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Post by Whimsy on Apr 18, 2011 7:12:37 GMT -5
At one point in time I believed a family of 5 chins surrendered was a lot. Not any more.
A few months back we got word of 25 chins that were confiscated from a woman breeding chins and cats in less than ideal conditions. All but 4 of that bunch have been adopted. Two of them are still on maternity watch.
This weekend we received 14 chins in various degrees of inbreeding from a wildlife rehabilitation group. It was rather shocking to learn that these chins were fed "plenty of fresh fruits and veggies". Can you say, "OMG!"?
The new group was (mostly) gender identified correctly. Two were wrong. We now have 5 more females on maternity watch and there are two kits already in the group. So I suspect bredback since there was a full grown male in with that bunch.
These chins are in pretty rough shape. Several are underweight and hunchbacked. A few had masses of fur knots. One has a bald lump on her chest, and several have weepy eyes. One of the kits looks very, very strange...
The sad thing is, they have been in the care of this rehab group for several years! My faith and confidence in people who should have known better is rather....diminished. Fortunately, since the group was surrendering the chins, I didn't have to tell them that just about everything they did was wrong. No need to alienate those who come to us for help. I'm just very glad we do what we do here. You wouldn't believe the sighs of relief when folks find us.
A day in the life....
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Post by CNF Rescue on Apr 18, 2011 8:20:49 GMT -5
Oh now that's just horrible! How can people honestly live with themselves /knowing/ the condition their animals are in.
''One of the kits looks very, very strange..'' I hope it's okay. =/
Good luck with these fur-balls..
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Post by Whimsy on Apr 18, 2011 8:50:26 GMT -5
Here's a picture of the strange looking kit. Her fur is very long and thin along her sides. We've kept this community of girls together and pulled out the one misidentified male. The double wide flight cage they were in has been modified. We covered the wire bottom with granite slabs and overlaid it with pine bedding. The also now have shelves to hop up on, although we've kept them rather low for the sake of the kits. They also have lots and lots of hay. More pictures coming in the next post. Attachments:
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Post by Whimsy on Apr 18, 2011 8:53:11 GMT -5
Here's the picture of the girl with the bald mass. My best guess right now is that her skin and fat rolls rubbed raw along the wire bottom of her cage. She's actually got a bit of a fur "shadow" coming in. Her skin looks good otherwise. She was housed separately. Attachments:
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Post by CNF Rescue on Apr 18, 2011 9:06:30 GMT -5
Oh, wow. The kits fur does look off. My dog's fur on her back looks the same as she got over a skin infection a few months back. She went pretty much bald. Little girl needs to cuddle up and stay warm!
And woah, after seeing that female, Momma doesn't look so big anymore.
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Post by Jamie on Apr 18, 2011 9:10:19 GMT -5
Im on my way out the door... but wanted to thank you Whimsy for these posts and pictures.
Rescue and caring is a very important element to Lucky's Place and I appreciate you and the work you are doing, and sharing.
As you may know once you have 25 posts (you have 21 right now) you have earned the right to be listed with our esteemed rescuers and member store thread.
If you would like me to do that ... please PM me
I will be honored to add you when the next few posts are completed.
Many thanks from the animals, me , and the members here on Lucky's Place
Jamie
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Post by jean on Apr 18, 2011 9:35:48 GMT -5
wow, those pictures were very disturbing. i hope now that they are in better hands, they are able to recoup.
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Post by feistychins on Apr 18, 2011 10:35:26 GMT -5
You know, that kit almost looks like she is not 100% chinchilla. I know that may sound weird, but her body looks very squirrel like and her head looks much larger than normal. Maybe it is just the photo.
The female is so overwieght.....poor girl. That does look like the fur was rubbed off to me too. It should grow back with some weight loss.
I hope this 'rehabilitation' group does not plan on taking in any more chins in the future. If so, maybe you will need to educate them on the proper care of chins.
