Wanted to share with you all. We had someone last week who submitted an order on our webstore for a house, chinny mobile, and a few more little things. Shortly after receiving the order, I received an email from them. Often, if I get an email following an order, it's due to the wrong shipping address being on the order or whatnot, but this was different.
This person had noticed where it says on our webtore about how shipping prices are impossible to calculate ahead of time, and that we refund excess shipping costs when the order ships. She had emailed to say that any shipping overages for her order, we could keep as a donation. How nice!
I finished her order and it went out the other day, but I hadn't processed the paperwork for it until today. When I did it today, it turned out that the excess shipping (which would have been refunded back) was a whopping $28! Thanks to Amy L. for her donation!
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Communication After Adoption
So, when people adopt, and I'm caught up on paperwork (ha.. hahahahahahahahahaha), I try to send out emails / texts to people asking if everything's going alright, if they have any questions, and so on, maybe a week or two after adoption.
Since I'm so far behind in paperwork (though catching up!), I haven't gotten to that lately, but occasionally, people will text with questions / concerns / etc.
For example, we had a pair of baby guinea pigs that were adopted out. Long story short (without going into it, I know *gasp* I'm going to by-pass telling a story within a story), they were returned a few days later due to not getting along with the lady's current guinea pig. When they were returned, the lady returning them wanted to point out some gunk that had gotten into the one's fur. I mention this, because she wasn't clear about which one had gunk in it's fur, so I closely looked both guinea pigs completely over. They went into a clean cage, and had a potential adopter within a day or so. She came to look at them, and she and her husband and two kids both held and cuddled the guinea pigs for quite some time. She asked about the health guarantee and I explained it (simply, the pet dies, without it being the new owner's fault, in the first 7 days, we replace). I asked if there was a reason she was asking, nope, just curious. She put down a deposit, came back a few days later to adopt the guinea pigs. Again, held for some time, didn't notice anything odd (nor did I).
Few hours later, I get a text that the guinea pig has some sort of mites or bugs or something. She wanted to know what they were. She said they were little white bugs, and I've only seen black / red mites / fleas, etc. I told her, white bugs, that I dunno, but I explained to give him a bath with blue Dawn dish soap, let it sit on him while lathered up for 5 mins, and then rinse and it should be good. I explained that while I didn't know what the bugs were, that's a common treatment for dogs with fleas, rabbits with mites, etc etc, so there was no reason it shouldn't work, regardless of the type of bug.
I checked the cages here that the guinea pigs were in, couldn't find one bug or anything amiss. Cleaned and completely sterilized the cages just in case. Checked all the other guinea pigs here, none had any bugs or anything. Treated them all with ivermectin as a preventative, anyway. Ivermectin will kill lice, mites, and other small parasitic bugs on animals, so regardless of the type of bug, we should be good. I have also since checked the pigs, and no bugs.
I googled white small bugs, and it turns out, they may have been lice (that's something you now know, lice tend to be a light greyish color). Turns out, lice are species specific. That means, if you have lice, it is human lice. Versus if your guinea pig has lice, they are guinea pig lice. Or if your dog has lice, they are dog lice. These different types of lice cannot go to different species, so your dog's lice cannot become guinea pig lice.
If I had to make an educated guess about all of this, this would be my take -- since I did not find lice (or whatever bugs) on any of my guinea pigs or in their cages, and lice need to be on a living organism to survive due to needing to eat / reproduce (and can't live longer than 24 hours without a host... they didn't come in on shavings or something like that)... my guess would be that the first adopter (who returned the pigs when they didn't get along with hers) may have had lice on her guinea pig, which then laid lice eggs on these guinea pigs... and the timing may have been just right for the new eggs to have hatched, and lice to appear when they went to their new home. That's my guess anyway. Anyway, on the whole communication point of this post...
Next day, I send this person a message, asking how the bath went and how the guinea pig is doing. This was about a week or so ago now, and I have never heard back. This is actually pretty typical. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect all adopters to become my best friend after adoption, but even when I do send out the emails / texts that ask if the person has questions / concerns, I only maybe receive responses from 10-25% of people. That's it.
Do people really want to adopt and be completely done with where they got the animal from? I mean, maybe so, I guess I'm different in that I would like to keep in touch, if possible. I'd like to share updates on how the animal is doing, and ask questions if needed. But I'm personally amazed how few people will even answer a simple message or email...and I know their email / messages are working, since they used those to contact me not long ago prior to that!
When I reach out after an adoption, I'm only trying to be helpful. If someone does have a question, I really would like to answer it and help out, and make sure they have the correct answer to their question, not just the most popular one found by google. In the case of the guinea pigs, I still wonder how he's doing. I would assume they gave the bath and the guinea pigs are doing fine, mainly because... since the lady mentioned the health guarantee, I feel like I would have been contacted, had the guinea pig died or something (though that would be quite the extreme response to lice). So, I assume the guinea pig is doing well, but unfortunately, the adopter didn't take the time to message me back... so I don't know. And I actually do care about the animals, so it's actually upsetting that she didn't respond. I just wish people would think about this sort of thing when they wouldn't respond... because here it is quite a bit of time later... and I'm still thinking about that guinea pig.
Since I'm so far behind in paperwork (though catching up!), I haven't gotten to that lately, but occasionally, people will text with questions / concerns / etc.
For example, we had a pair of baby guinea pigs that were adopted out. Long story short (without going into it, I know *gasp* I'm going to by-pass telling a story within a story), they were returned a few days later due to not getting along with the lady's current guinea pig. When they were returned, the lady returning them wanted to point out some gunk that had gotten into the one's fur. I mention this, because she wasn't clear about which one had gunk in it's fur, so I closely looked both guinea pigs completely over. They went into a clean cage, and had a potential adopter within a day or so. She came to look at them, and she and her husband and two kids both held and cuddled the guinea pigs for quite some time. She asked about the health guarantee and I explained it (simply, the pet dies, without it being the new owner's fault, in the first 7 days, we replace). I asked if there was a reason she was asking, nope, just curious. She put down a deposit, came back a few days later to adopt the guinea pigs. Again, held for some time, didn't notice anything odd (nor did I).
Few hours later, I get a text that the guinea pig has some sort of mites or bugs or something. She wanted to know what they were. She said they were little white bugs, and I've only seen black / red mites / fleas, etc. I told her, white bugs, that I dunno, but I explained to give him a bath with blue Dawn dish soap, let it sit on him while lathered up for 5 mins, and then rinse and it should be good. I explained that while I didn't know what the bugs were, that's a common treatment for dogs with fleas, rabbits with mites, etc etc, so there was no reason it shouldn't work, regardless of the type of bug.
I checked the cages here that the guinea pigs were in, couldn't find one bug or anything amiss. Cleaned and completely sterilized the cages just in case. Checked all the other guinea pigs here, none had any bugs or anything. Treated them all with ivermectin as a preventative, anyway. Ivermectin will kill lice, mites, and other small parasitic bugs on animals, so regardless of the type of bug, we should be good. I have also since checked the pigs, and no bugs.
I googled white small bugs, and it turns out, they may have been lice (that's something you now know, lice tend to be a light greyish color). Turns out, lice are species specific. That means, if you have lice, it is human lice. Versus if your guinea pig has lice, they are guinea pig lice. Or if your dog has lice, they are dog lice. These different types of lice cannot go to different species, so your dog's lice cannot become guinea pig lice.
If I had to make an educated guess about all of this, this would be my take -- since I did not find lice (or whatever bugs) on any of my guinea pigs or in their cages, and lice need to be on a living organism to survive due to needing to eat / reproduce (and can't live longer than 24 hours without a host... they didn't come in on shavings or something like that)... my guess would be that the first adopter (who returned the pigs when they didn't get along with hers) may have had lice on her guinea pig, which then laid lice eggs on these guinea pigs... and the timing may have been just right for the new eggs to have hatched, and lice to appear when they went to their new home. That's my guess anyway. Anyway, on the whole communication point of this post...
Next day, I send this person a message, asking how the bath went and how the guinea pig is doing. This was about a week or so ago now, and I have never heard back. This is actually pretty typical. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect all adopters to become my best friend after adoption, but even when I do send out the emails / texts that ask if the person has questions / concerns, I only maybe receive responses from 10-25% of people. That's it.
Do people really want to adopt and be completely done with where they got the animal from? I mean, maybe so, I guess I'm different in that I would like to keep in touch, if possible. I'd like to share updates on how the animal is doing, and ask questions if needed. But I'm personally amazed how few people will even answer a simple message or email...and I know their email / messages are working, since they used those to contact me not long ago prior to that!
