chillaluver9
10-21-2004, 11:16 PM
Where to begin of the sad story of Chilla, my love......
I work with animals, at a rather large and well known pet supplies store. Ive always had the interest in Chinchillas just never had the offer of having one. So first came, Reef... He came from some people that thought he was mean, and would throw things at them. Not the case at all! He's a mush.
So, after sucess with Reef, I thought it was time to get him a cagemate. I was going to purchase the standard male from out store, but out of luck for this poor chinchilla - he made his way into my heart. I was walking the sales floor, and picking up chinchilla food for Reef, when I met this woman who was picking up "not so good" chinchilla food. I asked her, "don't you just love your chinchilla?" She was like, not at all. I purchased him for my son three years ago, and he hates it. He just leaves it in a cage all day and doesn't take care of him. It's become my responsibilty.... So I go to the woman, well - is he social? Do you let him out of the cage and everything for play time? Do you spend time to interact with your chinchilla? I explained how I feel that they're amazing critters, and I'd give them the shirt off my back if they didn't have such a warm coat :D So the woman was like... Well, would you want to take care of him? I was like, yes. Bring him to me, and I'll provide him an amazing home. The next day, she brings in a 10 gallon fish tank, with Chilla in the tank (previously named Boris). I asked her if this is what he was living in - and she said yes, ever since we got him. I took Chilla out of the tank and just started to give him a once over. Once feeling his coat, I discovered matting. Which should be just about impossible for a chinchilla to get considering their fur density. She gave me a bag, containging really bad chinchilla food, salted sun flower seeds as treats, and sented dust sand. I asked her about the sand - guesstimate the amount of times she would provide this type of bating to him - she said once a month. He was a grease ball. I didn't want him to suffer any more, so I brought him home. Reef and Chilla were an istant pair, they loved eachother, they would cuddle, and play around like crazy. I let them get used to each other for a few days, put them in the same cage and everything first day - they really loved eachother, it was fuggin' cute. :blush: Two weeks went by, he still had matting, so I brought him back to the store where my friend Diana was going to help me with the matting, (she has 6 chins). I bring him there and he's an instant sucess - everyone wants to touch and hold him like he's a baby (my baby anyway). Diana and I got the matting out of his fur ( and it was ALOT of matting) and we were on our way back home.... The dead of summer... I was smart though, I pack in an ice pack and put him in a secure holding kennel. I got home and took him out of the cage, and he was limp. I thoguth he was dead, so the first thing I thought of was heat stroke. I opened up the fridge and just rested him in there for a while... He came around, I put him back in his cage - he still seemed a little woosey, and I started to get worried. He was eating treats, and drinking water normally, so I thought nothing of it. He stayed in his hide-a-way box for the night - which was normal for him - he was a little timid. I woke up the next day, and it didn't seem like a promising day for Chilla... I took him out of the cage, and he seemed like out of sorts - so i separated him, put him in his own 40 gallon breeder tank with his hide box, his own water, and his favorite treats... He was eating them and drinking them - just seemed - off.... I put his cage up in my grandmothers bedroom, because they're air conditioning. The whole night, my boyfriend and I tried to take care of our child so much - we tried to get him to drink from a bottle, eat anything - but he just lost all will to go on. I called the exotic vet, and brough him in right away. They took him in, and the vet was like "well, its not the heat anymore thats bothering him". I was like ????? She said that it could be a bacterica infection because he hasn't been defecating, and stopped eating and drinking. This point poor Chilla was spread out like crazy, and seemed like he was in pain. My heart sank as the vet told me all the possible things that could be wrong with him... I had no hope - he looked so bad, and I felt so responsible. I left him there over night, they took care of him the whole night thru - set him up to IVs, and medicated him the best he could. The next day, I get a phone call at 730 from the vet, "jackie?" yes? "you're little buddy didn't make it though the night" I started balling.... My little angel was gone - and there was nothing that I could do about it. The vet assured me that it wasn't my fault for Chillas death. The previous owners were uneducated of chinchillas, and didn't have the comprehensive knowledge about how amazing these guys are. She thought it was a pet, and it could live in a 10 gallon tank with no run around time, no real dust bath (just the scented dust sand). She said with the lack of care Chilla recieved, she was surprised that he didn't go sooner, in the care of his previous owners.
I gave him the most incredible quality of life while i could.... Made him nice and fat - fed him really good food, lots of Yogies, lots of rasins (Chilla's favorite) and just loved him with all my heart... I brought him for walks with my and my boyfriend while we'd take the dog around the block. He became sholder trained and everything... But my love is gone now, and I'm so sad.... We gave hima a proper funeral - and hope his chilla afterlife was as good as the three weeks that I provided him TLC.
I learned soemthing though - Lots of people aren't educated enough to have these wonderful critters as pets.... So if you breed chillas, and sell them to people - assure yourself that they are going to a good home. Not a home where they would be a pet, but a family member... Much like my three amigos now. Reef, Dusty, and Koosh have a regular part in me and my boyfriends life... They even love the dog we have! (its cute, ive got pictures of that) Please for my sake, make sure they go to a loving family who can provide the right care for these babies...
