news, site index/ pet chin resources (clubs, books, all*star and non-english sites)/ critical points


about, disclaimer, copyright make a difference: fur-free pledge/ confronting cruelty/ matildesmission.org

See: "Judging the Quality of Internet Care Information"

DID YOU KNOW...
Calcium
deficiency (indicated by light colored teeth) is a cause of environmental (or, "acquired") malocclusion, and a diet high in grains can contribute to calcium deficiency. Read more...


!! Chinchillas are territorial by nature, if you have more than one bonded group, you should read this.


SITE NEWS: August 10, 2008

The 2008 Pet Homes For Ranchies Project began on 7/12, ongoing updates and photos are posted.


WUNDERCHINS RAFFLE: Help a military family ship their pets to the U.S. mainland!


UPDATED
Treats vs. Health Hazards: A Guide to Dietary Extras
Why Distilled or Filtered Water is Best on Nutrition


ADDED
Wunderchins forum and store added to Home and Suppliers, respectively. Wunderchins is a new chinchilla store operating in the Midwest.


URGENT ALERTS FOR OTHER ANIMALS AND PETS
Popular Sago Palm Plant Is Toxic to Pets
Overstock.com goes fur-free, see the fur-free 100!

This tragedy underscores the importance of screening adopters and charging an adoption fee- If you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet!
"ASPCA Humane Law Enforcement has caught a 32-year-old man who tried to shirk responsibility by dumping his sick dog in another borough.... Hobbs allegedly abandoned his sick eight-month-old pit bull puppy, Lucy, on July 3, leaving her tethered outside an apartment building on 91st Street in Manhattan. A concerned passerby brought the puppy to the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital, where veterinarians discovered that she was critically ill with parvovirus. Despite attempts to save her, Lucy died four days later."



CRITICAL POINTS OF CHINPARENTHOOD,
"BEFORE YOU BUY!"

Also see: eRodent article, ChinCare's adoption contract/ qualification assessment (.doc) and care sheet (.doc)

Chinchillas can be the ideal companion. Normally gentle and friendly creatures, they only bite or spray urine under extreme duress, even the most vocal ones don't make noise often, shedding is very minimal, their fecal droppings are small, hard and odorless (and continually deposited!) and their urine isn't odorous as long as their cage is kept clean. Some essentials: a large cage, a chin-proofed play area, and unlimited access (only ration treats) to the dietary staples of fresh, high quality pellets, hay, and distilled or filtered water.


There ARE potential drawbacks to having a chin as a pet, however, so don't make the initial investment unless you have acknowledged the following and are positive you will remain committed to providing all the affection, time, energy and expense needed in a chinchilla lifetime:


Chinchillas are VERY LONG-LIVED. The average chinchilla life expectancy in captivity is 10-15 years, but they can live 20+ years. For that entire long term commitment they'll need knowledgeable, devoted care, regardless of whether their chinparent experiences a change in lifestyle or preferences: new hobby/ interest, going off to college, joining the military, relocating, starting a family, etc.



Chinchillas think and behave a lot like little children, and because they are highly intelligent they can easily become stressed or bored (which can lead to various health and behavioral problems) if they are forced to sit, caged, for hours on end without sufficient environmental stimulation, exercise or interaction. Providing this can be VERY TIME CONSUMING, because out-of-cage activity requires supervision; chinchillas are rodents who will gnaw and gouge anything not sufficiently "chin-proofed." A large cage to accomodate running and playing, a variety of chew toys, at least one hideaway per chin and a cage wheel will help decrease stress and boredom inside the cage while TV during waking hours will provide environmental stimulation when the chin isn't actively engaged in out-of-cage exercise and interaction.



Pet stores frequently mis-sex chinchillas!! It's not that uncommon for someone to buy a female that's already pregnant because the pet store grouped the animals by color/ price range and not by gender, or for someone to buy a "same-sex" chin as company for the one they got from a pet store and end up with a litter. Before you buy learn how to IDENTIFY GENDER to prevent overpopulation and unwanted pets!



Although they appear cute and cuddly, chinchillas in general are not sedentary lap pets who will sit still and welcome lots of holding and cuddling. They do interact with people, but they like to be on the move, exploring, energetic, playful. Chinchillas are quite clever and independent, they tend to have a mind and will of their own rather than being docile and easily controlled. It takes someone with intelligence, both emotional and cognitive, to truly understand and appreciate them.



