Prey Animals

I've been getting asked a lot lately, about how people can get their chins to come around.  The best advice?  Give them time.

With as curious and cute as they are, it's easy to forget that they are prey animals.  At the end of the day, we're a lot bigger (and potentially, a lot scarier) than we realize.  Time (and bribing with treats, if the chins are old enough) really does work wonders.

Over time, the chins learn who cares for them.  They come to realize, hey, this person feeds me, and waters me, and gives me treats, and cleans my cage... and perhaps more importantly... they haven't eaten me yet... and they get used to us.  That's why you hear us, and other breeders / rescues, suggest that the new homes let their chins settle in.... so they have a chance to get used to what's around them, before more is thrown at them.

Case in point.  I purchased a breeder (well, several, but this one in particular) from a breeder who was selling out.  Put him in a pair with one of my nicest females.  Yeah... she beat the absolute crap out of him.  I noticed that she'd gone all ape-shit when he was about 5 minutes from dying.  He had all sorts of wounds on his nose and back of his neck, he was wheezing, he was bloody all over, his eyes were crusted shut and were tore up... you get the idea.  For about 2 months I had to pull him out of the cage everyday, twice a day.  He had to have his eyes opened up, and vetericyn put in them.  He wouldn't eat, so he got a few syringes of yogurt daily.  He got a water bowl in his cage, as it seemed to hurt him to lift his head, and so he wasn't drinking out of the bottle.  Now, mind you, this chin was already not crazy about me, before I had to burrito him every day and open his eyes and syringe feed him yogurt (which I don't recommend, this is an unusual situation).    He got to the point where if I even opened up the cage door, he would throw a hissy fit and start barking and kacking and making all sorts of unhappy noises at me.  Not my biggest fan.  Long story short, he's back to doing fine (though I'm hesitant to try another female).  The reason I mention this, though, is because now that he's able to eat on his own and I don't have to constantly pester him (and both eyes are open and clear, and everything's pretty much healed now), I've been trying to win him over.  I got in red clover flowers as a new herb the other day, and I gave him one from my hand.  He gets oats moreso than other chins (they were used in conjunction with the yogurt, before he'd officially switched back to pellets), and little treats and snacks and good pieces of hay and whatnot... because I know, with enough buttering up, he will come around, and eventually he'll see me as something other than the lady that burrito'd him for all that time to mess with his eyes and give him meds.  He may never think I'm the greatest, after all of that, but I know he'll dislike me less.

Long story short... there's no magic solution as far as getting a chin to like you, interact with you, or what have you.  It just takes time, and bribery (let's be honest, none of us are above treat bribery).

Miscalculations

Had this happen to someone the other day, so I wanted to mention this really quick.

They'd paid for chins and shipping, and then decided to come pick up the chins.  They would have had their entire shipping refunded, but then they decided to go with an additional chinchilla.

So, I added up what they were getting, and subtracted that from what they'd already paid, and paypalled them a refund for the excess.

Later that day, I got an email asking about if they had been mistaken about the cost of some of the chins, because they thought the refund should have been $50 more than what I'd refunded them.  I told them I'd look into it, and when I did, they were correct, they were owed $50 more.

Now, this probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway -- I didn't intend to screw that up.  I was in a rush when the lady came to get her chins, and was already a little flustered, because that was the same day that I was going out of town and trying to get ready all chicken-with-head-cut-off-style, and I mistakenly wrote down the price of one of the chins wrong.

The reason I write this is to say this -- if you ever think something's not right, I hope you all feel that you can bring it up to me and tell me.   I'm not trying to screw anyone out of their money.  The prices are what they are, and if I wanted more, I'd just raise the prices.  This was just an honest mistake, and I'm glad that she brought it up, as I didn't even realize that I owed her more money.

Why Things Take So Long

So... I've had people ask, for example, on some of the items on the webstore, it says that items may take two weeks to ship (noticeably the houses and other larger wood items), and people have asked, why this is the case.

Well, I can give you a hint... it's not because I spend all my days writing blog posts (haha), but rather... because it is so rare for me to get help at the rescue.

Case in point.  Last week, Joel told me his cousin and the cousin's girlfriend were looking for work, and asked if I would try them out.  Sure!  I can always use help.  So, they come over and work for 3 hours, and they did just fine, so I told them, I'd be contacting them again.  Also worth mentioning, that day, I met a friend of these two, and also got that person's number because they also wanted the opportunity to work.

So there I am, thinking, great!  I'll actually have help!  Yeah...that was short-lived.

So, two days from then, I message the cousin and ask if they wanted to work on that day.  He said sure and asked what time, as he mentioned that he and the gf were out doing something right then.  I told him, the time didn't matter much, no rush, just when they were finished, come over.  He said ok.

Hours pass, until the point where I send a message asking if they still were wanting to come by that day.  Again, no response, so about an hour later, I send a message to the friend, asking if he wanted to work.  No response from him either.

Now... before you start thinking, ok these people have lives, what do you expect?... keep in mind that when they were here at the rescue, I specifically told them, along the lines of, even if they can't come, please message back and let me know, so I know if I'm expecting them or not.  They said sure, and of course, assured me that they would not be like the previous people who had just not showed up and not gotten back to me.

Yeah, about that...

So needless to say, I had no help.  All that day, I had left various tasks -- note, that I easily could have done -- for them, because I figured, ok, when they got there, they would work on those tasks, and I would work on the more difficult or harder to teach stuff, and them doing the simpler stuff would free up more time for me.  Well, fast forward to like 11 pm, and I still had none of that done, because stupid me, I kept thinking I'd get a text.

And while I acknowledge that something may have come up... I sent a reminder message, AND, keep in mind... I was expecting them.  I asked them to show up when they were done, and they said ok.  To me... this was acknowledging they'd show up... so I anticipated them showing up... which never did happen.  Maybe I'm old school, but if I told someone I'd show up and then wasn't able to show up, I would send them a short message saying, hey, something came up, can't come.  Takes a few seconds, and then I would have known not to be waiting on them.  So simple...and yet apparently, so difficult.

Ah well, those orders will have to wait for tomorrow, I guess....

Patience is a Virtue...

...which no one possesses.

Case in point the other day.  Someone emails asking if the shipping on the webstore is correct, I guess the amount for shipping was more than the amount for the items.  Not unusual, that's why I refund the excess.

So I told her, no, probably not correct, but if she could wait a few days, I'd get back to her with correct shipping.  So I did.  She emails me back, and asks, what's the next step?

Mind you, I'm about a day behind on emails, so while I did SEE her email... it's not exactly the next in line to respond to.  I can only do so much, and I feel like people can wait a day (come on... it's not long to get a response) for me to get back to them.

Anyway, so I didn't respond immediately (shame shame, horrible person that I am), so then I got another email shortly after that basically said, with my name spelled wrong might I add (it's at the bottom of every email, how hard is it to copy?), that I NEED to get back to her and let her know what to do next and how soon can I ship the items?????

Honestly people, all emails like that make me want to do is say, if you're in that much of a rush, go elsewhere.  No joke.  I don't pretend to be able to churn out these items like a factory in China.  Am I sorry for that?  No!  For hand-made items, you have to be patient.... I'm only one person, and likely, your order is not my only one.    

But of course, I'm nice, so I responded by letting her know, nicely, that she is one of about 30 orders I'm working on right now (and I would have liked to have added, most likely #28-29, so NOT top of the list, people have been waiting a lot longer than her one day...), and I informed her that I am shipping out chins in a few hours, so that I have to do right this second, versus the orders which can wait a little bit usually.  I also informed her that the website does say (which she should have noticed, when adding the item to the cart) that it says on the houses, items may take 2 weeks to ship, and that is because I have to build the items and get them all ready and stuff.  All she asked for was a shipping quote... I don't honestly build everything, pack it, and all that, for a shipping quote, as quite a few people think that it's too much of a cost  (which is out of my control, but you know), so then I'd have wasted all that effort.  What I do do... is find a box that would be appropriate.  Weigh the box and weigh the items, add about another pound for packaging, and put that all, with dimensions, into the shipping calculator and get back to people.  If I don't have the exact item people want, then I will weigh something similar.

No offense to anyone, but a shipping quote doesn't move anyone to the top of the list to get their order done.  The only orders I try to get out absolutely first are the food orders, as I never know if people are running out of food, but the others get typically done in the order they are received, to be fair.

