We have had such an exciting couple of weeks here at the Menagerie!

About a year ago, one of our hamsters, Oreo, had a litter of babies, who were eventually all adopted out to loving homes. One of Oreo's babies, dubbed Moomoo, was adopted by Sammie. Due to life circumstances, Sammie contacted us about returning Moomoo to the Menagerie, along with a Campbell's Russian dwarf hamster named Hammy. Both of the little guys receive plenty of attention by the Menagerie's youngest helper, Flowerbud, and are doing swimmingly. See if you can identify Moomoo's younger self at the bottom of the Adoptions page. ;)

Last Sunday, we were contacted by Elena, who was looking to surrender her two chins, Doby and Chip. She was very relieved to have found our rescue. The two boys have now settled into their new home. Sometimes, when we have two male cagemates come into the Menagerie, it is necessary to separate them because of the scent of so many females in the same room. Doby (Mosaic) and Chip (Standard), despite a minor early scuffle, do not have that problem, and are still best buds as ever. Once their quarantine/evaluation period is passed, these guys will make a wonderful pet pair for someone.

A while back, we heard from Holly, who had concerns about Bucky. Holly said that he had developed a fur problem. It was a while before Holly was ready to give Bucky up, but he eventually made it to our little chin-sanctuary. Bucky came to us along with his huge cage and toys, and we immediately put together the entire setup as to allow Bucky the easiest transition into his new home. As it turns out, thankfully, Bucky does not have fungus as Holly suspected. Instead, he had been chewing on his fur as a sign of stress.  We have put a fun chinchilla wheel in his cage, and treated him to tasty apple branch sticks and chinchilla cookies so that he will not chew on his fur. So far, our efforts seem to be working. After his quarantine period, we're hoping to introduce him to a new same gender cagemate. 

Bucky has the absolute sweetest personality of any chin we have ever met. He loves skritches under the chin and behind the ears, and he even smiles when his tummy is scratched. It is obvious that Holly took wonderful care of him. He is quite the spoiled little boy. ;)

It's amazing just how many different positions the chins can strike during their nap times. Raisin here has shown us some of the wackiest poses; from folding herself completely over inside her tube, to reaching for an invisible treat she dropped on the cage floor in her sleep. 

Raisin is not the only one with these interesting sleeping habits. For example, Kismet likes to sleep up next to the side of the cage, holding a bar in between her teeth! Many times we nearly have a heart attack, because a chinchilla will appear dead, rather than simply sleeping (which is especially true when they sleep with their eyes open).

As a side note, we are having another open house today. See our Craigslist posting for more info:

http://norfolk.craigslist.org/pet/1566418976.html

This weekend was an exciting one. Whimsy took six of our chins to a show in Statesville, North Carolina. We were curious to see how Judge Ralph Shoots would grade our little girls and boys. It was quite sobering going up against so many gorgeous animals. At the same time it was quite a learning experience that will help serve our growing knowledge. Our little fuzzbutts managed to bring home two second place ribbons, two third place and, just for fun we also entered two of the rescue chins (they each earned a fifth place ribbon).

Something else exciting happened this weekend. Today a nice family came over looking for a new cagemate/friend for their baby boy chin who had unfortunately lost his brother. They brought their little guy over to run a "safe intro" with two of our potential adoptables. Mr. Wilson was the lucky guy who was chosen to go home with them where I'm sure will wind up stealing all hearts who come in contact with him. Which brings up an interesting point...

The question was posed to me whether a single chin, by his very singleness, will bond with its human companion better than a paired chin. The answer: No.

Chins are herd animals by nature and need the companionship of their kind. I explained that people cannot be around to provide that same companionship 24/7. Additionally, because of this instinctual nature, paired chins tend to be more at ease in their environment, which makes for a happier chin.

If at all possible, I encourage adoptions of pairs or as a companion for another chin. (There are rare exceptions where certain chins are just too aggressive to pair off). Paired chins can still bond with their owner and people can still successfully own single chins. However, paired or same gender groups are by far a more favorable option, not to mention double or triple the fun!

Happy New Year everyone!

Last week, a couple contacted us about taking in their chinchilla, Rose, after "she" started attacking "her" cagemate. After taking a closer look, we discovered that Rose was actually a boy. He'd become overly aggressive when he smelled the female chin in the next cage. The mating instinct kicked in, and he turned on his cagemate.

Since this is the second chin in a row to come misidentified, a mini lesson on gender ID is in order. It's easy for long-time chin owners and even pet stores to misidentify the gender of a chinchilla. The female cone looks similar to a male penis. The difference is the spacing between that and the anus. Baby chins are especially difficult to determine. The pictures below illustrate the difference between an adult male and female, respectively.

Kaiya and X1 went home with "Sandy Claus" today. It was a sad occasion here at the Menagerie, but we know that the two young ladies receiving them will adore them as much as we have. Sssh, but don't tell... it's a surprise for Christmas Day.

Zephyr is now fully integrated with our other girl chins in the community cage. They've snuggled with and groomed her, so they now seem like lifelong friends.

We were pleased and honored when Karen contacted us about chin-sitting for her over the holidays. Her three chinchillas have been warmly welcomed and have provided a sense of excitement and freshness to our rescue. Karen's offer to compensate for our time is greatly appreciated, as it helps to maintain the operating costs of our Menagerie.