Stumbled Across 1st Place Winning Chin On Craigslist

[Caroline]

We are bringing home a new girl either tomorrow or on Monday! I stumbled across her Thursday night on Craigslist of all places. She is a gorgeous extra dark ebony and not even two years old. I recognized that she was from a "real" breeder because she has an eartag. I contacted the owner and he told me where she is from. Then I contacted the breeder and it turns out that she took first place in her class. Hope to pick her up tomorrow on the way home from the ocean. We are hoping that she and our baby will bond, once Hayley is old enough to be introduced. Till then they can talk with each other through the bars of their cages.
I have a FN 142, I am wondering if I could put Hayley on the bottom and Gracie on the top? Hayley is missing toes on paw due to her mama accidentally biting them off when Hayley was being born, so I am doubting that Hayley would be able to hang on the bottom of Gracie's cage long enough to get her toes bitten.
I hadn't planned on getting another female so soon, but she is gorgeous, the price was amazing and I dreaded the idea that someone who knows little about chins would get her and she would become another statistic. The breeder that I got Hayley from and I are hoping that her next litter will produce a nice mosaic violet carrier to be a husband for both these beautiful ladies that I will now have.

 

[Andrea]

You need to quarantine your new chin for thirty days in a separate cage from your current chin, and in a separate room. You don't won't to risk disease being spread...I used a large "guinea pig cage" for quarantine...not tall but long and good enough for a temporary home (just make sure to cover plastic if you have a plastic chewer). You don't have to go all out and buy a fancy chin cage just for quarantine but you DO need to quarantine! Also, please, if you plan to breed make sure you know the background of all chins involved in your program, and get a mentor! You will also need baby safe cages and a vet fund...as well as extra cages for kits once they are weaned. Read the Breeding&Babies FAQ. Good luck...I'm sure the girl you are getting is very pretty.

 

[Caroline]

Have a separate cage for quarantine ready and waiting.
As for mentors, both the breeder that I got Hayley from and the breeder that Gracie is from are friends and so know each others bloodlines very well. Neither one is a byb, but have bred and shown winning chins for many years. My breeder is very excited about Gracie and says that she has am excellent pedigree.

 

[Caroline]

And yes, she is gorgeous!

 

[Caroline]

What diseases should I watch for during quarantine? Any suggestions as to what to be on the lookout for when I go and pick her up today?

 

[tunes]

Just watch to make sure she does everything a normal chin would do - eat, drink, pee, poop, activity, etc. The main thing is that pretty much any illness she would have would be unable to last out at 30 day quarantine, as most tend to land in the 14 - 15 day incubation period. About the only thing that might last longer than that would be fungus (ringworm) but you should be able to see that pretty quick.

 

[Jenn]

congrats on your find! Hopefully she'll prove to be healthy and you can totally enjoy her!

 

[starleomach]

Congrats!

 

[Caroline]

Brought Gracie home this evening. She is a BIG girl! Her coat is a dark glossy ebony, her eyes were clear, no nasal discharge, so hopefully she will continue to stay healthy. Even though she is shy, she cuddled right up to me and settled into my arms, hopefully this will continue. The seller's other three chins all looked healthy, happy and well-loved. Will try to figure out how to post photos so that you can see her.

 

[Caroline]

You can see photos of Gracie if you do a search for her using the name she had with her previous owner. She was called "Elfie" there. Her breeder Claire from Chins-NW called her Gracie and so Gracie it is. She can be Princess Gracie.
Found some posts about the little mischief maker just now. Apparently she sprays, (well the seller did tell me about that) plus she likes to chew on the bars of her cage and she is an escape artist. Oh and she enjoys tipping over the food bowls and strewing the hay around. Lol, sounds like she is going to make our life interesting

 

[erin1818]

thats not true. you dont have to quarantine your chinchillas from each other. mine met the first day and stayed in the same room but in different cages and now their inseperable and their both fine

 

[Stackie]

thats not true. you dont have to quarantine your chinchillas from each other. mine met the first day and stayed in the same room but in different cages and now their inseperable and their both fine

Um...didn't your chin catch a URI from your Petsmart chin who you didn't quarantine or vice versa?

Regardless just because something didn't happen once doesn't mean it won't. If you were to buy an animal that was sick but you didn't know, throw it next to your other chins...then a couple days later the new chin is acting sick. Now ALL your chins have been exposed and could very likely contract the illness. Quarantine is not hard and if you are genuinely concerned about the well-being of your animals, you will make the small effort to quarantine.

 

[Claire D]

thats not true. you dont have to quarantine your chinchillas from each other.

Really? Perhaps you should tell that to the breeder who lost half their herd to illness brought in from other chinchillas without quarantine.
The threat of passing on illness from one chinchilla to another is real - some illnesses can kill (listeriosis, pasteurella, giardia for example).
Quarantine is a necessity.

That you clearly chose to risk the health of your chinchillas is up to you but don't go preaching your foolishness as fact.

 

[AZChins]

Yep, please quarantine new chins. If not just for the possible contagious diseases and bacteria carried, but also so that your new chin can have much less stress the first few weeks in a brand new home.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

thats not true. you dont have to quarantine your chinchillas from each other. mine met the first day and stayed in the same room but in different cages and now their inseperable and their both fine

This is very poor advice. If I hadn't quarantined a shipment I got in then my entire herd would of been wiped out with kennel cough in a matter of a few days. I lost 4 new ones out of the 6 in less than 3 days. Mine were fine but only because I quarantined them. Poor advice!!!

 

[3CsMommy]

Oh and she enjoys tipping over the food bowls and strewing the hay around. Lol, sounds like she is going to make our life interesting.

Yep, sure does. :tease:

For bowls, I either use one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Super-Pet-Scatter-less-Ceramic-Feeder/dp/B0002DJJ6G

Or one of the 3x2 box feeders on this page: http://www.bunnyrabbit.com/price/feeders.htm

The second one is a little easier to get off the cage if they really work at it, but I'm not going to break it if I drop it on the floor.

The second link also has a couple of hay holders I've been looking at, but my trick for that is a hanging coconut w/ a hole drilled in the side. One of the dealers in the classified ads section (somebody from FL or SO CA/AZ/TX I think) has them for sale on occasion. It essentially becomes an add-on for a hanging toy.