Hi! My name is Jen and I have been working with chinchillas for over 10 years. I am a hobbiest and breeder. I live in Rochester, NY. I am a Veterinary Nurse at one of our local animal hospitals, however I didn't always want to be a nurse. I went to undergrad college and graduated with my BS degree in Biology and just couldn't find a job in Rochester that I was interested in. I had been working at the hospital as an assistant and decided to take some extra classes towards my AAS degree in Veterinary Technology. So that is what I am doing and I love it! And it makes it easy for me to have all my animals looked at since I work with vets 24/7.

I got my first Chinchilla about 9 years ago and that only began many years of interest in the creatures. From there on I began rescuing chinchillas from our local animal shelter Lollypop Farm and purchasing chinchillas from breeders. I've been breeding for almost 2 years now. It has been something I've wanted to do since my first chinchilla came home with me.

I don't only have chinchillas. Working in an animal hospital surrenders you to many heartbreaking cases, and you usually end up taking some abandonee's home with you.

I have 4 cats. Emma my 17 year old beauty.


Milo my 7 year old cat I rescued from a barn as a kitten.


And my two 4 year old boys who are brothers from the same litter. Oliver is the orange and Powder is the white.

Them as babies

On top of the chinchillas and the 4 cats, I also have a puppy. I rescued him from the hospital when someone brought him in, unable to afford the treatments, and was going to "throw him in the dumpster" so I of course stepped up and had his rights signed over to me. His name is Ralphie. He lives up to that name too. He was diagnosed with Megaesophagus, which is the dilation of your esophagus. The muscles don't work very well and doesn't have enough peristalsis to push the food down, so the food almost creates a little resevoir in the esophagus, and will occasionally regurgitate what hasn't made it to the stomach yet. He is doing great though. We got him when he was 8 weeks old and he is now a little over 5 months. He is a ball of energy. We are not sure what breeds he is mixed with, but I think he is mostly Pit, maybe a little lab but I think that is streching it.

We also just recently rescued a Pit/ Boxer pup. Him and Ralphie didn't get a long that well so we found him a wonderful home where he now resides. He is very happy there and is growing up to be a very healthy boy!

Recently we adopted a little pit female named Macie. She is much more Ralphie's style. They get along great and just adore one another. She is 3 months old and just a peach!

Not only do I have furry friends, but I have scaled ones too. I have had aquariums since I was 16 years old. A few years ago I started breeding Angel Fish. It was very difficult and I only worked through 2 generations of babies. Here are some pictures of the Fry when they hatched.

And when they started growing up


Here are some pictures of my aquarium, which doesn't look this nice anymore, and is now Filled with all the angel fish (35 of them).

And finally, our Chameleon "Lil Dude" may he rest in peace.