Anyway... what was almost comical about all of this... was that I realized that I hadn't sent another person an invoice either.... and I was going to do that, at the time when I saw the email from this lady.  In the time it took me to write out her email, I could have sent the invoice.  While I never would say this...I would have loved to have said... if you weren't so pesty, you'd already have it, since I wouldn't be wasting time writing back to you.  Which, sadly, is the truth.  If I have 10 minutes to work on something, and I know you need an invoice... but I see I have an email from you... I will check on that email, first, just to be sure there's no changes... well, probably after that email... your invoice will have to wait for another time... especially if I only have 10 minutes right then.

Time is precious.  There's never enough of it, and if you've ever been here volunteering, you know I'm constantly running around like a chicken with my head cut off, going in 10 directions at once, since there's constantly so much to do.  And that's fine, but.. keep in mind, there's only so many hours in the day... try not to take away time with needless reminders (which it always is... emails that says the exact same thing as the email sent 2 hours prior), when one email will do.  Thanks!

Playtime in Warm Weather

I know we've talked about air conditioning lately, and of course I've talked about playtime... so I wanted to have a little chat about playtime when it's warm out.

As we all know, chins should be kept at temperatures of 72 F or below.  

But what about playtime?  Well, that's a bit different.  Think about this for a second.  Let's say you're sitting around in a room, and you're comfortable, not cold but not hot, temperature wise.  Now, let's say that you decide to run around the room at full speed, bouncing off the walls.  Might you get warmer, and even venture to think that you might start thinking the room is a little too warm for this?  If you're not picturing this well, think of a gym.  You're not likely hot when you go in, but then you start working out, and start sweating.  All of a sudden, the room may not feel such a comfortable temperature anymore, even though the room temperature didn't change.

Same for the chins.  In the warmer months, they shouldn't be out for playtime, at all, if the house temp is over 70 degrees.  This is to prevent them from overheating and possibly getting heatstroke, which can be fatal.  They can (and do!) live just fine without playtime, so for their sake, no playtime over 70!

Sponsor a Chin / Name a Chin -- Donations Post, Part 2

Ever want to donate a different amount than the $10 that's attached to both the sponsorship or name-a chin donations?  We have a regulation donation link on the webstore, here, but also on our donations page, near the top.  See here.  You can donate with either paypal or a debit / credit card, so there's options, and any amount is helpful!

If you're looking to donate something other than money, all sorts of things are helpful.  For example, some useful items you may have around the house:

• empty toilet paper rolls / paper towel rolls
• paper towels
• clorox clean-up
• simple green
• white printer paper 
• white vinegar
• small animal bedding
• old towels / clothing (can be ripped! we will use for rags)
• index cards (we use for cage cards)
• sharpies
• ziploc baggies (any size, but quart or gallon are most appreciated)
• plastic grocery bags 
• paper grocery bags
• cages 
• dish soap 
• bottle brushes
• sponges / scrubbies / similar items
• clean mascara brushes (for cleaning our water bottle tubes)
• fleece
• wood toys or toy parts
• bubble wrap / packing peanuts
• carriers 
• laundry detergent (for washing our liners)
• your time (come volunteer!)

And more.  Anything donated is appreciated, and if we can't use it here for the rescues, we can sell it at one of our garage sales, with the money coming back to the rescue to care for the chins.

If I had to pick one item as the top thing I'd want people to donate, it would be wood toy pieces.  It doesn't even have to be anything expensive, I've seen this item at Walmart and some Tractor Supply stores.. it's usually under $3.  You could even buy a couple at that price!  The reason the wood chews are so appreciated is because if my chew toy supply is dwindling  (and let's be honest, when is that NOT the case?), I will NOT go out and buy chew toys, but rather, I will cut up wood and make chew toys.  So, by donating wood blocks or anything of that sort (could also be hanging toys, toss toys, whatever), you save me a lot of effort because I will use what you donated, and I will not have to take time away from anything else, to make (cut and sand, drill and re-sand) the chew toys for the rescue chins here.

Anything is always appreciated!

Sponsor a Chin / Name a Chin -- Donations Post, Part 1

Hi all.  Not sure if I've posted about this or not before, and I'm not going to bother looking, cause even if I have, I can just remind everyone about this.

Some people have asked about sponsoring a chinchilla or helping to donate stuff for the chins, and so awhile back, I put up the Sponsor a Rescue Chinchilla for a Month option on the webstore.  Here.  Feel free to click on it and see the actual post, but to make it easy for you, it says:

Ever wanted to help out, but not sure how?  Help us feed and care for our rescue chinchillas by sponsoring one! 

The average chinchilla goes through 2-3 pounds of food, 2-3 pounds of hay, 1+ pounds dust, and at least a portion of a chew toy... every month!  We estimate that this costs at least $10 per chinchilla per month.  While some chinchillas are adopted quickly, others stay here for quite some time.  We've had quite a few, less-adoptable-chinchillas, that have stayed at the rescue well over a year!  Of course, we provide whatever they need while they are here with us, but due to people's desire to directly help the chins, we have added this listing.

Just for example -- in 2016, we adopted out over 200 chinchillas!  While this did bring in quite a bit in adoption fees, we spent just shy of $27,000 (a loss of $4,000 from what we brought in), to run the rescue.  The costs of a few pounds of food here, a few pounds of hay there, really does add up!  

But you can help!   For $10 a month, you can sponsor one of our rescue chinchillas.  You can choose one to sponsor, if one really grabs your heart, but you don't have to... there are always chinchillas to feed and care for that your sponsorship can be applied to!  Every little bit makes a difference!

For sponsoring a chinchilla, you will get a donation thank you card mailed to you, with a photo of the chinchilla that you are sponsoring.  You will also be emailed updates on that chinchilla, and we will let you know when it has been adopted.  Finally, your name will be added to our donations page, as well as added to the listing of the chinchilla on our website, so other people can see your generosity. 

So, there were people who wanted it added... and yet... no one's felt the need to sponsor a chin yet.  Come on people, I know you're out there!  Maybe you just haven't seen it yet....

I follow a prominent horse rescue on facebook, Hi Caliber Horse Rescue, and for them, they also have something sort of like this, but to go a step further, when people donate, donators are encouraged to suggest names for the horses, which mean something and can have a story behind them.  And then, they'll say, oh this horse is named Dean, after someone's son Dean who died of cancer.  So, in the thought that maybe chin people feel the same way, here we go:  NAME a Rescue Chinchilla

Want to name a chin?  We'll share your story and why the chin's named that, and you'll get updates and info on your named chin, until it leaves the rescue to go into it's new adoptive home.

Continued tomorrow...

Air Conditioning

So... I almost feel like I shouldn't have to post this, as I'd like to think that most people are aware that chins need air conditioning (AC), but it's come up a few times lately, so it's worth noting.

Chins need AC.  They need to be at temps, 72 F and below, at all times.  They can withstand hotter temps, sometimes... depending on the chin... but do you want to bank on the fact that your chin is one of the ones that can withstand the higher temps?  I'd rather not.

I had someone drop off a chin the other day, and I put him in a cage, and she asked, "why do his ears look like that?"  She was referring to being able to see the veins in his ears, more noticeably than normally.

This isn't my picture, but to illustrate:

That picture came from here, which is a page talking about heatstroke in chinchillas.

Now, this is my picture, and this is what ears on a beige chinchilla should look like:

When you see all those veins, like in the first pic... not a good sign.  The chin is too hot, and needs to calm down.  If I saw that... I wouldn't be taking pictures (the site linked has the picture for educational purposes, but I mean in general), I would be doing everything to cool down that chin and hope it survives.

Now, the chin brought in didn't look quite that bad, but I told the person, it was likely that he got hot in the box on the ride over.  She then mentioned that she didn't have AC in the car, but had the windows open.  Oh boy.

Now, while the windows open would keep the car from getting excessively stuffy, it doesn't actually cool the air, and I would venture that it was the lack of AC and the chin in the box for awhile that toastied up the chin.  This all said, he's fine.  But it was a moment where I thought, I should write about this, just in case.

I was also talking with someone who I'm shipping to, upcoming here, about temperature, and I asked them if they have AC in their cars.  Now... the people shipping generally are a tad bit better off, money wise, as they can afford to spend (well, maybe not can afford to,... but they are spending) $200+ on shipping, so of course this person had air (they had a porsche and an infiniti, come on! of course they had air).  But the point is... not everyone does.

If you don't have air in your house, you probably should not own a chin.  A window unit is cheap enough, and does just fine... but they DO need it.