When I reach out after an adoption, I'm only trying to be helpful. If someone does have a question, I really would like to answer it and help out, and make sure they have the correct answer to their question, not just the most popular one found by google. In the case of the guinea pigs, I still wonder how he's doing. I would assume they gave the bath and the guinea pigs are doing fine, mainly because... since the lady mentioned the health guarantee, I feel like I would have been contacted, had the guinea pig died or something (though that would be quite the extreme response to lice). So, I assume the guinea pig is doing well, but unfortunately, the adopter didn't take the time to message me back... so I don't know. And I actually do care about the animals, so it's actually upsetting that she didn't respond. I just wish people would think about this sort of thing when they wouldn't respond... because here it is quite a bit of time later... and I'm still thinking about that guinea pig.
Friday, September 21, 2018
Spaying / Neutering to Prevent Unwanted Litters
So, I normally read this sort of thing on the dog facebook pages that I belong to, about spaying early to prevent unwanted litters. But then I've noticed, more frequently, people are asking this about chins.
Now, some people choose to only have one gender. All males or all females. In that case, it is literally impossible for there to be an oops litter, because the right parts can't possibly match up. So, no oops litters there.
There are also people who choose to have some males and some females, without the intention of breeding. Just turns out, they like the looks or personality of this one chin, and it happens to be a male, and then later, they like the looks and personality of this other chin, and it happens to be a female. So, they have two separate cages and separate playtimes and all. No breeding intentions.
Here's where it gets interesting sometimes. Often those people, who don't want to breed, ask about getting one or both of the chins spayed or neutered. I usually would then ask, are they wanting to house them together (as a reason for doing the surgery). No, they just want to prevent unintentional litters.
I'm starting to think maybe people aren't sure how litters come about? As long as the chins are kept apart, in separate cages, separate play times, no together-time... there's actually no way for babies to happen. I've actually asked people, are the cages close together (as in, close enough to breed through the bars)? Half the times, they're across the room from each other, or even in separate rooms (like, one in each kid's room). Ok, so they couldn't breed through the cages if the cages aren't next to each other. Then I ask, joint play times? Or, is that the goal (when one is fixed)? No, they don't think the chins would get along, so they don't want to let them out together.
Ok, so... maybe someone can explain this to me. How are these chins supposed to magically breed, creating an oops litter, which spaying / neutering is going to prevent?
I honestly feel the same about the posts in the dog groups. I just read a post in one of the dog facebook groups, where someone asked, what age is appropriate to spay a female. Some people said 6 months, some said wait until the dog is older. Then one person said, as young as possible, to prevent unwanted litters. Now, I didn't respond because I didn't want to get into it, but... if you're not letting your dog run loose, unsupervised... no unwanted litters. Alternatively, if you don't nave an opposite-sex un-fixed dog in the house that the female will be around when she's in heat... no unwanted litters. Is this sort of thing that difficult to comprehend? Maybe it's just me.
Now, some people choose to only have one gender. All males or all females. In that case, it is literally impossible for there to be an oops litter, because the right parts can't possibly match up. So, no oops litters there.
There are also people who choose to have some males and some females, without the intention of breeding. Just turns out, they like the looks or personality of this one chin, and it happens to be a male, and then later, they like the looks and personality of this other chin, and it happens to be a female. So, they have two separate cages and separate playtimes and all. No breeding intentions.
Here's where it gets interesting sometimes. Often those people, who don't want to breed, ask about getting one or both of the chins spayed or neutered. I usually would then ask, are they wanting to house them together (as a reason for doing the surgery). No, they just want to prevent unintentional litters.
I'm starting to think maybe people aren't sure how litters come about? As long as the chins are kept apart, in separate cages, separate play times, no together-time... there's actually no way for babies to happen. I've actually asked people, are the cages close together (as in, close enough to breed through the bars)? Half the times, they're across the room from each other, or even in separate rooms (like, one in each kid's room). Ok, so they couldn't breed through the cages if the cages aren't next to each other. Then I ask, joint play times? Or, is that the goal (when one is fixed)? No, they don't think the chins would get along, so they don't want to let them out together.
Ok, so... maybe someone can explain this to me. How are these chins supposed to magically breed, creating an oops litter, which spaying / neutering is going to prevent?
I honestly feel the same about the posts in the dog groups. I just read a post in one of the dog facebook groups, where someone asked, what age is appropriate to spay a female. Some people said 6 months, some said wait until the dog is older. Then one person said, as young as possible, to prevent unwanted litters. Now, I didn't respond because I didn't want to get into it, but... if you're not letting your dog run loose, unsupervised... no unwanted litters. Alternatively, if you don't nave an opposite-sex un-fixed dog in the house that the female will be around when she's in heat... no unwanted litters. Is this sort of thing that difficult to comprehend? Maybe it's just me.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Feeding Pellets
So, this has come up a few times lately, so I wanted to touch on this, as a bit of an educational post, as a nice break from me talking about what goes on here all the time.
For a lot of animals, we limit their food. Think about it. Dogs often get a meal or two a day, portion controlled. My older dog Kailey is free fed, because she picks at her food. Misty... well, she's currently being free-fed because of the pups, but normally Misty and Sky are on about 3/4 cup per day of kibble, plus all the pooches get some canned food.
With rabbits and guinea pigs, you often hear of limiting the pellets, as they should eat more hay and greens. Obviously, this is different with chins, because they don't eat the greens. However, people often look at how rabbits and guinea pigs have their pellets restricted in favor of their other foods, and think it should be the same with chinchillas.
For chinchillas, the thing you seem to read about, the magic number, as it were, seems to be 2 tablespoons. Where that magic amount came from, I don't know. They may very well eat that much... but they also may eat more or less. They're all tiny little furry individuals. Just like people, some are pigs, some are skinnier. Some are couch potatoes, some are marathon runners.
The thing is, there's no magic amount. At least, not for chinchillas. The super convenient thing is, chinchillas won't overeat! Of course, if you give them a food chock full of treats and goodies, they're going to pig out on that, but if you give them a healthy pellet-only (as in, no extra goodies mixed into the pellets) diet, like Tradition / Oxbow / Mazuri / Nutrena / Manna Pro / etc etc etc... they will not overeat.
So, there is no need to restrict your chinchilla's pellets. No need to portion control. Just fill up the bowl, and refill when it's getting low. Simple as that. Now you know. :)
For a lot of animals, we limit their food. Think about it. Dogs often get a meal or two a day, portion controlled. My older dog Kailey is free fed, because she picks at her food. Misty... well, she's currently being free-fed because of the pups, but normally Misty and Sky are on about 3/4 cup per day of kibble, plus all the pooches get some canned food.
With rabbits and guinea pigs, you often hear of limiting the pellets, as they should eat more hay and greens. Obviously, this is different with chins, because they don't eat the greens. However, people often look at how rabbits and guinea pigs have their pellets restricted in favor of their other foods, and think it should be the same with chinchillas.
For chinchillas, the thing you seem to read about, the magic number, as it were, seems to be 2 tablespoons. Where that magic amount came from, I don't know. They may very well eat that much... but they also may eat more or less. They're all tiny little furry individuals. Just like people, some are pigs, some are skinnier. Some are couch potatoes, some are marathon runners.
The thing is, there's no magic amount. At least, not for chinchillas. The super convenient thing is, chinchillas won't overeat! Of course, if you give them a food chock full of treats and goodies, they're going to pig out on that, but if you give them a healthy pellet-only (as in, no extra goodies mixed into the pellets) diet, like Tradition / Oxbow / Mazuri / Nutrena / Manna Pro / etc etc etc... they will not overeat.
So, there is no need to restrict your chinchilla's pellets. No need to portion control. Just fill up the bowl, and refill when it's getting low. Simple as that. Now you know. :)
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Making Appointments
I guess I thought this was more or less common sense, but this week has shown me that's not the case.
Let me ask you a question. Let's say we're talking about possible appointments, and I tell respond with this:
And I end the message asking when works?
Now, here's the question. If you respond back and pick a time... do you, or do you not, wait for a confirmation before you just show up?
For me, personally, if I got an email like that, I would likely respond, how about Wednesday at 3? And then I would wait for a response, that would basically tell me, yes that will work, or no that will no work. I suppose maybe the reason I think this way is because I understand that these appointments / availability may fill up / change by the time I respond.
I have come to learn that many people (several in the last few days in fact), just pick a time and show up. In fact, I had one email back and say, ok this time works... I never saw that email... so then the sent another that said, oh could I come at this other time instead? Never saw that email either, as it was a busy weekend. So, they just showed up at the time they specified in the second email. I wasn't home.
Now, this is another one of those things I suppose you can take multiple ways. Should I stay so on top of my email that I get nothing else done? Maybe you think so, maybe you don't. Of course, I do my best, but like this past weekend, we had two expos, one on each day, and that puts everything else on hold for a moment as there's a lot of prep, packing, and set up time.
