Chinchilla baby getting neglected-Help!

[Josie]

About a week ago my chinchilla gave birth to three adorable babies and since I have been tracking their weight (and their mom's). Two of them have been steadily gainning, but one of them isn't gaining much. I am nervous that he is getting neglected and I am not sure what I should do. Here is my tracker of their weight: Chinchilla Weight Tracker
What should I do? I've tried to take the other two out so that the small one can get some time alone with the mom, but that doesn't seem to be working. I've seen that you can use a guinea pig mom to help feed baby chinchillas. Is there something like that that I can do to help? I don't have any guinea pigs anymore, but we recently got bunnies again. Any help is appreciated!

 

[Amethyst]

I wouldn't put a chin kit with another species unless it's a last resort, I'm not sure about guinea pigs but putting a chin with a bunny would be dangerous. Not only could it very likely kill the kit to protect it's own babies, they can carry bacteria that can kill chinchillas. You can however try hand feed the little one if the mom wont feed it even when the others are removed. https://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/threads/caring-for-your-kit-s.8/

 

[Josie]

Thank you! That link was helpful. I have another question. I found another site that says KMR can be used to feed them. Is this true? Here is the site: Breeding Chinchillas - Development of the Young

 

[Josie]

Also, I noticed that your link suggesting rotating the babies. Would it be safe to let them be with their father during the time that they are away from their mom?

 

[Amethyst]

I had seem people being told they can use KMR recently for some reason and would not recommend it at all, sadly I know several cases where that has killed the kits. Chins are herbivores so a carnivore (kitten) milk replacement is not a good substitute, goat milk is actually the closest kind of milk to chinchilla milk you can get. You can use other herbivore milk replacement if you have to though, for example calf and lamb milk also work, but goat milk is common to find even in grocery stores since humans drink it too.

If the father is good with them, most are but some are not, putting them with him is a great idea. It can allow them to snuggle and stay warm while the other one is spending some alone time with mom.

 

[Josie]

That makes sense. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and advice. For now, I will focus on rotating the two that are gaining enough and introducing them to their father. If I do put them with him, I will need to take out all the platforms that he has in his cage for their safety, right? Would I need to take out his wheel as well?

 

[Amethyst]

Yes I would remove at least the high ledges, and definitely remove the wheel chins have been know to decide to run and send their kits flying. Also make sure the cage the father is in has 1/2" bar spacing otherwise the kits will be able to escape.

 

[Josie]

Alright, I'll make sure to do that. Thanks again for all your help!

 

[Josie]

Apdate & Question

The boy seems to be doing better since I've started rotating them, but now I've got a new problem (which could be the cause of the old one). Annie, the mom, looks like she has an infected nipple. I've set up a vet appointment, but the only doctor they have that deals with chinchillas won't be available 'till teusday. I was wondering if there is anything I can do before then to help Annie, even just to make her feel a little bit better. I was advised to put a warm compress on her swollen nipple to help the swelling go down. Would it help if I put bag balm on her nipple? Do you know of anything I can do beside wait?

 

[tunes]

Warm compresses and, hopefully, antibiotic from the vet if necessary. Can you express milk from it? You don't want it to harden up. It's very painful. See if you can gently get milk to flow.

Make sure whatever antibiotic he gives you is safe for the babies. Do NOT let him give you Baytril (enrofloxacin). Trimethoprim sulfa should work for mastitis and it won't hurt the kits. I've had to give it to very tiny kits before with no problem.

 

[Josie]

So far, I have not tried to express milk from her nipple because I didn't want to hurt her, but I will see if I can gently get milk to flow. Thank you for your advice about the antibiotic, I will watch and make sure I am not given Baytril. Thank you again for all your help! It's been so nice to be able to ask experienced chinchilla owners what to do.

 

[Josie]

Apdate & More Questions

Tuesday, the vet confirmed that Annie has mastitis and gave me enrofloxacin. I asked if they could give me trimethoprim sulfa instead, but they didn't have any, so I figured enrofloxacin was better than nothing. By the way, I forgot to ask, what is wrong with using enrofloxacin? That may seems like a dumb question due to the newest developement. I weighed the babies today and none of them gained anything since yesterday! Maybe it's too soon to be worried, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. I've started looking at supplements that I could get to give the kits if they don't start gaining again. Which supplement would be best? I've seen that goat's milk is a good supplement and that is currently what I am leaning towards, but I'd like to get some expert advice before I decide what to use. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[Josie]

Quick side question...

Is there any good feeding bottles you would recommend? I've just been using a syringe, but they don't seem to like it much and squirm a ton. I bought a bottle with various different size nipples, but none of them were small enough and it didn't work.