07/15/2025
Important information for all chin owners. Information is forever changing. We all just want what’s best for our babies! Please considering throwing away any peony products you have for your chinchillas. ❤️
💔 A Heartfelt Apology and an Important Safety Update 💔
Hello dear friends and clients,
This is a longer post, but we truly believe it’s worth your time — especially for the health and safety of your chinchillas.
Earlier this week, one of our clients and friends experienced a terrifying health scare with her beloved female chinchilla. The situation was critical: her chinchilla was lying on her side, breathing shallowly, extremely lethargic, vocalizing strangely, and experiencing tremors — all signs consistent with possible toxicity, hypoglycemia, organ failure, or severe shock.
We spent over four hours together that night — mourning, brainstorming, and troubleshooting everything from her cage setup, diet, and enrichment to potential environmental toxins. As a last-ditch effort, I suggested offering a few goji berries, in case low blood sugar was the issue. Incredibly, shortly after eating the berries, her chinchilla began to regain strength. Within minutes, she tried to stand. Within hours, she was stable. And today, she’s back to her happy, normal self.
🙏 A miracle. But also a wake-up call.
Later that same day, I reached out to several respected chinchilla experts for their input. One flagged something I had never considered a risk: peony petals — a treat commonly listed as safe for chinchillas and one we ourselves have sold — may in fact be toxic to rodents. While this isn’t confirmed beyond a doubt, the symptoms matched, and even the possibility is enough for us to take immediate action.
⚠️ Effective immediately, we are removing peony petals from our product offerings.
⚠️ We are also working with chinchilla community leaders to remove peony petals from safe treat lists.
⚠️ We urge all vendors and pet owners to stop using or selling peony petals to chinchillas — or any rodents — out of an abundance of caution.
We’ve always taken great pride in researching our products, staying up-to-date, and adjusting our practices as new information becomes available. But this experience has been humbling. It hurts to know we may have unknowingly contributed to a health risk, and we are deeply sorry.
Please know this:
We care more about your chinchilla’s well-being than profit.
We care more about doing what’s right than saving face.
And our reputation — built on trust, transparency, and love for these animals — means everything to us.
Thank you for your continued trust and for being part of a community that puts chinchilla welfare first. If you have any questions or concerns, we are always here to talk.
With gratitude and sincerity,
Taylor Made Chinchillas
(We copied and pasted a post in the comments from an admin in the Chinchilla Owners & Lovers group)