I suppose another consideration, something else you might view two ways... I said I was available at that time. Did that mean, because I said that, even without knowing someone wanted to come... should I have stayed home? My view on that, personally, is that without knowing I have someone coming (which is why I set appointments as opposed to having hours of operation), I am not required to be here. I set appointments so I know when people are coming, and they can ensure that when they come, I will be here. Mutual benefit. They don't waste a trip when no one's home, and I don't sit around waiting for people who I don't know are possibly coming.
For those curious -- they ended up calling me from my doorstep, and came by later that evening when I was home. No big deal.
The reason I mention this though, is because I find this insanely important as far as appointments. Let me repeat what I said earlier, again. I make them, to ensure I will be home when someone wants to come by. I know that I have an appointment at 5, I will be sure to be home by / before 5 pm. If I have no appointments set for all day and someone shows up... I may be home... but I may not. It depends on the day. But just because I give a list of available times that are possible (keyword: possible) for appointments, that doesn't necessarily mean I will just be sitting home at all of those times, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for people. Rather, they as possibilities. If you would like to come at one of those times, you need to ask, does a certain time work, and I will confirm, yes it does, or no it doesn't. Most likely, unless someone already has an appointment at that time, I do my best to work around people's schedules, so it's not hard to make an appointment. Just... one does need to be made... and confirmed. That is all.
Let me ask you a question. Let's say we're talking about possible appointments, and I tell respond with this:
Friday (today) -- 7 pm or later
Saturday -- 6 or 6:30 pm or 8:15 pm
Sunday -- sorry no availability
Monday -- Available 12:30 and later
Tuesday -- not sure yet
Wednesday -- available all day
Thursday -- available earlier than 12 noon
And I end the message asking when works?
Now, here's the question. If you respond back and pick a time... do you, or do you not, wait for a confirmation before you just show up?
For me, personally, if I got an email like that, I would likely respond, how about Wednesday at 3? And then I would wait for a response, that would basically tell me, yes that will work, or no that will no work. I suppose maybe the reason I think this way is because I understand that these appointments / availability may fill up / change by the time I respond.
I have come to learn that many people (several in the last few days in fact), just pick a time and show up. In fact, I had one email back and say, ok this time works... I never saw that email... so then the sent another that said, oh could I come at this other time instead? Never saw that email either, as it was a busy weekend. So, they just showed up at the time they specified in the second email. I wasn't home.
Now, this is another one of those things I suppose you can take multiple ways. Should I stay so on top of my email that I get nothing else done? Maybe you think so, maybe you don't. Of course, I do my best, but like this past weekend, we had two expos, one on each day, and that puts everything else on hold for a moment as there's a lot of prep, packing, and set up time.
I suppose another consideration, something else you might view two ways... I said I was available at that time. Did that mean, because I said that, even without knowing someone wanted to come... should I have stayed home? My view on that, personally, is that without knowing I have someone coming (which is why I set appointments as opposed to having hours of operation), I am not required to be here. I set appointments so I know when people are coming, and they can ensure that when they come, I will be here. Mutual benefit. They don't waste a trip when no one's home, and I don't sit around waiting for people who I don't know are possibly coming.
For those curious -- they ended up calling me from my doorstep, and came by later that evening when I was home. No big deal.
The reason I mention this though, is because I find this insanely important as far as appointments. Let me repeat what I said earlier, again. I make them, to ensure I will be home when someone wants to come by. I know that I have an appointment at 5, I will be sure to be home by / before 5 pm. If I have no appointments set for all day and someone shows up... I may be home... but I may not. It depends on the day. But just because I give a list of available times that are possible (keyword: possible) for appointments, that doesn't necessarily mean I will just be sitting home at all of those times, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for people. Rather, they as possibilities. If you would like to come at one of those times, you need to ask, does a certain time work, and I will confirm, yes it does, or no it doesn't. Most likely, unless someone already has an appointment at that time, I do my best to work around people's schedules, so it's not hard to make an appointment. Just... one does need to be made... and confirmed. That is all.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
"I Can Pick Up Today" & Other "Offers" With Lower Prices
Let me share with you a short convo I had with someone the other day:
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Them: How much total for Duke?
Me: His adoption fee is $100.
Them: Possible to be any lower? $50. I'm coming way from Waukegan
Me: Sorry no
Them: I could pick up today if $50 but ok
Me: That makes absolutely no difference. This is a chinchilla rescue not a flea market. I'm not dying to sell them as quickly as possible to the lowest bidder, sorry
----------------------------------------------------
Let me make it very clear. I don't freaking care if you can pick up in 5 minutes. My prices are my prices. ESPECIALLY on the cheaper chins. If I have one for $600 and you offer me $550, we may discuss it. You offer me HALF on a $100 chinchilla? Oh hell no. I don't care if you can teleport to my house right now to get it. Nope, no how, no way.
Do these people go to Walmart and haggle? Hell no!!! So why do they do it here? Oh it's a small business. Guess it's ok for Walmart to make money, but not for the small business, that, you know, actually cares about it's customers? Oh heavens no. Pardon the small business from making any money, but the billioniare corporation, oh we can't question their prices!!!
People like this, I honestly want to tell them where they can shove their money.
It gets old, really old, when people constantly question how cheap they can get everything. Since I have a lot of chins, I should just hand them out like Halloween candy, eh? I think not.
Now, I'm sure some of you out there are like, hey, how do you know these people aren't good homes and just want to save a few bucks? They may very well be. However, I have sales, they can wait for them. And... wait for it... these are LIVE ANIMALS. We're not talking about a tchotchke that they can haggle down from $1 at a garage sale. You can't then haggle down pet food. Or vet care. So if someone is going to try to haggle down the price of the chinchilla (and mind you, not by simply asking, hey, are there any discounts...that's fine... but by the way they ask about it and the way they try to convince that I should take their lower price)... I don't want them adopting anyway. They can be a good home to another chin somewhere else.
By the way, these tend to be the same people who point out to me that there's chin on craigslist for $100 with cage and all accessories. How come mine is $100 for just the chin? Oh, well, it has a health guarantee, will replace if it dies within the first week, you have a lifetime of support, yadda yadda. But, oh, I can't throw in a cage and everything with it, for the price of the chin? No, sorry. And guess what? If I tell them, well, if it's such a great deal, why don't you go get the craigslist chin? The answer never fails to be some variation of -- well, yours looks healthier / better cared for / etc etc. Amazing -- you get what you pay for! Imagine that.
I'm never going to get rich off these furballs and selling supplies. Some people are like hey you sold that one chin for $200!! Yes, but each parent likely cost at least that, so they need to have a handful of babies just to recoup costs of parents (and some of those babies will hopefully be held back for show and to put back into the herd), and then of course... maintenance costs. My new basement AC this year was almost $700. My AC bills have ranged between $300-450 per month all summer. Sure, some of the chins sell for a lot, but the bills and expenses are also a lot, and eat up a lot of the money brought in. The reason I mention this -- I'm clearly never going to become a millionaire selling chinchillas... and that's fine. But the place has to stay running in order to keep rescuing and keep providing people with safe chinchilla supplies. To do that requires money, and requires not accepting the lowest bidder on everything. So, sorry not sorry, but lowball offers are insulting and I will not entertain them.
----------------------------------------------------
Them: How much total for Duke?
Me: His adoption fee is $100.
Them: Possible to be any lower? $50. I'm coming way from Waukegan
Me: Sorry no
Them: I could pick up today if $50 but ok
Me: That makes absolutely no difference. This is a chinchilla rescue not a flea market. I'm not dying to sell them as quickly as possible to the lowest bidder, sorry
----------------------------------------------------
Let me make it very clear. I don't freaking care if you can pick up in 5 minutes. My prices are my prices. ESPECIALLY on the cheaper chins. If I have one for $600 and you offer me $550, we may discuss it. You offer me HALF on a $100 chinchilla? Oh hell no. I don't care if you can teleport to my house right now to get it. Nope, no how, no way.
Do these people go to Walmart and haggle? Hell no!!! So why do they do it here? Oh it's a small business. Guess it's ok for Walmart to make money, but not for the small business, that, you know, actually cares about it's customers? Oh heavens no. Pardon the small business from making any money, but the billioniare corporation, oh we can't question their prices!!!
People like this, I honestly want to tell them where they can shove their money.
It gets old, really old, when people constantly question how cheap they can get everything. Since I have a lot of chins, I should just hand them out like Halloween candy, eh? I think not.
Now, I'm sure some of you out there are like, hey, how do you know these people aren't good homes and just want to save a few bucks? They may very well be. However, I have sales, they can wait for them. And... wait for it... these are LIVE ANIMALS. We're not talking about a tchotchke that they can haggle down from $1 at a garage sale. You can't then haggle down pet food. Or vet care. So if someone is going to try to haggle down the price of the chinchilla (and mind you, not by simply asking, hey, are there any discounts...that's fine... but by the way they ask about it and the way they try to convince that I should take their lower price)... I don't want them adopting anyway. They can be a good home to another chin somewhere else.
