Post by aznmexaggie on Sept 21, 2009 1:19:28 GMT -5
Breeding chinchillas should not be just for fun. Anyone who is thinking about breeding their chinchillas should ask themselves: is it fun to risk your animals' lives in breeding? Will it be fun if your female does not survive the delivery because her pelvic opening was not large enough to pass her kits or if she is unable to produce milk and you have to step in and handfeed around the clock in order for the kits to survive? Is it fun for the new owners of chins you have bred to have to deal with malocclusion because you bred chins that carried the recessive genes for dental ailments and had no pedigrees or health histories?
Breeding chinchillas should be to produce healthy quality chinchillas. A good breeder should have high quality breeding animals with health histories and pedigrees. A breeder should be knowledgable in genetics as well and know in detail what each mutation's phenotypic result is and what outcomes they can get from the mates they have paired. A breeder should have a vet fund for emergencies because they do happen. A new breeder needs a knowledgable mentor and will need to spend a lot of time researching and learning all they can.
Breeding is a huge responsibility and there are so many chins in rescue, I don't know why someone would want to join the breeding bandwagon just so they can breed "for fun". Breeding is not just throwing two colored chinchillas together so we can get more pretty colors and cute babies. Those of us who do breed know that it is something that requires lots of research, learning from our mentors, money, and time... Anyone who haphazardly breeds an animal just for fun does a huge disservice to the species as well as undermining the work and effort that has been made by dedicated breeders.
This is a pet-only forum and we do not encourage the members to breed.
Breeding chinchillas should be to produce healthy quality chinchillas. A good breeder should have high quality breeding animals with health histories and pedigrees. A breeder should be knowledgable in genetics as well and know in detail what each mutation's phenotypic result is and what outcomes they can get from the mates they have paired. A breeder should have a vet fund for emergencies because they do happen. A new breeder needs a knowledgable mentor and will need to spend a lot of time researching and learning all they can.
Breeding is a huge responsibility and there are so many chins in rescue, I don't know why someone would want to join the breeding bandwagon just so they can breed "for fun". Breeding is not just throwing two colored chinchillas together so we can get more pretty colors and cute babies. Those of us who do breed know that it is something that requires lots of research, learning from our mentors, money, and time... Anyone who haphazardly breeds an animal just for fun does a huge disservice to the species as well as undermining the work and effort that has been made by dedicated breeders.
This is a pet-only forum and we do not encourage the members to breed.