Would you breed a mean chinchilla?

[forchins]

From the information that is available, it seems that it is not known how much of a role genetics play in chinchilla aggression. Obviously a mean chinchilla is not as dangerous as an aggressive dog, but nevertheless, I don't know of anyone who wants a chinchlla that bites or is violent to other chinchillas. We know that mean chinchllas don't always produce mean offspring since temperment may be due to many factors, including environment, but since there's a chance that some of the temperment may be due to gentetics, would you breed an aggressive chinchilla? If so, what circumstances do you consider?

[tikitorch]

Hmm I think if it was an exceptional chinchilla otherwise (a real award winner) and wasn't a large danger to other chinchillas (meaning it would breed and not hurt its mate) then yes I would... otherwise if it attacks it's mate etc then no- it wouldnt be worth the risk.

If its just nippy, barky at people then oh well not a huge deal.

[foxbite2]

I'm not a breeder, but my first impression would have to be NO.. I would NOT breed a mean chinchilla.....but on the other hand if it was show quality I might be tempted... because I would hope to handle the kits a lot at birth and hopefully..... I could give them sunny dispositions. :laugh: but then if the first litter turned out to have any mean kits I would probably retire the "mean" chin.

[forchins]

Part of the reason I brought this up is because there was a recent death of a child by a pit bull and it resulted in a renewed outcry from people against the breeding of these types of animals. Pit bull owners argue that pit bulls are not the problem, but those that breed violent pit bulls are the problem. They're basically saying you can breed aggression out of the animal if you're responsible. I don't know enough about pit bulls to say if this is true, but I wanted to tie this discussion to chinchillas. Now obviously, a mean chinchilla is not comparable to a mean dog in terms of dangerousness, and bad disposition can be alleviated by good care, but is there some comparision between the chnchilla and dog world in terms of breeding out aggression? Is temperment, on top of all the other things, something that breeders should look for when deciding to breed an animal?

[tikitorch]

Well as with chinchillas if you are breeding for pets you'd probably want to breed the chins with the nicest personalities- but if you are doing show quality you breed the awards winners etc.

With dogs its kind of a responsibility to breed both... you want quality and a good personality to avoid accidents (like the child being attacked) A chinchilla probably won't ever manage to kill a human (-lmbo thinking about it-) but dogs always run that risk. I would NOT breed a mean dog. But I am not a dog breeder.

[Megan.]

On the pit bull topic:

Human aggression was NOT part of a the pit bulls original traits. Long ago, when they were fought there were reffs in the pits with the dogs. The reff would be there to watch the fight, make and would pull the two dogs apart. The dogs could NOT show aggression to the ref, or they were killed on the stop. Who would want their champ. fighting dog killed because of human aggression? They were bred to be loyal, loving family members- and were bred to be around kids of all ages, and to LIKE people. You should be able to stick your hand inbetween two fighting pit bulls, and have them not bite you- They are supposed to tell the differnce between a human hand/arm and a dog.

Unfortantly, recently, people have started abusing them, trying to use them as gaurd dogs , and are not taking those who are aggressive to people out of breeding... and now you see human aggressive dogs. This is NOT a sound pit bull- A sound pit bull with a correct temperment would NOT fight back against a human, and would NOT attack. They are HORRIBLE watch dogs, as they would rather hide or lick the robber. Several responsible breeders will put down ANY pit bull that is human aggressive- because it is not the true temperment. They are dog aggressive--but not human aggressive. You should litterally be able to beat a pit bull to near death- and still have it not act aggressively. THAT is the true temperment- Hense why some pits come into rescue starved, beaten, thrown off highway over passes, shot, and near death- yet wag their tails and try to lick the person that saved them.. They are SUPPOSED to be loyal, and no matter what, respect their humans--even when in pain.

That said... I'm not sure what I would do in hte case of a chin.. If the kits were coming out mean, I would NOT breed the female--if Kits were coming out friendly, I would.

[dawn]

I think a chin disposition is mainly learned but can be genetic-I have alot of rescues and two who were purchased by breeders-all the rescues after months of love became love bugs and stopped aggresive behavior-one chin from a breeder was hand raised from birth and is the sweetest thing, one chin came from a ranch and is the meanest thing around-I have had him since Jan and he still bites and growls if you get near him-my hands look like a war zone since I try to handle him at least once a day and reinforce the good behavior when he does not bite and do not scold bad behavior but I have to admit he may be just made mean. Its just not me either, he has bit a couple of people-lucky for me he did not draw blood so I just think he hates humans.

[chinluv100]

Well I don't breed any animals. Personally, I feel if let's say you are a large ranch owner an exceptional chin with a "bad" attitude (lol) would probably still be breedable. If you are really selling for the pet market than temperment would definitely come into play. So, I guess it would depend on what/who you are breeding your chins for in the market.

On the subject of dogs I would say that temperment is definitely a factor in breeding. However, I definitely think that even a dog with say an issue could be worked with. My dog had "food agression" and exhibited that at 8 weeks. We've worked with him for over 2 years and I can now pull a chicken bone out of his mouth on command. So, I definitely would say that a caring evironment can correct or even overcome some issues.

[Spoof]

From the information that is available, it seems that it is not known how much of a role genetics play in chinchilla aggression

Quite a bit. Most of that information you'll get from those who've been breeding for quite some time. Or, check out some of the old Empress magazines, they cover this topic.

It is rather inherant, if you've got a parent with a strong personality trait, they tend to throw that. I think it runs along the same line as furchewing in the fact that it can be thrown regularly, even if the kits have never met their parents and grow up in a totally unrelated environment - some will still display those traits.

Ranchers have strains they know to watch for, nothing like losing a run of females to a nasty male. Some are not obvious and will go for years, then just go nuts and start killing females.

[CianiMoni]

sure, if i were into breeding i'd breed a mean chin.. if he was of quality, which is what i'd breed for. i doubt meanness runs in genetic lines, if a kit is handled all it's life it'll probly be tame