By the way, these tend to be the same people who point out to me that there's chin on craigslist for $100 with cage and all accessories. How come mine is $100 for just the chin? Oh, well, it has a health guarantee, will replace if it dies within the first week, you have a lifetime of support, yadda yadda. But, oh, I can't throw in a cage and everything with it, for the price of the chin? No, sorry. And guess what? If I tell them, well, if it's such a great deal, why don't you go get the craigslist chin? The answer never fails to be some variation of -- well, yours looks healthier / better cared for / etc etc. Amazing -- you get what you pay for! Imagine that.
I'm never going to get rich off these furballs and selling supplies. Some people are like hey you sold that one chin for $200!! Yes, but each parent likely cost at least that, so they need to have a handful of babies just to recoup costs of parents (and some of those babies will hopefully be held back for show and to put back into the herd), and then of course... maintenance costs. My new basement AC this year was almost $700. My AC bills have ranged between $300-450 per month all summer. Sure, some of the chins sell for a lot, but the bills and expenses are also a lot, and eat up a lot of the money brought in. The reason I mention this -- I'm clearly never going to become a millionaire selling chinchillas... and that's fine. But the place has to stay running in order to keep rescuing and keep providing people with safe chinchilla supplies. To do that requires money, and requires not accepting the lowest bidder on everything. So, sorry not sorry, but lowball offers are insulting and I will not entertain them.
Monday, September 17, 2018
Keeping Appointments
So, I won't go into the one no-show appointment yet (that'll be a story for another day), but for the sake of this post, all you really need to know is that the one morning a few days ago, I had several appointments set for the evening, including a 5 pm appointment.
The 5 pm appointment was actually someone I sort of knew, who was supposed to pick up pre-arranged stuff (and that is all I will say at the moment), so I didn't anticipate them being a no-show.
So, when someone who I'd talked to about appointments contacted me later in the day and asked if 5 pm would work for me, I told her, sorry, no, but that my entire evening was booked up, and that the next time I would have available was a day or two later, after the weekend.
Probably needless to say, you wouldn't be reading this, had my 5 pm showed up.
However, since I didn't know they weren't coming, I told that person they would not be able to come at that time slot, and they said they would have to get back to me with other times that would work for them. Now, they still may... but it's been a few days... so I'm not holding my breath. See, most people that really want to come by, keep in good contact and don't wait days upon days between email / phone responses. So, I don't anticipate hearing from her.
Anyway, the point of all of this is that that 5 pm may think that not showing up for her appointment doesn't really affect anything other than her appointment (well, it does, but again, another post for another day). But in reality, it does. See, had I known she wasn't coming, I could have scheduled the other person for that time slot, and potentially adopted out a chinchilla and maybe even sold some supplies, and possibly even educated someone more on chinchillas and there care. But, as I did not know that my 5 pm wasn't going to show up, I told the other person that I was booked, and ended up sitting around for 60+ minutes, twiddling my thumbs while waiting for a text back.
So, this is just a friendly reminder that people need to remember that if they can't make their appointment, for whatever reason, it is considerably better to let me (or wherever you're going) know, so we can adjust accordingly. So that not only do you make us miss out on your appointment, but we also don't miss out on others, that we might have filled your slot with.
That is all.... for now.
The 5 pm appointment was actually someone I sort of knew, who was supposed to pick up pre-arranged stuff (and that is all I will say at the moment), so I didn't anticipate them being a no-show.
So, when someone who I'd talked to about appointments contacted me later in the day and asked if 5 pm would work for me, I told her, sorry, no, but that my entire evening was booked up, and that the next time I would have available was a day or two later, after the weekend.
Probably needless to say, you wouldn't be reading this, had my 5 pm showed up.
However, since I didn't know they weren't coming, I told that person they would not be able to come at that time slot, and they said they would have to get back to me with other times that would work for them. Now, they still may... but it's been a few days... so I'm not holding my breath. See, most people that really want to come by, keep in good contact and don't wait days upon days between email / phone responses. So, I don't anticipate hearing from her.
Anyway, the point of all of this is that that 5 pm may think that not showing up for her appointment doesn't really affect anything other than her appointment (well, it does, but again, another post for another day). But in reality, it does. See, had I known she wasn't coming, I could have scheduled the other person for that time slot, and potentially adopted out a chinchilla and maybe even sold some supplies, and possibly even educated someone more on chinchillas and there care. But, as I did not know that my 5 pm wasn't going to show up, I told the other person that I was booked, and ended up sitting around for 60+ minutes, twiddling my thumbs while waiting for a text back.
So, this is just a friendly reminder that people need to remember that if they can't make their appointment, for whatever reason, it is considerably better to let me (or wherever you're going) know, so we can adjust accordingly. So that not only do you make us miss out on your appointment, but we also don't miss out on others, that we might have filled your slot with.
That is all.... for now.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Ask Questions!
I feel, personally, this goes without saying...but if you want info and it's not there... feel free to ask!
I had someone last week, email me about putting down a deposit on a chin. Little did they know, the chin (which wasn't listed yet, and still isn't), is $600. Needless to say, when I emailed back and said how much the deposit would be (their question, along with wanting to see pics) and sent pics, I never heard back. If there's no price listed, ask. If it doesn't say whether a chin gets along with other chins or not, ask. I may not know, but it can't hurt to ask. If I didn't post the back story about how a chin came to the rescue and that's a pondering of yours, ask. Again, I may not know (a lot of people say they can't care for it anymore or don't have time... and leave it at that), but you can ask! About the only thing I don't want you to ask for is a discount (see previous blog post), and that's more out of respect than anything.
I try to post whatever info I have on the chins. I've even tried, lately, to include what back story I have, if I have one. Sure, for some chins, it's "the kids got tired of them," or "developed allergies," or whatnot, but if you read Ash's backstory, there's quite the story there. Not all relating directly to him, specifically, but it's about how his family came upon getting chins, and how they were intentionally misinformed, and so on.
But try as I might, I can't include everything. Undoubtedly, someone will wonder if the chin is good with cats or kids or dogs or whatever. I try to put in all the listings if the chin would or would not make a good first chin. However, I don't re-write each ad from scratch (I know, how dare I try to save time), so if the ad I use didn't have it, I may forget to add it back in. That's where, if you're wondering something and it's not there, a quick email asking a question never hurts!
I'm always happy to answer questions and give advice and help out where I can. But I don't know that you have the questions if you don't ask them!
I had someone last week, email me about putting down a deposit on a chin. Little did they know, the chin (which wasn't listed yet, and still isn't), is $600. Needless to say, when I emailed back and said how much the deposit would be (their question, along with wanting to see pics) and sent pics, I never heard back. If there's no price listed, ask. If it doesn't say whether a chin gets along with other chins or not, ask. I may not know, but it can't hurt to ask. If I didn't post the back story about how a chin came to the rescue and that's a pondering of yours, ask. Again, I may not know (a lot of people say they can't care for it anymore or don't have time... and leave it at that), but you can ask! About the only thing I don't want you to ask for is a discount (see previous blog post), and that's more out of respect than anything.
I try to post whatever info I have on the chins. I've even tried, lately, to include what back story I have, if I have one. Sure, for some chins, it's "the kids got tired of them," or "developed allergies," or whatnot, but if you read Ash's backstory, there's quite the story there. Not all relating directly to him, specifically, but it's about how his family came upon getting chins, and how they were intentionally misinformed, and so on.
But try as I might, I can't include everything. Undoubtedly, someone will wonder if the chin is good with cats or kids or dogs or whatever. I try to put in all the listings if the chin would or would not make a good first chin. However, I don't re-write each ad from scratch (I know, how dare I try to save time), so if the ad I use didn't have it, I may forget to add it back in. That's where, if you're wondering something and it's not there, a quick email asking a question never hurts!
I'm always happy to answer questions and give advice and help out where I can. But I don't know that you have the questions if you don't ask them!
Friday, August 31, 2018
Discounts
People are getting really bold, and, honestly, if it keeps up, no one's getting no discounts anymore.
Now, you may know, I have sales periodically, so the chins do go on sale, and they're slightly discounted at that point, usually between $10-50 off, depending on the price. Obviously, the cheaper chins are $10 off, the higher, $50 off. Sometimes at the beginning of the year, I'll have a percentage sale, like for 2014, I had 14% off for January.
Other than these sales, I usually will give a $25 discount off of two chins, plus an extra $25 for every additional chin. So, get 2 chins, $25 off. Get 3 chins, $50 off.
