Dwarf care information

[6Dusters]

Not sure if this is the area to post this. You can certainly move it to an area you feel it belongs.

What I'm looking for is input for life long care of a dwarf. Would like to have the answers for someone adopting my little dwarf kit.

For those of you with a dwarf pet, have you made the cage items lower?

Are dwarfs any different from a regular chinchilla in relations to health issues?

Anything else you would like to add about your experience in keeping a dwarf would be greatly appreciated.

For any breeder who has had a dwarf born:

What size do you like them to be before you wean them? Or do you simply wean at an age.
I have a unique situation. He is being handfed. ( had to wean his brother off this week due to being too dominant with his mother) They are now 8 weeks old.
His weight is pretty good. Today he is 150 grams.
I'm so shocked he gained 20 grams in the last eleven days. Biggest weight gain for him since birth!!

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Alex

 

[threewingedfury]

How do you know he's a dwarf? Is he showing certain features? Or is it because he's so tiny? I've had many kits at 8 weeks that were barely 150g, some just grow a bit slower than others. This especially happens with pairs with a dominant sibling, they won't allow the kit to get get enough nutrition and they won't make it to the average. I've only had one dwarf born here and I didn't realize he was until 3-4 months or age. I could not tell when he was a kit as he was a normal size baby.

 

[AZChins]

Most of the time I can only guess that they are dwarfs until they are much older than weaning age. Head shape is one thing that helps, but isn't always a clear indicator. They may be weaned at a normal age around 7 to 10 weeks...go by health and if they are still nursing as you would with any other kit.

You can care for a dwarf the same as any other chin. Depending on the severity of the dwarfish there may be no issues or the dwarf may end up with strange health issues, sometimes the internal organs may not develop properly or their size may not be in proper proportion to the rest of the body, etc. It's one of those time will tell things.

It seems like there are more health issues in the offspring when people try to breed for dwarfs. Many times they just occur in certain bloodlines from normal parents. Dwarfs that have been born here appear after years of just normal chins being born. If the chin is healthy, it is perfectly acceptable to allow him to go to a new pet home. It is best that you tell his new owner that there is a possibility of him being a dwarf.

 

[Vyxxin]

Susan- here's a question...at what point would you wean a male dwarf from his mother? 200g regardless of age? 8weeks regardless of weight? Asking as I have a kit I suspect MAY be a dwarf right now. I weaned him at 8 weeks around 175g...he did piss poor...lost weight put him in with a surrogate who still had kits under her...and he's up to almost 200g now but still seems "off" he doesn't do as much as the other kits his age/size...much less active...doesn't "feel" the same...like muscle wise he doesn't FEEL the same. When should he be weaned from the surrogate mom and what special precautions would you put in place so he doesn't backslide again? Sorry for the thread hijacking...figured it may be helpful in regards to dwarf animals

 

[AZChins]

Sometimes weight isn't the best indicator of when a baby should be weaned. I hate to say it, but you have to be a little more aware of what a dwarf baby is doing. Is he still nursing quite a bit through the day? Is he eating on his own quite a bit? What does he FEEL like?

It sounds strange but with all kits I like to go by how they feel. Muscle mass is so important! You can have a 250 gram kit, but if he feels thin and sickly he needs to stay with his mama. With your boy I would see if he's still nursing every day, and if he is, leave him with the surrogate. Nursing longer won't hurt him at all.

Still, there's an age limit for keeping a baby male in with his mom or a surrogate. I regularly keep little males in with their moms for a week or two longer if I see that it's helping them. But, I rarely go beyond maybe 10 weeks. At 11 to 12 weeks a little baby male chin has viable sperm and can make babies of his own.

I hope that your little guy catches up soon! I'm sure that he'll be fine...just keep an eye on him.

 

[Dreamlite]

I had a dwarf kit born last fall. She hobbled and had the typical dwarf head shape. At 8 weeks old she was only 120 grams and was an only kit so there was plenty of milk! I left her with her mother till she was just over 3 months old. She seemed to grow in spurts. 20 grams in a week then would hold there for a while before growing again, but she never lost and ate a lot! She was 260 grams at 4 months old when I rehomed her. I explained that she may have issues due to being a dwarf. They send me pictures. Its obvious now that she is a dwarf. Fully grown she is 430 grams.

 

[6Dusters]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Tiffany there is no doubt he has some dwarf issues. Born looking the same. Like I said earlier, he never was like his brother as far was acting like a normal chinchilla. By day two he did not run sprint like his brother. The first month he would gain one or two grams a day. About a month old and I noticed he was growing out different. Small tail, shorter face, small little front legs. His gait was odd. He would "toddle walk" and never run.
Also he would always drink drops vs his brother drinking like a typical hand fed kit. Honestly I could not see how he was going to survive. :hair:
His personality is very laid back. His brother was standing and drinking out of syringe about a week into being born vs being picked up. This little guy was almost 6 weeks old before he didn't want to be picked up to be fed.

Don't worry Ange, I don't mind anyone who wants to add input right now. Something to learn. Juanita had a dwarf as well. Her kit was a bit older and passed away yesterday. So sad. We have both been stumped by these little guys for weeks. I wish her little man had not passed away. Her kit had feed/hay issues with really not wanting to eat.
We have put so much work into trying to keep them here. Both were from litters of two. We sent video's to each other and confirmed the "toddle walking". And the videos to each other showed the difference in sibling size.

