chinchilla breeding & undersized girl

[pretoria11]

Hi, I actually have 2 questions here -

1) I have a white female and a beige male living together. They are 16 and 17 months of age, from local breeders, good breeding quality chins. I got them since they were 3 and 4 month old. Long story short, they've been living together since they turned 10 months. No babies so far. I've never witness any mating actions except the female spraying the male.

2) I have another TOV female who's just about 9 months old. I got her off kijiji from a pet owner who "accidentally" bred her. I've had her since she was 6 month old. She was very tiny and skinny. She still is! She does not eat much at all. I feed my chinchillas Oxbow pellets and Timothy hay and occasionally Alfalfa hay. I do weight my chinchillas regularly and she only weights 396 last time I checked (2 days ago). HOWEVER, she is very healthy and she has extraordinarily strong legs. She does kicks hard and is a real jumper. I am not sure what's going on here - should I be concerned at all?

Any theories/hypothesis/thoughts are welcomed! thank you.

 

[Dreamlite]

Just because you put 2 chins together doesn't mean there will be babies. I have 1 male that won't breed with black females. He racist! As for the small female, small adult size can be due to many things. Poor breeding, poor nutrition, or any number of things. Obviously she's just a pet for you so her size doesn't matter. I had a male that topped out at 425 grams. That's it and he lived a long healthy life.

 

[Jenn]

I'm assuming since you got your chins from breeders that this probably isn't the issue, but are you sure of their genders? Do you definitely have a male paired up with a female?

I don't know a whole lot about chin sizes, but I know that some chins are just on the small side. You have her eating good food, and I'm assuming that at 9 months of age, she is still growing. I would continue to monitor her wait to make sure she doesn't lose any weight and to see if she is indeed gaining at all. Maybe someone with more knowledge will pipe in and suggest whether it is necessary to supplement her diet or not...

 

[Riven]

You said the small one is a TOV , they can take longer to mature, but that's still very small. I'm going to guess she also has a wedgey body and pointy nose? Could be a mix of many things, poor nutrition since before you got her, poor nutrition from her mother in utero, poor genetics...

As for the two "non-breeders", some chins won't breed for years. Are you sure it's a male and female? I've had experienced breeders give me one instead of the other as a mistake. Check as a baby, never check again, oh surprise! Other than that check for fur rings on the male. Spraying is not a sign of breeding, it's a sign of upset chin.

 

[Snickers]

I have a female that I had to put in with another male because she didn't get pregnant. I had her, mom, sister, and the male in one cage since after the CA State show in Jan. Her mom and sister had babies July and Aug. I ended up putting her with another male in July. I still believe she is not pregnant either but I have to wait.

I would double check to make sure they are different sexes like everyone else said.

 

[Megan]

I have a female in with a very proven male. The female has been in with him since 2007. She wasn't a cheap chin, and regretfully I had finally given up on her breeding for me the start of this year. I was going to remove her from breeding and pair her with a pet female I had the following week.... I found twins right before I was about to move her. She just gave me her 2nd litter yesterday.. Took her 5 years to produce for me...but she finally did.

 

[pretoria11]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the comments and answers.

I am 100% sure they are male and female. And to Riven, the TOV female does have a very very pointy nose, does that mean something? (I've read the "dwarf chinchilla" thread but I don't think that's the case.) She's not only small but also boney. I can feel her spine when I pet her (as compared to petting other chinchillas, she is really boney). She just seems so sad and depressed all the time, definitely not a happy chinchillas. I've tried everything including toys, at least an hour daily play time, roomed her with the white female for awhile (before she reached 10 months; and it didn't change her one bit)...still a sad-looking animal.