Choosing the Right Chinchilla For You

Wanted to post about this, as people often ask, ok, what chinchilla is going to make the best pet.  Well, it depends.

There's multiple "types" of chinchillas, as far as what we typically have, so let me break it down for you:

• Rescues -- typically adults.  Rarely under 2-3 years of age, often much older.  Sometimes unknown age.  
• Previous homes -- Often passed around from home to home, we had one chinchilla in last year where he'd been at the rescue 5 different times (through no fault of his own).  Sadly, this isn't uncommon, as we currently have a guinea pig here (Murphy), where the owner who dropped him off was already his third home.  He's only about 1.5 years old.  
• Bonding -- They can bond just fine with you, but they do have previous life experience that they will draw upon...this may be positive or negative life experience and will affect the personality and bonding of the chinchilla. 
• Health / longevity -- They may or may not have been fed quality food or junk food, and healthy or unhealthy treats their entire life, which may affect their long-term health and longevity.  We had a chinchilla come in a few years back eating only, ONLY, snickers bars.  He was 8 years old at the time... I would venture to guess he didn't live a ton longer, due to improper diet and WAY too much sugar in the diet.  In addition, you don't know the parents of rescues, so while they may have been healthy chinchillas... they may also have been fur chewing, maloccluding, chinchillas... which could significantly impact their lifespan.  They could be from a backyard breeder that bred any two chins that happened to have male and female parts.  You just don't know. 
• Handling -- They very well may have been handled... or completely left alone... often we don't know.  But if handled, they may have been handled improperly, and may have grown to dislike handling, as a result.  They may bite or spray, as a defense mechanism.

• Babies -- these typically will be non-show quality chinchillas that we bred or that we got from another breeder that we work with.  Typically under 1 year, more like 3-6 months old, on average.  
• Previous homes -- These chinchillas either were born here or born elsewhere and came here.  Not passed around from home to home.  
• Bonding -- They have only been at once place (either here or other breeder's ranch) before coming here, and do not have much life experience to draw on, and often have not developed any bad habits.  People often comment that they want a baby so it can "grow up" with them, and they can bond with it from the earliest age possible.
• Health / longevity -- Coming from one of these places, they have been raised on quality food and little to no (usually no) treats, which tends to suggest they will have a longer, healthier life.  As being out of show-quality-chinchillas, they should be good quality and good genetic quality as well, and should live long, healthy lives.
• Handling -- These chins may not have been handled much by pet owners (here, only people interested in them or the occasional volunteer), though here they would be handled for weighing and checking they are "ready" before they are made available, plus of course handling them because they are cute babies.  Proper handling, in all situations.

• Culled breeders / retired breeders -- (for simplicity, I'm going to lump these together) -- culled breeders are breeders that would be culled (put down) from large ranches after they've served their purpose / quit breeding.  Retired breeders are breeders that are basically retired from breeding after being used here.  They are usually not ancient (often 3-6 years old or so).
• Previous homes -- These chinchillas would have either been born here, grown up, shown, and kept for breeding, or purchased from another breeder for the purpose of adding to the breeding herd (for retired breeders).  Culled breeders would be very similar, in that they would likely either be bred at the breeder's place or purchased to add to the herd.  The point is, all would come from usually a breeder somewhere along the line, rather than a posh pet home, and wouldn't be passed around.
• Bonding -- With the exception of a breeder that's been sold many times (which would be unusual), these chins would tend to have one home -- at the place they were used for breeding, rather than being passed around.  This creates a significantly less stressful life, so they can definitely bond with people, and usually don't have a ton of negative experiences from which to draw on.
• Healthy / longevity -- As long as we're talking about these retired / culled breeders as coming from quality breeders (as in, not-backyard-breeders), they should be quality chinchillas from quality show lines.  That said, they should be in good health (in general) and have good lines, and therefore, live long, healthy lives.
• Handling -- These chins, in being used as breeders, tend to not be handled a lot.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, they may just not know what to expect.  However, if they are handled, it is proper handling.

Now, why might you want one of these over another?  Much of this is personal preference.  We get some people who have to have to have a baby, simply because they want it to grow up with them and their family.  There's others who want an adult (regardless of rescue / breeder / whatever), as the chinchilla will be past that super-energetic-baby-stage, and will tend to be a calmer chinchilla in general (as opposed to a 2-3 month old baby).  There's some people that specifically want a rescue, as they want to feel like they are really helping out a chinchilla in need, or one that's been passed around from home to home.  There's others that specifically ask for the breeders, as they come from the quality lines and tend to not have bad-handling-experience, in addition to having good genetics and hopefully a long life-span.  Which fits best for you?  Only you know that.

What I've noticed an increase in lately, is people asking for seniors (which we classify as chinchillas 8 years and older).  The reason being, people will tell me, ok, their kid is going to college in four years, or they're not positive what their life will be like in 10-20 years, so they'd rather get an older one, than run the risk of possibly having their life change, and possibly having to re-home it in a few years.  Whether you agree with that or not, there is logic in it.  No sense to get a baby if your life may change drastically in 5 years and may uproot everything.  Often, these people mention that, once the senior passes, if they think chins are the greatest thing, maybe next time they'll get a younger adult or even a baby, but the commitment isn't as long for the initial chinchilla.  This, again, is an individual choice, and is the right choice for some people.

Lastly, there is the choice of whether to get one or multiple chinchillas.  I don't feel like there's a right-or-wrong answer to this.  People ask all the time, should they get one or two.  For the most part -- whatever they want.  That's assuming, of course, that their chin does get along with others, or else you loose the multiple chinchillas option (unless they want to do multiple cages).  Chins can do just fine by themselves, or just fine in pairs.  Of course, it depends on the chinchilla, and I'm sure there are multiple people reading this who could tell me stories about their chin that absolutely has to be an only-chin or absolutely loves their cage mates.  I can tell you those stories too -- just like people, some chins like company, others don't.  Some people like having cagemates, because they will sleep and play together.  Others would prefer a single chin, because you never have to worry about them not getting along.  But really, there's not that much additional work between one or two chins.  More food, hay, chew toys, sure... but we still clean cages weekly, and it's not significantly dirtier.  So again, it's much personal choice.

Of course, if you're unsure of what chinchilla might work best for your family, I'm always happy to help however I can.  Some chins do best in a quiet home, others do fine with lots of noise and commotion... and of course, if you tell me about your home and what you're expecting out of your new pet, I can help you find the right one.  Just the right one for you may be very different than the right one for the next adopter.