Where to advertise chinchillas for adoption?

[ReneeM]

I was just wondering how others went about finding new homes for chinchillas? I was browsing ads on craigslist weeks ago when I adopted Mira and Moshi, and the other day when I was looking for chinchilla cages for when the kits are weaned. I have been asking friends, and may have someone interested in the two male kits. I quickly doused the idea of posting any chinchilla on craigslist. All of the local chinchilla ads frighten me. Maybe I'm just not trusting enough, considering Moshi and Mira were from a craigslist response. Even asking an adoption fee does not make me feel safe on an online selling site. Moshi is a beige male, and one of the male kits is white. I would be afraid someone would lie to me and try and resell them. I was hoping for suggestions.

 

[CTChin]

It's a tough call. I advertised two recently on Hoobly. I put that the price for them was VERY reasonable to someone that could prove to me they would be a great chinchilla owner. I did have to suffer through comments from a smarty pants who gave me a hard time about not mentioning their price but she didn't want to provide me with any information. However, I DID eventually have a wonderful couple contact me and they took them home for the promised, very reasonable price.

 

[tunes]

If you want to be absolutely sure no one will ever resell them, keep them. You have absolutely zero control over what happens to them once you put them in the new owner's hands. The nicest people will lie like a rug just to get them, then do whatever they want once they own them. You can't stop them. It's something all breeders have to realize once a chin leaves their home. You can be screwed over by strangers and even those you consider to be friends, no matter where you advertise.

 

[ticklechin]

If you want to be absolutely sure no one will ever resell them, keep them. You have absolutely zero control over what happens to them once you put them in the new owner's hands. The nicest people will lie like a rug just to get them, then do whatever they want once they own them. You can't stop them. It's something all breeders have to realize once a chin leaves their home. You can be screwed over by strangers and even those you consider to be friends, no matter where you advertise.

Dose of reality right here, no matter what buyers say once that chin leaves you all bets are off.

 

[Kalandra]

Dose of reality right here, no matter what buyers say once that chin leaves you all bets are off.

Which is why I have yet to rehome a rescued hedgehog...

Renee, your best bet may just be to post on here and rehome with a forum member. At least here you can do a little research about the person from their post history. You may get a better idea about the home you are sending them to. BUT even then you just don't know. Life sometimes changes and sometimes you don't get much of a choice but to rehome your animals. Its a gamble.

 

[ReneeM]

Thank you for that. I would keep them all if I could. Financially that isn't realistic though. The thought of anything happening to any of these chins makes me feel sick to my stomach. I may try craigslist. I will probably drive off any possible adopters with questions.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I tend to have success on Hoobly. I still base my decisions off my general feeling and things they say. I would be naive to think every owner would give them a forever home but I do at least want them to know exactly what they are getting into with a chin as a pet in hopes they will make more informed decisions. I tend to OD people on chin knowledge when they ask questions so that weeds some people out quickly

 

[greychins]

I like the responses we get from people on hoobly. They seem more reasonable than those we get from other online classified sites. But even so, we make new homes read our care packet and fill out an adoption form. Granted, as mentioned, people can lie through their teeth, but to get the right answers the people do have to do a little bit of reading or they can't adopt the chin.

Cant control what they do from there on, but at least when we send them home the people are given the correct information and the resources should they choose to use them. That's all you really can do.

 

[Megan]

I use both Craigslist and hoobly, as well as a pet ad site. I just weed through and have found some awesome customers. Two of my
Boys are spoiled rotten in the home of a dentist and I get updates all the time!

Then I've also sold to someone on the forums, 3 months later found my boys listed in a local newspaper, emailed and sent many pms asking for them back... With no response I even begged that she give the new owners my contact info so should they have any questions I could help them... Nothing.

It's a gamble anytime they leave your home. With or without a contract.

 

[Vyxxin]

As mentioned by all, once they leave it's up to the owner what happens to them. That said, if you require a questionaire be answered it will give better peace of mind. For instance, you ask about what feed they intend to use...they answer with Oxbow. Good answer, so at the very least they know what they SHOULD be feeding. You ask about what cage they intend to use...they provide a link to an aweful plastic cage. You can write them off OR give them a better alternative. At that point, THEIR next step will help you judge them better. If they seem willing to learn that's a good thing. Like I always say, when selling/adopting out any chinchilla your gut feeling will get you a LONG way. I use hoobly, I use ebay classifieds, I advertise locally. I live in a small rural community and my best new owners have been the local ones. WORST ones have been on c-list (when I was using them) and ebay classifieds. Best of luck! Oh, and everyone is right...at least if someone off the forum adopts them you can get a much better perception of the new owner from reading their posts PLUS...lets face it...they're a member here whch in itself is some credit. I always refer new buyers here, always and it makes me feel good when the join.