Cant Tell if Pregnant or Sick

[Vyandra]

Hello, im currently a Chinchilla Owner from rhode island, and i have 2 1 year+ chinchillas, one being a black male, and one a beige female, my female when i 1st got her was a little frightened at 1st, but warmed up to me eventually, i had her for almost 6 months before i got my male chinchilla, Zelda (female) and Link (male) have been in the same cage for about 3ish months, and ive noticed Zelda getting fatter and less energetic, now she mostly just sits under he wheel, and recently ive noticed the zelda has chewed off some of her hair off her tail (near the butt, not the tip) and when i go to inspect on her, Link gets protective and runs over to make sure she is ok (i assume) so i assume there isnt any foul play due to ive never seen him attack her, only the occasional mounting when they 1st met, i didnt actually see the plug that males produce, and i didnt really notice Zelda getting fatter due to she doesnt really like to be held, but recently ive picked her up, and ive noticed her stomach is ALOT firmer than Links (the firmness as if you just started working out, or when you are pushing to flex your stomach, but arent really muscular)

... is she ok? i dont really have the money to take her to a vet... what should i do

 

[Dreamlite]

If you don't have money to take her to a vet you shouldn't be breeding. Breeding isn't something to take lightly. There are many things that can go wrong and none of them are cheep to deal with.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

Is she eating, pooping ok - if not then she is REALLY sick and then a vet asp.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

Watch her and seperate them. I hope you have a baby safe cage. After she litters don't put the parents back together. She's a furchewer and that is not an animal that should be bred.

 

[EMSChins]

Not to jump on the band wagon but if she is potentially pregnant - which of course why wouldn't she be when you have her housed with a male - you should not have a wheel in the cage.

Again, no money for a vet visit, breeding should not even be in the picture. The chins should be separated. The female needs to be placed in a baby proof cage, with wire spacing no larger than 1/2 inch by 1 inch wide but preferably 1/2 by 1/2 inch wide. No wheels and no ledges so that babies can get to mom to nurse and have no high places to fall from.

It sounds like mom is stressed which is why she might be chewing. Chances are that she is pregnant and is getting close and the male is being protective of her. The closer she gets to littering, the more protective he will be and the closer he will stay to her because as soon as she starts littering and even possibly before, she will come into estrus (or heat) and can absolutely get pregnant again and he will try to breed her before, during or immediately after she litters.

 

[halfstache]

You'd be best off to separate them now before she gets further along with pregnancy. Odds are they'll back breed and then you'll end up with a second litter in another 111 days or so. Split them now and if she litters and everyone is healthy wean the babies at 6-8 weeks depending on weight. girls can stay with their mom, and boys can be reintroduced to their dad. Hopefully all goes well, but keep mom and dad away from one another to prevent future litters.

 

[Zoaea]

I agree with the other peoples posts. If she is hiding under the wheel she is probably looking for a good place to hide too. Almost all cages that are store bought are not baby safe. The kits run around with great energy, even 10 min after birth and can slip right out of the standard bars. Get a cage that is short (no 3 -4 ft cages!) too because the kits will run up the bars but can't climb down, so the kamakazi jump from the top. I'd make sure the mom had a nice hidey house and that the cage is in a quiet part of the house. Maybe then she will calm down.

PS you can look at Craig's list for cages, but a new small cage, say guinea pig size, probably can be bought for less than 50$.

 

[Vyandra]

they were not ment to breed, i was told that the male was female when i bought here from someone local, turns out, it was a male and the person selling him had no idea what a chinchilla even was...

as for pooping and eating, she seems to be doing well, she eats the food i give her, and the treats i give her 2 times a week, as far as separating them, i do have another cage that he originally came in, how far apart should they be, can they see each other, what should i be doing, this is my 1st birth (hopefully) and i really dont know what im doing... was not ment to be breeding...

right now i have the separated for the night (waiting for my posts to go through) and they are both going crazy after being separated... what should i do

 

[becky12883]

You can put the cages next to each other, but make sure to keep about 3 inches between them. They can breed through the bars if their too close. Start here and make sure to ask any questions you might have. I'm sure more people with more experience will chime in as well.

 

[halfstache]

glad to hear that they are separated. now the important thing to do is to baby proof the cage that the mother is in as was mentioned before. Definitely spend the time to baby proof all sides of the cage all the way to the top, and then baby proof the top of the cage as well. They are very skilled at climbing even within just a few minutes of birth. If there is a way they can get out, they'll find it for sure. This needs to be done ASAP because once they are born they'll be out and running around the house before you even know they have been delivered. The next thing you should get is a kitchen scale that weighs in grams. You need this to monitor the babies weight. Weigh them as soon as you first find them, and then at least once each day. A drop of 1 or 2 grams in the first couple days is okay and normal, but if it drops more than that then you will want to hand feed. In order to hand feed you are going to need to have some fresh or canned goats milk on hand. Fresh can be bought at wal-mart in the dairy section. You'll also need something to hand feed them with. I use a very small syringe which measures fluid in 1/10th ml's. Not sure where you'd find those as my wife is a nurse and gets them from the hospital... maybe someone else knows a more local place to purchase them. But those are probably the most important steps that I can think of for this situation. Good luck! And remember, after the babies are born everyone will want to see pictures

 

[Vyandra]

so, ive noticed something that all "guides" say, that the female's nipples will start to redden and get longer, but i cant see / feel them when looking at her stomach, is this an issue?

 

[Zoaea]

As far as them trying to get at each other, you can put them in separate rooms or on opposite sides too. They should adjust after a week or two. Later on you can decide if you want to risk having the male neutered, you can research that by searching the threads with the search tool at the top of the page. I'd wait 111 days before neutering decisions are made, incase the female has a bunch of male kits. good luck.

 

[Vyandra]

now that my male and female are separated, he looks really depressed, is this normal?

 

[MyzarandGemma]

Vyandra:
I am terribly sorry for making assumptions here, but you said you were told your male was a female initially... yet, you named them Link and Zelda? I'm sorry, but that doesn't seem right... I don't want to make assumptions and I of course only know what you have written here. I just think that your male being assumed to be a female is a pivotal part of this story.

When did you find out your "female" was a male? As soon as you realised, you should have separated them. I understand that the sales person probably had no idea what they were doing, but keeping them together is not a good choice. From now on, you will need to keep them separated. You will need separate cages (if yours does not split), separate water bottles, separate food dishes and separate play time.

I understand your funds are low, but keeping them together and breeding them is not a good idea. There are so many things that could go wrong for mommy or for the babies and then what? They should not suffer or die due to a lack of planning on their trusted owner's part.

I wish you all of the luck in the world. Hopefully she delivers a healthy baby kit and is able to aptly take care of it and nothing bad happens! Hopefully you can get lucky and everything will be smooth sailing and separate the two so nothing bad happens in the future. Yet again, I wish you all the luck, keep us updated, and check out the breeding FAQ here on the forum.

 

[Dreamlite]

They will adjust to life alone and many chins learn to like it. You can get him a cuddle buddy. A member on here sells them at a good price.