Chinchillas themselves are NOT "ALLERGY-FREE," nor is the hay they eat every day and the dust they bathe in regularly.



Chinchillas must be kept indoors in a climate-controlled environment. AIR CONDITIONING IS MANDATORY, not optional, for chins in climates where the temperature can reach 70°F. Heat plus high humidity (above 60%) can easily kill chinchillas, because they have the highest fur density of any land animal in the world.



Chinchillas are NOT RECOMMENDED for young children or as classroom pets for several reasons important to the chin's well-being and the children's expectations.



Most of the problems that chinparents eventually encounter have to do with a lack of accurate knowledge or familiarity in these areas: The Essentials, Environmental Stress Factors, conducting safe Introductions and Safety. Products marketed as "for" chins may in fact harm or even kill them, for example: cedar bedding, wheels with spokes, plastic cage parts or accessories and cages with unsafe mesh width.



Chinchillas are regarded as an exotic animal. The "startup cost" for a new chinparent (see Zillah Chinchilla's basic list) is substantial and vet care for exotics is EXPENSIVE. For example, malocclusion, a horrible, nightmarish condition that is not uncommon to chinchillas, may be treatable if detected early by a yearly check-up head x-ray. However, if the observable symptoms of malocclusion are ignored, the chin will gradually starve to death while his overgrown teeth pierce the insides of his mouth and his tooth roots grow into his sinus and ocular cavities, causing unimaginable pain and suffering.



When selecting a chin, HEALTH AND TEMPERAMENT should be the foremost consideration, not strictly appearances. The colorful "mutations" (every color but the original gray is the result of recessive gene breeding and/ or inbreeding, some colors are more established and stable than others) can be less hardy, not as long-lived and more erratically temperamented than the standard gray. Most importantly, every chin deserves "A GOOD HOME"!






It costs you nothing to help animals in need!
Just click, see the sponsor's adverts,
the sponsors donate and that's it...
Pets In Need - Give Us A Home - Animal Rescue Site

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NEED YOUR CLICK!


HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
misinformation and care myths
index/ the essentials, or basics, of
chinchilla care (cage accessories,
about safe housing and homemade
cage designs)/ heat and humidity
can be life-threatening (articles,
emergency, keeping cool)/
estimating chinchilla age/ shipping,
transporting or travelling with your
chin (resources and additional articles,
checklist)/ chinchillas and allergies:
not "allergy-free" (reducing the allergic
impact of hay and dust


Health & Lifestyle Pages:

* Chinchilla Behavior: Relating to People & Animals
adoption source, or background, and behavioral expecations (pet breeder, ranch, pet store, rehoming, rescue)/ general characteristics of behavior/ routines (exercise, sleep and covering cages)/ initiating bonding, a hands-on approach (first contact procedure)/ relating to your chinchilla (chin scratches or grooming, playtime bonding, catching and handling)/ environmental stress (attitude and behavior determinants, basic ways to prevent stress, potential stress factors)/ anti-social behavior (biting; urine-spraying- single female chin syndrome; rearing up and chattering teeth; hostilely pursuing, cornering, fur-pulling)/ facts about discipline/ behavioral rehabilitation: addressing biting and urine-spraying/ relating articles/ compatibility with other animals (chins and buns don't mix)/ as classroom pets -and- are chinchillas a good pet for children? (pets for kids)


* Chinchilla Introductions and Group Dynamics
introducing chins: precautionary notes and pointers (intro method warning)/ cage within a cage (cwac) method of introducing chinchillas/ the social disposition indicator: negative, positive, inexperienced, conclusion
/ maintaining group compatibility (preventing conflicts, causes for conflict, the two kinds of mounting)


* Chintelligence and Communication
communication (general characteristics, hear chinchilla sounds, speech recognition)/ taming or training chinchillas (additional articles)/ clever chin stories, chintelligence articles/ the tv attraction


