CMA chinchilla rescue

CMA chinchilla rescue We are a home-based chinchilla rescue located in Howell Michigan! We are here to help, not here to judge. 

We are a MCBA,ECBC And GCA members.

GCA youth leader.

Unfortunately we ended up losing peony today due to the x-rays showing severe malocclusion/root overgrowth on the bottom...
06/11/2025

Unfortunately we ended up losing peony today due to the x-rays showing severe malocclusion/root overgrowth on the bottom. with root elongation and Malo the only humane thing that can be done is euthanasia to end the suffering, as the roots will keep growing no matter what you do. No teeth trimming can stop the roots.

Peony was at the vet back in march due to not acting “chinchilla like” she had a full exam but she came back clean as she was still eating and maintaining weight so we thought she was just “an older lady” since we didn’t know her age. So she has been in unknown pain for awhile but only shown now due more severe symptoms (not eating, drooling,losing weight, last month she started kicking the food out of her bowl- I thought nothing of it as some chins do that for no reason at times) . We will just be taking x-rays from here on out of chinchillas that have no direct diagnosis. Sadly to many teeth issues 😞.

Hope you crossed the rainbow bridge peacefully peony 🌈🕊️. She had a dust bath last night as I knew what was to come of today and boy did she enjoy it. She also had some bits of banana and horse peppermint treat this morning at the vet that she LOVED. (Please keep in mind these items are not safe to be consumed by a chinchilla but it does absolutely no harm when it’s the end of their time in just a few minutes)

We have had over 117 animals in our care over the years .. each one with a special connection to us, each with their own...
06/11/2025

We have had over 117 animals in our care over the years .. each one with a special connection to us, each with their own story, each never forgotten. Some took sweat an tears to be able to get them where they are now.
if you have adopted from us.. we LOVE updates! Let us know how they are doing, pictures are also very meaningful. Post some pics in the comments or send a message!! 🌷🐾

Did you know that all our adopters are legally required to bring back the animal they adopted at no charge to the rescue, if they are no longer able to care for them/want to? This is because they singed a contract when adopting the animal.

If you have adopted,surrendered, just came for a visit, or even received help from us and had a good experience doing so leave a review! Or if you unfortunately did not have a good experience leave a review or send a message to let us know what we can do in the future to help. Reviews/feedback are very helpful to us and other people needing our services!

This picture shows a chin I haven’t introduced yet, her name is Kouvr and she is a 4 week old bottle baby. Her post is coming soon 🌺.

Let’s have a little chat, as many owners unfortunately do not know they have a malnourished animal. The amount of chin...
06/11/2025

Let’s have a little chat, as many owners unfortunately do not know they have a malnourished animal. The amount of chinchillas that people tell me are “completely healthy, never been sick” and yet you can visibly see that they are skinny,you can easily feel, or as soon as you pick them up you can feel it. If you can feel their spine and hips when running your fingers on them- that is a sick malnourished animal, a healthy animal you should never be able to easily feel their spine or hips. If you can see that they have a hump on their back as shown below they are likely very malnourished, this is caused from them having no fat so their skin is right up against their spine- a small hump is normal but you can see when it’s not with the pictures below. After you see hundreds of chinchillas a year you can be able to tell that they are malnourished just by their weight when picking them up, it’s almost like “dead weight”.you can feel it no matter what the healthy weight is for that chinchilla. As a healthy weight for a chinchilla depends on the individual and their genetics- it can range anywhere from 400g-1000+g. There is no the same or completely healthy weight for every single chinchilla. It’s based on the individual.

If you can feel a spine you have a sick animal.

The malnourished chin showed below will see Dr.Milam tomorrow morning for dental x-rays as she is drooling and dropping quite the weight.

We welcomed pixie today. Pixie is a 3 year old female, her owners had her since she was 6 months old but unfortunately w...
06/08/2025

We welcomed pixie today. Pixie is a 3 year old female, her owners had her since she was 6 months old but unfortunately with extreme hardship in the family all of a sudden. a friend of the owner who runs a cat rescue contacted us in desperate needs to find a safe landing for this little lady.

