Sales Policy
As a small hobby breeder, we handle our chinchilla kits (babies) from the day they are born. Likewise, we handle our rescues as often as possible from the day they come to the rescue. We do this to ensure the most friendly, socialized pets that we can offer up for adoption. Any information we have about a baby or rescue that we feel is relevant will be disclosed. Any information (however little or much) we may have on rescues is available to adoptive homes as well.
Requirements for Potential New Owners: Care Packet & Adoption Form
All potential owners are required to read our Care Packet and fill out our Adoption Form. The files for chinchilla adoption are available for download below. To receive a care packet and adoption form for other adoptable animals (i.e., rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, etc.), please contact us.
At pick-up, adoptive homes will also be asked to sign a document noting which animal they are adopting, as well as sign an Adoption Contract and a sheet outlining the Health Guarantee.
Chinchilla Care Packet -- Chinchilla Care Packet.doc
Chinchilla Adoption Form -- NWI Chinchillas Adoption Form.doc
Please note: the two downloadable files are also available as pages to view on this website.
In addition to the Care Packet and Adoption Form, we require proof of cage. Proof of cage can be as simple as the potential owner providing us with a picture of the cage that they plan to use for their new adoptive pet, so that we can see that it is appropriate for the animal. If it is not, we will advise the potential owner of this, and may offer suggestions.
When we are contacted about adopting an animal, please do not be offended when we ask questions and when we ask you to fill out our Adoption Form. We do not single people out -- all potential buyers/adoptive homes must complete them. This is done for the best interests of the animal.
In order to purchase/adopt one of our animals, we must have a satisfactorily-completed Adoption Form. Our adoption form is online, here, or if you have downloaded it, the file can be emailed to amgajda@sbcglobal.net -- once it is reviewed, we will contact you. If there are any concerns with how you filled out the Adoption Form, we will discuss these in turn. Don't let the form scare you away -- if you don't have all your supplies, don't know what brands you will be using, or something on the form is confusing, that's ok! We would suggest that you start by reading our Chinchilla Care Info page, and then contact us and we can discuss the animal care, so that you are ready when the time comes to bring your new family member home.
We reserve the right to refuse the sale/adoption of a chinchilla/rescue at any time.
For potential buyers under the age of 18 -- a parent or guardian (18+) must be present at the time of adoption to sign the paperwork.
Communications Between NWI & You
If you have contacted NWI about adopting an animal, you will likely receive a return email or phone call in 1-2 days. If several days have gone by and you have not heard from us, feel free to call or email again -- sometimes phone calls don't come through and emails get lost.
Putting Chinchillas On Hold / Deposits
Chinchillas can be put on hold ONLY with a deposit.
Deposits are $50 (per chinchilla), regardless of the cost of the chinchilla.
Deposits can be paid in cash (in person), zelle, cashapp, venmo, PayPal, or credit / debit card. Sorry, we are not accepting mailed deposits. Final payment is due at pickup.
Once you have put down a deposit, you have 14 days in which to pick up the chinchilla. The 14 days starts on the day AFTER the deposit is received. If more than 14 days pass after receipt of the deposit, and you have not yet picked up your new family member (or made boarding arrangements with us), your deposit is forfeited and the animal will no longer remain on hold for you.
Should you need more than 14 days to pick up your chinchilla, you have the option to board your chinchilla with us. The boarding fee is $25 per cage, per week. Multiple chinchillas can be housed in the same cage, provided they get along, and are of the same sex. Arrangements for the duration of boarding must be discussed, prior to the beginning of boarding. Please contact for more information.
Should you no-call no-show on your appointment to pick up your animal, for any reason, you will forfeit your deposit.
Deposits are NON-REFUNDABLE. This means that once you have put down a deposit, if you are unable to adopt or decide not to adopt for any reason, your deposit is forfeited (you will not get it back). When you come to pick up your animal, you will pay the adoption fee, minus what you have already put down as a deposit.
Deposits are NON-TRANSFERABLE. This means that they apply ONLY to the animal for which you put the deposit on. Should you arrive at the rescue and decide that you want a different animal, your deposit will not transfer over to the new animal, and you will pay the full adoption fee for that animal. This is due to the fact that we have held the other animal for you, and prevented that animal from being adopted, which was the point of the deposit.
Included With Your New Family Member
All animals purchased/adopted from NWI will come with a care packet and some supplies. Included with the various animals:
adult chinchilla -- 2 pounds of Mazuri Chin Chow or Tradition Chin Chow, goodie bag, chinchilla care packet
chinchilla kit -- 2 pounds of Mazuri Chin Chow, kit-version of goodie bag, chinchilla care packet
guinea pig (adult or baby) -- 2 pounds of Oxbow Cavy Cuisine, guinea pig care packet
rabbit (adult or baby) -- 2 pounds of MannaPro Pro, rabbit care packet
rat (adult or baby) -- quart size baggie of lab blocks, rat care packet
degu (adult or baby) -- 2 pounds of Mazuri Chin Chow/Oxbow Cavy Cuisine degu-food mix, goodie bag, degu care packet
Occasionally, animals will come with additional items. If additional items are included, this will be noted in the animal's information on our Available Chinchillas page.
