When Whimsy went to the York PA chinchilla show two weekends ago, we had the great honor of bringing back two new additions. We wanted to add the sapphire mutation to our herd since Diva passed on with a prolapse earlier this year. What a pleasant surprise to find one of our favorite fellow MCBA members (Silkrheins) had this gorgeous guy available! Whimsy had her eye on him from the very beginning of the day and laid claim to him prior to the start of the show. Wouldn't you know it, the little guy won color class champion!

Another amazing addition happened with our very first Shoots extra dark standard. The standard gray (natural) chinchilla is the backbone of any good breeding program. Our second little guy has absolutely the most amazing depth of color and clarity and a nice sharp belly line. As a matter of fact, he is so dark that several people have mistaken him for a black velvet! For this reason we acquired him to put with our Bowen's black velvet female. We're expecting amazing results for this pair by the time next year's show season starts back up.

As usual, it's been another exciting week here. First I would like to welcome x4 and Wombat back. Earlier this year one of our rescue babies went off to a new home as a same gender cagemate for another chin who had lost his buddy. Now the two of them are here for a four month visit while their chinmom completes her internship. It's been neat to see how little x4 has grown in size and personality!

We also have another new addition. Our beige and violet pair had their first litter. Z4 was born on Thursday and was followed by a sibling that didn't make it. The second in the litter turned out to be our first experience with a mummified kit. This is where the fetus dies in the womb and is reabsorbed.

Click here for pictures and commentary on the Chins-n-Hedgies forum. (Warning: not for the squeamish!)

On Saturday, Whimsy went to a chin show in Pennsylvania. We didn't show any chins this time around, but did get in touch with another long time chin owner who loves a challenge. She adopted Frida, Wallace, and Ross! I had concerns for those three. Since they are known to bite, I did not want to offer them for adoption to someone new to chins. Thankfully there is someone for everyone and this is no exception! Thank you, Ange, for offering a home for these three.

I thought that rehoming four chins this weekend would free up a lot of cage space. I was wrong. When Whimsy returned from the show we found an email from another local family who needed to rehome their fuzzfamily of 5. Mommy, Daddy, 6 month brother and sister and tiny baby sister are all settling in nicely here where they are under quarantine and evaluation. We have father and son sharing a cage and mom and her two daughters in another. The same gender split is working out nicely.

Hello friends.

We need your help.

For anyone who feels so inclined, we have a rescue chin who needs a tail amputation. She has nerve damage that has not resolved. We would like to schedule her for surgery and have her spayed at the same time so that we may introduce her to Bucky, an unneutered male. This is elective at the moment, but we have noticed that she is starting to fuss with her tail. The vet says we should be concerned if she starts to chew it. Well... she's starting to chew.

Donations can be made via our PayPal button (on the Donations page), OR to Banfield Veterinary Clinic with Dr. Peake in Virginia Beach. Please notate any donations made to the vet as "for help with Whimsy's Menagerie & Chinchilla Rescue".

On a more positive note, I want to thank Kelly and her family for coming to visit the Menagerie! It was a pleasure meeting them and "talkin' chinchillas". We had a wonderful time finally meeting in person after several emails and phone calls about concerns with her chinchilla named Doll Face. Thanks again Kelly for the bale of hay and the huge bag of pine bedding! Folks like you make rescue work a pleasure. :)

Things sure have been "hoppin'" here at the menagerie. We've had our first litter of Z babies born in our effort to work with variations of the violet mutation. As members of the Mutation Chinchilla Breeder's Association, we're very careful about breeding selection. Please keep in mind, we are NOT breeding chins to sell. Our goal is to work toward show quality/breed standard mutations in cooperation with our fellow members. With that in mind, occasionally there will be chins born who do not quite measure up in quality. Those are generally the tiny runts or those who do not have the characteristics we are working toward. While some chins will not meet certain "quality" standards, they are still deserving of love! If any babies born here are placed for adoption, they will only go in same gender pairs or as a proven buddy for another same gender chin. Ok, now that I'm off my soapbox, wanna see the new babies? :)

We had a very interesting case come to the Menagerie this past weekend. Another owner, concerned with her chin's fur chewing, contacted us. Stephanie and her vet tried everything they could think of to make this little guy happy. The vet determined his fur chewing was caused by stress, so he perscribed Prozac! Obviously, it didn't work. :P Anyway, he's joined our little sanctuary and seems to be very interested in the activity here. He's shown a good, healthy, non-aggressive curiosity toward the chins in adjoining enclosures. We're hoping to introduce him to Bucky once the quarantine period is over. As an aside, we've been referring to him as "Buffalo Bill". Can you guess why?