Unfortunately pixie arrived very sickly unknowingly to the familys friend and us. She is skin and bones, lethargic. so we are taking steps to ensure we get to the bottom of what’s going on and get her in better health. But otherwise has shown a lot of love, she definitely loves chin and chest scratches 💕.
She had a couple small Matt’s pulled from her. She gobble down some CC and given gas drops+a medication to get her gut moving again. We will see how she’s feeling in the next few days and will be able to get a dust bath. 

Pixie came with all of her supplies which the friend of pixie’s family made sure to Clean, and package up the bedding so it wouldn’t get everywhere. I’m extremely grateful for that as sometimes we unfortunately get cages that coat our hands In p*e just from touching them and make an absolute mess in the car. So thank you!!

She came with a handful of greens in her carrier- please please do not feed vegetables to chinchillas especially iceberg lettuce. it can send them into G.I stasis.

Please remember this is a no judgment place. Rescue is not for judging our mission is to ensure the animals get into good hands. Sometimes things happen that are extremely hard, and things slip away from you very quickly. It’s never ok but in certain circumstances there’s a bit of understanding. What matters is that they reached out for help and the animal is in good hands getting the necessary care.

Welcome pixie! 🌷

We currently have 16 chinchillas in the rescue.. can you believe it!? I still have all my personal chinys but they don’t...
06/06/2025

We currently have 16 chinchillas in the rescue.. can you believe it!? I still have all my personal chinys but they don’t count. We have 1 coming in on Saturday (we are NOT accepting surrenders, but in emergencies we make exceptions)
The one that’s coming in is unfortunately a very heartbreaking and personal. She is a 3 year old female named pixie. Unfortunately the owners significant other passed away and they are losing their house very suddenly. In cases like this- we make exceptions.

Peony is seeing our vet next week for.. dental x-rays. She lost 94g,kicking food out of her bowl, and drooling. She was originally at the vet back in march because she wasn’t “chinchilla like”. Since we didn’t know her age we guessed it was just because she was an older girl as she was still eating and maintaining weight/no other symptoms. But now it’s unfortunately looking like dental disease. But only x-rays will make it clear, we will ensure to update. She is doing okay and eating CC wonderfully- she went to town on it! 

For some good news We have many very lovely chinchillas looking for their forever homes still! Including a very young 4 month old.

Let’s talk again about Malo. These are some of the most painful things, upsetting and disturbing. These are words I hate...
06/06/2025

Let’s talk again about Malo. These are some of the most painful things, upsetting and disturbing. These are words I hate hearing coming out of my mouth and hate sharing. 

May 20th both suzie and Anastasia were euthanized due to malo. I noticed that Anastasia was losing quite a bit of weight and suzie started having watery eyes so we brought them in for x-rays. Unfortunately to our expectation they both had malo. Anastasia’s was more advanced than suzies. But the roots continue to grow and grow there’s no stopping it- best it let them go as soon as you know. No reason to keep them alive and continue the suffering.
Anastasia and suzie both bared 2 kits each when they came into our care- no clue how many they could have had before. All that just to find out about what they have been hiding.

This was a group of 9 chinchillas that came in (not including the 4 kits) 3 out of the 9 had to be euthanized due to malo. Thankfully we are pretty positive that these chinchillas are not related and were all purchased from different stores. So it doesn’t look like it is genetic but it is looking like it was caused from their diet they were on. The sugary treats they were being given ended up unknowingly caused cavities which eventually led to the overgrowth of the roots of the teeth.

Anastasia daughter was also having watery eyes but thankfully her x-rays came back clean. And it just ended up being sensitive to certain brands of dust and the all lose hay. So she requires a special dust and hay cubes- her eyes are no longer watery.

It’s so hard to watch our vets face when we bring in yet another Malo chin needing to be euthanized. she says “I’m so sorry, evey time I see you i always have bad news to deliver” or hearing the vet techs yell “omg no not the chinchilla.. really” in the back room when they are told to inject the euthanasia meds. or it’s when she shows the x-rays and before she opens her mouth I can usually tell. It’s when you have tears in your eyes and tell her to bring in the paperwork for euthanasia. it’s coming to the vet with 3 lively chinchillas and leaving with 2 cold weightless bodies on both sides of a baby chinchilla. Sitting right on the other side of the wall by her deceased mother.

2 weeks before we knew about suzies condition she was fostering a newborn kit that was surrendered. Foster baby was stripped away from yet another mother figure.