* Dental Health
dental health (articles and photos, dental formula, facts and problem prevention, crossley articles)/ malocclusion (defining; articles and photos; environmental factor- calcium deficiency, inadequate tooth wear, implementing changes to address calcium deficiency and malocclusion; symptom progression of malocclusion)/ supplementing vitamin c for dental health (articles, vitamin c sources)/ supplementing calcium to correct calcium deficiency (calcium metabolism, moderate ca:no p calcium supplementing, articles, bladder stones in perspective, calcium sources)/ positive results from vitamin c and calcium supplementing: correcting calcium deficiency, reversing malocclusion (herd of maloccluders; casper in japan; henry, sugarpuff and dinky in the uk; sasha's miracle)


* Exercise and Play
exercise and environmental stimuli (chuffy's story, exercise for breeding chinchillas)/ exercise wheels (safety criteria; suppliers; reviews and demonstrations)/ using a harness/ out-of-cage exercise time (chin-proofing and other precautions, eyesight and agility, escape artists, if a chin is stepped on)


* Grooming, Fur and Skin Health
grooming (articles, accessories, the right dustbath container)/ dry skin/ callouses (bumblefoot)/ missing fur? (medical explanations; wear, rubbing; fights; fur-slipping; fur-biting, chewing, barbering; fungus)/ care myths: the wet bath (administering) -and- withholding dustbath (dustbath massage, dry butt-bath)


* Healing: Ailments & Remedies
don't kill your chin with "kindness!"/ health articles (medical and anatomical, senior health and cataracts, vet articles, vital statistics)/ antibiotic and penicillin warning/ anesthesia/ household remedies/ seizures, fits, convulsions (articles, brain infection)/ curing giardia (articles, oreganol article)/ protozoan parasites in captive chinchillas/ common kidney diseases in small pets/ hair rings and prolapsed penis (photos and articles, hair ring removal, treating a prolapsed penis)/ eye irritations/ incontinence and urine scald (articles)/ quarantining new chins/ digestive system ailments (additional articles, rectal prolapse of the intestine or bowel, the gastrointestinal system and gi stasis, bloat, enteritis, lower gi disease, hepatic lipidosis)/ contagious diseases (ringworm and giardia, pasteurella, pneumonia, rabbit viral hemorrhagic disease (vhd), ectoparasites, listeriosis, human herpes virus, rabies and monkeypox, frenkelia microti)


* Nutrition
nutrition articles/ nutrition in captivity: approximating the wild diet (malnutrition, wild diet and nutritional requirements)/ provide a variety of hays (additional articles and guaranteed analysis charts)/ pellets, a dietary staple of domestic chinchillas (pellet brand analysis)/ treats vs. health hazards (a guide to dietary extras)/ why distilled or filtered water is best/ handfeeding and formulas (articles, formulas: complete diets, supplementary)/ two studies of the wild chinchilla diet, and plant photos (2002, 1983, puya berteroniana)


* Origins and Wild Chinchillas Today
chinchilla types, or species (articles, photos of the chinchilla species, species description, scientific classification- how chinchillas differ from viscachas)/ wild chinchilla conservation status for short and long-tailed chinchillas/ recent wild chinchilla research and links: history, life in the wild/ las chinchillas national reserve in chile/ sights and cultures of the andes/ the great mf chapman hoax (facts: 1, 2, 3 and conclusion)


RESCUE, REHOMING AND CLASSIFIEDS
guides to responsible rescue and rehoming (rehoming by contacting rescue: hoarding vs legitimate rescue; rehoming by direct placement; articles)/ adoption fees and dangers of ftgh, "free to good home" (bunchers, hoarders or collectors)/ usa & international rescues and shelters, petfinder shelter status/ you can sponsor a rescue chinchilla!/ why rescue workers ask questions/ information resources (sites, lost pet resources, chinchilla hotel and temporary lodging, rescue programs for chins and other exotics)/ classifieds


Rescue & Rehoming Pages:

* Let's Home Those In NEED Before We Breed!
the big picture in review (defining overpopulation and "good home")/ casualties of reckless breeding/ we can curb chinchilla neglect, abuse and homelessness!/ pocket pets, what rights?/ "family in desperate need," insightful humor/ selections from, "we are their heroes"


* The Rescue Report
photos and actual case descriptions from chinchilla rescue workers: introduction/ links to rescue, rehoming stories/ counting the rescues/ near death experience/ dorm room neglect/ dire consequences of irresponsible breeding/ thirty inbred chinchillas/ ftgh fiasco/ chinchillas left out with trash/ abandoned outside in summertime/ death trap cages/ crippled kit/ neglect survivors/ helping to turn things around/ spiffy's frat house nightmare/ the many costs of rescue work/ warning to rescuers about people wanting "cheap breeding chins"


