Any chinchilla made people out there?

[peaches_magic]

I got 5 chinchillas and love the little things so much. Would have more if had more room.
We have 3 males, 2 standard grays one called Chili who is the father of the other called Mango. The other male is beigh and called fudge, he's a rescue. 2 females, mum of Mango is called Chutney and Mangos mate is called Mandarin. Chutney is ebony and Mandarin is beigh and was bought as a mate for Mango as Chinchillas like company. Fudge will one day have a mate also.

[annareeves0]

Oooo ooooo I love chinchillas. We used to breed them ages ago but gave them up when we moved to spain and never got any more when we came back.
they're so cute and fluffy and babies are adorable. I had to promise not get any more pets when i got ponio but a chinchilla would be close to the top of my list!

[Hippyhorse]

I love chinchilla's too, I've never had one but my sister breeds them, they are the cutest things when just born, enormous heads and ickle fluffy bottle brush tails!

[*IcyRider*]

:D chins woo! Ive got 2 atm named Onix and Julie hehe,by the 3rd of Jan i should have 2 more.

Only got my first 1 this year but i just love them,im very lucky to have a close friend who breeds and rescues them.So i get my furry bundles of speed from her.

Here's just a few picys of my girls :p.Onix is a black velvet and Julie is a standard grey,one of my new 1s is a very rare colour,ebony white and tuther is a homo beige.Ive got quite a collection of colours going on :D

[*Sez*]

I used to have several chinnies that I bought and several rescues, some of whom came to me pregnant and produced a total of six kits.
I adored them, but I don't have any photographs to share :( I had some real stunners: hetro and homo beiges, ultra violet, ebony, mosaic, pink white, brown velvet and a couple of standards :)

My living room used to be full of chinchilla houses and play areas :D I'd love to have a pair again, but we have more than enough animals as it is at the moment.

[starrynight]

awww, i'd love a chinchilla!! My friend had one called poppet and i loved it.

So do they get along better as a pair and can you keep two males/females together or does it have to be mixed sexes - thing is i wouldn't really want chinchilla babies, as cute as they sound :)

I have a bunny just now though so wouldn't be getting one any time soon but that is my next pet!!! lol :P

[peaches_magic]

So glad to hear others are chin addicts. They are the most wondiful little things. You get one then end up with a house full as you just can't stop wanting more :)

You said your friends breeds them *IcyRider* ad rescues them. If she has any girlies I may need to give her a call :). I have a rescue who is to be castrated and needs a friend :)

[*IcyRider*]

Hia i think she does have some girlys and boys that need homes.Il PM you her website :)

[kayjayhorses]

I actually lost my Chinchilla thursday night, she was 6 and had to be put to sleep, I picked her up Thursday and her belly felt bloated so popped her up the vets and she had to have an xray - she was diagnosed with a pyometritis her uterus was full of pus. My vet said she see's it in dogs/cats often but never with Chinchilla's.
I miss her terribly - RIP Poppy.

[starrynight]

awww RIP poppy, such a shame.

Is 6 an average age for Chinchillas to live to? I really don't know much about them apart from the fact you need to have a sand bath in their cage (is that right? i'm sure i read that somewhere)

[kayjayhorses]

here's Poppy
http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i154/kayjayhorses/DSCN1189.jpg
Excuse the pink, I'd bought her a mineral block that was pink and she trashed it within an hour and ended up pink!

[kayjayhorses]

I think 6 is quite young for a chin.

[peaches_magic]

I'm so sorry for your loss. That is unusual but I had a hamster die from that also. It's terrible for you to have lost her, I send all my hugs your way.

Chinchillas can live up to 20 years if they are lucky. They struggle with teeth problems which normally show up around 5 if they have trouble. The oldest on I heard of was 25 years old but I know many make it to double figures.

[starrynight]

aww i got one of those for my rabbit and he ended up with purple paws and nose, so cute!!!

Awww thats a shame :( I get really upset when my pets die, i get soo attached

[kayjayhorses]

Me too, everyone has asked whether I'm going to get another but I dont think I can put myself through it - the heartache is terrible.
I'm glad this thread was started - nice to speaking to likeminded people.
Thanks for your kind words.

[starrynight]

Chinchillas can live up to 20 years if they are lucky. They struggle with teeth problems which normally show up around 5 if they have trouble. The oldest on I heard of was 25 years old but I know many make it to double figures.

wow i honestly didn't think it would be as long as that - rabbits tend to live about 5-8 years so i suppose i thought it would be about the same for chinchilla

[starrynight]

Me too, everyone has asked whether I'm going to get another but I dont think I can put myself through it - the heartache is terrible.
I'm glad this thread was started - nice to speaking to likeminded people.
Thanks for your kind words.