For car rides... if you don't have air in your car, please make me aware of this before you come to pick up your chin.  We will schedule the time early morning or late night, so as to keep the outside temperatures as low as possible while the chin is in the car.  A midday car ride, on a hot day, can easily kill a chin.  We actually had two chins, years ago, Tic and Tac, who both died of heatstroke after being brought to the rescue, after being in a hot car with no AC for 3 hours.  It's not a joke, they really do need their AC, so if you don't have, please advise.  We'll work it out.

Fancy Boxes / Labels for Shipping Supplies vs. Take Home Boxes

If you've adopted anytime recently, and not brought a carrier with you, you may have noticed we have new Take Home boxes.  It's been awhile now, but if you adopted in the past (think like more than maybe 8 months ago), you may remember that we used medium priority mail boxes to send home our animals in.  Some may think that's not professional if they'd like, but it wasn't even our initial idea -- the place where we got our prairie dogs from, as well as Ryerson Chinchilla (for supplies, though), and many others, also use priority mail boxes instead of carriers, as carriers can run a pretty penny.

Ever go to Petsmart?  They sell those cardboard pet carriers for $9.99.  Yikes.  See here 

Hardly cost effective to buy those in any quantity.  Granted, those are a big bigger than what we need, but at $10 a piece?  Not happening.

So, in the effort to keep costs down for the adopter, most places look for cheaper alternatives.  Hence, priority mail boxes come to mind, which are free.  Sure, they're not supposed to be used for that, but come on, despite the post office being in debt, so they say... postage keeps going up.  Do we believe that they're really broke?  Not really.  So, they could manage to have a few boxes disappear.  Anyway, this isn't a post about that (though, shipping costs are getting a bit ridiculous).

Back to the carriers.  So, last year, at the Kane County Pet Show, I believe, we had another rescue donate to us, some cardboard pet carriers.  Off the top of my head, I can't remember what rescue (but if you're from that rescue and reading this, thanks!!), but they gave us three boxes of them.  They said they'd ordered them for cats, and they were too small (and they would be).

So.... free carriers!

So, we started using them.  By the time we got to the third box, I was finding them mighty useful, and I didn't have to poke air holes in them and look all ghetto with the priority mail boxes, and I didn't have to tape them shut.  Win win.  So I went to look to see where I could find them and how much they would cost to continue to purchase.  First I found them on Amazon, and I bought a case off of there.  I figured, if they came from another supplier, it would be on the invoice, and maybe I'd be able to get them a little bit cheaper, buying them in bulk.

So I got the box, and lookie that, they were what I was looking for.  Something around $2-3 per carrier, which isn't horrible.

In case you haven't seen them, this is them:

They're big enough for a single adult chin, and I've even squeezed two weaning size chins in there.  Decent sized for what I need them for.

So after I got them from Amazon, the invoice said they came from MedVet.  So I went on their website.  Cheaper from there, but still close to $2ish per carrier, once shipping was figured in... if I was ordering a box or so at a time.  But... they have their website set up, it's something like (without looking it up), up to $100 of product is $10 to ship, up to $300 is $5 to ship, over $300 is free shipping.  So... to maximize what I was going to spend on shipping and boxes and get the best possible deal, I spent juuuust over $100, which is 8 cases of 12 (so 96 carriers), so I paid $5 shipping for 8 cases.  While these do fold flat... I had a box sized like it could fit a human-sized coffin show up on my doorstep a few days later.  I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what I'd ordered now.

Anyway, so that gave me a lot of carriers, and I would put shavings and a little hay in the carriers for the people to take home.  So, then I thought, what would make them even more professional looking would be a sticker.  So, I went to stickermule.com and ordered stickers, and got those.  Sticker only goes on one side, but good enough...  looks like this:

Great pic, I know, that one got stepped on... but I already  had this pic on my phone, and you get the idea.

With the sticker (which I ordered 200 of, so I'll be re-ordering carriers before stickers run out), these boxes run me right around $1.75ish per carrier.  Not bad, considering the chins are $50-600, so I can spend a few extra bucks on the carriers to send them home in (though for super long trips, I still suggest people bring their own, better ventilated and chew-proof carrier).

In case anyone wants the link, these are the carriers -- here

The reason I bring this all up is not just to tell you about our move from being el-cheapo on the carriers to actually having something nice, but because of a conversation I had with someone the other day about boxes used to ship out supplies.  For shipping out supplies, I could practically be a hoarder when it comes to saving boxes.  I have all shapes and sizes and I will try to find the size that best works for your package, so you don't end up paying more for shipping than needed.  However... that means someone gets the Mr. Coffee box:

Packages waiting for pickup in the AM

With the exception being that flat rate priority mail box of pellets, the other two boxes (other than Mr. Coffee) are used as well.  The small one is a Barkbox (and says so, in large print, on the long side) and the other one came from when I ordered something for the rescue.  So they're not as "perfect" as they look in the pic.

The conversation the other day, centered around the fact that, well, I now have these fancy carriers for the chins to go home in, the Take Home boxes, so why am I using second-rate boxes for shipping supplies?  Mainly to save you money, but... wait, no, all to save you money.  If you all want me to start going to office depot and paying $2-3 per box that I use, just so your wooden shelves and rosehips can arrive at your door in an un-blemished, unmarked box that's never been used before, by all means, let me know and I'll go pick up one for your order.

But for most people (probably just about everyone, as no one's ever actually complained yet), you want to save money, especially on shipping and handling.  I know I've wrote about the cost of items before, and this is another time when it's important.  Those herb samplers and supplements that cost $8.50?  I have a blog post on here, where I detailed out costs, and they cost me over $8.50, based on calculations, to make.  The toys?  If they've gone up, it's because I've realized, hey, $5 doesn't really pay for the hour it takes me to make two of them, especially when talking about the loofah toys, where I have to ship the loofah here, cut it up with the saw, dye it, let it dry, then cut and sand the wood pieces, drill and re-sand the wood pieces, cut the wire, and assemble this all and add a hanging clip.  Worth $5?  Not for me to make them, to be honest....more like $7 covers all the time, effort, and materials.  Same with the herbs.  If it's $1.50, I may be paying $1.25 for that amount of that herb, and let's not forget, I have to ship it here, bag it (those ziploc bags cost too!), and label it (and, with anything that I don't make, I have to pay for it, out of pocket, before I ever sell it... that adds up!).  The point behind all this is that there's not a lot of money to be made on an order.  Most items don't have even $1 of markup on them, and the cheaper items have very little, so while the rescue makes something... it's not $20 of profit on a $25 order, maybe more like $5 of profit on a $25 order.

So, if I was to buy boxes, which tend to run $2-3 depending on size, for every order... I have nowhere to absorb that cost, as I can't take it off of the profit of the order, or I'll be making negative money on some orders!  Therefore, I would have to add it to the cost of shipping.  If you've ordered, well, ever, then you know the shopping cart's a bit fun to deal with when it comes to calculating the shipping costs.  For example, I have an order going out in the morning... the cart calculated shipping for her at $61.50, and actual shipping came out to $11.22.  That will be upped to $12 to cover the cost of tape and other packing materials, and she will receive a refund of $49.50.  If I was buying the box, the box for her items would be likely a $3 box, so shipping would go up to $15, and she'd get a refund of $46.50.  Maybe not a big deal to some, she may look at it as, "hey, big refund!" either way, as many companies charge exorbitant shipping and don't refund a penny when shipping really is cheap, but for me,.... I question if it's worth the extra $3, just to have a pretty box.  As it is... she's getting the Mr. Coffee box, and getting $3 more back in her refund.

Carefresh

Wanted to quickly post about carefresh bedding, since a lot of people have been putting it down on their adoption forms lately.

Carefresh, just as a quick reminder for those that are unsure, is a recycled paper bedding sold at most major pet retailers, which is touted as being "the best" at keeping down odor and mess.  Super absorbent stuff.  It's recycled paper, so it has no smell or anything like that, so the people who don't like the smell of pine, often love this stuff.  This stuff:

Carefresh is safe bedding for your small animal, IF (and that's a big IF) they don't eat / ingest it.

If the chin (or any small animal really) decides the carefresh is tasty little popcorn kernels and decides to start chowing down, the same absorbency that causes carefresh to absorb their pee so well and keep the smell down so well.... causes it to swell.  That's fine in a chin cage, but in their intestines, that can cause a blockage, also known as an impaction.