* Setting Standards for Responsible Pet Chinchilla Breeding, Ownership and Neutering
breeding or mating myths/ recommended reading/ breeding basics for the surprised new chinparent (rotational feeding method)/ standards for responsible pet chinchilla breeding (our philosophy, breeding standards, nfb: "not for breeding" factors!)/ screening for responsible pet chinchilla ownership (examples: adoption contracts and procedures)/ articles: breeding, mutation colors, baby-saving, determining gender, etc./ zebedee's story: hand-raising kits/ neutering (articles, introduction, why neuter, checklist, factors to consider)/ inbreeding, linebreeding and why pet breeders shouldn't (articles, breeding for health and temperament)


SAFETY & SUPPLIER RESOURCES
safety intro, product reviews link/ site safety and need-to-know index/ pet-safe cleaners/ safe litter or bedding (suppliers)/ safety items/ safe vs. hazardous chews (safe, effective chews: examples, cleaning and reusing cholla and pumice; safe wood: about safe wood, the list, cleaning, storing; toxic wood: toxic factors, the list, cyanogenic glycosides; chewing hazards)/ safe vs. toxic metals/ chinchilla collectibles/ search, shop chinchilla supplies (quick links, international suppliers & google search)


VET RESOURCES
how knowledgeable is your vet?/ information resources (articles on choosing a vet, online vet advice, pet insurance)/ usa and international vets that specialize in exotics/ initial vet examination criteria and detecting illness (ears and paw pads, eyes, fecal droppings, fur, general attitude, heart and lungs, teeth, urine)


MEMORIALS
memorial and support sites, burial wares/ the message in memorials/ estate planning: prevent orphaned pets!/ do chinchillas grieve?/ death throes: a chin's final moments/ words of comfort at parting/ ChinCare's Dedication
/ quality of life and euthanasia









Note: MCBA and ECBC are not listed among our pet organizations because they are the U.S. pelter clubs. We hope that someday the pet breeders who comprise the majority membership in both clubs will make progress in getting them to change direction and represent the pet interests of their membership.
 
ORGANIZATIONS & EVENTS

Chinchilla Breeder's Organization
CBO is a branch of The Chinchilla Club
Chinchilla Carers' Club
"UK-based club for all people interested in the care
and keeping of chinchillas as pets"
Chinchilla Club NZ
New Zealand-based, "the chinchilla's health and
welfare is of the foremost concern of the Club"
Chinchillas As Pets Association events
CAPA is a U.S.-based club
Chin Knights, Rodela Chinchilla and ChinChorro
Knights and Rodela are clubs sworn to uphold protection
for chinchillas from the fur industry, ChinChorro is a program
organized to save the wild chinchilla
The Chinchilla Club events
An international pet chinchilla organization
The National Chinchilla Society events
NCS is a UK club that publishes a bi-monthly informational
gazette, accepts overseas memberships and does not
support the fur industry






NON-ENGLISH RESOURCES
The ChinCare webmasters regretfully admit that we're linguistically challenged outside of our
native habitat, so this is not the most comprehensive list, just a sampling of what we've found:

Chinchilla Vienna
/
Danish Club/ Nordic Club
German, Austrian, Dutch, Swiss sites
Swedish, Danish and Norwegian sites


Asian: Forum
, Chinchilla Room, Cindy's Homepage
Dutch: Lima Chinchillas,
Vida Nueva Foundation
Finnish: Pet Chinchilla Association
French: Bernard et Bianca, Les Chinchillas de Sylvie
German: CHINCITTÀ, Chinchilla Post Online, ZooArt, Links, Chinchilla Lexicon sites: Museum, Photos, Books
Italian: IL CINCILLA'
Portuguese:
Quinta Das Roedores
Spanish: Chinchiweb, infochinchillas.com,
Spanish Chinchilla Club, Forum, Latest newsletter(.pdf)
Chin Knight's Non-English Sites:
Murmel's Homepage/ Chinutopia/ Chin City
Chinchilla Paradies/ Sven's Chinchilla Homepage
Ottinger's Chinchilla Familien/ Chinchilla Villa
Petras Tierinsel/ ChinPower/ Chinchilla-Meli
Chinchilla Wunderwelt/ Silver Streak Chinchilla
Chinchilla-Villa Kunterbunt


