Forums and The Growing Problem of Unwanted Chinchillas

Chinchillas have become popular as pets over the last few years. Whilst some chins have always been sold as pets, the full implementation (January 2003) of the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 meant that it was illegal to keep animals for the production of fur. Since then, the chinchilla “industry” in the UK has been geared solely towards pet keeping.

Since the first UK chinchilla forum appeared in 2002 the number of members using such forums has rocketed. Along with the positive aspects - better chinchilla husbandry (some of the original pet books contain erroneous information), support for people when going through challenging times with their chins, and the availability of like-minded people for networking - the forums have probably contributed to the increased number of chinchillas available and also to the number of unwanted chinchillas around the UK.

Chinchilla kits are incredibly endearing. They are born fully furred, precocious, and ready to go. They are appealing and as such it has become popular to try and breed them - with little or no knowledge of the potential pitfalls involved or the consequences. Forums have made it much easier to obtain chinchillas of both sexes or even as pairs and the resulting over breeding of pet or poor quality chinchillas is becoming more and more apparent.

Now I’m not saying forums are a bad thing - I cannot say that, since I moderate on 2 and administrate another with a couple of friends - but they can give a false picture of chinchilla breeding; making it appear lucrative (the price asked for some chins), and relatively easy. Some people never read the opposite side of the story - females that die in labour, kits that are still born or have some deformity or die after a couple of days, hand rearing 24/7 for weeks, prolapses …………. the list of potential problems is a long one.

What I am suggesting is that it is the responsibility of the forums to educate and provide support but to do it in such a way that people are discouraged from indiscriminate breeding. Indiscriminate breeding is the key phrase here. This is not easy - there is a balance between giving advice and being supportive when things go wrong and being judgmental. The problem is that forums are often targeted by numpties intent on trolling for attention or winding people up for fun.

That gets very tiring - trying to sort the genuine people asking for help and/or information and the trolls, intent on causing chaos. I don’t like trolls. I don’t like numpties. I don’t like people who lie from one forum to the next, one thread or post to the next and then get stroppy when they are caught out - hello? If you’re going to use the forums (which are perused by the same people in general) then for goodness sake learn to lie better! If you can’t get the story straight or the story changes from forum to forum you’re going to be found out and somone will point it out - quite often by me!