I have babies!!

[jrosler04]

Well, I came home from work yesterday, and did my chinchilla check, and everyone was fine, filled food bowls, hay, & water bottles & gave morning scritches & treats. Went & fed the horses, dogs, etc, and came back in & saw that bonnie was sitting odd, and I look & there is a little fuzzy in with her!! I was VERY excited & watched her for a bit & noticed her bottle had fallen to the floor & was empty, so I went & refilled it & came back just in time to see the second baby born.

The first little guy has a deformed tail..so i am not sure if it will make it or not.. (thinking it may have other deformities) but baby # 2 is doing great!

I discovered my cages are NOT baby proof, so I went through & re-vamped them today using bumper pads from a baby crib around the cage a couple of times! this is temporary until I can get some hardware wire cloth to redo the cages.

I shall post some pics later on!

As far as sexing, I have no clue...i finally figured it out on the adults, but no clue on these little ones, and I have been trying not to handle them, because bonnie gets VERY upset & barks at me..she even nabbed me pretty good last night (my arm was bleeding) while I was trying to hang up her water bottle!

So now, what should I be doing for the babies? anything in particular? I made sure they can get to the pellets, hay, & water bottle...
At what age can I let them near the dust? Should I continue to let bonnie dust bathe? I ordered my blue cloud, it should be here any day now.

 

[jrosler04]

I re-read my post & just wanted to clarify, I did NOT breed these chinchillas. I recieved 2 different trios of chins from people surrendering them to our dog rescue. first was 2 females and a male, and second was 2 males & a female.. .and each set of trios had been living together when I got them. I promptly seperated everyone (I actually have 5 seperate cages set up in my room!) 3 females single, 1 male single, and 1 pair of males.

I didn't want you guys thinking I am some irresponsible person who says "Hey look I have a male & female & want to "bread" my chinchillas." I know there is a lot more involved with breeding, and I really don't have the time or energy or money to get into breeding. the rescue takes up all of it! LOL

(sorry with the "bread" for breeding..had to do it, i see it so often, as I am a mod on a guinea pig forum!)

 

[naturegirl240]

can't wait for pictures! I hope the little guy makes it.

 

[RDZCRanch]

First off...welcome to CnH and thank you for taking in unwanted chinchillas and actually DOING research! You're a breath of fresh air!

What kind of flooring does the cage have? Wire flooring is not safe for babies...they can get their little feet caught and break their legs very easily. I prefer to have them directly on shavings or fleece when they are born as babies spend a lot of time on their backs nursing under mom.

Here are some baby bits pictures so that you can sex them and tell the difference. You can sex from the minute they are born. There is a noticeable difference between the parts. For me it is easier to sex babies than adults, lol.

Female bits

Male Bits

 

[Olallie]

COngrats on the babies! Im sure you'll take good care of them.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

If she's really messy you can let her have a dust bath - some let them have one right away I usually wait a day or two...the babies probably wont know what to do with the dust until they are several weeks old...but they just get it one day...

Be sure mom stays with the babies - take out shelves or put her in a one level cage so she will stay down to feed and keep them warm. It also lessens chance for injuring the kits if they are no shelves. There are other tips in the FAQ but main thing is babies are gaining weight...If the baby with the deformed tail doesn't start feeding from mom you will need to handfeed him to get food in him....

 

[jrosler04]

Thanks everyone, I have photos I am uploading to share!

I have them in a solid floored cage, with pine shavings, but I am switching them to a new cage tonight on fleece.

I already took out the ledges & shelves & made it so she has to stay on the floor, as I had remembered reading she could injure them by jumping off the shelves.

I have NEVER known ANY baby animal so eager to escape, the one little one has escaped 3 or 4 times now. It gets out, then begans squeaking & I have to put it back inside, so they are getting a new cage tonight with REALLY fine wire..it's smaller than thier current cage, but hopefully it will only be a week or 2...