Non-English Articles
Spanish article- Centro Veterinario Carlinda, .pdf
by Jaime E. Jiménez, PhD, et al:
Pet Guide Series (.pdf), in Japanese
"Glorious Past, Threatening Present" (.pdf), in Italian






Since 2002 we have hand-reviewed all the English language pet chinchilla care sites (over 700 as of 2008) on the web for the educational purposes of this site.
The following sites are, in our estimation, the most thoroughly informative (substantial coverage on nearly all topics) and usually factually reliable pet chinchilla care sites on the web.
This list is subject to periodic updates. Our Disclaimer and ChinCare's Principle applies.
Azure Chinchillas
Bettina's Fluffy Chins
Cheeky Chinchillas
Chin City
ChinBin in Oregon
Chinchilla Cymru
Chinchilla Quest
Chinchillas2Home
Chinnychinchins
Chintrek
Crystal Chinchillas, Belgium
Darren's Chinchilla Paradise, Singapore
Downsview Chinchillas
Dunja's House of Chinchillas

Ebony Dragon Chinchillas
Etc-Etc Chinchilla Page
Eyes of Texas Chinchillas

Keeping Chinchillas As Pets- A Guide
Kingdom Chinchillas

PetPlace.com





MAGAZINES, DIRECTORIES AND
REFERENCE LIBRARIES
Chinchilla Club Community Reference Library
Chinchilla Club Magazine Retail
Chinchillas.com Newsletter
Chinchillas Unlimited Reference Library
Chinformative Forum Reference Library
ChinNet

ECO Magazine Membership required
Small Pet Club Online pet directory
UK Pets.co.uk UK news, resources, etc.





BOOKS AND ARTICLES
RESOURCE LISTS
CA Chins Vet Reference Books/ Caitlin's Chinchillas CentralPets/ Cheeky Chinchilla Club/ TRO
Etc-Etc.com/ Chinchilla Lexikon/ Chinchilla Library
BOOK SEARCH AND PRICE COMPARISON
addall/ blackwellpublishing/ booksprice.com directtextbook/
fetchbook/ GoogleBookSearch usedbooksearch





E-CARDS
Blue Moon Chinchillas/ Cheeky Chinchillas/
Chinchillaburg/ Dunja's House of Chinchillas/
Kritter Cards/
WWF (not chinchilla-specific)





JUST FOR FUN!...........
Videos, Games, Children's Page, Chin Wars and
more under "Extras"/ Chin Jump/ Jigsaw/ Haikus
Chin Dance/ Animated Photo Cube/ Retha's Puzzles
Coloring Book/ Self-Test for Chinchilla Addiction
Cartoon Gallery/ Merry's Memory Test/ Silly Images
Emily's Chinese Ink Art, Chinchilla Paintings
Puzzle and Crossword, Dusty Flips!/ Rodent Movies
Chinimations/ Chintoons by Herike Rehme
Mottos, Chin Lovers/ Animal Totems: The Chinchilla
Chin Movies, Videos/ Chinchilla Collectibles Museum
and The White Pages of Chinchilla Pictures
STAMPS: etc-etc, Chinchilla-Lexicon
LIVE WEBCAMS: Chinchilla/ Chinchilla-Lexikon
Drew's/ Lone Star/ sleepychinchilla





PC RESOURCES
SOFTWARE
Chinchilla World's Pedigree Maker Freebie
Evans' Chinchilla Register
SITE HOSTING Freebie
CentralPets.com/ Chinchilla Club
ChinNet/ My Pets Pages
IMAGES Free, may require link back
Chinchilla City Icons/ Chinimations
Chinnie Potter/ Emma's Free Images
Paw-Talk Pocket Palz/ The Chinchillaburg
ONLINE SECURITY INFORMATION
eCommerce & Online Security by Chinchilla Cymru
Snopes: Real Viruses, Hoaxes, etc.