Honestly, I think this is all pretty nice. Not to pat my own back, you understand, but I have pretty regular sales (one every spring, one every fall, one every summer, usually one first of the year), whereas many breeders don't have them all the time, and many private rescues NEVER reduce adoption fees. My prices are also lower than the competitors...I sell my whites for $200-250 (and if it's $250, it's really something special), the next closest breeder starts their whites at $300. So, I kind of feel like, ok I'm cheaper to start with, and then I have sales... pretty good deal.
So lately, I've had two people who've asked what discount they will get if they get two chinchillas. My response is $25 off. The response, both times, has been basically, "that's it??" My response back, that's what everyone gets.
Don't think that's a good enough discount / sale price? Let's do an example. There's a breeder who occasionally does buy-one-get-one-half-off on her chins. Their whites start at $350 and greys usually $100. Versus my whites (even an expensive one) $250, and greys $135. So, for their buy-one-get-one-half-off, you're looking at $400 ($350 + $50) for the two chins. People can whine all they want that they have that sale and I don't... but I mean, even at my REGULAR prices ($250 + $135 = $385... and really it'd be $360 because of the $25 off), I'm STILL cheaper than their sale prices. But yes, it totally makes sense to whine that I don't have good sales.
It says nothing on my website, anywhere, about getting a discount for getting two chins. I offer that because I try to be nice. I understand that people want to save money, get a discount. I get it But guess what, I have bills to pay too, and if you wouldn't go into walmart and ask for a lower price, please don't do it here. If someone thinks my prices are too high, that's fine. They're welcome to go elsewhere. I'm sure they can find a nice backyard-bred chin on craigslist for somewhat less than my prices. The prices are what they are. If someone wants a better price, they're welcome to wait for a sale... of course, can't guarantee that the fancy colors and whatnot will be here when the sales roll around, but they might be. Just a gamble that ya gotta take if the prices are normally too high.
I don't say this all to be a bitch. But believe me, it gets really old when people question prices and ask for discounts, and then your fellow breeders tell you that that same person bought chins from them at higher prices and didn't blink an eye. Just because we have rescue chins doesn't make this a garage sale. They are all living, breathing critters, and deserve nice homes (and not to the lowest bidder). That is all.
Now, you may know, I have sales periodically, so the chins do go on sale, and they're slightly discounted at that point, usually between $10-50 off, depending on the price. Obviously, the cheaper chins are $10 off, the higher, $50 off. Sometimes at the beginning of the year, I'll have a percentage sale, like for 2014, I had 14% off for January.
Other than these sales, I usually will give a $25 discount off of two chins, plus an extra $25 for every additional chin. So, get 2 chins, $25 off. Get 3 chins, $50 off.
Honestly, I think this is all pretty nice. Not to pat my own back, you understand, but I have pretty regular sales (one every spring, one every fall, one every summer, usually one first of the year), whereas many breeders don't have them all the time, and many private rescues NEVER reduce adoption fees. My prices are also lower than the competitors...I sell my whites for $200-250 (and if it's $250, it's really something special), the next closest breeder starts their whites at $300. So, I kind of feel like, ok I'm cheaper to start with, and then I have sales... pretty good deal.
So lately, I've had two people who've asked what discount they will get if they get two chinchillas. My response is $25 off. The response, both times, has been basically, "that's it??" My response back, that's what everyone gets.
Don't think that's a good enough discount / sale price? Let's do an example. There's a breeder who occasionally does buy-one-get-one-half-off on her chins. Their whites start at $350 and greys usually $100. Versus my whites (even an expensive one) $250, and greys $135. So, for their buy-one-get-one-half-off, you're looking at $400 ($350 + $50) for the two chins. People can whine all they want that they have that sale and I don't... but I mean, even at my REGULAR prices ($250 + $135 = $385... and really it'd be $360 because of the $25 off), I'm STILL cheaper than their sale prices. But yes, it totally makes sense to whine that I don't have good sales.
It says nothing on my website, anywhere, about getting a discount for getting two chins. I offer that because I try to be nice. I understand that people want to save money, get a discount. I get it But guess what, I have bills to pay too, and if you wouldn't go into walmart and ask for a lower price, please don't do it here. If someone thinks my prices are too high, that's fine. They're welcome to go elsewhere. I'm sure they can find a nice backyard-bred chin on craigslist for somewhat less than my prices. The prices are what they are. If someone wants a better price, they're welcome to wait for a sale... of course, can't guarantee that the fancy colors and whatnot will be here when the sales roll around, but they might be. Just a gamble that ya gotta take if the prices are normally too high.
I don't say this all to be a bitch. But believe me, it gets really old when people question prices and ask for discounts, and then your fellow breeders tell you that that same person bought chins from them at higher prices and didn't blink an eye. Just because we have rescue chins doesn't make this a garage sale. They are all living, breathing critters, and deserve nice homes (and not to the lowest bidder). That is all.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
"He's Only 12 Pounds!"
So, I get a lot, and I mean a LOT of calls for me to take in dogs and cats. People don't look at where they are calling, they just see the word rescue, and call.
I specify, we take in small caged pets, like guinea pigs, chinchillas, etc etc.
I had a guy tell me the other day that we he had a miniature pinscher that he needed to give up.
So I repeated, we only take in small caged pets, gave examples, and then even went as far to say, we don't take in any dogs or cats.
The response? "He's only 12 pounds."
Now tell me. If you have a miniature pinscher and you go to the pet store.... do you go to the small animal section? Heck no. So don't be calling a small animal rescue about your small dogs and cats. It's that simple. Really.
I specify, we take in small caged pets, like guinea pigs, chinchillas, etc etc.
I had a guy tell me the other day that we he had a miniature pinscher that he needed to give up.
So I repeated, we only take in small caged pets, gave examples, and then even went as far to say, we don't take in any dogs or cats.
The response? "He's only 12 pounds."
Now tell me. If you have a miniature pinscher and you go to the pet store.... do you go to the small animal section? Heck no. So don't be calling a small animal rescue about your small dogs and cats. It's that simple. Really.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Rosebuds
Rosebuds are one of our top selling herbs.... so you know, as if they weren't expensive enough, the supplier raised the price almost $5 per pound!
We have low profit margins on our items, with the goal being to pass along the savings to the customers, making chinchilla supplies affordable for them, while still bringing in a little for the rescue. With the low profit margins... I can't eat the cost of another ~ $5.00 per pound, unless I want to sell them for less than what I'm paying for them. Unfortunately, that means I have to pass the cost increase along to my customers.
Rosebuds were $2.50 per ounce, now they will be $3.00 for one ounce.
The larger package was $7.00 for three ounces, which was a savings of 50 cents off the normal cost of 3 ounces... now the larger package will be $8.50 for 3 ounces, still a 50 cents savings off the normal cost.
We have low profit margins on our items, with the goal being to pass along the savings to the customers, making chinchilla supplies affordable for them, while still bringing in a little for the rescue. With the low profit margins... I can't eat the cost of another ~ $5.00 per pound, unless I want to sell them for less than what I'm paying for them. Unfortunately, that means I have to pass the cost increase along to my customers.
Rosebuds were $2.50 per ounce, now they will be $3.00 for one ounce.
The larger package was $7.00 for three ounces, which was a savings of 50 cents off the normal cost of 3 ounces... now the larger package will be $8.50 for 3 ounces, still a 50 cents savings off the normal cost.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Shipping... "But It's Not That Far"
I know I've talked about shipping before, but it seems that now that I've posted several times saying I can't ship, now I'm getting these messages saying, well, am I sure I can't ship? It's not that far.
Distance has NOTHING to do with it. It costs just as much for me to ship a chinchilla to the Indianapolis airport as it does to ship one to the Seattle, Washington airport. This isn't like booking a human flight, where farther is more... it's flat rate for animals.
And, as mentioned before, it's $400+ to ship one. So, not cost effective for the buyer, and not worth my time to spend all that money (even with getting it paid back) to make the cost of one adoption fee.
Not to mention, even if someone wanted to pay the money, plus throw in an extra $$$ for me to make it worth my effort... it's like 90 out. Waaaaaay too hot. So, I couldn't ship, even if I wanted to. Sorry.
Distance has NOTHING to do with it. It costs just as much for me to ship a chinchilla to the Indianapolis airport as it does to ship one to the Seattle, Washington airport. This isn't like booking a human flight, where farther is more... it's flat rate for animals.
And, as mentioned before, it's $400+ to ship one. So, not cost effective for the buyer, and not worth my time to spend all that money (even with getting it paid back) to make the cost of one adoption fee.
Not to mention, even if someone wanted to pay the money, plus throw in an extra $$$ for me to make it worth my effort... it's like 90 out. Waaaaaay too hot. So, I couldn't ship, even if I wanted to. Sorry.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Not Eating Food
Someone asked about this in an email, and I thought it was a good quick useful topic, so I thought I'd post here.
In the email, they specified that their chin had stopped eating pellets, but was eating still the hay and the treats, and they wanted to know if I had any thoughts on this.
