Little Squirt!

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

Pookie had her babies or Baby I should say!
I really wasn't expecting him/her this soon (still haven't sexed it yet)
My dad really wants to sell it but I'm not sure.
I have them in a baby safe cage, and Pookie is doing great!
We looked all over the cage but found no signs of her giving birth.
So I have a few questions for everyone.
Some of these I'm not sure where I read from so I'm double checking.
When can I start holding the baby and socializing it?
Does pookie need apple juice with her water?
If it does end up being a boy how long do i have before taking him out (i think i know weaning age so then?)?
Any other advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

 

[CritterMom]

Give a seperate water bottle for the juice. Mix one part juice, 3 parts water. You need to weigh the baby to get the initial weight, and weigh daily to moniter. You need to read as much as you can. Have ingrediants for formula on hand in case hand feeding is necessary. I am hoping that the male is away from the mother in order to prevent breedbacking.

I wouldn't suggest anymore breeding until more research is done upfront.

 

[CritterMom]

I would also suggest supplementing the mother. I use a dry milk/baby cereal mix for the supplement right before and after the mother gives birth. Calf manna is always a good supplement too, but that is more for protein. The other supplement is a calcium supplement.

The kit, whether male or female, should remain with the mother until at least 8 weeks. Boys are able to impregnate at about 3 months, so make sure to seperate before then.

 

[ilovemytwochins]

From my (limited) knowledge, and please add on and edit my info other members!

I am glad that Pookie is doing well! Is the father still in the cage? They can have bounce-back litters because the female goes into heat during/or shortly after giving birth. When my Ruby gave birth the first time, I was in your situation and I didn't even see any obvious birth signs in the cage. She recently had her second and last litter two weeks ago and I was home to watch. They do a wonderful job of cleaning up after themselves including the afterbirth, from which I read, is a great source or nutrition.

Is Pookie taking care of the baby? Is the baby up and walking around? If you have a food scale, you should keep track of the kit's weight. If you can glance in the cage and see the baby upside down under Pookie, then she/he is most likely nursing....I have been lucky with Ruby, she has been able to feed her kits well. So hopefully someone else on the forum will be able to elaborate on this subject...

Weaning age- 6 weeks, so if it is a boy, that is a great time to seperate in case of an "oopsie!"

And...hold that baby NOW! As much as you want! Because at this stage they cuddle, give them about a month and they will start to squirm like most chin adults. So enjoy the chin cuddles! And Congratulations again!

Melissa

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

It's just the baby and momma in the cage.
There definatley wont be anymore breeding.
And the baby is walking around following momma everywhere!
Yep I've seen him upside down alot!
And Pookie keeps cleaning the baby and gets a little worried when i stick my hand in there and have Squirt crawl all over my hand.
Is there a limited amount of time I should have Squirt out?
I'm heading upstairs to sex the little guy right now.
What's the healthy weight?

 

[mishalaa]

Calf manna is always a good supplement too, but that is more for protein.

Calf manna is not always a good supplement. There are times it should not be used and if you do decide to use it, you should know the dangers of using it and definitely not feed it always. It is a source of calcium as well as protein, and if a chin's teeth are orange, it needs no more calcium.

Boys are able to impregnate at about 3 months, so make sure to seperate before then.

They can impregnate a lot earlier than that. A male kit should not be left with its mother or sisters any longer than 8 weeks. You can wean as early as 6 weeks if the kit is 200g or more.

You can handle the kit now, but no longer than at most 10 minutes until it gets a bit older. The older it gets, the longer you can have it out away from mom.

A decent weight is anything above 40g, but the more important thing than birth weight is whether or not its gaining weight. Check the weight every day, it may lose a gram or two tomorrow but by the second day, it ought to be gaining steadily.

 

[CritterMom]

With the calf manna, I meant with pregnant and nursing chins. Sometimes I forget that some of the things I take as a given (such as checking teeth, etc.), but I should know better.

As for the 3 months old, I just said that, because I have heard of some breeders that will keep the kits with the moms 10-12 weeks. I personally have never done that, but I have heard where some prefer for the kits to take the mom's milk as long as she'll give it. I don't wean at 6 weeks, regardless of the weight, but that's just me.

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

Can I get a scale at Walmart?
Or somewhere like that?
I completley forgot about his weight.

 

[Rickman]

Congratulations! I try to give the Mother a little LifeLine after giving birth, as IMO, she's just been through a lot of stress, especially if a first-time Mom, and continue every 2-3 days! Anything with protein will be passed on to the kit, through the milk, which certainly can't hurt, and I also give daily shreddies, just to keep everything moving. Fresh hay is good, too, as I've seen 2-3 day old kits "munching" on that!
Make sure the kit is gaining, and there isn't much more to do!
Now, you know to tease us with a birth announcement, and not have pics to show, is a NO-NO, don't you?

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

OH there's another question!
Can I take pictures right away?
As in now?
I found a scale but I have to wait untill tommorow to get it.
My mom just had surgery on the bottom of her feet.
Oh and thanks for all the help!

 

[Anne-Lise]

If it's not stressing out mom too much yeah take a picture...like now!

 

[6Dusters]

Congrats on your wee one. I had one female rescue that let us hold her babies right away. She has a very sweet personality. But I've also read some new mom's are very protective. We always held the babes where she could "nose" them and make sure all was well. I love kit squeeks. So precious.

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

Pookie doesn't get protective thankfully. She likes to see what we are doing with her though, yes we have decided that she is a she. (not a 100% there though). I took some pictures on my phone but left my charger at my aunts house so we will go get that and get the pictures up loaded.

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

Pictures!

1

2

3

4

5

I'm not exactly sure what color she is?
I have a pretty good guess.
Ebony?

 

[Ash]

Dark ebony.

Very cute.

 

[starleomach]

very cute dark ebony

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

Thanks.
I'm also thinking about renaiming her now that we know her gender.
Tell me if you have any ideas =)
Thanks again for all your guy's help.
I was really not expecting this little angel so soon!

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

So I just found Squirt trying to eat some food pelets and hay! (normal?)
And I also have a few questions.
When can pookie take a dust bath?
Is it okay for pookie to have a run?
I walk up to her cage and she gets all excited to see me but i take out the baby and then I come back to put the baby back and she tries jumping out of her cage, because pookie and small places don't mix. She is so energetic. She runs on her wheel 3/4 the night. But now she doesn't have the wheel.

 

[Ash]

From my understanding, Mom shouldn't have a wheel. Most recommend 2 weeks post-birth for a dustbath, and it's normal for the baby to nibble at hay and pellets. You could let Pookie out, but give her a few days first to get readjusted to everything, and don't let the baby out with her unless you have an extremely good playpen that's like.. hamster-proof.

 

[Pookie-n-Pudge]

Yea, she doesn't have a wheel with her. I meant before.
About a week before letting her on runs in the bathroom?