If the chin / small animal gets impacted, they typically stop eating, as the food particles start backing up in their body.  So,.. they feel full and the food can't move out of their stomach (if they're backed up enough).  Vets prescribe motility  meds like reglan and cisapride (for upper and lower digestive tract, though don't ask me which is which) to keep the digestive tract  moving, and suggest stomach massages, playtime, anything to help try to re-start the digestive system, because if it sits long enough, then you deal with stasis, which is another problem.  But let's avoid that for a second, let's just assume we just have a blockage due to carefresh or plastic or something else.  You will be force-feeding the chin critical care and the motility meds for weeks / months, dealing with the tiniest of poos that may make their way out, hoping to re-start everything... and if you do, great.  In reality... most chins / small animals will die of an impaction, possibly without even discovering what it is.

The manufacturers of carefresh know that this is a problem.  Know how I know?  Because they let you know, right on the bag:

In case that's not coming up as being super readable on your screen, the relevant part reads:

"...there is a potential risk of impaction if your pet ingests a sufficient amount of bedding.  Observe your pet and seek veterinary care if you suspect impaction of the GI tract."

So... if you put down carefresh as your bedding-of-choice on your adoption form, I will mention this (cliff notes version, anyway), and will highly suggest you either be super diligent of your chin's behavior and eating habits while using it.... or not use it at all.

While I have never had an issue with carefresh, that's because... I almost never use it.  You knew that was coming, didn't you?  I only use it in cages where the pan is several inches below the chins / critters and the chins /critters cannot reach the bedding.  I have two cages like this -- the pagoda-type cage I have right at the entrance, which is typically used for chins that I am chin-sitting, and the prairie dog cage.  I will also use it for guinea pigs, which I don't find tend to eat the bedding and don't feel the need to taste-test everything put in front of them.  Oh and would you care to know why I use it at all, knowing what I do?  Because people donate it!  I want to say that carefresh is the bedding that is brought in most often with chinchilla surrenders to the rescue.  For the sake of not just throwing away something that people spent their hard-earned money to buy, I use it for the few cages which I can, which are safe to use it in... but for most cages, it's not safe, in my opinion.  I've usually got a pretty good stockpile of it, since I can't use it for most cages that I have here.  But... some people choose to use it, and for those, I just want them to be aware that there may be potential risks with that.  Hence, this post.

Ryersons Show Last Weekend

So, I know I promised a post about the show, and some people asked me where we stay and what goes on with all of that, so I wanted to finally get around to that.

We left Friday morning, and because of traffic, drive times, and whatnot, arrived in Jenera, Ohio around 6-7 pm.  For some shows, we stay at a hotel.  When that's the case, the first thing we do is go to the show hall, drop off the chins, and then go eat dinner and back to the hotel for the night.

This show and some of the Ohio shows are a bit different.  We're one of the lucky ones (and I work for Jim, so I suppose I get this luxury all the time), where we're friends of other breeders, and are able to stay with Jim for the shows.  He can put up about 14 or so people in his house for the local shows, and often the house is quite filled with breeders!  So for this show, we went to the ranch, dropped off the chins in the barn.  Hay'd and watered the chins and went up to the house.  There was only one other breeder there at the time (people kept arriving until about 2 am), so right then, we all helped with various stuff that needed to be done around the house, in preparation of everyone else arriving.

Eventually, other people started arriving.  We'd all go down to the barn to have them put their chins there, and then back to the house.  They'd already ordered a pizza by the time I got there, so we had some pizza.  Jim has a popcorn machine, so we went down to his Man Cave, had popcorn and played pool the rest of the night.

In the morning was the show.  The show was at Ryersons, which is 72 miles from Jim's place.  I only know that because he's mentioned it so many times.  So, we all drive there.  First thing is to go up to the show table and get numbers for the animals.  All the animals have a numbered tag on their cages, which also has more info on it (some of which the judge can see, some they can't), about age, sex, birthdate, which animal it is, and so on.

So you get those cards, fill those out, put those on the cage, and grooming begins.  For chinchilla grooming combs, apparently there's everything from a size 8 (large spaces between the tines) to a 00 (tiny spaces between the tines), but what I have is a 3, 2, and 1.  So I start with the 3, then once that goes through the fur easily, move to a 2, and then a 1.  Once those have all gone through the chin, you take the smallest comb (in my case, a 1) and press it against the fur, but just on the top, to remove the dead fur that's sitting there.  Sort of how you'd brush a dog or cat.  That helps remove more of the dead fur.  Then, the tail gets trimmed.  There's various ways people do it, but the main thing is that the fur sticking far off the tail is trimmed off (with scizzors, nothing fancy), so as to remove any discoloration on the chins from that tail fur touching the (dirty) shavings.  Once that's trimmed off, out come the lint rollers.  I used to use one, now I've come to use several, as it is mighty difficult to remove a sheet from a lint roller while also holding onto a squirming chin.  The chins get a few rolls with each of the lint rollers, until they're coming off reasonably clean,  Then, the chin needs to be fluffed back out, so you take one hand and hold the tail, the other hand holds the ear.  You put the front feet of the chin on the ground and you wiggle.  No joke.  It almost looks like a wet dog shaking, and it helps fluff up the fur back on the chin, and then the chin goes in the show cage.

So, I groomed 9 of my 11, and then classification had already begun, so I figured I would just not groom the last two, so I just trimmed the tails, did the final touch with the 1 comb, lint-rolled the chins, and wiggled the chins, and in they went.

Show started, we took home a Phase Champion with one of our standards, a 1B with another standard, then a 1st with another standard, and then some 2nds and 3rds for some younger animals.  Not too bad.

During the show, when a chin places a certain way, they get a colored sticker on their cage.  Blue is first place, red is second, and so on.  At the end of the show, the show table compiles whatever ribbons everyone has gotten, and that's when everyone picks them up.

We also hadn't yet paid for showing the chins and lunch, so we did that after the show as well.  It's usually $4-5 per chin to show, and $5 for lunch at most of the smaller, non-catered shows.

So after the show, since we were at Ryersons, everyone wants to get supplies, myself included, so I picked up some water bottles (the infamous Ryerson water bottles that I sell), along with some extra water bottle parts, springs, rivets (for the collars) and whatnot.  Everyone else picked up their supplies as well, and most people who'd been at Jim's the night before, came back, and again we repeat the pizza, playing pool. and generally having a good time... and then we all left in the morning.

More questions?  Let me know, I'll write more about it.  

Custom Items

So... this is been sort of an on-going pet-peeve of mine, and due to some recent people who literally are ruining it for everyone... if you want a custom item, from now on, I'm going to ask that you pay the first half up front.

This may not even be a lot of money.  For the one lady recently, it literally would have been like $10.  But... it will keep me from having items laying around when these people back out.

Case in point.  Lady from the west coast, who has ordered a few times before but is notoriously hard to get ahold of (phone, email, text, it doesn't matter, she takes forever... and I mean weeks... to call back).  She calls with an order for shelves, custom shelves... which I tend not to do much anymore, as we've switched over to standard shelf sizing, but she wanted different width shelves.  For those, since I have to go out and purchase the different width boards... you can have it cut to whatever size you'd like.  So, she said when I had the order done, and shipping figured out, to call her, and she'd give me the credit card number and pay.

So, maybe a day or two later, I picked up a 10" board of pine, and I believe the two shelves were 10 x 9 or something like that.  I cut those, figured out shipping.  If I was pricing out normal 9" shelves, they'd be $7 each, but since it's larger wood, they worked out to $8 each, so $16 total, plus shipping.

It was later at night when I had the order done, so I decided to wait until the next morning to give her a buzz.  Well... I wake up to a call that, oh, forget the shelves, someone gifted her some shelves and now she doesn't need them.

Honest to god.

Not that $16 is a lot, and of course, the cost is less than that.  But I had to go out and specially purchase the wood, then cut and sand the shelves, put in the bolts.  Find a box that fits, pack up the shelves, seal up the box.  Figure out shipping.  Not that any of this takes all that long, but when some of you wonder why your order is taking so long, sometimes it's because of people like this, who waste the time that could be spent on your order... and then don't order anything after all that time anyways!

And of course, now I have random 9 x 10 shelves sitting around.  Undoubtedly, they will probably get used in a cage that I set up with used shelves and sell as a cage with shelves, because not that many people ask for the larger width shelves (and I'm not about to add another section for them, because I only have room to store so much).  And now I have the rest of that 10" board sitting around.  For what?  Eventually it'll get used, but that's not the point... only so much room, remember?

