HELP!! 3 new kits

[FredEthel]

Saturday morning I heard a strange chirping, a baby chin and within a couple of hour we had 3, they were very active but by this morning Mom's milk has come in and they are now just sleeping most of the time, even when mom leaves to feed. My daughter brought this cage of Chin's home a month ago and we didn'r know Mom was pregnant, so this is a surprise. We cleaned the cage spotless soon after the kits were born, new bedding (pine), got Pop to another cage and all seems well, I did leave the dust bath in with Mom because she was a little bloody and stinky and I have heard that's a no no, so I'll move it over to Dad's cage for a week, but I need help with suggestions and answers so please fire away.

1. How long should I keep mom & pop apart, they seem to miss one another greatly?
2. How long before kits need food or water or anything else?
3. Does Mom have any special nutrient requirements now?
4. Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[momenteller]

Hi, and welcome to the forum! Here is a link to FAQs about breeding and caring for kits:

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21

Since it sounds like you are not prepared to breed, you should leave mom and dad separated indefinitely. They may seem to miss each other, but it will be better for them in the long run. Also, dust baths for mom or dad should only be given a few times a week, not left in the cage, as it dries out the chin's skin.

Feel free to browse around, there is a lot of good info here. I'm happy you found us, and good luck with the kits!

 

[Jenn]

Definitely keep the mom and dad separated indefinitely, otherwise you'll have more "surprises" and maybe some horror stories as well. When the kits are old enough to be weaned, you can put the boys with dad, and keep the girls with mom.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Ditto, you need to leave dad out or they will just keep breeding, since that's what male and female animals are designed to do.

You also need to mark the date on your calendar 111 days from now if dad was in when you found kits she's likely pregnant again as chins go into heat before, during, and the few days after giving birth. I typically feed nursing chins loose alfalfa hay in addition to the timothy hay.

Read through the FAQs which should answer most of your questions. Make sure you are weighing the kits daily to make sure they are gaining weight. also make sure the bar spacing on your cage is not bigger than 1/2"x1" or 1/2" x 1/2" as the kits WILL escape.

 

[Encantadora]

If you're especially worried about it you can always introduce a weaned male with dad and leave a female with mom. That's assuming you have both gendered babies and are ready for so many pets. Otherwise you could re-home dad and keep the mother and a female kit.

Good luck and do lots of reading!

 

[FredEthel]

Thanks for all the info and the links, I had no idea about them needing hay, pellets, & water I assumed mom provided all, there is so much more I don't know so any more info would be great.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

they might nibble on hay and pellets but they are going to live off mom's milk primarily for the first few weeks of life.

 

[FredEthel]

Ok, I'm 3 days behind and the kits got their first weigh in today, nobody told me how to do this and I can't tell them apart so I made a small red dot at the base of the tail, another with blue and the last with nothing (red,blue, & nada for now) red is 58 grams, blue is 51 grams, and nada is 46 grams, they are 3 days 3 hour old, is this a good weight?

How do I sex these guys/gals
After 3 days should I still try to stimulate their urethra?

They seem to be doing ok and stay under mom with no fighting, mow did lick their bottoms and seemed to be very good in knowing what to do. In the evening when mom feeds they are very active climbing and jumping about in a playful nature, so I hope I can relax a little because I'm stressed. I'm going to get some better food, an extra water bottle for apple juice and water, etc., any thoughts on purchases? My cage does have a plastic bottom and shelves, for now the shelves are set high and only mom can get up there but I know it won't be long before the kits do also but I can't afford a new cage.

 

[jbcstratton]

Here is a good link to sex you chins.
http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?p=179051#post179051
Those weights seem good for triplets as long as they are gaining every day or two.

 

[FredEthel]

Thanks for the sexing info and I'll need to weigh them again to see any gains but at the moment they seem to be getting bigger and gaining more function and ability, and I will keep learning.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

No need for the juice bottle. Take out all shelves - she needs to stay down with the babies and keep them warm. the kits will be able to get up there soon and could seriously injure themselves or be injured by mom jumping down.

what is the bar spacing on your cage?

those are good weights - just make sure they keep gaining weight daily.

Making dots in the ears would be easier....

Mom is taking care of them by cleaning them down there - you don't need to step in to clean unless you notice she's not doing it.

Sorry, but you are going to need more cages. Especially if you have a male kit(s). Males cannot live with mom/sisters after weaing at 8-10 weeks and there is always a chance he and dad won't get along.

 

[FredEthel]

I put the bottom shelf up really high, but I feel mom deserves a moment for her self once in a while so I keep some food and hay up top, so far she just takes a 2 to 5 minute break about 5 to 6 times daily, but if see the kits getting near the lower shelf I will remove it. At what age are the kits able to manage the shelves and jumping???

It's not a proper cage for kits the spacing is 13/16 by 6 inches with a 7" deep plastic pan at the bottom and plastic shelves. I have secured hardware cloth to the bottom 16 inches tightly with bailing wire, the hardware cloth is 3/8 by 3/8 inch. The kits do climb it a little but drop off at about 10 to 12 inches or less, at some point I will either need a new cage, more wire, but these are not my pets, my daughter brought them home kinda like a rescue without knowing all the work and costs involved, but so far I'm taking more than half the cost and all the work.

I have the male in an old dog create and was hoping the male kits could join him after being weaned, but we will hopefully have new parents lined up to take the kits at 10 weeks or so. I also have a old cat carrier that we have been using during cage cleaning etc.

 

[FredEthel]

Today's weights and sexed, Red (female) 63g a one day gain of 5 grams, Blue (female) 56g a one day gain 4 grams, and Nada (male) 48g a one day gain of 2 grams. I guess I'm going to get my cat carrier set up with a heating pad on half or maybe a fleece hut so I can remove the to larger females for a couple of hours and let the male catch up. I'll give him one more day and see how it goes because it's normal for the females to be a little larger, right????

 

[FredEthel]

Just wanted to let everyone know these kits are doing great with little help from humans. We got a double Critter Nation 162 cage and it's great, kit started to escape from the old cage at just 5 days old, with more room everybody seems very happy. When we got these Chin both were kinda of mean and you had to worry a little about getting a bite, but with daily attention of cleaning, feeding, etc. everyone is quite tame, I also make sure they have proper teething chews, dust baths, etc. that the previous owner didn't provide, so they respond well to proper attention and are quite nice. Mom & Dad let me do anything I like and stand at attention when I enter the room and I feel this is a direct responce to proper care, so treat your pets well and you'll be rewarded.

 

[Shooper]

These are lucky chins to have a mommy like you that actually cares for them. Im glad that everyone is doing well!!

 

[Anfsurfer]

I'm so glad everything is going well for you. You've done such a wonderfiul job of taking care of your chins and their babies in this unexpected situation.

 

[addictedtochins]

Ditto to the above!

 

[momenteller]

Thank you for posting an update! I am so glad they are doing well.

 

[xcdnchinx]

Glad to hear they are doing so well

 

[FredEthel]

8 week update!!!!!!

It's just a day past eights and all the Chinchillas are doing fine thank to the help of everyone here that responded to my questions, I have admit it's time for me to read everything again I've seperated Mom & Dad from the kits just minutes ago so let the weening begin. I know the males and females have to be sperated soon as well, but I thought it might be easier if they had a couple of night together while weening.

Now I have to find somebody looking for Chin kits in Maryland, these guys are cute, fun, loving, messy, dirty, & noisy and I'll be sad to see them go but relieved at the same time.

Thanks again to all.

I wish I had some photos for you but I can't get them to stand still long enough and I'm a nervious wreck when they are out of the cage.