3 7week Chins

[Phoenix]

I have 3 Chins that are supose to be ready to go but they just don't look like it, they are 7 weeks and still really tiny. When we bought our first chinchilla she was a lot bigger then how big the babies are. We also have a runt who is half the size of the other 2, they are all really health and doing great I just don't know if I should keep them longer or if its time for them to go to good homes.

 

[greychins]

How much do they weigh?

 

[Phoenix]

I'm not sure, I don't have a scale. =( The Babies were unexpected and I looked for info everywhere and didn't read anywhere that you had to weigh them. =( I feel like a bad Chinchilla owner...

 

[greychins]

Hey if you didn't read it, how would you know?

It's really hard to say without a scale, because (for example) my first chin came from a petstore and was HUGE! Nothing like what a good-sized 7-8 week old should weigh (surely he was much older)... and so when we first had a baby born here, I thought man is it tiny... even when it was 8 weeks old I thought it was tiny... but it was a healthy weight for that age.

I personally keep the babies longer than 7 weeks, we typically keep til 8 weeks and then separate them from mom for a week to check they're eating on their own and all, and then assuming they are, we either keep them or sell them or whatever... but some of it is dependent on weight as well.... I ideally want the babies to weigh 250+ by the 9 week mark, but I will let them leave if they are over 200 and steadily gaining... but without a scale, describing a chin that weighs 200 grams isn't all that easy to do...

If you think you should keep them longer, then keep them longer. It won't do any harm, but if they need more time with mom, it can do them good.

ETA: I'm not sure how much this would help, but... do you have a picture?

 

[Phoenix]

Well I also noticed that they are still nursing. I read in my research that the mom would ween the babies by 6 weeks, So I'm still kinda confused.

 

[greychins]

Are they eating pellets and hay that are in the cage also, or only nursing? I would definitely still leave them in if they are nursing. Sooner or later mom's milk will dry up and they will wean then. No real harm in leaving them longer.

I don't know about everyone else, but I've heard the rule of thumb is 8 weeks for weaning. I suppose that's one of those things where different people may use different standards, but all the babies we've had here (which, I admit, isn't many) have always been nursing almost right up until 7-8 weeks, but they're also eating pellets and hay and regular stuff then as well.

 

[Phoenix]

Yep their eating the pellets and hay, But it seems that the runt is nursing more then the other 2. There is one that is really friendly and big (good size) and I haven't seen him nurse for a while so I think he's ready to go. But the other 2 I have seen nurse. The runt is kind of a pig though when I put food in the cage he sits in the bowl and hogs the food and then nurses after.

 

[Spoof]

I'd say pull the bigger one and leave the other two on mom for a week. Weights don't matter as much as eating solid food does. )

 

[AZChins]

I rarely ever wean kits that are under maybe 9 weeks old. Seven weeks seems a little young to me as long as the mother is willing to nurse and the babies are doing alright, but six weeks has always seemed to young to wean little kits.

Kits that seem smaller or more fragile can stay with their mamas for much longer. If there are no males present, female babies can stay in indefinitely. (Do you know the sex of the babies?) I had a young female, who was very runty, and I kept her in with her mom for an extra month and weaned her at 16 weeks. She did much better with this arrangement because she kept nursing until nearly the day I put her in the weaning cage.

 

[starleomach]

I rarely ever wean kits that are under maybe 9 weeks old. Seven weeks seems a little young to me as long as the mother is willing to nurse and the babies are doing alright, but six weeks has always seemed to young to wean little kits.

Kits that seem smaller or more fragile can stay with their mamas for much longer. If there are no males present, female babies can stay in indefinitely. (Do you know the sex of the babies?) I had a young female, who was very runty, and I kept her in with her mom for an extra month and weaned her at 16 weeks. She did much better with this arrangement because she kept nursing until nearly the day I put her in the weaning cage.

I agree 100% I tend to leave female kits with mom a bit longer

 

[Phoenix]

How do you really tell though? Their privates look so much alike!

 

[AZChins]

You can tell if newborns are males or females right after they are born. If you can get some good, clear pictures of their undersides, we can probably tell you what they are.