SPONSOR A CHINCHILLA IN THE ZOO
America's Teaching Zoo, Moorpark College, CA
Baltimore Zoo in MD/
Brandywine Zoo in DE
Catoctin Zoo in MD/ Lee Richardson Zoo in KS
Pueblo Zoo in CO/
San Francisco Zoo





ONLINE COMMUNITY: FORUMS, CHAT, GROUPS, WEB JOURNALS, MEETUP, ETC.
.........(These often list more chinchilla resources)

We recommend these international forums, in our opinion
they're the best:
Chinchillas Unlimited, Chinformative Forum, Chinchilla World, CHINformation Organization Forum, Chinwags, and Midwest Exotics- a forum for hedgehogs, chinchillas and sugar gliders. Not only are they fur-free, their atmosphere and level of expertise are exceptional!


The following quote is from Chinwags. In our opinion this prudent and responsible approach should be adopted by all forums:

"Our first port of call if worried should always be the vets. We should try to remember the difference between our own experiences (which in themselves can vary in different situations) and information we have picked up along the way.

"Where possible would you please make clear where any details you mention came from, have you been through this or have you read it somewhere? If from a website/message board please provide a link where possible (or link and quote), so that other members may make a better judgement for themselves as to the validity of the details. We ask that you do not try to impose your views on others, just let's be here to share, comfort and help where we can."


RESCUE FORUMS: Farplace Forum, UK/ Pet Rescue, UK/ PetsAlive, USA/ Rodent Rescue
ANTI-ABUSE FORUM:
catler.org

INTERNATIONAL CHINCHILLA MEETUP

WEB JOURNALS/ BLOGS: Chinchilling, Chinchilla Life! Chinchilla Love, Chinlog, Chinchillas = Happiness Live Journal,
Chinchilla Place, Interview with the Chinchilla


Animal Dreamz
Blue Moon's Chat
CentralPets.com
Chinchilla Chat Line
Chinchilla Club Forum
Chinchilla Club NZ
Chinchilla Forum
chinchilla_lovers email group
Chinchilla World
Chinchillas Unlimited
CHINformation Organization Forum
Chinformative Forum
ChinMail
Chins & Quills
Chins-n-Friends
ChinsRus.co.uk
ChinStation
Chinwags
Just Chinchillas
Kingdom Chinchillas (msn) Board
Lone Star Chinchilla Forum
Midwest Exotics
Nibbler Niche
Ontario Chinchilla Association
Paw-Talk: Chinchillas
Petfanatics.com: Chinchillas
Pets.Com.sg: Singapore Forum
PetsHub.com: Chinchillas
Pins-n-Chins
Practical Pet Care: Chinchillas
Small Pet Club
The Chinchilla Club Forum, NZ
Whisker-Tales
Wunderchins forum
YAHOO - CHIN GROUPS










Chinchilla Top 100 Homepages

Chinchilla Top 100 Seiten


Chinchilla Top Site


Stop Animal Abuse Topsites List Sir Chin's Top
Kingsboro Chinchillas Top Top Animal Sites
Top 100 Pet Web Sites EuropeaN PeT ToP LisT
Animals of the World Ultimate Top 100 Pet Sites
AnimalSites.com The Little Critter Lover's Online Directory


Cavy and Chinchilla
Ring Owner: Cavy and Chinchilla SiteRing  Site: My Lovely Chins and Cavies
Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet
Site Ring from Bravenet


Kingdom Chinchillas A Top NCS award winner
Ring Owner: Aileen  Site: Kingdom Chinchillas
Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet Free Site Ring from Bravenet
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The Chinny Chin Chin SiteRing

This site owned by
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Previous Site List Sites Random Site Join Ring Next Site
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The Webmasters
... White & Nerdy!
ABOUT................Our Story, Credentials, Judging the Quality of Internet Care Information,
US......................... .. Copyright Notice & Sharing Policy, ChinCare's Principle, Disclaimer
Link-To-Site Logos: 1, 2 and thumbnails: 1, 2. Save image to your PC and link to ChinCare.
Contact: Choose an address from below, no spaces when sending, put "chins not spam" in subject.
We're always happy to do what we can regarding advice or referrals, and we ALWAYS
reply, often within 24 hours. If you do not receive a response within 48 hours,
PLEASE resend as we have had email problems in the past.
ChinCare: the fuzz @ chincare .com
Matilde's Mission:
chin rescue @ matildes mission .org


Our Story

Like many people, the ChinCare webmasters grew up with animals: dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, mice, chameleons, fish, horses, chickens, pigs and a turtle, bearded dragon, tarantula, ball python, racoon and squirrel.
In 1997, right after we began dating, we got our first chinchilla on an impulse buy from a pet store. We were told that it was a boy, so we bought "him" a buddy... and a couple years later something that looked like a mouse was scurrying about the cage! YIKES! That was Hugo, the first chin born to us. After that surprise birth we had two more litters born to Hugo and his mate Deedlit while trying to get to the point where we could have all male and all female cage pairings.