Other memorable times this has happened (not all that often, but enough to be an aggravation) involved a custom bridge and a custom house.  She wanted them done, oh, yesterday, and then when I had them done... oh she'd pay the next time she got paid.  Oh, hold on, the next time.  Oh, well now there was a problem with the landlord.  I already had the order boxed up, and this went on for 7 frickin months before I finally stopped emailing her (because she kept saying, oh, when I get paid next week, email me Monday... and then when I would... oh next week, try again next Monday).  The house I was able to sell.  Custom houses... when someone asks about a house, I can just pull it out and say, hey, what do you think about this one.  But the bridge was for an exponentially large cage... I tried to put it in a ferret nation (36" long) and it looks like a U-shape.  Not good.  Not the nice sag you get with bridges.  So... either I need someone to come along with a super wide cage, or I need to take the bridge and shorten it... as if making it didn't take long enough, right?  Bridges (listed nowhere on my site, because of this) take forever to make, as all those little planks need to be cut, drilled, sanded, and so on... and cost $1 per inch, which... for people who've ever helped make one, would agree... it's not worth making one for less.  So now I have a likely $45-50 item sitting around that I probably can't sell as is.

So, from here on out, if you want a custom order of wood items, I will be asking for a deposit.  The deposit will go towards your total, and will secure your spot in my list of orders that I am working on.  I feel this will help with people backing out and getting cold feet, and basically, taking time away from orders that are already paid for.  Thank you for your understanding.

Houses & Notice

Got an email the other day... well, this happens all the time... someone's in the area and wants to know if I have a certain item made.  Houses are the popular items to be asked about, as many of you know, they're mostly made to order.

Now, this isn't because I don't want to have them to sell, because if you've read the blog for any length of time, you probably know that I could sell way more houses than I ever have made... if only I had them made, when people are here.  I can't tell you how many people ask if we have a house for sale, and when I tell them, no, none are ready, they reply that they'll get one at the pet store.  That's perfectly fine, the pet store has some wooden ones nowadays, but the reason we don't have them is simply, there's not enough hours in the day, and they take over an hour (and two days) to make each one.

So, when people email and say, hey I'm in the area today, do you have a house?  The answer is usually no... but the thing is, this was asked multiple times over Memorial Day weekend.  I would assume at least some of those people knew, ahead of time, that they were going to see family members over the weekend, and could have provided a few days notice.  Had they... I could have made the house for them to pick up.

Because that's what happens when someone comes over, picks out a chin, and says they want to get the chin, cage, shelves, house, etc... in a few days / week, whatever.  I probably don't have a lot of that made... but I will stop what I'm doing and intentionally make them a house, because I know they're coming and I know they want it.

So... notice is super helpful.  Thanks.

No Time for Chins, Getting Other Pets

This is one of my pet peeves.  I just got a text earlier tonight, from someone who has one of my chins.  Long story short, the text (in relevant part) reads:

"Hey, this is so-and-so, I got this one chin from you.  I can't take care of him any longer as I just got two new puppies and I don't have time for him anymore."

This happens ALL THE TIME.

Again, maybe someone can explain the logic of this to me, but I can't tell you how many people tell me that they got in a new puppy, and now don't have time for the chin.  Maybe its me, but... did you really think a puppy (much less two!) was going to free up your time?  Of course not!  Well, maybe some of the logic-challenged people might somehow think so... but... puppies TAKE your time, heck even adult dogs take time.  No wonder you don't have time for your pet, because you got two new ones!  What did you think was going to happen?

I love my dogs.  Anyone who knows me, knows that, but.... jeez... you knew getting a dog that it was going to involve time and work.  I wouldn't suggest getting rid of a dog if it didn't get along with the chin, IF the dog was there first.  But even with that, I know of a lady who had two chins from the rescue, then went out and got a rescue dog... the dog kept attacking the cage, knocking over the cage, trying to get at the chins.  So... she rehomed the chins!  She'd had them for YEARS, versus the dog for a few weeks.  I guess I just don't get it.  I would re-home the newest animal that is the "problem."  I feel like, the animal you already have, should come first over in priority over any new animal you try to bring home.  Course... if everyone felt that way, we wouldn't see old senior dogs surrendered to shelters, when people bring home puppies, and the two don't get along (and that happens way more than I'd like to think about).  I guess I just view it differently.

If the dog was there first and then the chin got brought home, and then the dog attacks the chin cage -- fine, return the chin.  Cater to the animal that was already there, already part of your family.  If the chin was there first, dog goes.  I suppose this probably isn't a popular viewpoint, as mentioned, I run into people wanting to surrender chins all the time that would disagree with this whole post... but it just irks the crap out of me.

Weaning Babies & Selling Babies

So... if you read the last post, you know I was talking about people getting freshly weaned babies... and this post sort of stems from that same discussion.

The lady getting the baby from the other place specified, the babies were being weaned on the 10th, she was picking up the baby on the 11th.  Or something of the sort, the point is, it was the next day.

This just SCREAMS backyard breeder.

In case this isn't clear, let me explain why.  When most breeders wean their babies, they are put in (what we call) holding cages.  They stay there for some period of time (depends on the breeder), before they are able to go to their new home (or wherever they are going).  For me and my chins, that period of time is usually a week or so, but it could be more, it could be a month if they're not doing well.

Let me explain.  When that chin is separated from mom, it's entire world is turned upside down.  Yes, they've already been eating hay and pellets from way before 8 weeks old, but then their mom, their MOM, come on, is gone!  Probably their siblings are gone as well, and they're like hey, what happened?  So... sometimes they don't eat.  Sometimes they don't drink.  Sometimes they don't dust.  Sometimes they lose weight.  Sometimes they get loose poo.  On the flip side... sometimes they do great!  Sometimes they eat, drink, dust, gain weight, and have healthy poo!  But which way will they go?  It depends on the chin.

The point of hanging onto them for at least a few days, is to ensure that they maintain their weight, continue eating, and are generally healthy.  When I wean babies, I weigh them when I write up their cage card.  Then, a day or two later, I weigh them again.  If there is a weight loss, of course that's not a good sign.  For a freshly weaned kit, you want them to be gaining weight, or at the very least, maintaining (for the first few days, gaining will come with time).  You sure don't want them to be losing, which could be a sign of not eating or not drinking.  If they're not dusting, that can be a sign that they're uncomfortable with their new surroundings.  You don't want to further amp up that uncomfortability by immediately sending them off to a new home.

For my chins, I weigh them at weaning, then a few days later.  If you've been to the chin-room, you've noticed the colored stickers.  For chins that are set to find new homes, I wean and put a blue sticker on their cage card (if they're staying here, they won't have any colored dots).  When I weigh a few days later, if they have gained (and not like 1 gram, but a reasonable amount), I will put a green sticker over the blue sticker.  This means that they are doing well.  When I weigh again in a few more days, I will also check to see that their poos are well formed and that they are eating (food is going down in feeder, chin doesn't feel bony), and if all of this is going well and the chin has gained again, they get a plus (+) on their green sticker.  This is a further sign they are doing well and are ready to go to their new home.

If the chin is not gaining, they retain their blue sticker, and they will continue getting weighed and babied until they are gaining and doing well.  If the develop loose poo or any other issue, they will be given appropriate mediation / treatment.  If they are losing weight, everything will be done to try to reverse this and get them to gain.  But the point is, it's usually not like you separate them from mom and they're like yippee ready to go.  It's not at all uncommon for it to take a few days for them to start gaining weight.

So... can you see how someone who sells the day that the chins are separated from mom is a backyard breeder and only out for the money?  There's no way to know if they're doing well, the day after separation, except literally, "hey, the chin's alive!  Great sign!  Time to sell it!"  Those of us that actually care about the well-being of the chins... we don't sell them quite that young.

Question...

So, I know I said I'd post about the show, and I intend to... but I had a quick question, maybe someone can answer for me...

I get people all the time, specifying, they want a super sweet chin, loves to be held, does well with being handled and so on and so forth.  Then they specify a chin that's either on hold, or not available yet, or for some reason, one they cannot get.  I inform them of this, and they say, ok, no worries, which others would I recommend?

So I ask them to give me a few days so I can go through the chins, and they say, sure, no rush.

You can see where this is going, can't you?

In a few days, I've emailed them back with the chin-of-all-chins, best chin ever for their family, based on my personal opinion of chins with 14 years to back it up.  So what happens?  Oh, they found a breeder who's weaning a baby next week, and they're going to get that baby.

