I'm not sure if I should be honored or worried... :]

[Christina Noraas]

My chins are having free time right now, and Rex just came up to me and mounted my lower arm while I was massaging Big Momma, I'm not sure what to make of it and I didn't even know chins would do such a thing. I thought it was cute in its own way and really wish I could have captured it on camera. :bliss:

 

[3CsMommy]

Yeah, that means he's trying to sort out who's the boss. Occasionally chins will hump their owners feet, hands, etc. just because they can, though since he's still got access to the female, he could be a little frazzled by her fluctuating hormones too.

Since females can get pregnant again before they deliver a first litter, I'd think about separate playtimes as soon as you get separate cages for them, for her safety and health. He'll be a little lonely until you can move a male kit in with him, but it's what's safest and less expensive in the long run.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Yeah, that means he's trying to sort out who's the boss. Occasionally chins will hump their owners feet, hands, etc. just because they can, though since he's still got access to the female, he could be a little frazzled by her fluctuating hormones too.

Since females can get pregnant again before they deliver a first litter, I'd think about separate playtimes as soon as you get separate cages for them, for her safety and health. He'll be a little lonely until you can move a male kit in with him, but it's what's safest and less expensive in the long run.

I just thought it was cute, especially since all three of us (Me, Big Momma, and Freddy) just looked at him like 'what are you doing'; they are separated right now, I didn't think that play time would be an issue because I watch them. But I will do so the next time I let them run about. Would he be less lonely if I placed the cage that I have him in now like right up against the cage that Big Momma is in so that way they can still talk and sorta rub noses every once in a while?

 

[greychins]

While yes, you can watch them, breeding takes only a second. By the time you would see him mount the female, and go to separate them, she could already have gotten pregnant. So separate playtimes are best if you don't want to breed.

If you place the cages that close together that they can rub noses, they would also be able to breed through the cages. I'd put them farther apart to avoid that...

 

[Christina Noraas]

How could they breed through the cages????

 

[threewingedfury]

How could they breed through the cages????

Have you ever done a hair ring check on the male to see how long his penis is? They're quite long for such a small animal and all a female has to do is back her butt up to the side of the cage. It has happened before. The cages need to be a good foot or more apart.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Have you ever done a hair ring check on the male to see how long his penis is? They're quite long for such a small animal and all a female has to do is back her butt up to the side of the cage. It has happened before. The cages need to be a good foot or more apart.

I have done hair ring checks, and I guess the penis is pretty long. Oh geez, I feel so bad separating them. :[

Thanks for the info.

 

[3CsMommy]

Sadly for Freddy, yes, the breed back danger is still present if they're within 6"-8" of each other. The best chance of him continuing to have a roommate is to wait until the female has her litter and keeping (one of) his son(s) with him after the kit is 8 weeks old. After that age, there's a chance of the kit breeding the mother, so the male babies must be removed. Female kits can stay permanently if you want, or until 12 weeks, when they're old enough for new homes. But, no more boy-girl playtime.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Sadly for Freddy, yes, the breed back danger is still present if they're within 6"-8" of each other. The best chance of him continuing to have a roommate is to wait until the female has her litter and keeping (one of) his son(s) with him after the kit is 8 weeks old. After that age, there's a chance of the kit breeding the mother, so the male babies must be removed. Female kits can stay permanently if you want, or until 12 weeks, when they're old enough for new homes. But, no more boy-girl playtime.

Freddy is actually my dog, Rex is the male chins name, sorry for the confusion. Although I'm kinda curious why back breeding is such an omen, I understand that it wears them out and such but isn't that what they do in the wild?

 

[RDZCRanch]

Our chinchillas are not wild and a lot of what happens with our chins in captivity does not happen in the wild. Breedbacks do not occur often in the wild because the female is not confined to a space with the male while she is birthing and while she has kits on her.

Breedbacks are not bad every once in a while, but they shouldn't be encouraged over and over again, especially if the female has a large litter of kits. Not only is she nursing kits for 8 weeks and losing energy that way, but also developing kits inside of her that takes up more energy. It's extremely wearing on females of any species to constantly be pregnant and it's not in their best interest.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Our chinchillas are not wild and a lot of what happens with our chins in captivity does not happen in the wild. Breedbacks do not occur often in the wild because the female is not confined to a space with the male while she is birthing and while she has kits on her.

Breedbacks are not bad every once in a while, but they shouldn't be encouraged over and over again, especially if the female has a large litter of kits. Not only is she nursing kits for 8 weeks and losing energy that way, but also developing kits inside of her that takes up more energy. It's extremely wearing on females of any species to constantly be pregnant and it's not in their best interest.

I totally spaced out the fact that their confined here, while not there. Blaaahhhhh, I'm having a chinchilla information overload. Is 2 kits considered a large size?? The lady I got them from says thats the size she's always had.

 

[addictedtochins]

1 or 2 is an average litter, But I look at it this way myself. How would you like to be pregnant with twins, your husband won't leave you alone, now you are pregnant with 2 more babies 4 total, Ok finally you have weaned your first 2 babes, have a month off, here comes 2 more babes (maybe 3-4) feed them for two more months. Sounds like the worst 6-7 months of your life. Please give the poor mamma a break

 

[Christina Noraas]

I was planning on giving her a break, I was just curious.

 

[3CsMommy]

The more tired or weak the female is, the greater the chance of complications during a delivery, which means you're off to the E-vet with a laboring chinchilla in a cat carrier on the seat beside you at 2AM. (It rarely seems to happen during regular business hours.) Ethical breeders usually give a female a couple months break between litters to just enjoy being loved.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I would consider anything more than two a large litter just because complications seem to follow - I always seem to have trouble with triplets but I've had one litter of quads that all went smoothly with.

 

[Jazicat]

Our new chinchilla started doing the same thing but it seems to be lessening. To be honest it didn't bother me either. I think it was a dominance thing as he was getting used to us and didn't want to be pushed around. Now that he's coming out of the cage on his own it's been a lot better.

 

[Christina Noraas]

When I had another male in the cage he use to be so sweet and cuddle with me all the time, now I'm lucky to be able to massage his little chin. But I'm hoping that this little incident means that he's starting to like me again, maybe...

 

[Jazicat]

I honestly got the feeling that when Oscar would do his thing he was testing to see my reaction. By staying calm and not reacting I think made him more comfortable with me. Of course I could be over analyzing but Oscar is now much more comfortable and is even starting to come out of the cage onto our arms. Pretty good I think for him only being here for two weeks and being an older chin. I'm pretty sure Rex will come around and get settled soon.