We weren't what you would call "responsible breeders" (we wish we'd known then about adopting from rescue first), we didn't know much about chinchilla genetics and we didn't have our chins' genetic/ medical and temperament histories. That's BAD. We learned our lessons, the "what not to do's," in this and other areas the hard way. So we decided to make it our mission to do research and compile a website that would serve as a hub, a directory, to all the online chinchilla care information so that others would be able to start out on the RIGHT track, as prepared, knowledgeable, conscientious chinparents. That's how ChinCare came about.


After purchasing our first chinchilla in early 1997, our chinfamily grew as we became smitten with these charming, intelligent creatures. We adopted from pet chinchilla or "hobby" breeders, ranchers, and one reputable pet store that occassionally got a chin in who had a discharging eye, heavy scarring from fight wounds or a difficult temperament. In 2000 we began taking in only chins in need: abuse and neglect cases, rescue, rehomed, special needs and senior chins. Along the way we met and maintained communication with several authorities on the chinchilla, including published authors and scholars who've conducted field studies on the remaining wild chinchilla population.


Our "herd" steadily increased (with rescues, we do not breed but don't begrudge those who breed responsibly) and since 2002 it has numbered over thirty, since 2003 we've been fortunate in having the frequent opportunity to work from home and that advantage has enabled us to spend time conducting informal behavioral studies of the character, temperament and social interactions of our chinkiddies. In 2003 we began networking internationally with pet chinchilla rescue/ rehoming services for the purpose of aiding pet chinchillas in crisis situations. In 2004 we initiated the Pet Homes For Ranchies (or PHFR) Midwest Project that worked cooperatively with ranchers to save (pelting is no longer profitable) one hundred at-risk ranch chinchillas and find them homes within the pet community, PHFR projects are ongoing to this day.


Our rescue has been full for years with those chins we took in that cannot be adopted out due to age, handicap, etc., so they'll live out their time with us, watching TV and living the good life. We're active in maintaining this educational website and matildesmission.org, a charity we work for that helps both ranch and pet chinchillas in need. But we're not always at the computer, besides work and caring for our chinfamily we take time for recreational interests: reading, writing, attending artistic events and theater, home remodelling, biking, landscaping, sight-seeing, hiking, paintball, etc. Our combined university education has culminated in the following degrees: English Language and Literature for Secondary Level Education, Human Resources Management, Business, and Computer Science.






Our credentials/ background, content written by the webmasters for ChinCare derives from:

Intensive observation and interaction while working with hundreds of chinchillas through:
1) Our chinfamily- begun in 1997, residents have numbered at over thirty since 2002
2) Our rescue work- since 2000, includes interaction with chinchillas from all backgrounds: pet chinchilla or "hobby" breeder, pet store, rescue, rehomed and those with handicaps, special needs or that have been neglected, abused, etc. 3) Pet Homes For Ranchies- saving ranch chinchillas since 2004
, also see Accomplishments on Matilde's Mission.


Extensive online research, data mining and the study of our reference library which includes dozens of veterinary, scholarly and rancher-authored books, pamphlets and articles
(.doc, and our purchase of rancher-authored books did not contribute to the continuation of pelting), plus the hand-reviewing of all English language pet chinchilla care sites (over 700 as of 2008) on the web for the educational purposes of this site.


Ongoing international communications with pet chinchilla owners, breeders, rescue workers and ranchers, and of course the indispensible benefit of working closely with our exotics specialist vet.
Content from ChinCare has been translated into at least three foreign languages: Finnish, German and Spanish, and in 2008 we contributed an article on chinchilla safety, "Danger Defused," to Critters USA magazine.



Besides establishing
ChinCare to serve as an educational resource for the pet chinchilla community, the webmasters have initiated other projects to promote education and positive activism, including:

Have maintained Urgent Alerts for other animals and pets and the Confronting Cruelty page, the latter of which includes a pet store outreach program. Have continued to address pet chinchilla neglect, abuse, overpopulation and homelessness through the Rescue & Rehoming Pages.

