Teen Wants To Rehome High-Maintenance Pets Mom Gave Her For Her Birthday, Takes Heat From Mom

Many people argue that before getting a pet, you need to be sure you are capable of taking care of it and not simply view it as a toy you can throw aside when it gets boring. The same applies to when you decide to gift someone a pet. Think it through — will they be able to be a good parent to it? 

As today’s story shows, sometimes thinking this through isn’t enough. You also have to research a pet you’re giving someone, because otherwise they might have a very different version of how to take care of it than you do…

More info: Reddit

As they always say – think before getting a pet for yourself or someone else

Teen holding a gifted chinchilla gently, showing care and effort to give the pet a proper life at home.

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

Apparently, the mom from today’s story didn’t put much thought into the pets she was gifting, which caused quite a lot of family drama

Teen caring for gifted chinchillas, striving to provide a proper life while facing mom’s frustration over settling.

Teen caring for gifted chinchillas in a small travel cage, aiming to give them a proper life despite mom’s disagreement.

Teen buys multi-level cage and toys to give gifted chinchillas a proper life, refusing to settle for the bare minimum.

Teen caring for pet chinchillas, opening an orange and transparent plastic carrier in a cozy indoor setting.

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

She got her daughter her dream pet chinchillas, but thought they were a temporary pet

Teen caring for gifted chinchillas sets up bigger cage and proper supplies, facing mom’s frustration over not settling.

Alt text: Teen argues with mom over proper chinchilla care and providing a good life beyond the bare minimum

Teen caring for gifted chinchillas, researching proper chinchilla care and ensuring a good living environment.

Teen and mom argue on couch as teen tries to give gifted chinchillas a proper life, refusing to settle for bare minimum.

Image credits: prostock-studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)

Then, the daughter explained that they can live up to 10 years or even more

Teen frustrated trying to give gifted chinchillas proper care while mom refuses to provide beyond the bare minimum.

Text on white background describing a teen’s struggle to give gifted chinchillas proper care despite mom’s disapproval.

Text reading Am I the jerk for hurting my mom's feelings in simple black font on a white background related to teen caring for gifted chinchillas.

Image credits: ImaginaryInsurance50

So, as a sneaky “revenge,” Mom forbade the girl to properly take care of the pets, which made her consider rehoming them

For the OP’s birthday, her mom got her 3 chinchillas, which were her dream pets. So, just imagine how excited she was about it! The girl had money saved to buy supplies for the pets, to upgrade them from the cage she had gotten them. 

When she informed her mom that she was about to do so, she was told she wasn’t allowed to. Apparently, when gifting the pets, the mom thought that they wouldn’t be living that long, and so the small cage that she had bought them with would have to suffice. And she didn’t want a “huge stinky cage” in her house. 

But the thing is that chinchillas in captivity actually do live pretty long — it might be around 10 to 20 years or so. Plus, they can’t really live in a tiny cage — they need space to play. This frustrated the hell out of the girl. She was given the pets she was supposed to be responsible for, but wasn’t allowed to fulfill her responsibility. 

So, since she wasn’t able to provide the best possible conditions for the chinchillas, she decided she was going to rehome them. This caused the mom to call her daughter “dramatic, selfish, ungrateful, and rude.” 

Well, the topic of pet rehoming always garners a heated discussion. Basically, there are some people who genuinely believe that rehoming a pet is immoral, no matter the circumstance — if you got a pet, you’re forever bound to that responsibility. 

Teen sitting on bed with arms wrapped around knees, appearing thoughtful about giving gifted chinchillas a proper life.

Image credits: syda_productions / Freepik (not the actual photo)

At the same time, others believe that while you should strive to avoid such a solution as much as possible, there are sometimes circumstances where you simply do not have any choice. For instance, some people might find themselves in a difficult financial situation, thus not being able to properly care for a pet. 

Another example of possible reasons can be that the person’s family situation changes, which alters their relationship with their pet. Let’s take Jennifer Lawrence, a renowned actress, for example. Not that long ago, she revealed that she had to part ways with her dog after she had a kid. 

Essentially, after her son was bitten by a dog, which made her maternal instincts “flare up,” she started distrusting dogs to the point where keeping one at home felt like a liability to her. That’s why she rehomed the dog to her parents instead. 

In the case of this story, it can be said that the family situation was also the reason why the OP decided to rehome her pets. While technically there was no baby at their place, the mom definitely acted like one by throwing a tantrum. Well, that’s at least what the original poster and the netizens thought. What about you?

People online thought the teen’s reaction was the most responsible one in this situation and they let her know that

Reddit comments about a teen trying to give gifted chinchillas a proper life despite mom's frustration over settling.

Commenters discuss a teen providing proper care for gifted chinchillas despite mom wanting to settle for the bare minimum.

Screenshot of an online forum comment discussing a teen trying to give gifted chinchillas a proper life while the mom is upset.

Reddit comment discussing teen's effort to give gifted chinchillas proper life and mom upset over bare minimum care standards.

Comment about teen trying to give gifted chinchillas a proper life as mom refuses to settle for less.

Teen trying to give gifted chinchillas a proper life while facing family conflict over pet care standards

Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a teen’s effort to give gifted chinchillas a proper life despite mom’s disapproval.

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