I am, I am!!!! I buy from Petsmart, Petco, and many other petshops. It''d be nice if I could get shavings I like for my guys litter box (glass casserole dish) somewhere else that are as cheap, but I haven't found them yet And while I'm there for that, I usually grab a few other things, too! My daughter loves seeing the dogs walking around, though, lol!

 

[KristinC1983]

Oh, I only have one guy right now, but plan to adopt a buddy for him (a male of course-no breeding for me). With careful introductions (research for tthat is probably on this site-everything else is), I read that most chins bond and live well together (if they didn't grow up together-if they did, they'll be fine), but not all! Someone with much more experiencce than me-especially with introducing chins-could help much better with that than I can, though. I just know that introductions have to be done carefully, slowly, and in the beginning, with constant supervision, seperate cages, etc. My boy has such a huge, dominant personality, I'm afraid he won't accept another and I'll have to build a whole new cage (or join the Ferret Nation club), but maybe I'll get lucky and find one who doesn't mind living with a dominant male! Or maybe Sunny will surprise me and just be happy to have a chin buddy, he won't be as dominant anymore-good luck to me, though, lol!

Maybe the girl in Petsmart thought she knew what she was talking about! That's even scarier to me, because she may own chins, and some people may be able to see through made up crap, but not if she believes she knows it! I'm going to pretend to be interested in chins the next time I go to Petsmart or Petco and see what the people say! I just hope I can control myself if they say stuff like that-I get all red when I get mad, lol, and if I start correcting her, I'll end up crying-I handle anger horribly, lol!

I have a small petshop by me-well, more a supply store-and my father went in bbefore I get my chin-he asked them about them and the one guy said not to get one and gave him all this scary info I already knew (he had a couple). But they sell chin supplies-that's a petshop/supply store I love! Honest! And when they don't know something, they look it up on their computers! At least a few of them actually care. I've been going there a lot more!!!!

 

[Brittney]

Here is a caresheet from a vet in my area. I think it is pretty good.

http://www.azeah.com/Care-Sheets.asp?id=70

 

[AZChins]

Brittney...feel free to email Dr. Wright over there with any concerns, they are open to changing info if need be. I need to talk to them a little about that care sheet some more - I haven't looked at it in over a year. They used to tell people to give their chins greens in fairly large quantities. They changed it a bit when I emailed with the vet there...but they still say that fresh greens are alright in what they think are small amounts.