Have assisted in a research and advisory capacity for the lawful prosecution of several chinchilla hoarding/ abuse cases

Continue to provide small animal shelters with chinchilla care information and adoption tools (contracts, surrender forms, charging an adoption fee)

Ongoing participation in chinchilla railroad projects and donation of supplies, educational materials and personal assistance to chinchilla rescue workers, including paying for website operation costs.

Performed IT work for and funded the first year of one educational chinchilla forum and briefly managed another. Submitted an efficiency report to a major pet forum for ethical and administrative improvements.

Have helped prominent chinchilla suppliers establish their business and client bases to make quality goods more commonly available to the pet chinchilla community

Obtained reproduction permission for and submitted several informative articles to a pet chinchilla magazine

Contributions made in the initiative to establish national chinchilla breeder standards in New Zealand

Initiated projects that were assumed by "The Matilde Mission: Pet Homes For Ranch Chinchillas, Inc.," a 501(c)3 registered charity that the ChinCare webmasters co-founded in November, 2005:

*Change by Choice*
A call to action for those who value chinchillas and want to assist the on-going transition in the U.S. from exploiting chinchillas for their fur to protecting them as beloved pets.

*Pet Homes For Ranchies*
The 2004 Pet Homes For Ranchies (or PHFR) Midwest Project placed one hundred at-risk ranch chinchillas (pelting is no longer profitable) within the pet community between 10/2004 and 6/2005, inspiring the creation of Matilde's Mission.

*IPCR, International Placement Coordinators for Chinchilla Rescue and Re-Homing*
From 2003-06 IPCR coordinators The Dust Bath and ChinCare networked extensively within the international chinchilla rescue community, assisting in scores of cases (in Europe and nearly all 50 U.S. states) that involved everything from routine rehomings to emergency rescue assistance. Matilde's Mission's ICRN (International Chinchilla Rescue Network) assumed responsibilities in 2006 and is a continuation and expansion of the work of IPCR.






Judging the Quality of Internet Care Information

The sole objective of this article is to encourage chinparents to THINK CRITICALLY and ASK QUESTIONS of their information source. We too have been confused and misled in the past by some people's ignorance and arrogance in online advising, and we'd like to help spare others the consequences we've endured. This is not an attempt on our part to somehow disqualify advice given elsewhere and to imply that only our advice is true and relevant, we invite the same honest scrutiny that we encourage chinparents to apply elsewhere and we expect that people can and will think and make up their minds for themselves. Please see ChinCare's Principle and read the conclusion after these points:


Most of the advice in the pet chinchilla community comes from pet breeders, and they typically cite their quantity of experience as proof of their comprehensive expertise. But unless a pet breeder also does a substantial amount of rescue work, then their experience consists mainly of dealing with the type of chins they breed: temperamentally mellow (breeding for temperament should be a top priority), hand-raised pet bred or docile ranch chins.


Reputable pet breeders don't get their breeding chinchillas from pet stores, rescue or rehoming (this is a good thing!), but the public that they are advising DOES, and those chins are more the "real" than the "ideal." When pet breeders generalize and advise from experience with easy-going, well-adjusted, and therefore more adaptive and resilient chins, they sometimes neglect to realize that their experience isn't truly representative and that what holds true for them or what works for them may not work in every situation, for all pet owners.


This is why some of the most widespread advice in the pet community is also some of the most problematic in practical application. For instance, being hands-off with a new chinchilla or using the Side by Side Cages introduction method- things that usually don't pose a problem with untroubled chins- WILL pose a problem with chins that are high-strung or that come from a troubled background. This is another reason why pet breeders should also do rescue work (and indeed some do), because besides acting as a "checks and balances" against overpopulation, it gives them a more well-rounded perspective from which to advise.


Chinchillas are truly unique as individuals, they vary as much as people do, and generalizations should err on the side of caution and usually need to be framed by qualifying language. This is not a criticism of pet breeders, the problem with generalizing from unrepresentative experience is a valid point that applies to everyone including rescuers such as ourselves, but the voice and experience of rescuers, at least in the U.S. pet chinchilla community, seldom makes itself heard.


We started out adopting chins from pet breeders, which almost