I hope you both made it to the rainbow bridge and had a wonderful pain free travel. I hope you have met all the other wonderful chinys! 🌈🕊️

These are items that came in with a surrender a month or two ago. This is a NO SHAME place, this is for educational purp...
06/06/2025

These are items that came in with a surrender a month or two ago. This is a NO SHAME place, this is for educational purposes only.
So with that being said let’s talk about these items and they are dangerous for chinchillas.

Full cheeks hay feeder and bowl:
Legs and limbs can easily become stuck in that small grate. This can easily cause the limbs to snap and even cause the chinchilla to go into shock/die when become stuck in it. This is safe to use as long as the grate is taken out- the chins may use it as a bathroom 😄.
Outcomes: broken limbs and even fatal

Full cheeks litter box: plastic that’s the only thing wrong with it. Why is plastic not recommended for chinchillas? Chinchillas chew everything and anything- (even if they aren’t chewing it yet they can start whenever they want). So when chewed and ingested it can easily cause an impaction causing extreme pain and the chinchilla unable to poop. Chinchilla not popping= a dead chinchilla within 2-3 days at the latest. A very expensive 2-4 thousand dollar surgery would be required to remove that impaction.
Outcome: fatal, or very expensive surgery.

paper bedding: same exact thing as the plastic but paper bedding swells when wet so it creates a impaction.
Outcome: fatal, or very expensive surgery.

Plastic 12 inch wheel: way too small for a chinchilla to properly run on. The minimum size wheel for a chinchilla is 15 inches with 4inchs wide- smaller can easily cause problems. Say it with me SHORT RUNNING SURFACES LEAD TO ARTHRITIS DEVELOPMENT. It is also plastic- mentioned above. It cannot be properly secured to the cage leading to it being tipped over and trapping the chinchilla.
Outcomes: arthritis, trapped chinchilla, plastic being ingested-fatal or very expensive surgery. 

Oxbow chinchilla play center:
All is good on this except the top of it is made from plywood. Plywood is an unsafe wood- why? Simple answer (long answer can be found on this page) it lets off fumes from the glue used to put it together that’s toxic to all animals and damaging. If enough glue is ingested from the wood it can lead to serious medical issues. There’s different thickness in this wood that can potentially hurt the chinchillas teeth.
Outcomes: sick chinchilla and hefty vet bill.

Cardboard tunnel stuffed with fluffy stuff:
Chinchilla can easily get trapped in this as they are very dumb and think they can fit 😁. This can potentially send the chinchilla into shock when stuck- fatal. The fluffy stuff can be ingested and can get wrapped around teeth,creat a blockage in the intestines, get wrapped around limbs.
Outcomes: traumatized chinchilla/ fatal. Possible loss of limbs from fluffy cutting of circulation.

Salt lick:  can cause them to have a high excess of these minerals or salts in their bodies. Causing bladder stones, seizures, and dehydration.
Outcomes: very expensive surgery, dehydrated animal and can be fatal.

Edible hay bowl and edible hideaway:
Both contain potato starch, which is unsafe. The hide out top opening can cause a chinchilla to get a head stuck- leading to possible shock=death in most cases.
Outcome: bloated chinchilla and possible death.

Fruit and nut mix: chinchillas should NEVER receive fruit or nuts as treats. Short answer: Can cause a whole assortment of issues and illnesses. Including bloat which is deadly if not treated.
outcomes: bloated chinchilla, assortment of health issues, fatal.



Sassy and sandy where adopted out may 31st!! A younger lady welcomed them into her home even with knowing that they need...
06/06/2025

Sassy and sandy where adopted out may 31st!!
A younger lady welcomed them into her home even with knowing that they needed some extra help and comfort as they are a bit skittish. These are her first ever chinchillas but you can absolutely tell the countless hours of time she spent researching chinchillas!! We absolutely love to see it, as it’s something a lot of people lack doing unfortunately.
Her dad was just as enthusiastic as she was to welcoming these little girls! Supportive Parents are definitely a need. They spent time building all of their wooden products for the cage by themselves as well.

Congratulations to the sharrow family!! 

