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Judgedogmama
01-24-2005, 11:19 PM
:laugh: Hello to all:
My name is Kimberley Bennett, and I thought it'd be polite to formaly introduce myself to the forum. I'm honnestly here to use the site as a decission-making tool as to whether or not a chinchilla or hedgehog, if not both, would make a good addition to my husband and I's seemingly ever-growing pet family. I work for a major pet store chain, and my grandmother was a veterinarian prior to her passing in 2001, so my life has been filled with what others see as "odd" pets. Grandma kept and bred several reptile species, Moloucan cockatoos, Newfoundlands, sugar gliders(kept only-they were the first rescues she took in), a pygmy marmoset, several pot-bellied pigs, rats(both as pets and 'employees'), paint horses....you get the idea. I spent the bulk of my lifetime spending as much of it as I could with her because of it, and have now found myself following in her footsteps.
My poor husband, on the other hand, has only been around dogs and cats in his own house(and a roomates' water dragon in college), but has been a very good sport about anything that either just shows up or came with me into our marriage. He's the reason I'm looking more seriously at chinchillas, as I managed to hear him acknowldege he would like to have one...almost everything in the house(except for his rabbits, one of the cats, and a Mali Uromastix) is deemed to be mine, and for him to want to add to it...I can't pass up the oppourtunity!!
Our "family" currently consists of:
one 11-month-old American Staffodshire Terrier, 'Judge'
two cats: Simon(black DLH) and Isabelle (flame point polydactyl) both
two Eastern collared lizards(Butter and Frito)
one Mali Uromastix(Dante)
one Suriname red-tail boa
one rescued Sumatran Blood Python
two Jersey Wooley rabbits, Max and Pekaboo (my little sister's failed 4-h project from two years ago...Peke refuses to take Max as a mate for reasons unkown to anyone but her)
My beloved rex rats: Don Curleon and his two wives Misty and Pandora
A nano-reef tank that is home to more fish than it should be able to support
Three nameless bettas
The two of us

That's us(me) in a nutshell. I'm not really looking to breed anything other than my rats right now, but Michael did squeal when he saw pictures of baby chins, so you never know.

I'm happy to recieve any info, advice, comments, questions, etc... at all. Just drop me a line.
Kim

teela1342
01-25-2005, 12:05 AM
Welcome! I may be biased, but I vote for hedgie. :) Really, I don't know that much about Chinchillas, but I understand that they have very different living space requirements. So unless you have 2 rooms to spare, you may have to choose one or the other.

But back to hedgehogs, I have had mine for a little over 2 months and really love him. They don't smell, don't require much in the way of grooming or baths, aren't noisy, don't require regular vet care, can eat a wide variety of foods, get along with other household animals, are easy to cage, and don't chew.

Plus, they have adorable faces! They are funny and curious and loaded with personality. I am sure there are other owners with other reasons, but those are just a starting point.

Good luck with your decision. (Get your husband on the hedgie boat!) :D

CountryGal
01-25-2005, 12:09 AM
Hello! Hey don't pick one or the other and get one of each!! I want a hedgie some day, they are so darling! Right now my house..well actually I just live here, my chinnies own the house.. :laugh: Welcome to the boards!

Judgedogmama
01-25-2005, 12:20 AM
Thanks for the quick and warm welcomes!! There is supprisingly still a good deal of room left in the house...maybe I can get Michael to not see the wriggly nose of a hedgehog as anything other than the adorable little thing it is...

chinchilla_boy
01-25-2005, 12:46 AM
Hello! Any zoo is incomplete without a chinchilla exhibit, so I vote for chinnies. So what's the price of admission? Are kids under the age of 5 let in free? :laugh:

kriskitty22
01-25-2005, 01:19 AM
Good luck with your decision. Both are so cute. I don't have a hegie, but I hegie-sat one before. (They're cute how they munch their food.) Then again, chins have adorable little hands and they are so sweet when they stand on their hind legs and look at you. I don't envy your decision! :-) Let us know what you choose.

beckie467
01-25-2005, 01:40 AM
Hey welcome to CnQ!!! Good luck with your decision. I'd go for both (wink wink). I think hedgies are just adorable, but I don't own any. I do have 2 chins and soon it will be 5 chins. And i must say I LOVE THEM! Good luck with your decision. Keep us updated!

tweedamay
01-25-2005, 05:16 PM
I have 2 chinnies. We chose after much research. My hubby is seriously allergic is almost everything with fur or feathers. Naturally, it makes sense that he married someone with lots of critter love and experience working for a veterinarian. Hubby has no problem with allergies to the chinnies. (Some people have allergies to the dust and/or bedding.)
Anyway, after I joined CnQ I got interested in those cute little hedgies. I don't think they will work out for us, though. But they are tooooooo cute!!!
We love watching the chinnies run amuck. They have awesome personality. Of course, I think all critters have personality . . . even our fish! (Don't laugh!) You'd need to chin-proof the areas you want to let your chin roam. Depending on your set-up for your other critters, this might be tough. We haven't had to "fish" our chinnies out of our fish tank . . . yet :rolleyes: . Its all good fun having these little guys around!
One other thought . . . you might post a question asking other multi-critter owners how their chinnies interact with the other critters.

Here's my boys!

EmNotCrazee
01-25-2005, 05:56 PM
You certainly have your hands full....
I vote for chinnies..but since i've never had the pleasure of even seeing a hedgie up close its not really fair....
I am back after a long abscence from the forum .....i just posted an intro
and came to read yours....
Good luck choosing......
ellen

Chins&1Quill
01-25-2005, 05:57 PM
Hedgies only get along with other household animals because they can go to the floor or go in a ball with they're quills sticking out for other animals are afraid of them the first time they just go a little too close. LOL.

I still love my hedgie and my 14 chins!