Where to buy a Chinchilla?

[Angie]

I live in Arkansas so it is hard finding good breeders in my area because their are so few of them

I've heard bad things about Petsmart/Petco when it comes to animals so I am wanting to stay away from them if I can. My husband and I are wanting to get a chinchilla young as we possibly can when it is ok to separate it from it's mother so we know for sure that we can get it use to human interaction. We have tried facebook pages trying to find breeders but nobody will respond, and the only response we did get was for us to adopt one that was already pretty old.

We have been doing a lot of research and have a good idea of what to buy for the chinchilla but was wanting to know what to stay away from when buying bedding, housing, toys, etc since we will have to purchase most of our stuff from a generic petstore. We want our chinchilla to be as happy,healthy, and friendly as possible so any advice you guys could give would be great!

[LaAn]

With cage liners, fleece is pretty much the best bet. Most chinchillas will bite and pull it at first, then leave it alone. It's a rare chinchilla that tries to shred and eat it, in which case it would need to be removed. If you want a bedding, then aspen is the best. Second would be a kiln dried pine, but it's usually better in something like a pee dish, as sometimes the oils aren't completely baked out, but anyone I know (pros included) never have had a problem with it. Don't use carefresh bedding. It's a paper product, and if ingested, it can swell in the intestines and cause a blockage which is painful for the animal and expensive to fix.

Foods - the best brands are oxbow and mazuri, but a good green pellet without anything else mixed into it is normally alright. Their main source of food will be a constant supply of timothy hay.

You should do some research online before settling for a pet shop for supplies. There are lots of treats I would never buy there (yoghurt drops fx). I buy toys and houses there, though, because they are fine.

One of the most important things is the cage (it needs to be the size of a double level critter nation or ferret nation, but doesn't have to be that cage). It will cost around $250. I think THE most important thing is to make sure you have access to an exotic vet with chinchilla experience. Regular vets aren't going to know much about chinchillas, and often do more harm than good (for example, saying to feed lots of fruits and veggies, which can kill them).

Just because you get a chinchilla young doesn't guarantee a friendly attitude. They have their own personalities, and you'll get to know them very well. One of my girls, for example, wouldn't let me pet her for 8 months, and she still doesn't let me pick her up. She jumps into my hands or onto my shoulder on HER terms. She's also very vocal. She's extremely people-friendly, but quirky. The other female is a bit anti-social, but if she wants, lets me pick her up and carry her around for a good 10 minutes before getting tired of it. She never says anything.

http://luckychinchilla.proboards.com/ One last thing, ask around this forum to see if anyone knows of anyone in your area. There are also good supply resources, rescues and you can get some great advice