Petsmart lied!

[jbrianchamberlin]

So like many parents, here I find myself helping my 10 year old daughter with her two new chinchillas. She's been asking for them for 6 months, a prerequisite of ours to enure it's just not a passing phase. I asked her to read up on them and she did. I looked up some things as well. I "thought" I did my research and we were ready to go. A friendly '20' something helped us pick out some things and home we went. Well.... it all started with the plastic wheel. In looking up some ways to make it more silent, I quickly learned that plastic is a BIG NO NO. Wow. Okay so now we need to find one of those stainless steel silver saucer things everyone seems to be so in love with. The plastic hut needs to go! I currently have in my posesion a new wooden one that they're free to chew and mess with. Seems like the only thing I did right was the cage, a rather large rought iron cage with plenty of room and levels, a glass water bottle because well, who doesn't like glass? And the food dish which isn't really plastic. I don't know what it is. It's hard composite that has a seperate tray for the hay. Oh, and their dust bath box which they really don't be interested in chewing because they won't have it in there for any length of time. Lesson learned, don't listen to the people at Petmart.

BTW, I did try and locate a breeder in our area but one was not to be found. I feel the need to state that because I just know get scolded for buying these little girls from a place like Petsmart to begin with.

-Brian

 

[Chinmama]

Welcome to the forum! Our ZZ is a pet store chinchilla. We are his second owners, and we think he is around 12-ish years old.

You can find the Flying Saucer wheels online at www.qualitycage.com. They also have the Chin Spin (15 inch), which is another good wheel.

 

[akane]

They didn't lie they are just stupid. They've been told by the higher ups what they should sell with each animal. They do none of their own research or question it. That's why most people who actually keep animals instead of just like them don't work in petstores. They tend to quit or get fired for not listening to what the higher ups who don't care about your animal say.

You should have checked the chin railroad to see if someone could get one of the chins listed in the for sale, rescue section, or from a breeder to you. Animals have been moved halfway across the country to find a home many times. The guinea pig people do a piggy train once a year where all the rescues offer up what they have to the forums and then they set up a train to deliver each one to the person who wants to adopt it. There's also animal railroads on the yahoo groups. I drove 4hrs for my first ones and I'm getting my next ones from 5hrs or more away from someone driving past my area on a trip.

 

[Cinder and Me]

Don't worry - you did what you thought was best, and then you went a step further and found CnH! Welcome!

Just another thought, not sure why this popped into my head but, are you sure you got two girls? It wouldn't be the first time I've heard "the petstore sold me two girls, but one was a boy and now we're expecting a litter".

Might want to just do a quick google search to check it out and make sure.

Other than that, yes, pet stores are driving by sales not what's good for the animal sadly.

No plastic, no fruits/veggies, no pellets with "treats", no giant hamster ball, no fabric that isn't fleece and watch the temperature of the room/area they're in.

Welcome to the world of chinnies.

 

[mgonya]

I say thanks for rescuing 2 chins from a horrible life in the pet store. A lifestyle totally opposite of what they need. Hopefully you will get to know and love the adorable critters. Sounds like you are trying to do everything right. I think all of us have made mistakes at first. My daughter feed our female raisins everyday until I discovered CnH. Good luck.

 

[becky12883]

I agree with Cinder and me. Sex them yourself, or take some pics and post them for others to look at if you're not sure.
You're hear now, and willing to learn, which is more than a lot of pet store animals get. I'm sure they'll be fine! My Zoidberg came from a pet store and he's somewhere around 11 years old now.

 

[3CsMommy]

Getting quality food/hay isn't stressed enough in a lot of the main stream research either. The classified section here has some good deals available on stuff that's chin safe and good for them. That's also a good place to look for bath *dust* (not sand), and at far better prices than the pet store.

