What Directed Us?

[Pepperpot]

I'm curious just what exactly directed us all to becoming chin parents. For me, it was seeing a pair of young males in the pet shop being poked by some obnoxious child and knowing I had to give them a loving home. Pepper and Jason were my first chinchillas, and the love affair with them has brought us to a small herd of nine. Two of these are rescue chins. They all have different personalities and different levels of attitude :banghead: the affection and amusement they give myself and my husband cannot be rivalled :heart4:

 

[Smidgeyy]

My brother gave me my first chin because it wasn't working out with him. It was a surprise and I was in no way ready for it, but with some research I made it through okay. Then I went out and got a second one from a breeder. :]

 

[Minccino]

I've always loved all different kinds of rodents. A couple months after my hamster passed away, I knew I wanted another pet.. I started researching different kinds, chins included, and decided they would be a good fit for me.

 

[Cass C]

Mine were a Christmas surprise, but I researched and made it work.

 

[lightningturtle]

Dessy was given to me out of the blue by my then-coworker. She'd decided she wasn't able to give her enough attention.

Poor dear came to me in a small cage with plastic shelves, Kaytee pellets, a death ball, and a ferret harness and leash!

Now I'm trying to convince the other half that we need to adopt a friend for her!

 

[Amethyst]

I've had rodents since I was about 2? I think and so when I was 11 and chinchillas came to the pet store near me we decided to try out a new rodent. We already had and in some cases bred (not always intentionally), gerbils, hamsters, rats, mice, guinea pigs, fish, crayfish, and cats, so a chinchilla was just a new pet to try/have. We ended up with I think 12 chins at one point, but due to life changes I was down to 2 and then none for a few years. When I got my current two I had been completely chinchillaless (before I moved to Canada I'd visit chins at my mom's house) for about 4 years or so, and really missed having them, they were/are my favorite rodent. I saw them in a cage at a feed shop/ pet store for sale for someone who moved and couldn't take them, and they were so cute and sweet, and they came pre-loved (handled since birth and very tame and calm with handling), and with their cage and everything all ready.

 

[Godofgods]

my brother showed up at my door asking if i could watch his chin while they were in the process of moving back to the state. I had never even heard of a chinchilla at that point. He came with lots of hazardous items.

That was back in 2007-2008. I still have that chin, and hes not going anywhere!

 

[ticklechin]

My grandma had a chin fur farm in the 70s, I was facinated with them as a kid but could never touch.

 

[Pikaia]

I moved into an apartment and wanted to get a kitten. I grew up with cats and love them! My landlord told me no cats. I guess they had an issue with a cat spraying before. Still wanting a pet, I started doing research on different types of caged pets and came across a chinchilla. They were adorable! I asked my landlord if a chinchilla would be okay and they agreed it would be fine since it was a "caged" animal. I adopted Chichi from Craigslist and she was pregnant (I had no idea) so now I have three!!! That was 5 years ago!

 

[Pepperpot]

Please keep the replies coming guys. The answers are varied and very interesting :chin1:

 

[hobbit721]

I knew a girl in college who'd had a chinchilla, so that was when I first heard of them and got interested. A few years ago I started looking into owning one, but then held off because I wanted to do more research and make sure we could be a good home for them.
About a month ago we got serious about bringing one home, and I had fallen more in love with them every time I saw one at a store.
Then this past weekend, we finally brought home a pair of sweet baby girl chins!

 

[chrisbradley6]

when i was in college, i was crazy about guinea pigs, i had quite a few. when my first and favorite piggie died, i knew i wouldnt find another piggie to "replace" her. i still loved the piggies I still had, of course! but i knew I wanted to try something different. I thought of chinchillas and hedgehogs. i admit, i didnt do much research before i got my first chin, but... live and learn! I still have my first chin Zoey, she is almost 8 years old now. I've had many other chins since, 5 at the moment, i guess you could say I went from guinea pig crazy to chin-crazy! (i did have a hedgehog at one point, and loved him to pieces, but never had any more. maybe in the future?)

 

[HeatherLouWho]

Our first chinchilla, Pipsqueak, was for my daughter. She wanted a rodent to replace her guinea pig who had died a few months earlier, but wanted something a little more exotic. She looked into degus, but couldn't find any for sale in our state. She then looked into chinchillas, found a local breeder, and we got Pipsqueak. Pip liked me better than he liked her (chins really do pick their person), and "my" rabbits liked my daughter better than they liked me, so we switched. I was devastated when we had to put Pip down (malocclusion), and was petless for awhile. But, I really liked chinchillas, and eventually found a better breeder (Sycamore Chins!) and got Asa Gray.

 

[CrazyForChinchillas]

I think I first knew of chinchillas when I was in middle school. I think a girl had them. Then I graduated and started college. After my first or second year in college, just after Christmas, I saw an ad in the paper and the rest is history. Of course, we have gotten our chins from different places. One from petsmart. One from petfinder. And 3 from Seward Breeders/Rescue in Ohio. I will be getting 2 new 6 month old chins Monday from a breeder here in NY. For a total of 8 boys. They're so much fun and have such personalities. I can't imagine having any other pet.

 

[Wolfnrun]

Musta been my freshman year of highschool. We had one named chilly! He was kinda aggressive but when I first saw him I fell in love! Yet when he was in his cage he hated everyone (Yes, including me) When he was out he loved eveyone. After I saw Chilly I did my research and bought my first chinchilla! Unfortunately he never seemed to like anyone when held, his fur was chewd on. I bought him from a bredder because I felt bad because he was going through a lot. He died about 6 months later short of his birthday of being a year old. To this day we have no idea how he died, but after his death I learned so much more about chinchillas and other animals (Exotic animal vet specialist in training) I have 2 lovely chinchillas happily living together and that just about sums things up!
Bebe VVV

And

Bandit

 

[Proteus]

Personally, I had gotten over some pretty serious migraines that had kept me at home alone for a few months. I was tired of being alone all the time, and coming home to an empty apartment, since my roommate and I work opposite shifts most days. I wanted a pet, but my roommate didn't want anything fuzzy that might shed/pee on his clothes, which eliminated most conventional pets. I started doing some research, and fell in love with chinchillas. Granted, I've always been a sucker for anything small and fuzzy, so it was a natural choice, and I couldn't be happier

 

[Richtofens_raven]

I was in an animal science class where we learn how to care for all types of animals and learning all about what kind of illnesses they can get. one of the animals we had to care for were chinchillas. when it was my turn to take care of them i instantly fell in love. they were so soft and spunky. and about 2-3 years after i got my first chin. =)

 

[Shenanigans]

a store, Anderson's, always had some chins when I was little and I loved them. They stopped haveing them long ago. Fast forward a bunch of years and I was going to an exotic pet show with my sister who was really into ball python morphs. I saw the rabbits people were selling as feeders and wanted to get one- the white with almost dalmatian spots color. Decided to research first and figured out they weren't exactly what i'd want in a pet. Came across chins while researching for the bunnies and fell in love again. I stalked this site as well as rescues until someone was rehomeing Yuki nearby.