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Post by Alison on Apr 18, 2011 12:40:53 GMT -5
Oh Whimsey the first thing I thought when I saw that baby was it looks part chipmunk with the stripes. Bless you and for being able to take them all in. I hope you will be able to keep us updated on how they progress.
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Post by charliebunny1 on Apr 18, 2011 12:57:44 GMT -5
wow thats horrible how can someone who is supposed to be caring for them not know that they should eat fruit and veg. so glad you have them now and will care for them properly
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Post by amutablefeather on Apr 18, 2011 14:02:18 GMT -5
Thank goodness they are with you now.
I have no experience with kits, but the one in the picture's body looks a little disproportional to me. =( I hope s/he is not suffering.
You know. It seems like you can find anything on the web these days. Items to buy, people to connect with, good information, bad information, and so much more. It still surprises me how much is available to us with access. It surprises me even more that this rehab group wasn't able to find the time too sort it out... but maybe they were extremely busy or understaffed or something...
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Post by feistychins on Apr 18, 2011 15:42:38 GMT -5
Yes, she does look like the chins were allowed with another rodent at some point......small squirrel, chipmunk or something in that family.
Does she seem healthy and active?
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Post by annacrazysocks on Apr 18, 2011 16:33:58 GMT -5
Yes, she does look like the chins were allowed with another rodent at some point......small squirrel, chipmunk or something in that family. Does she seem healthy and active? Is that even possible to have half chipmunk/ squirel half chinnie babies? -anna c:
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Post by narnibird on Apr 18, 2011 16:38:04 GMT -5
It looks to me like s/he just has long or shaggy fur. We have a few here like that, usually they are a mutation color though. Could s/he be a dwarf?
Poor mama chin! Jeez. She is so overweight, I feel horrible for her. I'm so glad you were able to take them in.
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Post by charliebunny1 on Apr 18, 2011 16:40:20 GMT -5
really hope whatever she is that she will be ok and as healthy as possible although i don;t think its possible for a chin to mate with a chipmunk or squirrel and even if it were to ever happen the kits would almost certainly not live due to genetic issues. its much more likely she is just a result of poor breeding or as marne said maybe a dwark or poss part angora as they have shaggy fur
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Post by Whimsy on Apr 18, 2011 17:17:55 GMT -5
The baby chinchilla actually looks GOOD in that picture. In real life she's just...long and skinny with very long thin hair. The hair is more like a dog's than a chin. It lays flat.
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Post by charliebunny1 on Apr 18, 2011 17:25:50 GMT -5
possibly because of lack of nutrition poor little thing i hope she gets better
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Post by Whimsy on Apr 18, 2011 17:28:35 GMT -5
Im on my way out the door... but wanted to thank you Whimsy for these posts and pictures. Rescue and caring is a very important element to Lucky's Place and I appreciate you and the work you are doing, and sharing. As you may know once you have 25 posts (you have 21 right now) you have earned the right to be listed with our esteemed rescuers and member store thread. If you would like me to do that ... please PM me I will be honored to add you when the next few posts are completed. Many thanks from the animals, me , and the members here on Lucky's Place Jamie Thanks Jamie I appreciate your...appreciation. I like how I can come here to share some of our rescue experiences. It's a good place to vent. Especially considering I really shouldn't rag on some of these people who come to us for help. *sigh* This group really did mean well. They had lots of treats and...fresh fruits and veggies. They basically nearly killed the chins with kindness. Actually, it was the loss of a couple of the chins that sparked their desire to give us a call. *double sigh*
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Post by charliebunny1 on Apr 18, 2011 17:42:30 GMT -5
thing is though all you have to do is type chinchilla diet into google and you will find many pages telling you not to feed fruit and veg it isn't difficult sounds a little like they couldn't be bothered to find out proper care.
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Post by Alison on Apr 18, 2011 17:46:33 GMT -5
Whimsy you have a gift for naming these babies. I was scrolling through the adoptions and laughed right out loud at Mr. Wilson cause it was absolutely perfect for him.
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