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Please, can we refrain from turning this thread into a PETA flag waving? The majority of folk on this forum think PETA are terrorists and some of us know from first hand experience how biased and "edited" their presentations are, so please, let's not continue this discussion.

Let's be even handed in how we deal with PETA posts, though. There have been dozens of posts in the last month discussing PETA -- many with links to their material. The material referred to in this post was on the major networks' national news programs. The text in that link was from a newspaper. This information was certainly less biased than what the moderators have allowed by many different people in other threads just in the last month.

Also, once again, this is a thread about chins Linda, not hamsters. Please try and keep it on topic.

This is not turning into a hamster thread. Chins for Petsmarts (including ours in California) are trucked in from that massive Texas distribution facility. That's fact. And I'd be very surprised if some of the ranchers that people on this list are buying from at shows or otherwise aren't also selling their chins into that facility for sale into Petsmarts around the country. Petsmart sells large numbers of chins every year throughout their chain store system. People should understand what they're supporting when they buy from Petsmart.
Linda
 
Hey Corley I didnt mean for you to have to sew!! I can't even do that. I just thought a few pieces of fleece to cover the wire would make them a bit more appealing for the chins to stand or sit on.
 
*sigh* Does it really matter where this little fella came from? This crap gets dragged out every time somebody buys a chin from a pet shop & whether we like it or not people are going to continue buying chins from pet shops while they are available for sale. The last thing a new owner coming to a forum for support and advice needs or wants is a lecture on what a terrible thing they have done supporting big business pet shops. :rolleyes:
No, it's not ideal and no I am not condoning pet shops selling chins BUT not every shop is the same and what counts is that this little chap, Freddie, like many, many others around the world has been bought from a pet shop and now has a caring owner who is trying to do the right thing by him. For this one chinchilla who was sat waiting in the pet shop - this is all that matters.



Corey, congrats on getting Freddie - he looks like a cheeky chap. Look forward to seeing photos of him in his new cage in due course. :)
 
Let's be even handed in how we deal with PETA posts, though. There have been dozens of posts in the last month discussing PETA -- many with links to their material. The material referred to in this post was on the major networks' national news programs. The text in that link was from a newspaper. This information was certainly less biased than what the moderators have allowed by many different people in other threads just in the last month.

To my knowledge, the only links to anything PETA in the last month have been in reference to the Arlington TX fiasco. Seeing as how the information came from a PETA informant, I'm not so sure there would be any other way to share the knowledge from the "bust" without having PETA links. And just so we can be clear here, Linda...YOU are NOT a moderator/admin/owner of this forum so as for how posts are dealt with, you have absolutely NO say here. When an owner of this forum tells you something, whether you like it or not, my advice would be to deal with it and move on...not to argue with them or try to defend yourself by saying, "but so-and-so did it."
 
I have to say I am really happy Freddy has a wonderful home with a caregiver who is willing to learn what they need to make him happy. He's an adorable little chin who looks like he has a lot of character.
 
*sigh* Does it really matter where this little fella came from? This crap gets dragged out every time somebody buys a chin from a pet shop & whether we like it or not people are going to continue buying chins from pet shops while they are available for sale. The last thing a new owner coming to a forum for support and advice needs or wants is a lecture on what a terrible thing they have done supporting big business pet shops. :rolleyes:
No, it's not ideal and no I am not condoning pet shops selling chins BUT not every shop is the same and what counts is that this little chap, Freddie, like many, many others around the world has been bought from a pet shop and now has a caring owner who is trying to do the right thing by him. For this one chinchilla who was sat waiting in the pet shop - this is all that matters.

I totally agree. EVERY animal deserves a good and loving home, no matter where they come from (not that anybody was debating that)... Kudos to those who research and provide a safe,healthy environment for these pet store guys. :)
 
Good news on my home front! The Petsmart near me no longer sells chins, because they found they were not very knowledgeable about them and customers were complaining about this!
 