Let's back up a step.  I find it hard enough to judge personality of a 3-4 month old baby, because at that age they're still all bouncy bouncy bouncy, and even if they'll be a calm chin, they sure won't be at that age, so I always advise people that if they're getting a baby baby, to keep in mind that it's like getting an 8 week old puppy... it's going to be more active than not, and will calm down with age.

So.. I guess my question here... why, please explain why, all the yapping about, oh they want a nice calm chin and it has to be like this and this and this... so I go to try to find one... and then they decide on a chin that there's no way to know, at that age... if it's ANYTHING like what they wanted?  Shit, if they'd said they wanted a freshly weaned baby, I could have said hey, here's 12 of them and not wasted my time trying to find the right chin for them.

If someone could explain this, that'd be great.  Thanks.

Holds... again

I know, I know, you're all probably getting really sick of me talking about holds... but I tell you, some of these people are really trying my patience, and by the end of the year, we very well may have no holds without deposit, if this sort of thing continues.

Case in point.  Before the show last weekend (which I'll talk about in another post), I get an email from someone who's been talking with me about shipping them a chin, specifying which chin they'd like.  Naturally, it's the one chin that I was going to show, that I already had listed for sale.  Not a big deal, he was going to be for sale anyway, but kind of too bad, because I wanted to show him again.

Well anyway, we start talking about flights, and the person tells me, ok, this one flight is good.  So I mention to them, hey, I don't book flights until I at least have a deposit (but preferably have entire payment, so I don't have to chase anyone down for it, right before shipping, later), so I need them to pay for the chin and shipping.  No problem, she says the mom will call later that day.  This is Wednesday.

Thursday, I get a call from that geographic area, and I literally miss picking it up by a ring.  I call right back, no answer, so I leave a message.  I shoot a quick email to the girl and let her know that I did call the mom back and left a message.  She says the mom called back again but didn't get me, but will try again tomorrow.  My phone never rang or showed any missed calls.

Friday passes.

Saturday passes.  Well, hold up, late Saturday night I get an email about how the grandma went to the hospital so they've been busy.  Fine, I'm not a cold-hearted bitch, so while part of me wants to say, "and they couldn't take 5 minutes to call?" I understand.

Moving along.  Sunday night, I get a call from the mom, telling me about grandma, and how she needs to move money from the kid's account around, so the kid can pay for the chin with her own money.  Saying she will, for sure, have this done by Monday sometime, so if this has to delay shipping, that's fine.  As we already had flights figured out and all (which isn't just googling, mind you, I have to call up PetSafe and have a real-life-chat with one of their representatives, which usually is not quick), I asked her if she could put down a deposit, that way I could still book the flight (which was supposed to be for Wednesday mid-day).  Oh sure, she says, and she asks how much it'd be.  I told her $75, which actually is less than what I'd normally charge as a deposit, but I figured, you know, she'd get me that, I'd book the flight, and she'd pay the rest before Wednesday, when the daughter's money was moved over.  Right?  Well, she said she didn't have her wallet with her, so she would call me back in 10 minutes with her card info.

Needless to say, that didn't happen, so Monday afternoon, I called her and left a message, reminding her that I did need to at least get down a deposit for this chin, and I let her know that I did have other people asking about it (which I really do).  And really, from the day the girl specified that she wanted the chin, until that day, would have already been about 7 days, so it was time for a deposit, anyway, if she wanted the chin held any longer.  And I mean, don't get me wrong, I was perfectly nice in the message just asking her to please call me back so we could get this all settled and flight scheduled and whatnot.

It is now Tuesday evening, more than 30 hours after that phone call, and I have not heard back.  No email from the girl either.  Typical.

So, not only did I not show the chin (in case not clear -- so as to not stress him out before a flight), now these people are being flaky about wanting to get it... all while wasting over a week making me think they want the chin.  Could something be going wrong with Grandma and they be busy and/or at the hospital?  Sure!  But could they also have common courtesy and let me know?  Well of course not!  And without any explanation, even a simple, "hey, sorry, busy with Grandma, get back to you soon!" (which honestly, took me all of 5 seconds to type out), I won't hold the chin any longer.

Read The Name of the Place You Are Calling

I don't even feel like this one should need to be said... if you are looking up a place to help you with something.  Whether it's a plumber or pest removal or home repair or anything... and you search, ok, "plumbing" in google... and you get results... please, please tell me, before you immediately click on the first phone number that pops up, you at least read the URL, or the name of the website that pops up, or the company, or something.

Some clearly don't,  In fact... a LOT clearly don't.

I get a LOT of calls asking if we got in someone's poodle / doberman / rottie / etc.  It's actually easier for me to just say, "sorry, no we didn't," than to explain, we are a chinchilla rescue, we don't take in dogs.  Because I swear, if I say that... next question becomes... "well... did anyone call about bringing in a poodle / doberman / rottie / etc."  I'm honestly starting to think that people don't care where they've gotten ahold of -- if their business-of-choice (usually, animal control) is not open or not helpful to them, they will call anyplace that even remotely deals with animals, to see if they can find help.  Which.... for a lost pet, that I can sort of understand...

... but then there's the people who just simply don't read.  I got a call today, it went to voicemail, and the message left basically states, "hey please call me back, my number is xxx-xxxx, I have squirrels in the attic."  Wait, what?  I even googled "squirrel northwest Indiana," just for shits and giggles, to see if my site or phone number somehow popped up.  I went through three pages of squirrel removal links, and mine isn't on there.  I realize, there's a zillion linked pages, but surely she didn't scroll to page 20 to find my number...  So.... how did she get my number for squirrel removal?  Not sure... but wherever my website / phone number / contact info is located, if this person had taken two seconds to click on the link and actually look at what she found... she would have realized... we don't do squirrel removal (or any critter removal, for that matter).

And in case you think these are isolated incidents... about half of the calls I get are for lost dogs, whether we adopt out dogs / cats, whether we can take in dogs / cats, someone being chased by a loose dog that they're sure is going to eat their kid, and then random stuff (like the squirrel removal).  This is all the time, and I can't help but think it's because people search for something, and even if my site / contact info does pop up in search results, they don't take two seconds to look at who they're calling, before they call.

Appointments

I know I've said this before, as I feel this is one of the things I go over and over and over about... but regardless of what I tell you about what day I will be available and whatnot... we STILL are open by appointment only.

I've had a lot of people lately, where they'll inquire about an animal, and so I'll ask, ok, did they want to make an appointment to come see the animal?  Yes, they do, so they ask what my availability is.  So I'll tell them, for example, I'm available all day Tuesday, Wednesday after 4, Thursday before 2 or after 6... and so on and so forth.

You can see where this is going, can't you?  So... they don't respond back, they just show up, Wednesday after 4, or Thursday before 2, or whatever.

Maybe I need to start wording this sort of thing differently, or something, because when I say, those are the available times (which is usually followed by, "what works best for you?"), I intend it to follow, something like... they respond with when works for them, I respond back confirming whether / not the time works for me, and we have an appointment set.  Not people just showing up.

I mean... do people really do this in other settings?  If they call the doctor's office, and the nurse responds that the doctor has Monday morning appointments open... do people just show up Monday morning?  I'm starting to think they do!

Shipping and discounts

Had someone today ask about shipping, so I told them about the shipping cost.  They came back with:

😨😨 200 dollars for shipping. Can I get lower price for each chinchilla? I may buy 2 female chinchilla if the price is good enough to me

Excuse me?  They're already asking about buying a baby grey chinchilla -- mind you, the LEAST expensive baby chin that we have, and then want a discount on top of that.  Uh, let me think about that... wait... NO.

I told this person, adults are cheaper, if they're looking for cheaper chins.  What is it with people thinking that $135 is too much for a baby chin?  Last week, someone left with a chin, cage, a few months worth of needed supplies... for less than $250.  They drove 3 hours to get here, because they said, by them... the chin -- ALONE -- was $250.

And I mentioned (which I know I have a blog about), the price for shipping is something like 90-95% COST.  It's not like shipping is $20, and I pocket the rest, so much goes for the flight, and then I have to make part of the crate and then still pay Jim for the use of the crate, and get to the airport, and so on and so forth... it costs damn near close to what I charge...

