New born Kits for sale?

[Dray]

I have seen some listings with kits for sale that are just a few days or even hours old. I know these kits will remain with the mother until weaning but I can't imagine how you can set a price and take deposits on a kit that is so young? What do others think of this?

[Megan.]

I started a thread like this maybe a year or two ago?

I agree, I can't see listing an animal when it's first born. I normally wait until the animal is weaned, or almost weaned before letting someone place a deposit. I did let someone place a deposit on a chin that was still with mom, and was only about a month old, but it was a first, and will be a very rare thing. The person had thier heart set on the chinchilla, and I made it clear it will be here until 9-10 weeks of age before being let to go home, etc.

I wouldn't place a chinchilla forsale when it's minutes, hours, or days old. It just doesn't make sense. If something is going to happen to that kit- chances are it will happen then. Then again, I am in no rush to sell a kit. They are welcome here until i can find the perfect home for them.

[Stark Chinchillas]

I don't post any newborn babies for sale, occasionally I have listed kits that are about to be weaned, but I usually don't even do that. After they are weaned I don't see a problem with it at all. Even though they are young, if you already know you aren't keep them and are going to sell them, might as well put the opportunity out there for a good home for them to go to. But I do not agree with posting kits that have just been born, how do you even know for sure yet that they will make it? The majority of mine do, but every once in awhile, you'll have one pass the next day or two after birth, or even a week if they didn't have a good start, so I would never want to offer them for sale right away. And right now, all of my babies weaned, or not, are going in growing cages so I can grow them out for possible show prospects, and as they grow if I realize I will not show them or am not going to need them for breeding, then I might offer them for sale, but by then they'll be atleast 5 months old. Lots of people want a baby for their pet so they can watch them grow, and I think that may be one of the reason people list them right away so that they can get their new home lined up for as soon as they're weaned, but really IMO it's better to buy one that has already been weaned and is used to being weaned and eating for a few months atleast.

[CTChin]

I don't like to see newborns listed either but I think a chin that is around or over a month old can be advertised. I like to get to know people before I send them home with a kit. I find a lot of times when I am talking to people back and forth in the weeks before they take their baby home, I have many opportunities to educate them on chin care. Maybe they are considering the wrong cage, have read wrong information in a chin book etc. I can correct them easier because they have time to learn before the baby goes home to them.

Also in certain areas, chins are hard to come by. If a pet owner is looking for a certain color and they find one they are certain they want, they want to commit regardless of the kit's age so the kit isn't sold to someone else.

I always tell people that, god forbid, the kit gets sick or dies, the deposit is totally refundable. I hold my kits until they are 10 weeks old regardless if someone has a deposit or not. I also have the option of holding the kits longer if I feel it is needed.

I like to see kits that are going to be placed in a pet home, leave by 12 weeks. I think it is better that they are in a home where they can get more one on one attention and a chance to become super tame.

[SquishyChinchi]

Actually my breeder shows kits when they are just a few days old. She showed me one that was just born like 1 or 2 days ago, it could hardly run around, so tiny. I bought my Zero when I saw it at 5 days old. Of course, I didn't have experience back then and have not yet found CnQ so I thought that's how things work in the world of chinchillas. I remember she placed like a dozen chins on the table for me to choose from, all of them barely a week old. I think it's easier to sell them at that age because they are so cute and small, and at that time we wanted a chin but didn't have the cages and everything set up yet, so waiting until the chin is weaned was actually a good thing.

Er.. I have no idea how you can set a price on a chin when they are only a few days old. I just payed whatever the breeder told me because, again, no clue what the normal price was at the time. I assume that if something happens to the kit and it dies, then I would get my deposit back or be given another kit.

[CTChin]

Actually my breeder shows kits when they are just a few days old. She showed me one that was just born like 1 or 2 days ago, it could hardly run around, so tiny. I bought my Zero when I saw it at 5 days old. Of course, I didn't have experience back then and have not yet found CnQ so I thought that's how things work in the world of chinchillas. I remember she placed like a dozen chins on the table for me to choose from, all of them barely a week old. I think it's easier to sell them at that age because they are so cute and small, and at that time we wanted a chin but didn't have the cages and everything set up yet, so waiting until the chin is weaned was actually a good thing.

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I couldn't stress my little ones like that. If I have visitors to see other chins, they usually aren't allowed around newborns. They need nutrition and mom at that age.

[Stark Chinchillas]

Also in certain areas, chins are hard to come by. If a pet owner is looking for a certain color and they find one they are certain they want, they want to commit regardless of the kit's age so the kit isn't sold to someone else.

You are right about that. I don't have a problem though if someone is looking for a certain color and I have one born and they ask about it, offering it to that person first when it's ready and I'm not going to keep it. But I still don't try to get deposits to hold the kit for that person just because I want to make sure it makes to the weaning time and then even hold it longer after that so that I can make sure it's doing fine eating and such after the weaning.

I always tell people that, god forbid, the kit gets sick or dies, the deposit is totally refundable.

You are a very nice person for that because with some people once the animal leaves you're on your own. :)

I have been fortunate with the people I've sold animals to in that we usually have numerous phone calls and/or emails to discuss things like feed, cages, etc. And I give them the places I trust to get those things from. Especially if it's their first chin, no matter what the age of the chin, I always find out about cages, what food and hay they'll use, etc., then if they need to make a switch I suggest that and give them information on where they can get better stuff that is better and safer for the chin. Anytime a person that I have never heard of, especially if they're not someone I've seen on the forum, contacts me, I ask where they found out about me, if they've had chins, etc, and we go from there. I don't allow people to just call me up and come over out of the blue so they can look at all my babies and pick one out. And if people DO come over to look at my available chins, I don't even let the babies be an option. I might point the babies out, but they aren't for sale and they don't get to handle them, etc.

[Stark Chinchillas]

Actually my breeder shows kits when they are just a few days old.

Sorry if I was confusing, but I meant growing out my babies to be shown at a chinchilla show, not just taking them out and showing them to people so they can buy them.

[SquishyChinchi]

Sorry I thought we are talking about selling kits? Haha confused. :)

[Stark Chinchillas]

We are :)

But I was saying that's just one of the reason's I don't post kits up for sale before they're weaned, not only do I want to make sure they are doing well and get weaned and doing fine on their own, but for people that show their animals at chinchilla shows, especially if you're not a big rancher, you need to let your kits grow out a bit to see if they are a "show prospect" and so you can't go posting all your kits as soon as they're born and having them sold.