The characteristics of a serious hobby breeder

Unfortunately, everyone is allowed to call himself a serious and loving hobby breeder, but not many actually are. There are many black sheep and multipliers in the chinchilla breeding jungle. Therefore, before buying a chinchilla, everybody should take a closer look at the characteristics of a good breeding and choose his breeder carefully.

The following characteristics make a good breeder in my opinion:

Role model function & Co.

He pays meticulous attention to the origin, health and temperament of his breeding animals
He keeps his animals in cages, which not only correspond to the "breeder standard", but at least meet the official German minimum standards for farm animal husbandry (min 1 square meter (WxD) x 1 m height) or even more (after all, he acts as a role model, visit this page: Minimun cage size for chinchillas)
The cages are furnished species-appropriate, not only with house + sand bath, but incl. possibilities for gnawing and with sufficient occupation
He feeds his animals not only with pellets, hay and water, but offers at least many dry herbs and twigs, better additionally also fresh feed, visti this page: Basics of feeding
He provides his animals with veterinary care day & night if necessary and independent of the costs; in order to detect diseases or birth problems, the animals are inspected daily and never left alone for a long time without competent care substitute
He has enough money, space and time for his responsible "hobby" without any restrictions or excuses
He knows the animals he buys, keeps and sells and can introduce the strengths and weaknesses of the chinchilla, both in terms of character and other quality of the animals

Information and placement criteria

The breeder is available for owners (interested parties/buyers, but also foreign owners) with advice and support and is happy to advise them
He informs interested parties about possible problems of e.g. large groups or taking in kittens (keyword puberty problems and group needs) as well as about advantages of already existing groups and adult animals.
He does not sell pregnant or sick chinchillas and no (un-neutered) pairs to beginners
He does not ship chinchillas, especially not sick or pregnant animals
He gets to know the prospective chinchilla buyer, inquires about his knowledge of the species and does not give his chins to just anyone; he is interested as far as possible in what happens to the animals after moving out and how they are doing
Potential buyers are allowed to look at the breeding room, cages, animals etc. at any time - the breeder has nothing to hide
He takes back his sold animals if necessary or helps with their placement
He inquires before the purchase whether the purchased animals are to function as breeding animals or pet animals and advises and sells accordingly
He does not sell standards, beige chins and other animals he is stuck with to just anyone or give them away to furriers or pet shops (yes, that exists...)

Knowledge, Experience & Co.

The breeder knows about outcrossing, inbreeding, line breeding and other breeding methods and can explain to me which advantages and disadvantages these breeding methods have and why he chooses exactly the method he uses
He pays attention to adequate selection of the animals and sorts out sick, weak, too small/big, thin, behaviorally conspicuous etc. females and bucks. females and bucks from the breeding
He has specialized in only one or at least very few mutation colors and breeds these specifically to improve their quality; he does not mate wild mixtures of this and that color, the main thing is to get something "colorful" and "beautiful"
He has not only a sufficient overview of anatomy, chinchilla keeping, nutrition, health/diseases, behavior and especially genetics, but is well read, interested and always educating himself in these areas
He has been keeping this animal species for a long time (i.e. has keeping experience), not only since 3 years, and has dealt with it intensively (knows its behavior etc.)
He keeps exact records of arrivals and departures, diseases, litters, weights, development of the litters etc. and lets you "browse" through these records
You can look at the parents and if necessary further relatives at any time and the breeder can tell me exactly, why he has mated exactly these animals with each other or also not
He allows his breeding females regular pregnancy breaks, lets them mate at the appropriate age for the first and last time
He does not move the chinchillas all the time
He releases his offspring only when they are physically and psychologically developed and socialized enough (from a minimum weight of 250-300g & a minimum age of 10-12 weeks)