Plus, mind you.... the person who wanted the discount... they have a male and want to get females to breed.  Classic backyard breeder, wants the cheapest chins ever, so they can have babies and get rich off of them.  I know, I know, you've heard me go on and on about this, time and time again, but it doesn't change -- the only way to really make money off of chins is to cut corners.  If you really buy good, pedigreed chins that have been shown, and have placed well, and you breed those, and show the offspring, and feed them quality pellets and hay, and clean the cages once a week, and so on and so forth, and devote your precious free time to doing all of this... you never make money.  If you do absolutely awesome at show, and everyone wants to buy your chins, you might, and I mean might, break even.  But not this person, this person wants cheap, young chins, OH, and note, they'll buy TWO if I get them a good enough price.  Sorry, this isn't a garage sale.

Busy Busy Busy

So... as many of you know, I work for Jim and that takes me away from the house several days per week.  This week, for example... I left Sunday night to go to Jim's and came back on Tuesday late night.  Then, I was home Wednesday and Thursday, and left immediately after my dog class on Thursday to head to Texas with Jim.  It is currently about 6:30 pm on Sunday, and I just got home.

Now, I'm not mentioning this because I want you to feel sorry that I'm busy or what not, but I do want people to understand that I have more going on in my life than just sitting here and making houses, or toys, or whatever.  If I could devote 24/7 to that, sure, that'd be great, but there's also chins to care for, phone calls to return, and so on and so forth.

If I get a webstore order and I know I will be gone for a few days, I will often email and let that person know, hey, I'm leaving tomorrow and won't be back until a certain day, and I will even ask, is that ok with them, or would they rather have a refund, or...?  Because I want my customers to be happy and satisfied.

So I had one customer who ordered a custom item.  I hadn't even had a chance to cut the item, due to (not only) being gone for 5 days this week, but also because.... I have other orders ahead of that person's.  She had emailed me a bit after the order was submitted, asking about the status of it.  I responded, telling her what I said above, about how I'd be in Texas and how I could build it send it out right away when I got back (Monday, as in tomorrow), or if she'd rather have the refund, I could do that.  So the emailed ended, with me asking what she wanted to do.

I didn't hear back for a few days, so I re-sent that email.  Still nothing,  Fast forward to when I'm in Texas and I check my email to find out that I had a paypal dispute opened, for a non-received item.  In the dispute, it was mentioned that this person never heard back from me, and because of that, they opened the dispute.  I try to think positive, so in my response to her dispute, I posted about the same as what I said in the email... it wasn't that I wasn't getting back to her... heck, I could post screenshots of the email... but that I assumed she must not have been receiving them (sometimes me emails go to the junk folders for some people) because I hadn't heard back.  So I asked if she'd rather have the item or get the refund.  She wanted the refund, so I refunded the order.  That in itself is not a big deal. I acknowledge that we live in a world where everyone has Amazon Prime and can get their order in 2 days with free shipping -- and so many people think that applies to just about anything out there.  Not saying that this is necessarily what happened here, but I  understand that that's how some people are, and that's why I do my best to get my items sent out as quickly as possible.

One last thing -- when you do order from the webstore, please keep in mind that I do have other customers as well.  To be fair to all, I try to do the orders in the order in which they are received.  I may start on another order, if parts of the first order have to dry for 24 hours, or so, but if the orders are smaller and can all be put together in one sitting, then I go in order.  That way, no orders get priority over others (well, except food, I try to send out food ASAP) and no one feels like their order is being pushed to the back of the line.  That is all.

Hours

I'm sure I've said it before... but in case a few of you all missed it... we don't have set hours.

We do everything by appointment, and are happy to work around your schedule, but don't have hours.

Had someone the other day, who asked if we were open on the one certain day.  I told her... I would likely be here, but she'd need to set an appointment.  I explained, reason being, we don't have hours because there's not that many "walk-ins."  People actually travel quite some distances to come here and adopt, and get supplies.  And honestly... half the people who could come here to purchase stuff... ship it. I guarantee you, probably 50% of packages I send out are to Indiana / Illinois, and a good amount of that 50% are going to addresses within an hour of here.  Which is fine, don't get me wrong, I'm happy to mail the stuff out.  However... if the people that close would rather ship... having hours would leave me sitting in the house, hours on end, waiting for people to show up.  Maybe people would, maybe people wouldn't... but honestly, I hate to restrict myself to sitting home for 8 hours a day.  Not necessarily because I go anywhere... because some weeks I don't go anywhere for days at a time... but because the second that I say, ok, I'm open on Tuesdays from 9-4... I will have a chin that needs to be rushed to the vet on Tuesday at 10, and with those hours... I shouldn't leave (and no, there's no one else here to take over)...and that's the sort of thing I worry about.  So.... the hours have never happened, with the exception of having vague hours on Black Friday.

I actually thought (stupidly, I suppose) that after I gave this person a short explanation, that she would understand and would set an appointment.  Nope, she just said she thought that since I had items for sale, that I would have set hours (even though I was out of the house, which she knew), and thanks anyway.

Which is fine, don't get me wrong.... but I can't please everyone.  It would never fail that if I had hours, and had a day off... that's the day everyone would want to come.  And days that I had hours, no one would be free those days.  Which is why I do appointments -- it's rare that I'm not here, and taking appointments, most days of the week, and I'm happy to work around your schedule.  But hours... probably not gonna happen anytime soon.  Sorry about that...

Location, location, location

So... a quick post on the importance of location.  More importantly... looking up the location of the place you are trying to purchase something from.

I got an email the other day, saying this person wanted a baby chin, and asked if I had any available.  I told them, yes, quite a few, and asked what they were looking for.  They responded that they were not particular about sex or color, but they wanted one 3 months to 1 year old, and wanted to see pictures.  He specified where he lived, but I did not recognize the city, as being from a specific area / state (at least, not around here).

So, I responded back with pictures and a small amount of info on 8 chinchillas that fit what this person said they were looking for.  I told him, I didn't know where the city was, but that we were in Hammond, IN, and I was letting him know in case he wanted to plan out the trip.

The response back:

I really want to choose one from you, however, i am in Canada and it's so far between us. Sorry for bothering you.

People... is it THAT hard to look up location?  Let me answer that for you... no.  All of my ads that are on external sites (read: not my website) specifically state: this chinchilla is located in Hammond, IN 46324.  On my website, on the first page that opens, it says, right near the top:

Welcome to NWI Chinchillas!  We are a small hobby breeder of chinchillas located in Northwest Indiana -- specifically, Hammond, Indiana.  

Again...it's right freaking there.  I try to make it easy for you all!  I'm not sure if people don't read, or what, but I tell you, if that guy had taken 2 minutes to look up where I am... he could have saved himself multiple emails, and myself sending pics and info of 8 chins...

So... in case you missed it, and to further wrap up: we are located in Hammond, IN.  Hammond is a suburb of Chicago, and it takes us about 30 minutes to get downtown from the house.  If you are far, far, away, please consider where we are located, as compared to where you are located... and if the drive is too far... we understand.  It's all good!  But please, look it up ahead of time.  Thank you!  

Emails / Time Spent

Just wanted to mention something really quick, since this comes up, now and then.  I get a lot, and I mean, A LOT of emails.

Yesterday, for example, I sat down in the morning, and spent three hours answering emails (just from the day before).

Here's what sometimes happens.  Let's say you emailed me at in the morning.  In the afternoon, let's say I check my email, and your email is one of the first in my inbox.  I read it, reply, and move on.  I usually go through all my emails (though sometimes I'll leave one for later if I need to snap a pic or something) and reply, before I'll look at new emails coming in.  So, if I email you back, and you see it, and immediately email me back... it may still be hours, as I get through everyone else's email, before I see your reply to my earlier email.

That doesn't mean I'm not responding to you, or ignoring you.  If you're asking about coming that same day, I may very well check to see if I've received a response.  Like the other day, I had someone wanting to drop off a guinea pig, and they knew it had to be between the time they got off work and 6:30 pm, and and so I kept watching my email and phone for confirmation that they really were coming by.  But in general... if it's your average email.... I'll go through them in order, before I get back to yours.

Even as I sit here... I replied to a few emails... now as I look.. I have new emails -- an adoption form, a question about one of our chins, a request that two be paired together and I let this person know how they do... and so on.  I actually had someone ask me, last week, was there any faster method of communication I could use other than email?  Mind you, I replied within an hour or two to his initial email and subsequent emails.  But... apparently not quick enough.

I guess the point is, I don't want anyone to think that I don't care about you all -- my customers, my adopters, chin-people, the small animal / small exotic community in general -- but sometimes I wish you could all be in my shoes for a day.  See what work really goes into all of this.  See how much time the emails really take, and how long feeding / watering takes, and making / mailing out orders, and so on.  I think some people would be surprised.  And it's not that I'm ignoring you, but there's only one me.  So, your patience is very much appreciated.  Thank you.