Last night I decided to offer him a glass bottle vs the syringe. I need to try and wean him. He was curious enough to drink out of it. I have not offered him the syringe. Just put fresh milk into the glass bottle this morning and offered it to him again. A few hours later I pulled it off the side of the cage and put it near his face and he drank. I'll monitor him with his weight to see if he is catching on. I am going to this seminar this weekend and I need to make sure he can fend for himself or my family might have to step in with the syringe again. Who knows.

Btw: The potential adopter knows he is a dwarf.

Here are the links to previous posts I made about these guys.
This one is in regards to my having to hand feed and photos. This is before I suspected one was a dwarf.
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40414

The second thread is in regards to his being a dwarf. See photos. Also look at the second post as I put birth photos there as well. Both were born appearing the same. Nice weights.
http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41601

 

[6Dusters]

Well my dwarf is now 10 weeks old and I separated him from his mother this week. He weighs 193 grams and still looks like he is six or seven weeks old. Thought I would add this information and perhaps someone who has now or in the past, would like to add their information.

I placed him in a run in his own compartment. I had to place a small hamster dish inside the run cage with him, as he too short to reach the run feed dish.

One burning question that has nagged me about a dwarf was the longevity. At the recent Empress seminar I picked Jim Ritterspach's brain in regards to them. He said they live about 1 to 3 years. He thought they died early due to heart issues. IMO I believe many pass away in the early days or weeks without the breeder knowing it is a dwarf. Now that's not to say a regular kits don't pass away early as well. For various reasons. Such as being from a different horn and fertilized at a different time and sudden deaths you can't figure out. (without any sickness present)

I know Juanita and I were stumped by our two kits born about the same time. We just could not figure out how each of our seemingly normal kits were living. ( Keep in mind the first couple weeks they look normal )
Mine ate like a bird by drops for weeks. Her kit nursed and didn't gain. Mine didn't gain well at all for weeks after being born. His brother gained great weight like a normal kit. Both Juanita and I shared video's by phone of our kits walking gaits. They toddle walk. And toddle run. They don't run like a normal kit.
And sadly Juanita's dwarf kit passed away. He was not thriving as well as my kit.

Perhaps someone on the forum has a dwarf as a pet. If so, how long has your chin lived. Very curious to know a bit more about them.
Thanks in advance.

To Breeders: It is now my experience that a dwarf will NOT defend himself against a sibling in the early days and later in weeks follow. In the beginning I had to separate them for fighting for a "dry" nipple. You all know how some will only use one nipple and no other.
I had to separate and wean off my 6 week old normal kit because his size was so much bigger and he was chase bullying him at times. So the regular kit went into his own cage with continued syringe feeding which was slowly replaced with a hung milk bottle. And then onto a complete weaning.
His dwarf brother was always several weeks delayed in hand feeding. He did not catch onto milk bottles for some time prior to his being weaned completely.

 

[AZChins]

I'm glad to hear that he's doing pretty well for you now.

Do you have any pictures of him?

 

[threewingedfury]

Does he kinda waddle like this?

Dwarf Waddle Video

This is the only one I've had born here - he's in a pet home and will be 2 at the end of next month.

 

[Riven]

I am going to have to disargree with Jim on this one. I had several dwarves here, Becca was 12 years old when I rehomed the whole colony. Smidgen I had since she was about 3 months, she was small for her age, but blocky and compact like you fella, and she was 5 or 6 when the colony was rehomed. They adapt well once they "get on their feet", they loved the wheel, to jump, etc. I treated them just like "normal chins" with the exception of smaller shelf spaces. I never had an injury or issue.

They are prone to heart issues, and of course joint issues. I never had any issues. My most dwarfy girl Smidgen was a doll, she was never moody, never cranky. In fact I have wondered if there is more to dwarfism in chins than just the "dwarfism" if there is not a more Down Syndrome type of trait. If I had to give Smidgen a human diagnosis it would not have been dwarfism, but DS, in humans many DS people have dwarfish traits like the smaller stature and thicker build, the flat face with wide set eyes. Very similar to what we see in our dwarf chinchillas. I honestly feel that this might be a more accurate consideration for "dwarf" chins born to normal chin parents that have no other history of having dwarves. True dwarfism is a recessive trait that can be breed predictably, opposed to the one random kit to normal parents. If both were carriers theoretically you would see a lot higher rate of them being born to that pair than just one random one.

Just my thoughts. I believe the buyer probably contacted me as I had someone contact me for information on dwarves several weeks ago.

 

[6Dusters]

Thanks for the reply Riven!
It is uplifting to know they have the potential to have a long life.
This little guys personality is so different from any chin here. Laid back and very happy. He really is such a joy.


The forum member who is adopting him is excited to have him no matter how long he lives. I know I have done as much as I can to educate myself on the dwarf. Speaking with several who have had them. And the forum member has been gathering information as well. So it's very possible she contacted you.
I'm giving him to her for free. I am more concerned he ends up with a lifelong happy home vs any amount of money.