Your new family member will also come with a lifetime of support -- you can contact us anytime and we will do our best to help you with whatever you need.
Some chinchillas will come with pedigrees, others will not. Rescue animals will not come with pedigrees, and should not be bred. Baby chinchillas may or may not come with pedigrees, depending on various factors. Just because a chinchilla comes with a pedigree does not automatically signify that the chinchilla is good quality, show quality, or that it should be bred. As most babies that we sell are too young to be shown, we do not guarantee that any chinchilla kit will be show quality or breeding quality.
Picking Up Your New Family Member
When you are ready to pick up your new family member, we will work with you to find a time and date that works for both of us. This date can be changed, if something comes up. We understand that your time is valuable, and ours is as well -- so if you need to change or cancel an appointment, we appreciate as much advance notice as possible.
If you are going to be more than 15 minutes late, we require that you contact us and let us know. Texting / calling are the best ways to reach us -- 219-789-0026. If you need to reach out via email, please email to ashley.gajda.3916@gmail.com -- if you do NOT let us know that you are going to be late, we reserve the right to stop waiting for you and leave after 15 minutes.
We are located in the EASTERN Time Zone. If this affects your travel plans, please adjust the time that you leave accordingly, so you arrive here on time.
We do not tolerate no-shows, as it shows that you have no respect for our time.. If you are unable to make it to your scheduled appointment, we ask that you call, email, or text. If you are unable to have the common courtesy to do this, and to let us know that you will not be coming, we are unable to adopt / sell to you.
When you come to pick up your new family member, you will need two things: a carrier and payment. We prefer cash, but accept PayPal, credit cards, and Zelle. Sorry, we do not accept personal checks.
If you have a carrier, please bring it with you to take your animal home in. If you do not bring a carrier with you, we can either supply you with a box, or you can purchase a carrier from the rescue.
Payment
When you come to pick up your new family member, you will need to bring some method of payment.
Of course, we take cash (preferred). We also major accept credit / debit cards (expect American Express), PayPal, and Zelle.
Sorry, but we are unable to accept personal checks, Chase QuickPay, VISA gift cards, and these other sorts of payments.
Guarantees & Returns
We offer a 7-day health guarantee on most chinchillas at NWI Chinchillas, as follows:
In actuality, once the chinchilla leaves NWI Chinchillas (NWIC), we no longer have control over what happens to the chinchilla. However, we take pride in the fact that we have healthy chinchillas and want the new home to be assured that the chinchillas leave here with a clean bill of health. In the unlikely event of an ailment, illness, or death within the first 7 days, the chinchilla must be seen by a licensed veterinarian. The veterinarian must submit a report to NWIC specifying the possible underlying cause of the ailment, illness, or death, with a timeline of symptom onset. If the animal is found to have a pre-existing condition due to breeding (note, this does not apply to rescues, as they are not bred by NWIC), NWIC will replace the chinchilla with other animal of equal value. No refunds will be given, and no veterinary costs will be covered by NWIC.
Please note, this health guarantee does not cover accidents or errors in care on the part of the new owner, such as (but not limited to) broken bones, heatstroke, injuries from another household pet, and injuries from being dropped or stepped on. In these instances, it is up to the discretion of NWIC as to whether you will be able to adopt again in the future.
Any deviation from our Care Packet, given with each chinchilla at the time of purchase/adoption, voids our health guarantee.
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We do not guarantee that our chinchillas/rescues will get along with your current pets. Please note that, no matter what some may say, no one can ever guarantee something like this, as all chinchillas have their own personalities and likes / dislikes.
Surrender Waiting List
When the rescue is full (and let's be honest, that's very often), we have a waiting list for chinchillas and other animals to come in.
Here is how this works:
1. You contact us letting us know that you need us to take in your animal
2. You provide us with info about the animal such as age, sex, any health concerns or problem behaviors, and two methods to contact you (most commonly we get phone number and email, though we are happy to message you through facebook or some other method if we are able)
3. We add you to our waiting list
4. When a cage (or cages, depending on how many animals you have) open up at the rescue, we will contact you to let you know that we have space for your animal. We contact you, in order to set up an appointment time for you to bring your animal in. From then, you will have three (3) days to respond. Should we not hear from you within 3 days, we will cross you off our list and move onto the next person on the waiting list. You do not need to bring your animal in within those 3 days, but we do need to hear back from you. This is to eliminate long waits for people on our waiting list, when people higher up on the list do not get back to us. Should you no longer need to bring your animal into the rescue, we would still appreciate if you would let us know, as we can then move onto the next person on our list, that much quicker.
Looking for Something Specific?
Don't see what you're looking for? We can probably get it for you! If you want something specific (for example, a dark ebony male between 3-4 months of age), let us know! If you just want to wait until we happen to get in something, and plan to check back on the website periodically, feel free to do so. However, if you could really like a certain age / color / sex (and so on), let us know and we can see what we can do. If you're asking for a very specific animal like this, we will ask you to put down a non-refundable deposit, which will apply towards the adoption of that specific animal, once we have it in. This is to prevent people from saying they want a certain animal on impulse, and then finding reasons why they can't get it, once we have made efforts to get that animal in and have it here at NWI.