My first thought would be teeth problems / dental issues. Here's why. Think about it this way. If your teeth hurt, you're still going to need to eat, but are you going to choose to eat applesauce or hard candy? Assuming you're planning on biting the hard candy... that would hurt your teeth, correct? So you'd eat softer foods.
The same is often true of our furry friends. If their teeth hurt, the first thing to go as far as them eating, will be the hardest thing that we give them to eat. Out of pellets, hay, and treats, the hardest thing to crunch down on would be the pellets. So, those would be the first thing they'd stop eating. Eventually, the hay would be next to go, followed by the treats.
I advised this person to get the chinchilla's teeth and roots checked, as that would be the main guess as far as what's wrong.
In the email, they specified that their chin had stopped eating pellets, but was eating still the hay and the treats, and they wanted to know if I had any thoughts on this.
My first thought would be teeth problems / dental issues. Here's why. Think about it this way. If your teeth hurt, you're still going to need to eat, but are you going to choose to eat applesauce or hard candy? Assuming you're planning on biting the hard candy... that would hurt your teeth, correct? So you'd eat softer foods.
The same is often true of our furry friends. If their teeth hurt, the first thing to go as far as them eating, will be the hardest thing that we give them to eat. Out of pellets, hay, and treats, the hardest thing to crunch down on would be the pellets. So, those would be the first thing they'd stop eating. Eventually, the hay would be next to go, followed by the treats.
I advised this person to get the chinchilla's teeth and roots checked, as that would be the main guess as far as what's wrong.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Going Elsewhere to Adopt
Let me start by saying, I completely respect everyone's right to adopt from wherever they like. That said, I still think people should have some common courtesy. For example...if someone is talking with me, back and forth, and then decides to go elsewhere, I feel like it's never a bad thing to receive an email saying, you know what, we decided to go elsewhere. I know, I know, people don't do that. But it would be damn nice if they did.
Case in point. I had someone wanting to adopt two same-sex guinea pigs. When they originally emailed me, I had one of each gender, but I told them, I knew I had more younger ones coming in, and when I got back in town, I'd let them know what gender they were. Obviously, since there were multiple, I would end up with at least one same-sex pair, which is what they wanted. So, she waits until I get back in town and sends a quick email, asking for an update. I email the next day, telling her I'd checked the guinea pigs, had two males now, and asked her if she wanted to see pics. Yes she did, so I told her, I'd get those within a few days. Send her the pics. *crickets*
I was going through my inbox today, and saw that email sitting there, still with no response, so I sent her a quick message basically saying, you know, just wanted to check if she was still interested, and if not, that's ok too, but also letting her know that I'd appreciate if she could let me know, because I hadn't listed the guinea pigs, due to her saying how she wanted the same-sex pair and basically waiting around for me to get more in, pair them, yadda yadda. I got an email back like that *snaps* saying they decided to go with another rescued pet, sorry it didn't work out.
Here's the thing. No hard feelings. Like, it's literally no big deal. What frustrates me about this sort of thing... what if I'd had someone here over the last few days wanting to adopt a young male pair of guinea pigs? I would have told them, sorry, this one person is going to adopt them... and then you see what happens. This is why I feel communication is so important, and why I feel like if someone decides to go elsewhere or get a different pet or whatever... that they should let the original rescue they were conversing with KNOW about it. Common courtesy, to me, anyway.
Case in point. I had someone wanting to adopt two same-sex guinea pigs. When they originally emailed me, I had one of each gender, but I told them, I knew I had more younger ones coming in, and when I got back in town, I'd let them know what gender they were. Obviously, since there were multiple, I would end up with at least one same-sex pair, which is what they wanted. So, she waits until I get back in town and sends a quick email, asking for an update. I email the next day, telling her I'd checked the guinea pigs, had two males now, and asked her if she wanted to see pics. Yes she did, so I told her, I'd get those within a few days. Send her the pics. *crickets*
I was going through my inbox today, and saw that email sitting there, still with no response, so I sent her a quick message basically saying, you know, just wanted to check if she was still interested, and if not, that's ok too, but also letting her know that I'd appreciate if she could let me know, because I hadn't listed the guinea pigs, due to her saying how she wanted the same-sex pair and basically waiting around for me to get more in, pair them, yadda yadda. I got an email back like that *snaps* saying they decided to go with another rescued pet, sorry it didn't work out.
Here's the thing. No hard feelings. Like, it's literally no big deal. What frustrates me about this sort of thing... what if I'd had someone here over the last few days wanting to adopt a young male pair of guinea pigs? I would have told them, sorry, this one person is going to adopt them... and then you see what happens. This is why I feel communication is so important, and why I feel like if someone decides to go elsewhere or get a different pet or whatever... that they should let the original rescue they were conversing with KNOW about it. Common courtesy, to me, anyway.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Shipping (well, not)
So, I used to have on my website a thing saying that we did ship. Now, it seems sometimes that I ought to put something up saying that we don't. Since I stopped shipping, I have never run into so many people asking if we do ship.
I tend to think this is because the same company that we used to ship -- PetSafe -- is the same company almost everyone used to ship chinchillas, so all of a sudden, it went from a handful of breeders shipping chinchillas, to almost no one shipping chinchillas, and the people wanting chinchillas shipped, left high and dry.
Unfortunately, nothing I can do about this.
I actually went on PetSafe's site a few days ago, just to check that nothing had changed, but nope, they are currently still only shipping cats and dogs. As chins aren't cats or dogs... can't ship them.
Did I look into other airlines? Of course I did. The cost is severely prohibitive with anyplace else (and it wasn't exactly cheap with PetSafe). With using PetSafe, the total passed-on-cost to the purchaser was $200-250 to ship 1-4 chinchillas. That included the flight, carrier, paperwork, etc etc etc. The flight ALONE on some of these other airlines starts at $220. YIKES. The carriers are $30-50, and then... these other airlines require health certificates for the pets. Those run ~ $125 per pet at our vet. So figure, $220 flight, $30 carrier, $125 health cert (1 chin) = $375. That's not counting the little bit I'd add in for gas and my time... yeah no. People balked at paying $200-250 to ship a chin... so when shipping basically went up to $400+ for ONE chinchilla, I took the shipping part off the website.
I've still had people say they can find our website when they search for breeders who ship. Here's the thing. Search engines aren't smart. Every word is single and by itself. My ads that are on other websites all have the same line in them. It goes:
This chinchilla is located in Hammond, Indiana (zip code 46324). Sorry, but we do not ship.
Now, consider that each word is considered individually. See the problem? The word "ship." It sees the ad and sees that we are a breeder and sees that the word ship is in there, and is like, "oooh! a breeder who ships!" Yet... if I take that line out, or even remove the part about shipping... then I get even more people asking about shipping (versus just the ones that can't read, or see the ads on our site, where it doesn't say anything about shipping). So.. can't win there.
Even if someone wanted to pay $400+ to ship a chin... there's an awful lot of effort involved in shipping animals. Of that money, as you can see based on numbers above, I'd make very little on shipping. Maybe $20 plus my cost for gas. Let's be honest, that's not much for all the time it takes to set up the flight, the time at the airport, the time getting everything organize and set up and everyone on board... and this isn't including the new regulations which would require the time to get the animal to the vet and get the vet cert (only a few days prior to shipping), plus the time spent at the airport with these other airlines that are clueless about chin shipping (Jim spent 2.5-3 hours shipping with American cause they were so disorganized and clueless)... it's not really worth it for the average $100 chinchilla. Yes, of course, we make the $100 (well... minus the costs incurred to care for the animal while here), but probably lose an entire day or two to adopt out one chinchilla. Yes, the chinchilla is being adopted, I acknowledge that. But...there is such a thing as time better spent. So, until the day PetSafe decides to ship small animals again, they are currently only available for pickup, or meeting at someplace we are already going (like an expo or chin show). Sorry for the inconvenience. I'd like to ship too... but not with the current state of things.
I tend to think this is because the same company that we used to ship -- PetSafe -- is the same company almost everyone used to ship chinchillas, so all of a sudden, it went from a handful of breeders shipping chinchillas, to almost no one shipping chinchillas, and the people wanting chinchillas shipped, left high and dry.
Unfortunately, nothing I can do about this.
I actually went on PetSafe's site a few days ago, just to check that nothing had changed, but nope, they are currently still only shipping cats and dogs. As chins aren't cats or dogs... can't ship them.
