And again

So, I had someone email asking about getting a chin.  They said they were interested in getting a couple.  Based on their description, they wanted a mosaic, and I said, oh I have two.  Told them about them, and they wanted both.  Well, both are a male and a female, and both are rescues.  And I told them, there's a lethal gene, that's why we don't adopt out rescues to breeding homes (cause the average person owning a chinchilla and wanting to breed has no clue about such things), and she had asked about price, so I told her, either one would be $100.  And I told her, there's an adoption form and care packet that need to be read and filled out, in order to adopt. 

So she emails back, she has to think about getting a chin from me.  So, that's fine.  So I emailed back, saying, well if you decide you want to adopt, just let me know.  I get an email back that says, she doesn't want to adopt, she wants to buy a chin.  Well, sure, we're talking about different chins then, but I told her, it's the same thing as far as the care packet, adoption form.  Cause I told her, just because my own pedigreed chins aren't rescues, I still want them to go to chin-knowledgeable homes.  Those people still have to read it all and fill it all out too.

So I got an email back from her.  She went down to the email I sent her, and changed what I wrote so that it was huge and bold and instead of saying (the beginning part anyway): "That's fine.  Regardless of buying or adopting, it's the same as far as reading the care packet and filling out the form.  I still want the pedigreed, better quality chins to go to knowlegeable homes..." and so on and so forth.  She bolded, enlarged, and changed that all to read:

That's fine.
Regardless of buying or adopting, it's the same transaction

Now, can you please tell me... what was the point of that?  Should I be sorry that I was too wordy for her?   Should I only care where the rescue chins go, but let anyone with $150 walk off with a pedigreed chin?  I think not.  Regardless of the chin (or whatever critter), everyone gets to read a care packet and fill out an adoption form.  You know who's the exception?  Someone who's a known breeder buying a chin (generally at a show) who's done well at the show.  In the chin world, the quality breeders want their chins to be cared for correctly, so they breed for them. And those people would only want a pedigreed chin that had done well at show, with good lines, and would not be trying to put white + white together.  So I know they'd care for them fine.  Everyone else gets  acare packet and an adoption form, and if they don't like it, tough shit, they can go elsewhere.

Anyway, so I got an email back that said, "Next time you go to sell a Chin, you might think about educating a new buyer instead of insulting.  All those “knowledgeable” breeders once started as “newbies.”"

Great.  The only thing I think I said, which she must have taken as insulting, was when I made a comment about how you can't put two whites together, because you'll create a lethal gene.  And I said, for pet people, that's why we don't sell a male and female together, because the average pet person doesn't know that.  She never once said anything about breeding, so I assumed she wanted pets.   

Anyway, my response:

I was not intending to insult.  That said, you never mentioned you wanted to breed.  I feel like if you had made your intentions a bit more clear, our conversation would have started completely differently.  I re-read your first email to see if maybe I somehow mis-interpreted something.  The only thing you said about what you wanted to get was that you wanted to get a "couple of chins."  Maybe you intended that to mean a couple as in, a male and a female.  I took it as, a couple, meaning, a pair.  Which is what I get requests for, mostly.

Had I known you were looking to get into breeding, I would have let you know that most of the chins I have that are available are rescues.  Just like dogs and cats at the humane society, those specific chins should not be bred.  On the other hand, I have the show chins, and their offspring, which have pedigrees, and potentially could be bred.  Though, even that depends on how well they do at show.  Just because someone has a pedigreed chin doesn't automatically make it worthy of breeding.  Two awesome chins that did well at show could basically have a dud baby.  It could be lacking in fur strength and have lay down fur and bad clarity, and should just be a pet.  Even with stellar parents.  Sort of like how two tall people sometimes have a short kid.  They don't always get the right genes.

Also, had you mentioned the desire to breed, I'd have mentioned completely different chins.  For example, right now I'm not selling off any breeders, though I may have some young pedigreed chins that may be sold after this next show.  Depending on how they do.  For me to keep them, they'd have to do stellar, but a lot of breeders will breed chins that get 1sts or 2nds.  Just depends on the breeder. 

But see, without knowing that, that's why I responded the way I did.  Most people who email me want chins as pets, and if they don't specify, I do my best to email them what they asked for.  Like, for example, you said you wanted the white with grey & black -- mosaic -- so I told you about the two that are available right now.  With what I knew, that was what fit.

I don't mean to tell you what to do, but when you talk to another breeder, you might try to be more specific in terms of what you want.  If  you just mention you want a mosaic, you may very well get a pet quality mosaic.  If you really want to get into breeding, you'll want to mention that, or at the very least, that you want a show-quality chin, or one that has been shown, so you know how it has done.     

----end of email

All that said... I feel like someone who got that upset about an offhand comment about how the average pet person doesn't understand that there's a lethal gene in white chins and that's why we don't sell a male & female pair to pet people... I feel like they probably wouldn't do well with the chin comments at show.  Just saying.

Unrelated...

Had two people email today asking for babies.  One got a chin from me a few years ago, and wanted a baby female.  Well, even the absolute youngest chins I have are... males.  Youngest female I have right now is on a trial run and is coming up on 1 year of age.  So I told her, unless she decides she's up for older ones, I have nothing at the moment.  Got an email back, saying she's just looking for a buddy for her chin, an older one could work out.  So she's going to get back to me on when she can make it out here to see how her chin does with others.  Yay.

Another that emailed wanted a baby female ebony.  Also told her, all males at the moment, and she said, well, if nothing available, maybe within the next 1-2 months.  Well, for me to have a chin ready in the next 1-2 months, it would have already been born, and the only chin that was born recently was Nikki's baby -- which is a standard female who will be staying here to be shown.