May 26th Win our other special needs lady was adopted out!! Her new family drove all the way from Indiana for this speci...
06/06/2025

May 26th Win our other special needs lady was adopted out!! Her new family drove all the way from Indiana for this special lady. Win has had quite the life but can now be loved in her forever home.
She had to endure years of neglect of sitting in her own urine causing permanent damage to her bottom, it damaged the hair follicles so severely that the hair will never grow back there again. At one point in time she was very overweight from being fed very fatty and high in sugar feeds/treats on the daily causing her to become overweight. When she lost it, it caused her to have “fat flaps” basically excess skin flaps. This causes urine to get trapped underneath and if not cleaned will cause urine scalding, so she requires to have her bottom cleaned with clean water and a cloth daily.

She also had severely infected uterine horns, so she had to get a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus). this allows her to be eligible to be bonded to a male chinchilla. Her new owners have another male chiny that they are looking to bond win with if they both allow (they fully understand that it may not work out and how the bonding process works). We are so thrilled that win found such an amazing home!! They were so very excited to have her in their lives, this is a family pet but is more of the family’s daughters chinys- she sewed all new liners for the cage! congratulations to the bagley family!

Thank you for welcoming this lovely lady in your life 🌷💕.
Pictures included of her in her new home.

May 14th our lovely special needs Ruby was adopted out!! She had osteoporosis in her joints, needed daily meds and had ...
06/06/2025

May 14th our lovely special needs Ruby was adopted out!! She had osteoporosis in her joints, needed daily meds and had a small birth defect. She now has a forever family that loves her dearly and even has a “sister”. another female named peach that they are going to try and bond Ruby to (they fully understand the bonding process and that it may not work out).

Her new family named her plum or “plumie”. So peach and plum.
We appreciate all our amazing adopters 💕🌷. They shared so many photos of plum that they are allowing us to share with you all.
Thank you to the Zhang family for welcoming this special girl into your home.

FREE pet supplies. These came in with a surrender a few months ago and I need them gone. These are not safe for chinchil...
06/06/2025

FREE pet supplies. These came in with a surrender a few months ago and I need them gone. These are not safe for chinchillas. But can be used for hamsters or rats etc.

•Almost full bag of full cheeks paper bedding- blue
•full cheeks small 8oz water bottle with plastic hanger
•full cheeks plastic litter box without cage clips
•cardboard tunnel
•kaytee 12 inch green wheel

Pick up in Howell Michigan only. No shipping. Porch pick up.

Walking into the vet office with a lively chin ,getting chin scratches and taking treats out of your hand to walking out...
04/29/2025

Walking into the vet office with a lively chin ,getting chin scratches and taking treats out of your hand to walking out with a carrier that contains a lifeless cold body is one of the hardest things.

At just 2-3 years old Malocclusion and root elongation took the life of this sweet,loving beautiful boy named George. George was pending adoption but last week I noticed his eyes started to water and when I checked his jaw line I felt sharp points on both sides, so he was placed on med hold and a vet appointment was made for today. Just this morning i was looking at him thinking “he can’t have it, he is so lively and his eyes weren’t watering so much” but I should have known better to what was going to come.  His teeth were pretty bad especially the top, the roots of his teeth were really growing into his eye socket.
Bottom- not very much. But even the chewing surface started to grow into a pointy mess.
They were pretty bad I'm so surprised that he was eating on his own and not losing any weight- he actually gained a few grams. He really didn't have the symptoms for his roots to be so bad, me and the vet are surprised nothing showed up earlier. They surely do hide it for as long as they can.
He grew into such a wonderful lovely guy while he was here. Gave him a couple soft goji berries, a bunch of love and sent him over the rainbow bridge to be with all the other chin friends 🌈💔🐾.
I’m so sorry that this was your outcome George, but I am thankful that you told us what was going on before you went to a new home.  I’m glad he got a bunch of love and got to know what a safe, healthy home was like in the little time he was with all of us: poofy friends chinchilla rescue, foster Mya and us. Unfortunately George came in with 8 other chinchillas from a bad living situation being fed a very unhealthy diet. we don’t know what started his Malo and root elongation as there’s so many possibilities.
Rest easy lovely.
If anyone is interested in seeing his x-rays I can post them in the comments when I receive the email of them from the vet.

Sometimes the nicest thing you can ever do for them is to let them rest pain free.

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Howell, MI
48843

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+5173759503

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