baby surprise

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acopey91

New member
Joined
Nov 19, 2015
Messages
4
Location
Maine
I got my chinchilla girl (Zoey) about a month and a half ago and she is 7 months old. Today I found that she had a baby. I didn't even know she was pregnant either so Iam just very surprised! and a really scared because Im not sure what to do. I have read online to check the weight of the baby and that mom will take care of them for the most part. Im guessing that she had the baby late last night or earlier today. Mom seems to be doing great she is moving and eating normally. Before I found the baby I noticed that she kept running up to me continuously and making a contact noise but thought nothing of it. Im scared to touch the baby because I don't know if its ok to or not but I checked it out and it seemed ok. I guess Im just wondering what should I do to make sure Zoey gives it proper nutrition because I know that she was bottle fed.. Anything will help. Thank You
 
Make sure they are in a baby safe/proof cage. This means mesh 1/2 inch cage and no shelves or ledges. You should weigh the kit once a day at the same time to watch for weight gain. Do you know why the mother was bottle raised? If it was due to poor milk production with her mother you may need to prepare to hand raise this one as well. Fresh goats milk is best but you can use canned milk (unsweetened) and baby rice cereal. Most females are ok with other chins in the cage, but keep and eye in case she gets protective and attacks your other chin. I would double check both of their sexes just as a precaution. If you are unsure how to sex them, you are welcome to post pics and we can help
 
getting the right sized bar spacing cage is a BIG first. Mountains of problems have occurred from baby's escaping 1 inch bar spacing cages (i can tell you that first hand. They mine as well not exist) or from owners waiting to take care of that problem.
If you cant get a safe cage then you can get hardware cloth from a local hardware store. its 1/4" square screen. You can attach that to the INSIDE of the cage. That should help keep the kit form escaping.

3 unexpected kits here, and i can say this issue gave me more stress/problems then any other. Fortunately i didnt have any medical type problems.
 
I have also had bar issues even with an 8 week old kit. My first cage had 1 inch bar spacing before we knew better and Roxy escaped the first night. She was missing for 24 hours before we found her scared to death and hiding under my mom's bed. It was very scary and we were lucky she didn't her seriously injured or find a way out of the house.
 
If the baby is not gaining at least 1 to 2 grams a day, you will need to help the mother feed it. for the first couple of days, the baby may loose, don't panic. It can take up to 3 days for the milk to come in. after that if the kit does not gain you will need to help. There is a good thread on feeding babies in the FAQ.
 
How do you attach the hardware cloth to the cage:

getting the right sized bar spacing cage is a BIG first. Mountains of problems have occurred from baby's escaping 1 inch bar spacing cages (i can tell you that first hand. They mine as well not exist) or from owners waiting to take care of that problem.
If you cant get a safe cage then you can get hardware cloth from a local hardware store. its 1/4" square screen. You can attach that to the INSIDE of the cage. That should help keep the kit form escaping.

3 unexpected kits here, and i can say this issue gave me more stress/problems then any other. Fortunately i didnt have any medical type problems.

Can you please tell me how you attached the hardware cloth to the cage? We bought the metal 1/2" mesh and used wire to attach it and I'm afraid they are going to get cut so I won't allow them in the cage. Also, is the hardware cloth you are referring to like the garden cloth? I'm just thinking they would eat right through that. This is so stressful. I appreciate any help or advice anyone can give me. Thanks!
 
Stainless steel wire should work. Attach the cloth on the inside of the cage and have the wire s twisted together pointing out of the cage.
Another option is metal zip ties. Probably easier, but i would guess harder to find. I have some from when i was making a double wide fn cage for my guy with movement issues. I had to get them online.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-2-in-x-4-ft-x-50-ft-Hardware-Cloth-HC24850/300180179
Thats an example of hardware cloth. Youd of course find the height, width, size you need.
 
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