Boredom & Enrichment, part 2

Speaking of variety... we like to add enrichment to the chin's lives, when possible.

Many of our smaller cages have hay cube holders, which are basically a metal square tube that hay cubes can be put in the top, and slide down, sort of like a hopper feeder... but for hay cubes.  When we have volunteers, one of their never-ending tasks is to refill the hay cube holders.  The chins can't actually pull the cubes out of these holders, but can chew on them, while in the holder.  This reduces waste and reduces the chins peeing on the hay cubes and them getting thrown out with the dirty bedding (though, the cages without these holders do get hay cubes thrown in, regardless).

We also give toilet paper tubes.  My parents (thanks Mom and Dad!) save me their toilet paper and paper towel roll tubes, and these go to the chins.  The paper towel rolls get cut into three pieces, so even more use out of those.  For the chins under a year, we further cut them down the long side, to ensure no chins get stuck.  I usually save up the toilet paper tubes until I have enough to give every chin one, and then when volunteers come, they get to dole them out.  There is nothing cuter than the sound of 150 little mouths crunching and chewing on the toilet paper tubes.

Speaking of, if you ever wanted to help out / donate, but can't afford to... save toilet paper tubes for us.  If you bring them to us, it's free to help, and even if you ship them... you can flatten them down and mail them flat, and it won't cost you much at all.

Occasionally, if we really have a lot of help and are really caught up (ha! not lately... but once in like 10 blue moons), we'll do what we call "hay rolls."  A hay roll is a toilet paper tube stuffed with hay, so that the hay sticks out both ends.  So, again, we'll make up enough of these to give one to each chin and they get to eat, plus play, so double enrichment.  Double yay.

I've also seen people crumple up printer paper... like so...

...real simple for those kids that want to make chin toys...and give that to the chins.  It's light enough that they can carry it around, play with it, and chew it, and it won't hurt them.

Of course, they can also have playtime, or time where they interact with their people.

I've even heard of some people mixing in herbs with their chin's hay, to make what would be called a foraging mix.  The chins basically dig through the hay for the herbs.  Actually, we've even done this before with the toilet paper tubes... we've stuffed hay and herbs inside, and closed the ends (just folded them in).  The idea being, the chin can smell the hay and herbs, and the more they play and tug on the cardboard roll, the more they're going to get out, which will encourage them to keep going at it.

The point is, all of this adds some variety to a chin's life.  Their life is made up of eating, pooing (that's a big part, come on), sleeping, chewing, and taking dust baths... so we like to add a little bit of variety to the mix.  This stuff may seem minor, but it can be the little things that keep our furry family members amused and happy.  

Boredom & Enrichment, part 1

We often have people comment on how nice our cages look with the wooden shelves and hammocks and other accessories.  Partially, of course, that's to make the chins (or whatever animal is in it) feel at home.  If they're here for quite some time, we don't want them to stress out, and we want them to feel as close to as if they were in someone's home, being cared for well.  But it's also for their mental stimulation and to reduce boredom.

Our larger cages have wheels.  Some have chin spins, others have flying saucers.  If there's room for a house, there's probably a house in the cage.  If there's only room for a hammock, then there's a hammock in the cage.  

One thing that's in every cage is a chew toy... at least one, usually multiple, bordering on overkill.  I'm personally always amazed when someone gets a large cage like a ferret nation or critter nation cage (which, for those that don't know, are 3' wide, 2' deep, and about 5' high) and put ONE chew toy in the entire cage.  I guess, to me, it's boring.  But more importantly, it's not stimulating.  

Part of the fun in decorating the large cages, in my opinion, is getting to put in different play things.  Different textures.  Take this cage for example:

This was a pic from years ago, but most of those items are still in there, and it looks pretty much the same, albeit a bit more chewed now.  There's the wood from the shelves, which is solid, and one texture.  There's the dowels which make up the bridge, which move when the chin runs on it.  There's the double hammock which is soft and fluffy.  There's a wood perch in the back right corner, which is another texture.  There's the fleece tube which surrounds the chins and makes them feel safe.  There's the hollowed-out-log in the top left, which is yet another texture and another hiding spot (for smaller chins).  Now, there's also a flying saucer in the spot where the house is, so the metal from that is yet another texture.  There's the fleece liner and fleece bed for the chins, also soft, but firmer soft, as they are against the metal pan.  For chew toys... there's plain wood, there's loofah, I even spot some antler on some of those chew toys.  Variety.

The reason this is important is because it's a form of enrichment.  Especially for some chins that we get in, that have been kept in a glass aquarium their entire lives, it's neat to see them check out a hammock.  They're surprised when it moves, and aren't sure what to make of it.  Same with that bridge... it's solid... but it moves... they're not sure what to do... but they figure it out.

For practical purposes, these different textures also help develop callouses on their feet, which are necessary for life.  You don't want the entire cage too soft, or these won't develop.  

Same goes for the chew toys, we don't want them to be bored.  So, instead of them being all wood, we add in ones with pumice, or sometimes even loofah or other chin-safe munchies that we may have.  Since we have our wood shop, pine wood is often the go-to toy part for us, but we'll add on other fun stuff from time to time, as it's useful for the chins to have different textures to munch on.  Some like the softer wood, some prefer the harder.  Some won't touch pumice, some love the loofah.  Others just like the plain wood.  We like to provide a variety, so they can pick and choose, and not be stuck to one toy, which they may or may not like.

If you look back at the picture, you can actually spot 6 chew toys (or at least I can, but I know where they are).  There's also quite a few, so the chin doesn't have to be in the same area of the cage all the time to chew.  What if you put the chew toy in the front corner, but the chin doesn't like that corner?  Some chins are more shy than others, so we scatter them around the cage, for variety.  

Of course, they do chew on the shelves, bridges, and what not... that's why those items are wood as well... but the chew toys can add more variety.

Continued tomorrow... 

Supplies

Hi all.  Just wanted to do a real quick post today.

I had someone send me a message the other day, asking if they could come by for pellets and hay.  I told them, sure.  They got here, got a few pounds of each.  I can't remember now, exactly what it was they had said, when asking if they could come over, but I asked why they had thought maybe they couldn't come for supplies....  they said, they thought that to get supplies from me, they had to have adopted one of my animals.

Nope.

Anyone can come get supplies.  Most people who order online, I've never met.

Don't get me wrong, a good amount of the online orders that are flat rate Mazuri / Tradition are people who got chins and now don't want to make the drive back for food, so they ship it.  But... plenty of those people are ones that I don't know and have never met.  The grand majority of my orders for supplies, like houses or toys or whatever, I've never met.  Even the people who repeat order, I've never met most of them.

So the point is, anyone can order supplies online, and anyone can come by and purchase supplies.  We do everything by appointment, so you'll have to set an appointment (or call / text and ask if you can come at a certain time), but open to anyone.  :D

Kids Calling

I have nothing against kids.  I really don't.

But... my one pet peeve is when kids call.  Little kids.

I understand, some parents want their kids to be independent and to do things for themselves... but I find about nothing more testing of my patience than when a 5 year old calls me and I'm trying to explain chinchilla adoption to them, and they parrot everything to the parent, who is undoubtedly sitting next to them on the phone.  So then, mommy says "tell her this" and the kid parrots it back to me, and then my response gets parroted back to mom.  Same with appointment times.  Back and forth and back and forth and then it turns into chinese telephone (remember that game?), because sometimes what I said is not what gets parroted, and sometimes what mom says is not what the kid says back to me.  So there's room for misunderstanding, even.

I know I cannot be the only person who finds this to be aggravating.

If you bring your kids to the adoption, I'm perfectly happy to show them how to hold the animals, to answer their questions, and to listen to the stories they tell me about their 26 goldfish and 6 cats.  More than happy.

But please, do not have them call me on the phone and try to ask how adoptions work or set up an appointment, while you listen on the side and tell them what to say and how to respond.  If you wouldn't do that when scheduling a doctor's appointment, please don't do it here.  There's plenty of opportunities in life to teach your kid how to talk to someone on their phone (their friends or relatives comes to mind), but my patience just isn't up for it.... (not like I'm going to hang up on them, but I may ask that they put mommy on the phone).  I'd like more hours in the day, but until that's magically granted to me... I'd much rather talk to you (the parent).  Thank you.