I'll third the "sex them again" sentiment too. If you got a female that's been with a male at all in the last 4 mo. she could already be pregnant (even as a 5 or 6 mo old kit herself!), and there's almost no way to tell if they've been isolated by gender before they got to the store, so if you do have girls, mark 110 days from the day you brought them home on the calendar. If you don't have babies by then, you're good.

Welcome to the wonderful world of owning exotic pets; you already know more than the college kid at the pet store. It's probably going to be that way from now on.

 

[Zoaea]

Welcome to CnH! I'm glad you are the type of person to toss the plastic instead of saying "but the pet store says its safe!"

My first two chins were from a pet store, I was also made to wait 6 months by my parents. I think it makes you a more responsible owner as a child! I also had a cage full of plastic with my first purchase. ='( not only did they destroy it all it was a big risk to their gut!

Mine both died young, one of a heart attack. I have always bought from breeders after that, but I know what it feels like to not have one near by!

 

[Pikaia]

Welcome! Don't be too hard on yourself. You did exactly what you thought was right. Pet stores are all about making money. The employees just do what they're told. That's why I could never work at Petsmart or Pets Supplies Plus. I know too much about chinchillas and I could never sell that god awful stuff. LOL. If they are so wrong about chinchillas, what else are they wrong about? Every animal deserves a loving home, so what if that animal is from Petsmart?

Kudos to you for doing your research and actually listening. As Zoaea said, so many people find the right information and simply ignore it. I bought my chinchilla from Craigslist, partly because I didn't want to pay the $150 the pet store was asking. I ended up getting three for the price of one It doesn't matter anyway, because I've spent a lot of money over three years for all my chins to have the best supplies. I wouldn't change it for the world. They are worth it.

This board is chalk full of good information and tons of places where you can get good supplies for your chins. If you need help sexing your chins, you can always post pictures and we can help you.

Enjoy your chins! They are such wonderful little creatures and bring much joy and happiness

 

[jbrianchamberlin]

They didn't lie they are just stupid. They've been told by the higher ups what they should sell with each animal. They do none of their own research or question it. That's why most people who actually keep animals instead of just like them don't work in petstores. They tend to quit or get fired for not listening to what the higher ups who don't care about your animal say.

You should have checked the chin railroad to see if someone could get one of the chins listed in the for sale, rescue section, or from a breeder to you. Animals have been moved halfway across the country to find a home many times. The guinea pig people do a piggy train once a year where all the rescues offer up what they have to the forums and then they set up a train to deliver each one to the person who wants to adopt it. There's also animal railroads on the yahoo groups. I drove 4hrs for my first ones and I'm getting my next ones from 5hrs or more away from someone driving past my area on a trip.

What an incredible awesome idea. I had no idea that something like that even existed. Wow. My older daughter has been interested in a hedge hog for some time. Maybe we'll have to look into that.

 

[jbrianchamberlin]

Don't worry - you did what you thought was best, and then you went a step further and found CnH! Welcome!

Just another thought, not sure why this popped into my head but, are you sure you got two girls? It wouldn't be the first time I've heard "the petstore sold me two girls, but one was a boy and now we're expecting a litter".

Might want to just do a quick google search to check it out and make sure.

Other than that, yes, pet stores are driving by sales not what's good for the animal sadly.

No plastic, no fruits/veggies, no pellets with "treats", no giant hamster ball, no fabric that isn't fleece and watch the temperature of the room/area they're in.

Welcome to the world of chinnies.

No pellets with treats? They get the hay which the seem to inhale and chin pellet food. No?

 

[jbrianchamberlin]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Abby and Alex seem to be doing well. Yeah, if you can't tell my daughter plays soccer so we get Abby and Alex. =) Each day they both seem easier to handle and man are they going through the hay. The plastic hut is gone and the wheel we only let them use for a little while when someone is in there with them until the metal dish thing comes. They've been a lot of fun and my daughter is learning to take care of something which is always a good lesson. I'll be sticking around to see what I can learn and pass on.