Breeding responsibly
In order to produce top quality and healthy animals, reputable breeders take pride in only breeding pedigreed animals. This long lineage helps identify mutations, and tells you where that animal originated from. Pedigrees can be simple, with the animal's tag number, Their's parent's information, and the grandparents. The pedigree often contains the ranch names that each chinchilla in that family line came from.
If a chinchilla ends up being ill, it's not used for breeding. The animal will get the proper medical attention, and if able, is rehomed to a pet home. Animals with special needs are only rehomed to qualified homes. Pulling that animal or splitting up the pair is essential in keeping future chinchillas healthy and ailment free. Producing animals with defects and medical issues goes against what a breeder stands for, Quality.
If a chinchilla ends up being ill, it's not used for breeding. The animal will get the proper medical attention, and if able, is rehomed to a pet home. Animals with special needs are only rehomed to qualified homes. Pulling that animal or splitting up the pair is essential in keeping future chinchillas healthy and ailment free. Producing animals with defects and medical issues goes against what a breeder stands for, Quality.
Cage Safty
Breeders invest a lot into their herds, and are very cautious about the housing they provide for them. A breeder's cages do not look like our pet cages. Breeders generally use breeding runs that are designed to have a long tunnel in the back, that has holes into however many cages are built onto the tunnel. Some breeders fill every cage with a female, others fill all the cages but 1 so the male has a cage of his own to rest, eat, and drink from.
Breeding runs were developed this way for the safety and to be productive. The females are fitted with a specially made hard metal collar that is just bigger than the hole the male enters and exits from. This is to protect the females and male. If the female rejects the male, he can flee through his exit safely and the females collar prevents her from following and attacking him. The collar also prevents the female from going into the tunnel and into another female's cage, which can be potentially deadly if one or both females are aggressive.
So, while these cages and collars are seen as evil, they're built and used this way for a reason. It's for the safety of all the animals involved. This is also the same reason why reputable breeders refuse to use large cages full of ledges for breeding. These large cages have too big of drops for kits, which are often fatal. The drops and ledges can also hurt a pregnant female if she falls and hits any the wrong way, causing her pain, and possibly killing the kits inside.
Breeding runs were developed this way for the safety and to be productive. The females are fitted with a specially made hard metal collar that is just bigger than the hole the male enters and exits from. This is to protect the females and male. If the female rejects the male, he can flee through his exit safely and the females collar prevents her from following and attacking him. The collar also prevents the female from going into the tunnel and into another female's cage, which can be potentially deadly if one or both females are aggressive.
So, while these cages and collars are seen as evil, they're built and used this way for a reason. It's for the safety of all the animals involved. This is also the same reason why reputable breeders refuse to use large cages full of ledges for breeding. These large cages have too big of drops for kits, which are often fatal. The drops and ledges can also hurt a pregnant female if she falls and hits any the wrong way, causing her pain, and possibly killing the kits inside.
Care
The care a quality breeder gives to their animals says a lot about them that the average pet owner doesn't understand. A breeder feeds a quality diet formulated to give their animals all the nutrients they need to develop and grow to a healthy size. They will provide hay to keep teeth worn down, and many provide chew blocks to curb their animal's boredom. They also provide fresh water daily, as water that sets can become contaminated and make their animals ill. This alone is just offering the basics to keep a chinchilla alive and well. Keeping a basic diet however is very wise, because rich treats and supplements often upset a chinchilla's digestive system, cause bloat, or in some cases make chinchillas reject their primary diet. It's not worth the risk to have a pregnant female or young kit fall ill.
These quality breeders also have large emergency funds saved up encase of an emergency. An emergency c-section alone runs on average $1,000 USD. That's not even counting the necessary spay, or cost of pain meds and anti-inflammatory medicine. These breeders save up enough money to have many of these surgeries performed , because they want to save their animal's life. Also, if a female does have an emergency c-section the breeder performs all after care at home and once the female is healthy again, they re-home them to quality pet homes so they can live the rest of their life in a 1 on 1 home environment, or they retire the animal with their retirement herds ( which are their own personal pets! )
When there is a complication due to breeding, like the loss of a mother or a mother having 3-5 kits, these breeders then hand feed or supplement the kits themselves. They hand feed each kit every 2hours ( even through the night ) so they are fed well and grow to be strong and healthy. It's a long few months when this happens.
It's more than just cute babies.
These quality breeders also have large emergency funds saved up encase of an emergency. An emergency c-section alone runs on average $1,000 USD. That's not even counting the necessary spay, or cost of pain meds and anti-inflammatory medicine. These breeders save up enough money to have many of these surgeries performed , because they want to save their animal's life. Also, if a female does have an emergency c-section the breeder performs all after care at home and once the female is healthy again, they re-home them to quality pet homes so they can live the rest of their life in a 1 on 1 home environment, or they retire the animal with their retirement herds ( which are their own personal pets! )
When there is a complication due to breeding, like the loss of a mother or a mother having 3-5 kits, these breeders then hand feed or supplement the kits themselves. They hand feed each kit every 2hours ( even through the night ) so they are fed well and grow to be strong and healthy. It's a long few months when this happens.
It's more than just cute babies.
Lineage
Reputable chinchilla breeders take pride knowing that the animals they produce come from strong, healthy lines. They do not risk their herd's integrity or the health of future kits by using animals of "unknown" backgrounds in their breeding programs. Using animals of unknown decent can be detrimental to the herd's quality, as well as the quality of life any kit has from that pair. They're 2X as likely to pass on genetic deformities, illnesses, and are much more likely to be diagnosed with issues in the future.
Instead, they invest thousands in quality animals, and rotate their herd out with new animals often to expand the gene pool.
Instead, they invest thousands in quality animals, and rotate their herd out with new animals often to expand the gene pool.