We have more new toys!

As some of you already know, we've started offering rosehip-stuffed willow balls as both toss toys and, what we've been calling, our new Orb-bits Lite. These have been especially popular with the chinnies who absolutely adore the treat filled globes.

Rose hips are essential to a chinchilla's diet in that they add highly palpable, easy to digest vitamin C, which helps strengthen the connective tissue in their gums. Because chinchilla's teeth are free floating, having strong tissue to support them is most important to help ward off malocclusion. Our toys are carefully designed to accommodate your gnawing pet's unique needs and preferences. 

We also offer loose rose hips by the pound for the little beggars. ;) 

The past couple of weeks have been filled with medical questions and emergencies.

We often receive phone calls and emails from chin owners who have questions about health, hygiene, and behavior, with conflicting information gleaned from the internet, pet stores and even their veterinarians!

So we'd like to offer chinnyhealth 101: chinchillas are prey animals and as such will mask their symptoms. So how do you know when your chin needs vet care? The pet's owner is in the very best position to recognize a change in behavior, butsometimes psychological optimism keeps owners from taking action in a timely manner. Some of the things to watch for (in order of seriousness) include:

• change in behavior
• change in poops (especially if there's blood, mucus, or a foul smell)
• hunched back
• continuing loss of weight
• breathing trouble (including discharge or breathing you can "hear")
• drooling
• limping
• seizures
• lethargy

Now, not to be alarmist, but I do want to call attention to the seriousness of getting medical intervention before a treatable symptom gets out of control. For this reason it is imperative that you have a knowledgeable exotics vet already chosen. Many vets "can" see and treat exotics, but not all vets specialize in them. Please be sure your chosen veterinarian knows and understands about the special needs of chinchillas.

For the month of September, 5 chinchillas were surrendered and 11 were adopted. I'm also happy to announce that the single boy who came in was successfully paired with another single. Ricochet and Walter were lonely boys and Ricochet had actually taken to chewing his own fur. The introduction of the two was amazingly heartfelt. Walter was sooo excited to have a friend. He immediately started grooming Ricochet who at first was taken aback by the ministrations, but quickly relaxed.  Now the two are deeply bonded and Ricochet's fur is starting to grow back. :)

And speaking of growing...our homegrown loofah looks amazing! The vines have spread across the dividing fence between ours and our neighbor's yard, but is quickly trying to overtake both homes. Harvest time is starting and we're learning how to time it just right.

And also speaking of growing....our generator challenge has been a remarkable success! In only one month's time we have almost met our goal.  As of today we have just over $2500 towards our $3000 end. We did not expect to meet this endeavor so quickly, but this is all thanks to our returning and new friends. Thank you everyone for the encouraging outpouring of support!

Oftentimes when chinchillas are surrendered, they come in cages that are too small, chewed up, rusted through or otherwise entirely inadequate to house a curious chin. For this reason Whimsy's gathers and fixes cages to make available to people looking to house a newly adopted chin or to upgrade their preexisting cage. With all the cool items we have available in our store, decorating cages is one of the most enjoyable jobs here. Take a look at one of our start to finish cages. Thank you to Flowerbud and Mandolin for their untiring work putting together this stop motion video. 

For the month of August, six (6) chinchillas were brought in and a whopping sixteen (16) were adopted!  That breaks our previous high adoption record of fifteen (15). Once again we're back to having plenty of spare room and several empty cages. 

If you've been following us on Facebook, you'll see nearly up to the minute details of our daily news. One fun thing we've been posting has been the quickly climbing goal to reach $3000 for an emergency standby generator. As of the time of this post, we have already brought in $360 toward our goal! Thanks to all our new and old friends we have come to know through this endeavor. Your support is, and continues to be, amazing! Cyber hugs to you all.

Our positive reputation has spread with word of mouth recommendations for adoptions, surrenders, advice, and items from our store. And speaking of items....

We had another brainstorm of an idea. Our new "Chill Out Hang Out" came as a result of a request for a daybed-like accessory (thanks for the motivation, Laura!). Bucky was the first to try our beta version.

Whimsy had been toying with a chiller topped hidey house with varying degrees of success, but the stone cold, chiller ledge is a winner for sure! These sturdy cage additions come with TWO (2) stone chillers; one to place in the ledge, and one to keep handy in your freezer, ready to swap outin seconds. Check out the cage accessories page for more details. :)