Charming Chinchillas

17/02/2023

I Love this post from Maine Chinchilla, Persistence pays off

23/09/2022

To all my South African friends, have a wonderful Heritage Day tomorrow

24/07/2022

Baby cuddles😍

24/07/2022

Have a save week ahead.

23/06/2022

mmmmm let me see if i can take over the world of hooman!!!

RPA
1-month 16days old... weight 206g

15/06/2022

How to explain our fluff balls

19/05/2022

Just a handful mommy

05/05/2022

RPA Mosaic - Ebony/white

Born today 2022/05/05

Weight: 56g
Male - Single kit

Dam- Raven (RPA Med Ebony)
Sire - Namib (RPA White Ebony)

04/01/2022

I love ❤️ these ladies to bits!!!

Farm in Sidney leads way in chinchilla education worldwide, providing information for pet owners, veterinarians and scientists from France, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

09/12/2021

This is what we stand for, I am so proud of being part of Empress and the community. My biggest wish for South Africa is for us to grow with the ethics of Empress for the Chinchillas in South Africa.

Empress Chinchilla Breeders Cooperative, Inc. - what does that mean?

It means we are a group of people who have similar interests. We love chinchillas. We want to improve the genetic quality of chinchillas. We want to ensure chinchillas are raised in humane conditions. And we work to educate all people who care for chinchilla as to the accepted and known practices for maintaining healthy, stress free chinchillas.

But being a "cooperative" takes it one step farther, we are ethical, we respect people with like minded goals, and we highly value professional interactions. With this in mind we help each other to be the best we can be. We respectfully offer information to others, and we help others improve. By doing this we build the industry and build up fellow breeders. There are times when we disagree on methods, and when we do we settle our differences in private, because we understand that a cooperative spirit and respect makes us all stronger. There is no place in this industry to embarrass, or publicly shame people, by proving we are right because more people agreed with what I said than what you said. To that end everyone loses respect and so does the industry.

At Empress Chinchilla you will always be treated professionally and with respect! All of our members are encouraged to treat each other and each contact in this same manner. We are here to help, to educate, to make sure every individual has the information needed to provide the best environment possible for raising their chinchillas. Have a question? Feel free to ask!

06/11/2021

Welcome to our two one week new baby RPAs what a bundle of fluff.

28/10/2021

Welcome to a handful of fluff😍😍😍

20/10/2021

Had a little fun grooming two of my chins last night. 🤭 guess need to groom more so my mom can spin and knit me a chinchilla pull over. I have special combs from USA that is specifically made for grooming RPA's and normal chinchillas. Thanks to my friend Maxine for sending them to me.

16/10/2021

So proud of this certificate, i am so honored to be part of this amazing breeders cooperative!!!!

16/10/2021

My Christmas came early 🤗 thank you Maxine, can't wait to start reading all about chins.

I can't wait to start grooming chins as well, 🤭 not sure if they will be happy with me 🤣

17/09/2021

Hehe when you don't want to show your affo but instead the hooman gets your cute butt

17/09/2021

So love all my kids and their little characters and faces

10/09/2021

Amazing story of Katie and a chin.

02/09/2021

02/09/2021

01/09/2021

I had to help Raven with her kits, supplement feeding them. And oh boy do learn quickly.

28/08/2021

Welcome to Ravens bundle of joy. 4 kits, ebony will have to wait and see if some stay medium ebony, also looks like all are RPA, will see as they grow:

1x girl
1x boy
1 x girl and boy

Raven is a light ebony RPA paired with a light ebony RPA

Her parents history:
Mom: Standard EC Pos vc Rpac
Dad: Medium ebony rpa

24/08/2021

When boys don't want their rooms cleaned

11/08/2021

Let's learn about totsies 🦶😍

⚜⚜⚜BUMBLEFOOT⚜⚜⚜
¤How bumblefoot starts
When an animal such as a chinchilla is living in the wild, it walks on all kinds of different surfaces, but often on grass or soft soil or sand. This means that the skin on the soles of its feet thickens but it is not often stressed by walking on sharp or uneven surfaces for more than a few paces at a time. If the chinchilla’s feet start to hurt, it will rest them by staying off the unsuitable surface and so bumblefoot in the wild is rare.
In a cage situation, the chinchilla is often walking on a wire cage bottom or shelving the whole time, so there is never any respite for the bottoms of its feet, and so they become very sore. Because the skin is very hard, the serous fluid builds up behind it and will eventually break the skin. It is just like a blister on the whole of the bottom of the foot, and up the back of the leg where it rests. Then bacteria can get in and eventually the result is osteomyelitis, an infection right into the bone which can require amputation of part of the limb.

