Guide to Owning a Chinchilla [Paperback]

Anmarie Barrie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Guide to Owning A... | Publication Date: June 1997

This Convenient, Easy to Understand Guide to Properly Caring For A Chinchilla Includes Information On Selecting, Feeding, Grooming, Housing, Showing, and Health Care. It Also Includes Advice On Training Your Pet. This Informative Book Includes Detailed Kinds of Diseases Your Pet May Catch Someday, and How to Treat them. It Also Discusses Feeding and Hygiene Requirements, Such as the Dust Bath.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: TFH Publications (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793821614
• ISBN-13: 978-0793821617
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,291,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK, September 21, 2005

By 

wktam - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guide to Owning a Chinchilla (Paperback)

Do yourself a favor and click on the link above for the author's other books. Note that she has written books on hamsters, koi, gerbils, parrots, and conures.

I am truely amazed that the author is an authority on so many different animals. I have been breeding chinchillas for well over five years and I have rarely seen so much inaccurate information in one book.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful source of basic information, February 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide to Owning a Chinchilla (Paperback)

This book provides all of the basics for raising a pet chinchilla. Although it covers a lot of topics, I would have appreciated a lot more details...especially regarding chinchilla health. It is a great book for someone who wants to learn the baiscs of chinchilla care.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, please, do it for your chinchilla, February 15, 2005

By 

V.Fox (New Orleans, LA- Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guide to Owning a Chinchilla (Paperback)

This book is the biggest pile of garbage available for those who are seeking accurate information on caring for their chinchilla. The glaring innacuracies, poorly cared for specimens and some outright dangerous misinformation in this book make it just the sort of pitfall a new chin- person should avoid. However, being new to chinchillas as pets, most will not know any better.

I bought this book as a pet chinchilla owner, the chinchilla ownership group it is marketed towards, and was pretty disgusted by the inaccuracies. It is sadly common in pet books and it makes it difficult for new owners to separate the wheat from the chaff. After all, it was printed, so it must be true...
You'll get much more accurate information on pet chinchilla care from a Google search than from this book. Look for information from resources dedicated to pet chinchilla care, such as specialty chinchilla shops online or rescue organisations. Both sources usually offer much better, up-to-date information on caring for a pet chinchilla. Amazon doesn't let reviewers provide links to external sites, due to the ever-changing nature of online content, but if you look for information from sources online that obviously dedicate their professional reputations, either in business or charity, specifically to chinchillas, or to a very limited group of exotic species only, you will find the kind of information you and your chinchilla can really put to good use. And also, it is important to mention that the issues faced by pet owners and those of commercial chinchilla breeders, or even dedicated hobbyist breeders, will be very different, and therefore different approaches are often used and necessary. The pet owner will find in many cases that the commercial approach to care doesn't lend itself easily to forming the kind of relationship between owner and animal they are seeking, and vice versa. This book tries to solve for the needs of all types of new chinchilla owners, and ends up satisfying no one.

If my review sounds harsh, there is good reason. Chinchillas are fragile, exotic animals, and their proper care is important, not just for their well- being, but for their survival. They are not animals that should be purchased on impulse or without a good general source for knowledge of what care they need, and, unfortunately, in this book, for every piece of good information on chin care that is included there are ten pieces of incorrect and sometimes downright dangerous information.

If you are a new chinchilla owner, be it a pet, a new fancier, or a new commercial enterprise, my review summary is the same: Please, save your money, for your chinchillas sake.