I'm sorry what did I miss???? Are we burning down Petsmart? Where will I get my super handy pooper scoopers from?:cry3:
 
Ill quit being cheap and just start letting him pee in the aspen then... I took the wire bottom out because it's bad for his feet.. so he is just straight up walking on the newspapers, I guess not such a good idea... I bet pine shavings smell a lot better than aspen don't they? Sucks too, because I just bought a huge bag of aspen shavings ;)

Where do you buy your shavings? If you buy them at a petstore you are probably overpaying - I went into a petstore here and they wanted $20 for like a 3cubicft compressed bag of pine shavings :rofl: I turned right around and left. Feed stores usually have bedding at a lower price - I had to switch from pine to aspen because the feedstore sold 9cuft compressed bags for $10 and they are "surgical" quality grade which I interprete to mean you could use them for animals recovering from injury, but thats a guess. I think one of the bags I get would last 3 months for one chin... I used to be able to get giant bags of dry kiln dried pine shavings for $4 in NC...sigh....I miss pine...but aspen is good - I just think since it's a hard wood and not soft wood like pine it doesn't absorb quite as well, imo.

Be SURE they are kiln dried, actually dry and not damp - my feed store sells "horse quality" pine shavings and they are not ok - damp and icky. Check your yellow pages and call and ask if they have "kiln dried, dry aspen or pine shavings" and see if you can save some $$$$
 
3 cu ft for $20...oh geez. Well, if they can get it, I guess you can't blame them for making some money. :)

I choose not to shop at Petsmart, but that's for many different reasons. I'd actually rather spend my money at a locally owned place...and a place that doesn't sell animals. I definitely agree...regardless of where that little precious ball of fluff came from he needs to be loved and cared for and spoiled. Give him the bestest life any chin could every hope for! :D

(I did take in a Petsmart chin today as a rescue though....)
 
I'm sorry what did I miss???? Are we burning down Petsmart? Where will I get my super handy pooper scoopers from?:cry3:

:rofl: TNF you are too funny! I don't think the subject of burning it down came up, but now that you say that....:hmm: J/K

Either way, like everyone has said, at least they took the time to do the research and get knowledgeable about chins before buying one. And regardless of where they come from, as long as you are knowledgeable and able to give them a good life, does it really matter where they come from?

I know a lot of people that buy from pet stores because there are no rescues close to where we live. Otherwise they are all about the rescue part if it.
 
As far as treats, my girls view anything I hand to them as a treat. Carmen is a big fattie, and when they get their cheerios, she wants three. I'll give her one, give Minnie one, then hand her an Oxbow pellet. She thinks she's getting a treat! I'm not saying chins aren't bright, but they are easily pleased and love taking "treats" from their people ;)

I have the same cage you have right now (I use it as a quarantine cage, so chins are only in it for about 30 days), and as long as you give him a place to rest his feetsies off of the wire, he should be fine. It looks like you've done a really good job with what you have!

You'll love your FN... I have 2.5 and I LOVE decorating them and (believe it or not) cleaning them is actually kind of fun.
 
Hey, my husband already thinks I'm a total freak when I say "All right! Time to clean the cages!", so why shouldn't everyone here?

Maybe it's because the bleach fumes get me a little wonky...
 
Yea cleanin the current cage is a pain in the butttt. I wish there was some cheap online superstore that had oxbow timothy, oxbow feed, and pine or aspen shavings for good and cheap. I live in rural MS there isnt crap around here except petsmart, and no feed stores sell anything worth a crap unless I owned livestock.. I wish oxbow was as cheap a mazuri...
 
Or maybe you could adopt the fact that, Mazuri is not Poison. And maybe just maybe... There are quite a few good feed products out there. Even the ones made for fat fluffy show rabbits.:pillowfight:
 
You can order most things through your fee store. My feed store here doesn't have anything I can really use in stock either...BUT! I can order anything through them. I have ordered Mazuri, PANR (now PRCS), and Oxbow feed and hay from them.
 
Do you honestly have to do a quarter of food a week conversion over to a new brand of food? Are poor chillies really that sensitive? Hah
 
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