How to Buy a Chinchilla From a Pet Store

Video Transcript

"This is Lauren on behalf of Expert Village with where to find a Chinchilla part 4. The last place that I reserved for where to find a Chinchilla is actually at a pet store. Be really careful when you do this. I typically don't recommend this because pet store purchases are usually spur of the moment, not real well planned out. A lot of those do end up in rescue because of that. You need to be prepared to take on responsibility. Have the proper equipment set up ready and know what you are getting into. Also know how to handle the pet before you bring it home. These are all things the rescue organization or breeder would help you out with and they would also have follow-ups, any questions that you would have that they would be able to answer which you don't get when you get a pet store Chinchilla. One thing to note is that pet store Chinchilla's should never under any circumstance be bred. There is a lot of genetic flaws that are circulating within the Chinchilla species. Some of them are life threatening, there could be heart problems, teeth problems, different unlimited behavior traits that could be passed down through lines. Any epilepsy and neurological disorders can occur if you don't know what you are doing. Some of these are going to show up later in life so just because the Chinchilla doesn't show that at the time, they could suddenly appear and then you could have a pretty big problem on your hands. Also the places that Chinchilla's come from to get to the pet stores tend to not be very quality facilities. Sometimes it is a breeder that is going to pass lower quality animals or a facility that breeds them in large quantities. Just the process that it takes to get them into the pet store can be pretty hard for them to adjust to so they can have problems getting re-socialized because of that. They may not be even very friendly. Everyone is a little bit different but chances are still there that they may be somewhat traumatized. Stay with us for the next segment and we are going to talk about the different colors of the Chinchilla. "