¤Signs that your chinchilla has ulcerative pododermatitis
Possibly bumblefoot might be less well known if it was always known as ulcerative pododermatitis, because it is a bit of a mouthful, but it says exactly what it is, if you break it down. Ulcerative speaks for itself. Podo is from the Greek for foot, and again, dermatitis is clear enough, meaning of the skin. The first signs that your chinchilla has bumblefoot are that it will be unwilling to move and certainly won’t want to climb. It will hunch, trying to keep its weight evenly on all its feet, but for preference it won’t put any weight on them at all and may curl up. If there is a part of the cage which is padded, it will probably make its way there and be unwilling to move. It also may become bad tempered with you and its companions, but this is just because of the pain.
If the infection has got a deep hold, it may become lethargic and this is a possible sign that a blood stream infection is in progress. Chinchillas show whether they have a temperature when their ears blush pink, and if this is also happening, you should consult a vet without delay. Dressings are hard to keep on a chinchilla, but the vet will be able to dress the feet at least temporarily and make sure that suitable antibiotic therapy is provided.

¤Treatment for bumblefoot
The foot must be cleaned thoroughly and kept clean. The cleaning is not a job for anyone but a vet, as some tissue may have to be gently removed and also the underlying bone must be checked to see if it has been affected. This will need an x-ray and although this can be pricey it is vital to find out at this stage whether there is bone involvement as it will be much worse if the skin heals over with a deep seated infection trapped beneath. If the animal will tolerate a dressing, this is a good way of giving the skin of the feet a rest. Not only will it help keep the skin clean but will probably slow the chinchilla down a bit, therefore not putting too much pressure on the healing skin by jumping. The floors and shelves of the cage must be padded, not just through the healing process but permanently. If the chinchilla has bad bumblefoot it may be that it will never be thoroughly better and will always be prone to recurrence, as the scar tissue will not be as strong as the previous healthy skin.

¤Prevention
Not all chinchillas living in wire floored cages will go on to develop bumblefoot, but it is a good idea to make sure that all habitats have at least some softer and solid surfaces. If you can pad a shelf or two you will not only give the chinchilla’s feet some respite, but you will also notice if it tends to favour this surface and this may be an early warning sign of bumblefoot. If you do pad surfaces, with old towels, for example, be careful that you can keep them clean. Damp surfaces can harbour mould and this will not help if the chinchilla’s foot skin is compromised. If your animal is one which likes to be handled – which does not apply to all chinchillas by any means – you might be able to massage some moisturiser into its feet to prevent cracking. Make sure that it is a moisturiser that will not make the skin soggy or you could be inadvertently making the situation worse. Vitamin E oil, which is easily obtainable from many supermarkets, is a very good one to choose and is not messy to apply. If the chinchilla likes you doing this, it also gives you a good opportunity to examine it in general, which is never a bad thing as early intervention is often the key to successful treatment, no matter what the condition.

03/08/2021

For in my opinion the best products you can get ESPECIALY the fleece and treats

You can also follow Dorien on her page.

https://www.facebook.com/BelleAmeChinchillas

02/08/2021

Welcome to Raven to Charming Chinchillas. She is a light ebony. When purchasing her she was already paired with a light ebony RPA and has the lion mane gene. So let's hope for Ebony RPA Kits.

Her parents history:
Dam - Standard Ebony Carrier Pos VC Rpac
Sire - Medium Ebony RPA

31/07/2021

Love when they pose like that

25/07/2021

The best part of the week.

16/07/2021

Another good reason for knowing your chins history before breeding.

The past year and a half i have been learning about genetics. And no matter how a person tries to be perfect with pairing a surprise will always pop.

Here is an example of one.

Kit in picture is a tan. But if you look at his parents history you should not prudence tan.

Sire: wilson white
he is still questionable as he has the traits.

Dame: hetro beige
Genetics are: beige + Standard

Kit results should be

25% of the following kits are possible to produce:
Std grey
Pink white
Hetro beige
Mosaic

As you can see nowhere does tan come into play.

So the only way this could happen is that somewhere in the sires line there was ebony.

Genetics have me so fascinated and as i learn my chins especially when they have kits i see more and more of their genetics.

08/06/2021

I really nice and well illistrated artical on how to tell if your chins are healthy or need help.

http://www.sunsetchinchillas.com/ChinchillaP**p.shtml?fbclid=IwAR3b0SA_pKo6QltsPRdmI2x6qY_OVct2RdyB6ZIXBtV8Amy0SAU_kAIAMJM

Chinchilla f***l matter can vary in size from 1/4 inch to 1 inch long for a healthy adult regardless of body size. If you see something strange, just ask yourself what has changed. Weather? Household stress? Dietary changes* or Nothing noticeable?