Did I look into other airlines? Of course I did. The cost is severely prohibitive with anyplace else (and it wasn't exactly cheap with PetSafe). With using PetSafe, the total passed-on-cost to the purchaser was $200-250 to ship 1-4 chinchillas. That included the flight, carrier, paperwork, etc etc etc. The flight ALONE on some of these other airlines starts at $220. YIKES. The carriers are $30-50, and then... these other airlines require health certificates for the pets. Those run ~ $125 per pet at our vet. So figure, $220 flight, $30 carrier, $125 health cert (1 chin) = $375. That's not counting the little bit I'd add in for gas and my time... yeah no. People balked at paying $200-250 to ship a chin... so when shipping basically went up to $400+ for ONE chinchilla, I took the shipping part off the website.
I've still had people say they can find our website when they search for breeders who ship. Here's the thing. Search engines aren't smart. Every word is single and by itself. My ads that are on other websites all have the same line in them. It goes:
This chinchilla is located in Hammond, Indiana (zip code 46324). Sorry, but we do not ship.
Now, consider that each word is considered individually. See the problem? The word "ship." It sees the ad and sees that we are a breeder and sees that the word ship is in there, and is like, "oooh! a breeder who ships!" Yet... if I take that line out, or even remove the part about shipping... then I get even more people asking about shipping (versus just the ones that can't read, or see the ads on our site, where it doesn't say anything about shipping). So.. can't win there.
Even if someone wanted to pay $400+ to ship a chin... there's an awful lot of effort involved in shipping animals. Of that money, as you can see based on numbers above, I'd make very little on shipping. Maybe $20 plus my cost for gas. Let's be honest, that's not much for all the time it takes to set up the flight, the time at the airport, the time getting everything organize and set up and everyone on board... and this isn't including the new regulations which would require the time to get the animal to the vet and get the vet cert (only a few days prior to shipping), plus the time spent at the airport with these other airlines that are clueless about chin shipping (Jim spent 2.5-3 hours shipping with American cause they were so disorganized and clueless)... it's not really worth it for the average $100 chinchilla. Yes, of course, we make the $100 (well... minus the costs incurred to care for the animal while here), but probably lose an entire day or two to adopt out one chinchilla. Yes, the chinchilla is being adopted, I acknowledge that. But...there is such a thing as time better spent. So, until the day PetSafe decides to ship small animals again, they are currently only available for pickup, or meeting at someplace we are already going (like an expo or chin show). Sorry for the inconvenience. I'd like to ship too... but not with the current state of things.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Is My Chinchilla Drinking?
This question (above), well an offshoot of it, is what prompted the post yesterday about telling people that they're always welcome to ask questions.
I got a text from someone telling me that they noticed some odd behavior with their chin... they thought he was going to a corner to pee, but then wouldn't pee, and if they offered him water, he wouldn't drink. Their question was, would this warrant a vet visit?
My first questions to them were, is he eating, and is he pooing? The answer to both was yes. That's always a good sign, because usually if they're not drinking, they won't be eating either.
Since he was pooing, the next question was, do the poos look normal? They say yes, they do. Also a good sign, as if a chinchilla is not drinking, the poos shrink. Without water intake, there is less water coming back out of the bodies in the poo, so you end up with smaller, usually rounder, harder, poos. To me, they're obviously different, and probably to most people as well. If you think the poos look normal, they probably are, as changes are fairly obvious.
They said he was also acting normal and playful, which is also good sign. If he was stressed or sick, often you see chins that act lethargic or just sit on one place.
All in all, I didn't think anything was wrong, and this person appreciated getting an educated opinion. This is your tidbit of chin-knowledge for the day :)
I got a text from someone telling me that they noticed some odd behavior with their chin... they thought he was going to a corner to pee, but then wouldn't pee, and if they offered him water, he wouldn't drink. Their question was, would this warrant a vet visit?
My first questions to them were, is he eating, and is he pooing? The answer to both was yes. That's always a good sign, because usually if they're not drinking, they won't be eating either.
Since he was pooing, the next question was, do the poos look normal? They say yes, they do. Also a good sign, as if a chinchilla is not drinking, the poos shrink. Without water intake, there is less water coming back out of the bodies in the poo, so you end up with smaller, usually rounder, harder, poos. To me, they're obviously different, and probably to most people as well. If you think the poos look normal, they probably are, as changes are fairly obvious.
They said he was also acting normal and playful, which is also good sign. If he was stressed or sick, often you see chins that act lethargic or just sit on one place.
All in all, I didn't think anything was wrong, and this person appreciated getting an educated opinion. This is your tidbit of chin-knowledge for the day :)
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Questions / Concerns
I feel like I say this (or try to) to everyone who walks in the door, but in case I missed you somehow... I'm always happy to answer questions and/or address concerns. Even if you've never been here / never adopted / never bought anything. I get calls from all sorts of people with questions, I'm always happy to help. The goal of the website with a zillion pages on it is to educate people and help people out... of course, it can't cover everything, or specific-to-the-situation questions, and that's where everyone can always feel free to reach out if they need something.
My contact info:
Email -- amgajda@sbcglobal.net
Phone (call or text) -- 219-789-0026
It doesn't matter how stupid you think the question is, if you don't know, it's not a stupid question, you just don't know! Feel free to ask...
My contact info:
Email -- amgajda@sbcglobal.net
Phone (call or text) -- 219-789-0026
It doesn't matter how stupid you think the question is, if you don't know, it's not a stupid question, you just don't know! Feel free to ask...
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Testimonials Posts
Not sure if anyone other than me notices this... but I must delete at least 2-3 junk testimonial posts daily from the website. This page here, in case you're unfamiliar.
There used to be two distinct pages on the website, guestbook and testimonials. Anyone could post in the guestbook, but the testimonials needed to be approved. I had some awesome testimonials! Unfortunately, the web host decided to discontinue that app awhile back, and so most of those were lost, and all that's left now is the guestbook page (which I have re-named testimonials, in effort to hide it from the spammers).
See, if you go on there, you fill out the form at the top, and press submit, and it shows up on the site. So, at any given day, you may find postings for viagra, computer repair, illegible writing, etc etc. That drives me insane.
The sad thing is, very few people actually post reviews / guestbook posts / actual testimonials. If you look at that, the last one is from April of 2017! I know I've had happy customers since then, come on people, let's post some happy thoughts / reviews / etc!
Every time someone completes that form, I get an email that basically says, "you have a new guestbook signature!" Every time I see that (so, several times a day), I go look at the website, like excited, thinking maybe this time, it's a real post and not another viagra selling ad. Nope! Not since April of 2017. Boo. Disappointed every time.
We also do have facebook reviews open, if anyone prefers reviewing on that, that's always an option as well. Not a ton of people do that either, but definitely more of those than the testimonials posts!
There used to be two distinct pages on the website, guestbook and testimonials. Anyone could post in the guestbook, but the testimonials needed to be approved. I had some awesome testimonials! Unfortunately, the web host decided to discontinue that app awhile back, and so most of those were lost, and all that's left now is the guestbook page (which I have re-named testimonials, in effort to hide it from the spammers).
See, if you go on there, you fill out the form at the top, and press submit, and it shows up on the site. So, at any given day, you may find postings for viagra, computer repair, illegible writing, etc etc. That drives me insane.
The sad thing is, very few people actually post reviews / guestbook posts / actual testimonials. If you look at that, the last one is from April of 2017! I know I've had happy customers since then, come on people, let's post some happy thoughts / reviews / etc!
Every time someone completes that form, I get an email that basically says, "you have a new guestbook signature!" Every time I see that (so, several times a day), I go look at the website, like excited, thinking maybe this time, it's a real post and not another viagra selling ad. Nope! Not since April of 2017. Boo. Disappointed every time.
We also do have facebook reviews open, if anyone prefers reviewing on that, that's always an option as well. Not a ton of people do that either, but definitely more of those than the testimonials posts!
Monday, August 13, 2018
Hay
I generally try to be nice. I generally try to count to 10, or walk away and come back, before I send a nasty response out to anything. But sometimes people just push my buttons.
Do you remember the hay scandal (or whatever you want to call it) from a few years back? In case you don't, here's the blog post about it -- here.
If you don't care to read it, quick synopsis is that I understand that it's not worth it to a lot of farmers to sell a handful of bales of hay at a crack, especially if the hay isn't located where they live. So, Jim and I found a local-ish farmer with timothy hay, who would sell a few bales of hay. To make it worth his while, we paid $100 to him for 20 bales, and only took 5, with the understanding that we would be returning for the rest. We talked and agreed that I would just contact this person when I needed hay, and we would arrange a time for me to pick up another 5, and so on, until I'd exhausted the money paid. You can probably guess from what you've read so far, that I never did get the rest of the hay. The guy basically fell off the planet. To this day (and this was November 2016 this happened) this absolutely pisses me off and boils my blood.
For some odd reason, this hay guy is still my facebook friend. So, the other day I was eating dinner and I saw this meme that he posted:
I wasn't in the greatest mood then, and replied, "what about when someone buys hay, and it's never delivered?"