My old cat died last year and my mum didn't want another one after because she was too upset about it. We'd had her for 17 years. I'd moved out before she died so it didn't hit me quite as hard but when i went over for Christmas i just sat crying for about an hour before i could sleep because just wasn't the same. My mum is thinking about getting another cat next summer though but its taken a while for her to even think about it. New ones can never replace the ones we've lost though. At least we will always have the great memories of them! :)

[kayjayhorses]

Wow 17 - that is a great age for a cat.

[starrynight]

Yeah we got her when i was 3 years old and she was such a fab cat, loved her loads! :D

[kayjayhorses]

Animals do become part of our life dont they, and they leave such a big hole when they go.

[peaches_magic]

kayjayhorses, you may find that a chinchilla finds you rather than you going and getting one. Fudge just ended up with us as a friend new I had chinchillas and his neighbour dumped him at my friends and he didn't have a clue what to do with him so gave him to us. We didn't want another chinchilla really but he worked his way into our heart. It is a big heart ache when you loose one as they really have such big personalitys. They are my children not my pets. Give your heart time to heal and think of the good times. Big hugs to you.

starrynight they do live a long time. Thats why I love em so much.

[starrynight]

Good, i like an animal with a longer life-span... i'm dreading losing my bunny, he's given me a few scares already and he is going to be 3 in spring. Despite all the heartache i wouldn't give up having a pet (or two), i've always been around animals.

Peaches is right - a new pet may just find you... scooby (cat :p) found us and i like to think my wee domino found me (well i found him in a pet shop but it just felt right for me to take him home lol)

[kayjayhorses]

Yeah you never know I wont rule out getting another one - I've had guinea pigs (wonderful wonderful little personalities) Rabbits (make such great friends - always liked to chin you to get their scent over you and everthing) and this was my 2nd Chinchilla oh and had a couple of hamsters. Small animals are great fun.

[peaches_magic]

yer, small animals, big personalitys.

[starrynight]

definately - my rabbit is so cheeky and opinionated but very friendly :)

[*IcyRider*]

:( my friend who breeds and rescues lost 1 of hers last night when i was round.It was terrible,he was only a baby to :( Dreading the day i lose 1 of mine!

[peaches_magic]

pass on my deepest sympathy to your friend. I know she does a lot of good work for chinchillas.

[kayjayhorses]

Oh no how sad :-(

[Fluffly]

The other male is beigh and called fudge.

I had an albino/beige chinchilla called Fudge aswell. I saw him when I was about 8/9 at this farm place we used to visit, and he was just a little baby (seriously tiny), all these kids were gathred around them just banging on the glass and shouting. I felt so sorry for him.
So after about a year of begging and pleading, I somehow managed to convince my parents to buy him for me, to "save him". But because of the environment he'd grown up in, he was nervous of being handled, used to bite a lot and could be quite aggressive. I was only about 10, when I brought him home, and it took me a year before I could stroke him in the cage without being bitten.
We brought a companion for him at the same time, an older, more tame male for my sister, who was a lot younger.
But about christmas last year, to the point where I could carry him around the house on my shoulder and he'd eat FROM my hand, instead of just butchering the hand, the other one got ill suddenly and died within two days.

I completly disinfected the cage, got new shelves and everything, but it wasnt enough. I noticed he looked sick about two months later, so I moved him from the cage into a smaller box in my room. He seemed to recover and was obviously bored of the box, so I put him back in the main cage.
He died about two days later and I was absolutely devastated. It was about a year ago now and I still miss him. He was about 5 when he died.

I only have one picture of him, because he absolutely hated phones, cameras, so I refused to let my family shove them in his face. But here's one my sister took of him in about 2006.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g19/flufflycloudz/142754.jpg

RIPFudge ):

[kayjayhorses]

What a shame RIP Fudge, atleast he had a wonderful person looking after him to stop him being scared.

[*IcyRider*]

awww poor fudge :(


Here's my latest addition,got her on Fri.She's an Ebony White which is quite rare it think!

Cant see it in the pic but her tail is black with a white tip.Tis very pretty :)

[kayjayhorses]

Oh Beautiful.

[Kalypso]

IcyRider, she's beautiful! I want to come steal her!! :D

We have two chinchillas, two males named Merry and Pippin. They're both the "typical" dark gray color, although I've ALWAYS wanted one the color Icy just posted. We got them in June and September of 2007, they were fairly young, so they're somewhere between a year and a half and two years old.

I love 'em to death!! I'd ALWAYS wanted one, and my husband finally broke down and bought me them! :D

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s164/ChristyWC2006/25May2008030.jpg

[*IcyRider*]

hehe your boys are lovely,im slowly growing all small herd of them!Num 4 arrives on the 3rd of Jan hehe she's a homo biege,v pretty!

I think there the best small animal ive had,so much fun and can be hilarious with the lil antic's!

I love the names btw :)

[sabreig]

I have chinchillas. I worked at a rescue when they were all the 'in' pet to have so we had loads come through. I have 2 greys, Skipper and Issy,brother and sister. a mosaic called Spike, and a hetrozygous ebony called Inca :D