I was chatting with the local guinea pig and rabbit rescue lady recently where she was lamenting the summer as "dumping season" for rescue animals. Summer is generally when people lose interest of their Christmas pets, go on vacation, and unload the animals beforehand. Because our incoming and outgoing numbers are fairly consistent, I found this statement curious, until the actual numbers for June hit like a ton of bricks. For the month of June, we received seventeen (17) new surrenders and found homes for nine (9) chinchillas. 

At this time we have a plethora of chinchillas available for adoption. We will be working on updating the adoptions page with some of the new additions.

We WILL be open for the 4th of July weekend.

We will NOT be open the following weekend.

We are open by appointment during the days and some evenings.  Please schedule early. Weekend time slots fill quickly!

Whimsy once received an email from an anonymous person asking how a single mom, who homeschools her children AND is a full time student, could possibly have the time to devote to, and operate a home-based small animal rescue. The answer: come on over and we'll show you! We never heard from that person again, but we decided to put together this video to share just how we weave this endeavor into our home education lifestyle.

Recluses we are not! We are also deeply involved with the local public high school where we have a mutually beneficial relationship. We work with the students there to teach them some unique vocational skills, and they help keep our store stocked with chinchilla chew toys. Recently, two differentclasses we job-coach took a field trip to our home to visit the chinchilla rescue! It was so much fun! :)

Remember the last mass surrender we posted about back in April? I'm happy to announce that all but the remaining group of 5 under maternity watch have found new homes. It was an especially interesting bunch because every single one of them was standard grey in color. The individuals and duos and even a group of 5 females were different enough in features to tell apart. One had a missing toe. One big girl was easily three times the size of a "regular" chin. One had a nick in his ear, etc. But this remaining group had us stumped. They all look like carbon copies of each other! We had to use some creative intervention to determine who is who. So with the help of a pair of scissors to trim tails and a colored marker, we notated the ears of the different chins in the group. We've been watching and taking notes and have come up with the following:

Cut tail groomed red heart

green stripe suspected pregnant

Cut tail snuggles with red heart

green stripe bit at red heart

orange star LOVES happy face

While we would love for this group to be adopted and kept together, we understand it's a long shot. So with this system we hope to keep track of which are especially fond of each other, so we can keep them together.

We're beginning to gear up for the summertime here at Whimsy's Menagerie & Chinchilla Rescue. Now is the time when people move, go on vacation, and we generally have lots of inquiries into surrendering, boarding, and adopting chinchillas. We currently have approximately thirty (30) chinchillas who are available (or will soon be) for adoption with at least four (4) of them on hold. For the month of May, six (6) chinchillas were surrendered and seven (7) were adopted.

I'm sorry to say that one of the very sick chinchillas that came from North Carolina didn't make it. His nasal infection cleared up, his hair ring was taken care of, but he had malocclusion that was too far advanced to continue. At least he passed in comfort. RIP Ziggy. You were a sweetheart. 

Doing rescue work is full of challenges and excitement. We have the pleasure of helping both chinchillas and people with a need that is customized . Because we specialize in only chinchillas, we can provide very specific care for these exotic pets. Funding the work we do here comes from adoption fees, donations, and sales of cages, accessories and supplies. Which reminds me!

We have a new chinchilla toy! We've taken the ever-popular pumice stuffed willow ball, super sized it, and made a cool new chew. This rather galactic-looking hanging toy is the first of our line with a jingle bell. When I first heard that one of the surrenders "loves his bell" I was a bit confused and skeptical. But when I actually saw the little guy ringing and pawing his tinkling toy I was amused. We've since heard of at least two other chins with the same passion for bells. Is yours one of those? Would you like to try out our new toy and support our cause at the same time? Yes, this is a shameless sales pitch. But we wouldn't do it if we didn't care. ;) 

We often get inquiries about what sort of treats are safe to give pet chinchillas. Whimsy has been known to visibly cringe when told what some people give their critters. Snacks from pet stores are notoriously unhealthy, even though they contain "natural" foods such as sweetened dried fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and flowers. Just because a pet store item has a picture of a chinchilla on it, doesn't necessarily mean it's safe to give your pet chinchilla.

So if these foods are not safe, just what is? 

Well...think about a chinchilla's natural habitat. They originally come from the very cold, arid (dry desert-like) biosphere of the Andes Mountains in South America.

This habitat produces foods that are high in fiber, moderate in protein, very low in fat, with almost nonexistent sugars. A wild chinchilla's diet is very dry and bland. With that in mind, a health-conscious owner will try to mimic those conditions as closely as possible. The best chinchilla treats are those with little to no processing, added sugars, or fats.  

Plain Cheerios, unfrosted shredded wheat cereal, steamed crimped oats, rolled barley, old fashioned oats, dried rose hips,  select wood sticks and twigs and pumice stones are some widely accepted good choices for treats and snacks. 

And for those who have been asking, we finally have our supply of whole rose hips back in stock. Check out our new(er) store layout for those and other chin-safe treats and toys.