I work with animals, at a rather large and well known pet supplies store. Ive always had the interest in Chinchillas just never had the offer of having one. So first came, Reef... He came from some people that thought he was mean, and would throw things at them. Not the case at all! He's a mush.
So, after sucess with Reef, I thought it was time to get him a cagemate. I was going to purchase the standard male from out store, but out of luck for this poor chinchilla - he made his way into my heart. I was walking the sales floor, and picking up chinchilla food for Reef, when I met this woman who was picking up "not so good" chinchilla food. I asked her, "don't you just love your chinchilla?" She was like, not at all. I purchased him for my son three years ago, and he hates it. He just leaves it in a cage all day and doesn't take care of him. It's become my responsibilty.... So I go to the woman, well - is he social? Do you let him out of the cage and everything for play time? Do you spend time to interact with your chinchilla? I explained how I feel that they're amazing critters, and I'd give them the shirt off my back if they didn't have such a warm coat :D So the woman was like... Well, would you want to take care of him? I was like, yes. Bring him to me, and I'll provide him an amazing home. The next day, she brings in a 10 gallon fish tank, with Chilla in the tank (previously named Boris). I asked her if this is what he was living in - and she said yes, ever since we got him. I took Chilla out of the tank and just started to give him a once over. Once feeling his coat, I discovered matting. Which should be just about impossible for a chinchilla to get considering their fur density. She gave me a bag, containging really bad chinchilla food, salted sun flower seeds as treats, and sented dust sand. I asked her about the sand - guesstimate the amount of times she would provide this type of bating to him - she said once a month. He was a grease ball. I didn't want him to suffer any more, so I brought him home. Reef and Chilla were an istant pair, they loved eachother, they would cuddle, and play around like crazy. I let them get used to each other for a few days, put them in the same cage and everything first day - they really loved eachother, it was fuggin' cute. :blush: Two weeks went by, he still had matting, so I brought him back to the store where my friend Diana was going to help me with the matting, (she has 6 chins). I bring him there and he's an instant sucess - everyone wants to touch and hold him like he's a baby (my baby anyway). Diana and I got the matting out of his fur ( and it was ALOT of matting) and we were on our way back home.... The dead of summer... I was smart though, I pack in an ice pack and put him in a secure holding kennel. I got home and took him out of the cage, and he was limp. I thoguth he was dead, so the first thing I thought of was heat stroke. I opened up the fridge and just rested him in there for a while... He came around, I put him back in his cage - he still seemed a little woosey, and I started to get worried. He was eating treats, and drinking water normally, so I thought nothing of it. He stayed in his hide-a-way box for the night - which was normal for him - he was a little timid. I woke up the next day, and it didn't seem like a promising day for Chilla... I took him out of the cage, and he seemed like out of sorts - so i separated him, put him in his own 40 gallon breeder tank with his hide box, his own water, and his favorite treats... He was eating them and drinking them - just seemed - off.... I put his cage up in my grandmothers bedroom, because they're air conditioning. The whole night, my boyfriend and I tried to take care of our child so much - we tried to get him to drink from a bottle, eat anything - but he just lost all will to go on. I called the exotic vet, and brough him in right away. They took him in, and the vet was like "well, its not the heat anymore thats bothering him". I was like ????? She said that it could be a bacterica infection because he hasn't been defecating, and stopped eating and drinking. This point poor Chilla was spread out like crazy, and seemed like he was in pain. My heart sank as the vet told me all the possible things that could be wrong with him... I had no hope - he looked so bad, and I felt so responsible. I left him there over night, they took care of him the whole night thru - set him up to IVs, and medicated him the best he could. The next day, I get a phone call at 730 from the vet, "jackie?" yes? "you're little buddy didn't make it though the night" I started balling.... My little angel was gone - and there was nothing that I could do about it. The vet assured me that it wasn't my fault for Chillas death. The previous owners were uneducated of chinchillas, and didn't have the comprehensive knowledge about how amazing these guys are. She thought it was a pet, and it could live in a 10 gallon tank with no run around time, no real dust bath (just the scented dust sand). She said with the lack of care Chilla recieved, she was surprised that he didn't go sooner, in the care of his previous owners.
I gave him the most incredible quality of life while i could.... Made him nice and fat - fed him really good food, lots of Yogies, lots of rasins (Chilla's favorite) and just loved him with all my heart... I brought him for walks with my and my boyfriend while we'd take the dog around the block. He became sholder trained and everything... But my love is gone now, and I'm so sad.... We gave hima a proper funeral - and hope his chilla afterlife was as good as the three weeks that I provided him TLC.
I learned soemthing though - Lots of people aren't educated enough to have these wonderful critters as pets.... So if you breed chillas, and sell them to people - assure yourself that they are going to a good home. Not a home where they would be a pet, but a family member... Much like my three amigos now. Reef, Dusty, and Koosh have a regular part in me and my boyfriends life... They even love the dog we have! (its cute, ive got pictures of that) Please for my sake, make sure they go to a loving family who can provide the right care for these babies...