Anxious dad

[Collmar89]

I unexpectedly find a baby chin in my cage when I came home and had to move dad to prevent birth back. (I thought both were males and they've bonded for the last six months).

Since then he's been going crazy and restless; I'm also concerned that he's not eating or drinking. What can I do to help him?

 

[Cuddlebug]

Give him time; he will get over it. He just wants to breed her right now.

 

[Collmar89]

That's what I figured its just that she missing him too. It's kinda heartbreaking; I got the second chin to keep the other company and now I'm short a chin.

 

[AZChins]

Do you know the sex of the baby? If it's a boy, he can go in with the dad...if it's a girl, it can go in with the mama. You may need to keep two cages and possibly may need to adopt another chin. The only other option would be to get the dad neutered, I wouldn't recommend spaying the female because it is much harder on a female to be spayed than it would be on the male. So, if the baby is a female, getting the dad neutered could be a good option. That way he can live with the other chin and the baby without the chance of anyone getting pregnant again and you wouldn't have to keep another cage of chins.

 

[3CsMommy]

You can look into having him neutered to keep them together again, but that can also depend on the sex of the kit. It's just easier to neuter a male than spay a female, though still risky. And the mother can't be kept with a male kit after about 8 weeks or they can breed. But for now, dad will have to deal with being a bachelor for a while. Extra cuddles with you can help him adjust.

 

[Zoaea]

Try putting him in a different room, and give him extra attention/playtime. Did you have someone that can check your kits gender? I know some people have picture of girl kit vs boy kit in some of the other threads in breeding and babies section.

Maybe giving him some extra toys to take his energy out on will help too.

 

[ArmyWife]

I agree with Cuddlebug. Your female is currently going through heat which is making the male go crazy. You can move him to another room if needed. My male went crazy at first when I first removed him from my female and 2 kits but calmed down after about a week. I slowly introduced the kits to the father since they were both male kits. Then once they hit 8 weeks, I removed them from mom and put them in with dad so that I could monitor their weight gain. I ended up getting him neutered so that they could live together without concerns of more kits.

 

[Collmar89]

The kit is female, I was thinking bout getting the male fixed but worried bout getting it done.

 

[3CsMommy]

If you find a vet with experience with chinchillas, neutering may be easier than the alternative (2 cages for you, a moody dad when the females go into heat again). There are a number of owners here who had chins neutered; I'm sure if you search the forum for "neuter" you'll find some informative threads about it to help make your decision.

 

[AZChins]

Oh yeah, there's got to be someone in Ohio that will be able to give you the name of a vet with chin experience. Neutering has become a more commonplace procedure and it's gotten to be pretty safe. It is best to not neuter a chin unless there's a good reason, but it usually goes off without a hitch and the boys do really well.

This sounds strange, but a vet at the humane society in Tucson does a very good job with neutering male chins - she's gotten good at neutering a lot of animals. You could ask spay and neuter vets at shelters if they have experience with chins.

 

[Collmar89]

Thanks for the info, glad to hear that neutering is more common place now and safe.

 

[NiftyKat]

After reading and hearing some things previously I'm scared to get chins fixed now!

 

[ArmyWife]

Some chins recover fine... some have complications. The best thing you can do for your chin is to find a vet who is very experienced in neutering chins. You do need to be prepared that you may have to hand feed them for a few days while they recovered. I had to hand feed my chin for about 4 days before he was fully eating on his own. Then my poor guy ended up getting an abscess that took about a month to fully heal. Mind you, I have an excellent vet who is very experienced. Luckily he recovered fine and him and my female chin are happily living together.

 

[Collmar89]

Now I'm scared again.

 

[ArmyWife]

I'm not trying to scare you... I'm just telling you about my experience. There's always risk of complications but that's a risk you have to take.

 

[Mandy]

http://www.ahomls.com/
Dr.Levitas is who I use.
He's an amazing exotic vet and has neutered one of my chins before.
If you're near Cincinnati...he's awesome!

 

[Collmar89]

I think I'm too concerned now to do the process. There's a place in Columbus that can do it (got the address from another chin website) but it would cost like $500.

I don't think I want to chance it. I don't know what is do if I lost him.

 

[Mandy]

Totally understandable. I was afraid I'd lose my chin too, but the vet I use does surgeries on rodents all the time. Went in to shadow and saw a tiny dwarf hamster with an amputated leg...how odd right?

$500 seems like a lot. It was $120 here.

 

[Collmar89]

I'm glad that you found someone, and yeah that's much cheaper.

 

[ArmyWife]

I agree, $500 is way too expensive. If I recall correctly, my vet charged us $150 as well.