We know all types of pet owners;  

• Those who purchase a baby animal and get rid of it after the maternal glow is gone.
• Those who painstakingly research before they add a non-human family member to the home.
• Those who inherit a pet from another family member or friend.
• Hardcore pet owner turned animal activist.
• The infamous collector who dives into snatching up several of the pet Du jour. (We call these the 0-60 in 30 crowd).
• The "pet is part of the family" group.
• The “I'm closer to my pet than my human family” group.
• Quiet and reserved who care for their pets but don’t necessarily shove animal love in your face bunch.

The biggest question of all is: do you consider the needs of the pet before those of your own? Humans are totally autonomous, but the animals depend on us. We give them food, water, shelter, companionship and a clean, stimulating environment… or do we? How much consideration do you give your pet in those areas? We hope that when people seek to adopt a rescue chinchilla, they endeavor to give it the best possible home. Do your motives measure up?

For the month of April, eight (8) chinchillas were surrendered, and six (6) chinchillas were adopted. One chinchilla kit was born of a surrendered female and six females just completed their pregnancy watch without babies. Whoo hoo!

We are still dealing with overflow surrenders here where our current chin count has exploded back up to triple digits. We have exactly 100 chinchillas currently, with about half of those available for adoption right now.

Rescue work is an interesting lifestyle. Sometimes people jump into the decision to "do what we do" without much forethought, but with tons of heart and spirit.  To choose this route one must have unlimited patience, time, space and *cough* access to funds. Our store items-- cage accessories, chew toys, food and other chinnie products-- ensure we can continue providing for the fuzzbutts. We supply our store with handmade, hand selected and often hand harvested materials.

As much as we appreciate the support of store orders, there are some ways to maximize the mutual benefit. Whimsy made the following post on our Facebook page recently that summarizes this point exactly:

"Hey everyone, we've had a bunch of requests for teeny tiny orders lately. This is heartbreaking, let me explain why. The postal service charges a base price on deliveries, then the price goes up according to weight, size and distance. It's the base price that's a killer. So if someone wants to order a single chew toy it's going to cost more than the item is worth just in shipping! As a single mother of four, I've had to live on a very tight budget and recognize the power of combined shipping and stocking up. For roughly the same cost, you can fill a box with multiple items and pay very little more in additional shipping cost. Just FYI"

As a reminder, we are now offering a free chew toy with orders of $50 or more. Is that incentive enough? Hmmmm....perhaps a ticker tape announcement on the store page would help....

When people come to adopt, Whimsy has an entire spiel on chin care and handling she gives regardless if they are newbies or long time chin owners. We have found that often, there is at least one or two misconceptions that people carry regarding the fussy needs of chinchillas. 

One of the most important chin care items is chew toys. No, they are not cute little decorations for them to bat around like a kitten would. Chew toys are meant to satisfy their chewing needs. Some people complain that their chins just destroy any toy placed in front of them. Um...that's the point. Chins are SUPPOSED to destroy chew toys. Think about it, they're called chew toys for a reason. If your chinnie simply nibbles on a toy and largely ignores it, this is not the right toy for him or her. Or, the placement is wrong. 

Just like puppies need toys to ease them through the teething stage, chinchillas have a continuous need to work those pearly oranges. Because chinnie teeth are constantly growing, the need for attractive chew toys is a must if you want to avoid malocclusion.

Over the years we have carefully designed each of our chew toys with several things in mind. Some nervous chins prefer the softer, shreddable type of toy. Others have super hardcore chewing needs and greatly appreciate lots of pumice stone and harder woods. 

Chins' teeth and preferences do, however, go through stages. So what turns a chin on one week, may elicit a snub the next. Our best suggestion is to have a wide variety of chew toys ever available for your chinchilla so that they may nibble and gnaw at will.

Because chew toys are so important, Whimsy's is now offering a free chew toy, of our choice, with any order of $50 or more (price before shipping). 

For the month of March,  ten (10) chinchillas were surrendered and nine (9) chinchillas were adopted. We have an unusual number of single chins who do not get along with others. So if you or someone you know is looking to spoil just one, then we have plenty to choose from.

We've found that most of the time when people first learn about what wonderful pets chins are, they tend to want MORE. This is great, from a herd perspective, but precautions must be in order to prevent unwanted, unethical, or unnecessary breeding. 

Another option would be to keep singles who don't like to share space, single. The Ferret Nation and Critter nation brand cages are our favorite choice. If you have space limitations, these dividable cages can stack three high!

Some people feel that more than one pet can be overwhelming in the amount of care needed. In actuality if you have a group of compatible animals sharing a cage, the amount of "work" is still basically the same as a single. You clean one cage, fill the food bowl, refresh the water, play, etc with a group as you would one. It's really kind of neat to see how they interact and the amount of extra time spent on multiples is negligible.  

Have I convinced you yet? We have lots of pairs and mini-herds that are waiting for their new families too.  *wink, hint*

For the month of February twelve (12) chinchillas were surrendered and a whopping twenty-one (21!) chinchillas were adopted. This was a record breaking month for adoptions. Our last high adoptions number was (only) 16 ;)

Special thanks to Jennifer who stepped up to help by taking in two of our more troubled chins who would otherwise stay un-adoptable.

It looks like our chinnie population is well under control but we still have many, many fuzzbutts who are waiting for a permanent home…*cough*. Ok, some are not so permanent.

We often receive questions about the reason why people surrender their chins. Most of the reasons encompass one of 8 basic responses;

•  allergies
•  moving
• loss of interest
• change in lifestyle 
• fear for the chin’s safety with dog/cat/children
• too much mess/care
• can no longer afford
• Just plain incompatibility

All reasons for surrender are valid. We do not (typically) judge or condemn. We are here to serve the animals who need a home as well as the owners who have to make the difficult decision to give up the animal. The only time Whimsy has serious issues are when the chins come in obviously poor or neglectful condition or when a parent is attempting to “teach their child a lesson” by getting rid of a beloved pet.

As a psychology major, Whimsy recognizes this method of parenting never works.  Not only will it breed contempt of the child for the parent, but neither does it guide the youngster in the responsibility of taking care of a living being. It is the parent’s duty to teach their progeny how to follow through on commitments. How can that be accomplished when the animal is disposed of like an unwanted toy? Perhaps this same dumping mindset is what has helped contribute to the rise in divorce, or vice versa. 

Selah.