I basically forgot about it for a day or two, but something reminded me of it today, and I went to go see if maybe he responded. Nope! In fact, the dickhead deleted my comment! So, I commented this:
Needless to say, NOW I have been un-friended and that post deleted. Amazing what shitheads people are, no? I often try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I was talking with a friend about this, saying how it's not like I really thought that he'd be like "oh I forgot," but somehow, I still tried to think maybe something came up, or he'd own up, like you know, a good human being, but nope! Complete asshole!
I hope he gets his. Just like I hope Joel gets his for stealing $8000-9000 from me / the rescue. I'm trusting, but people will tell you, I'm HARDLY over-trusting, so I find it insanely frustrating that these people do this stuff, and get away with this shit.
Do you remember the hay scandal (or whatever you want to call it) from a few years back? In case you don't, here's the blog post about it -- here.
If you don't care to read it, quick synopsis is that I understand that it's not worth it to a lot of farmers to sell a handful of bales of hay at a crack, especially if the hay isn't located where they live. So, Jim and I found a local-ish farmer with timothy hay, who would sell a few bales of hay. To make it worth his while, we paid $100 to him for 20 bales, and only took 5, with the understanding that we would be returning for the rest. We talked and agreed that I would just contact this person when I needed hay, and we would arrange a time for me to pick up another 5, and so on, until I'd exhausted the money paid. You can probably guess from what you've read so far, that I never did get the rest of the hay. The guy basically fell off the planet. To this day (and this was November 2016 this happened) this absolutely pisses me off and boils my blood.
For some odd reason, this hay guy is still my facebook friend. So, the other day I was eating dinner and I saw this meme that he posted:
I wasn't in the greatest mood then, and replied, "what about when someone buys hay, and it's never delivered?"
I basically forgot about it for a day or two, but something reminded me of it today, and I went to go see if maybe he responded. Nope! In fact, the dickhead deleted my comment! So, I commented this:
Needless to say, NOW I have been un-friended and that post deleted. Amazing what shitheads people are, no? I often try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I was talking with a friend about this, saying how it's not like I really thought that he'd be like "oh I forgot," but somehow, I still tried to think maybe something came up, or he'd own up, like you know, a good human being, but nope! Complete asshole!
I hope he gets his. Just like I hope Joel gets his for stealing $8000-9000 from me / the rescue. I'm trusting, but people will tell you, I'm HARDLY over-trusting, so I find it insanely frustrating that these people do this stuff, and get away with this shit.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Donations / List of Needed Items
In cleaning up (ha, hahahahaha), I found a sheet where I'd written down potential items for donation. I now have that List of Needed Items page on our website, and actually, some of these items on the list weren't on there, so I added them to the list.
In case you were curious, the items added were old towels (used to as rags), fleece / JoAnn gift cards, Chlorox Clean-Up, laundry detergent, plain cheerios, old fashioned oats, and used cages / small animal supplies.
I somehow must have glossed over the cheerios, old fashioned oats, and un-frosted shredded wheat squares before, but for example, we use those to make the goodie bags that we sell, and more importantly, that go home with all the adult chins (well, chins 6+ months) that go to their new homes. Those were on the list I found, but also, someone actually made me think of those more recently, in that I had someone coming by... I was going to chin sit their chins over a weekend, and they said they wanted to donate some items, and asked what I need. Let me start by saying, that's never a bad idea to ask.... there's usually something on that list that I'm either out of, or will soon be, and that would be a higher priority (and a trip to the grocery store for me) than something I'm still well-stocked on. For that specific time, I was intending (and still am...) to make some goodie bags. To do that, of course, we need the items that go inside them. So, I told her, ziploc baggies, cheerios, oats, etc etc. Obviously, I told her, that's just what I will need, so she had a variety of things to pick from. She ended up actually getting about everything I'd listed and then some, so that was super awesome of her. If you're reading this, thanks Chris! Anyway, the thing is, never hurts to ask if something specific is needed.
Also... now that I do have a list up there of needed items, I've had people that have asked why we don't have absolute necessities on there, like chin food, bedding, and hay, just for example. Here's the thing -- if you have open bags of chin food(or other small animal food, or heck, even cat or dog food for the prairie dogs), or bedding, or hay... or it's something you've already purchased for yourself or whatever... we can gladly use it here. The reason it's not on the list... I just don't want people buying it new for the rescue. The reason being = cost. I can get a bale of hay, that I'm thrilled with, for under $10. I think the current going rate is $7-8 per bale. That's usually roughly 40 pounds of hay, and maybe lasts about 2 weeks. Let's compare that to Oxbow hay, here. Now, those prices listed on that link are even cheaper than what you'd buy at the pet store, but they're fine for making an example. At even $8 per pound, a 40 pound bale works out to $0.20 per pound, which amounts out to $4 per week (that we spend in hay). Versus in comparison, the smallest package of hay that Oxbow has is $4.39 for 15 ounces. To equal 20 pounds of hay used a week, we'd have to use 22 of those bags per week. At $4.39 per bag, that works out to $93.65 in hay per week. Compared to $4, yeah. Even with their largest hay, which is 90 ounces (5.625 pounds) for $18.69 (so, cheaper per ounce), we'd be at $66.45 for hay. I see no reason why people should buy the expensive store hay, when if someone's going to spend (for example), $4 for less than one pound of hay... I'd see that $4 better spend at the dollar store, where we could get two sharpies, a box of kleenex, and a roll of paper towels.
Same with cages. If you want to donate used cages, I will never tell you no. However, going out and buying a cage just isn't all that practical. Chances are, I'll eventually get the cages I want donated, and the ones that I don't need here end up sold as used cages when there's no longer critters in them. So, new cages not needed, but of course, we can always take used cages / supplies / etc donated. Just the money to buy this sort of stuff new would be better spent on other things. Thanks!
In case you were curious, the items added were old towels (used to as rags), fleece / JoAnn gift cards, Chlorox Clean-Up, laundry detergent, plain cheerios, old fashioned oats, and used cages / small animal supplies.
I somehow must have glossed over the cheerios, old fashioned oats, and un-frosted shredded wheat squares before, but for example, we use those to make the goodie bags that we sell, and more importantly, that go home with all the adult chins (well, chins 6+ months) that go to their new homes. Those were on the list I found, but also, someone actually made me think of those more recently, in that I had someone coming by... I was going to chin sit their chins over a weekend, and they said they wanted to donate some items, and asked what I need. Let me start by saying, that's never a bad idea to ask.... there's usually something on that list that I'm either out of, or will soon be, and that would be a higher priority (and a trip to the grocery store for me) than something I'm still well-stocked on. For that specific time, I was intending (and still am...) to make some goodie bags. To do that, of course, we need the items that go inside them. So, I told her, ziploc baggies, cheerios, oats, etc etc. Obviously, I told her, that's just what I will need, so she had a variety of things to pick from. She ended up actually getting about everything I'd listed and then some, so that was super awesome of her. If you're reading this, thanks Chris! Anyway, the thing is, never hurts to ask if something specific is needed.
Also... now that I do have a list up there of needed items, I've had people that have asked why we don't have absolute necessities on there, like chin food, bedding, and hay, just for example. Here's the thing -- if you have open bags of chin food(or other small animal food, or heck, even cat or dog food for the prairie dogs), or bedding, or hay... or it's something you've already purchased for yourself or whatever... we can gladly use it here. The reason it's not on the list... I just don't want people buying it new for the rescue. The reason being = cost. I can get a bale of hay, that I'm thrilled with, for under $10. I think the current going rate is $7-8 per bale. That's usually roughly 40 pounds of hay, and maybe lasts about 2 weeks. Let's compare that to Oxbow hay, here. Now, those prices listed on that link are even cheaper than what you'd buy at the pet store, but they're fine for making an example. At even $8 per pound, a 40 pound bale works out to $0.20 per pound, which amounts out to $4 per week (that we spend in hay). Versus in comparison, the smallest package of hay that Oxbow has is $4.39 for 15 ounces. To equal 20 pounds of hay used a week, we'd have to use 22 of those bags per week. At $4.39 per bag, that works out to $93.65 in hay per week. Compared to $4, yeah. Even with their largest hay, which is 90 ounces (5.625 pounds) for $18.69 (so, cheaper per ounce), we'd be at $66.45 for hay. I see no reason why people should buy the expensive store hay, when if someone's going to spend (for example), $4 for less than one pound of hay... I'd see that $4 better spend at the dollar store, where we could get two sharpies, a box of kleenex, and a roll of paper towels.
Same with cages. If you want to donate used cages, I will never tell you no. However, going out and buying a cage just isn't all that practical. Chances are, I'll eventually get the cages I want donated, and the ones that I don't need here end up sold as used cages when there's no longer critters in them. So, new cages not needed, but of course, we can always take used cages / supplies / etc donated. Just the money to buy this sort of stuff new would be better spent on other things. Thanks!
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