Chinchilla's

Original_Sin

Whilst in a petshop yesterday picking up stuff for my mice i decided to take a look at the chinchilla's as the missus has agreed to let me get a pair, i was really shocked to see the condition of them and their enclosure, i keep my mice in a bigger cage than what they had and there was no toys or nothing in there for them, all they had was a food bowl, water bottle, a bit of wood and some a coloured plastic chain!!! Oh, they also had a glass partition in the middle of the enclosure which looked kinda dangerous!!!!!!

As for the chin's themselves well they were in a terrible condition, they had hair loss on their faces and around their ears and one had sores on its feet!!!! Plus they were just cowering into the corner of their enclosure and looked very depressed!!!!!

We decided that we felt sorry for them so went to see about buying them just to get them out of that shop, we asked an assistant about them and they said that they werent selling them due to their condition, they went on to say they were like that because they used to have cat litter as bedding and would try burrow into it! Now ill admit i dont really know that much about chins as ive only just started researching them but im pretty sure they shouldnt be kept on cat litter, i also know that they should have access to a sand bath a few times a week and i know they need to be in a much bigger enclosure!!!!!

How can shops be allowed to keep animals like that? Plus why would you keep an animal in that bad a condition in view of the public, certainly doesnt do your business any favours!!!!

dee o gee

A petshop near me has a pair of chipmunks in pretty much the same condition, I don't really know anything about them but they looked reasonably healthy except they must of had severe OCD caused by severe boredom.
Their cage was tiny and only had a water & food bowl and a wooden climbing thing. One of the chipmunks was repeatedly darting back and forth along one side so much he had a path worn and the other was jumping in circles, first it would stand on the floor, then it would jump onto the wooden thing, then it would cling onto the wall and fall down and start again. I was waiting there for over an hour waiting for my dog to be groomed and they never stopped once it was like watching a film stuck on repeat it was so monotonous.
For a second I considered buying them just to get them out of there but I know they'd just get another pair of them that'd go through the same ordeal. Never seen chipmunks for sale before the film alvin & the chipmunks came out, I guess with all those animal based films comes the hype of owning one after!:(

I would suggest reporting them to the ispca since they are in such bad condition, usually they wouldn't be able to do anything but this time the neglect is so obvious they should be able to at least give some sort of a warning???

PetrovthePrat

I guess if there's money to be made,the animals welfare is a lower priority. Report them,even if an SPCA can't act on it at least you've done something. A rock thru the window,although perhaps warrented, might not be the best approach,but wouldn't it feel good?

Original_Sin

It was one of the more commercial petshops, so i guess i shouldnt really be surprised about the condition of the animals, when i come to getting my chins i think ill just stick to the petshop where i got my Degus and mice, its a small family run petshop and the owners seem to care for the animals they have, failing that ill try get from a breeder

Sigma Force

Doesn't suprise me although it's good that they weren't selling them in that condition but you think they would know better with the cat litter. Even if they got them in that state they shouldn't of bought them from whomever they did if they were in that state.