lost another baby chin

conniedc · Apr 12, 2010

I need some advice...I rescued 4 chinchillas from a local shelter a few years ago, and we thought we had them gender separated, but we've now had 3 accidental babies. The first died within 24 hours. The second lived 12 days before it developed a prolapsed colon and died after surgery. This last fella lived 7 weeks and was healthy, robust and active. Then two nights ago I found him on his side is obvious distress. I don't know if he had gotten injured, if the mama stopped nursing him (he seemed thin) or if he choked on something. I did everything I could but he died anyway. I'm not trying to breed them, but it would be nice if the babies survived. Does anyone have any ideas? Could they just be inbred?

tunes · Apr 12, 2010

Linebreeding shouldn't have anything to do with why the kits died. Selective line breeding is done by more experienced breeders for a specific reason. It's not like the old comments about people where "you'll have a baby with 2 heads and they'll be retarded." These are animals, it's not the same thing at all.

I'm sorry to say there is no way of knowing what happened with the death of the kits. It could have been that mom didn't produce milk, they could have gotten stomped on, it could be this last one developed an illness. Maybe if you had pictures of the little ones after they passed we could make an educated guess, but that would be all it is.

I'm very sorry for the loss of all three of them. Unfortunately, it's something breeders have to be aware of on a daily basis. All of us have lost kits and it's very hard, but we come to expect it. For a new owner it can be very upsetting.

AZChins · Apr 12, 2010

With a larger litter things can happen for sure. The first two babies that passed may have had developmental issues or something along those lines. Now, the seven week old kit passing away is very sad. There's many things that could have happened, maybe a intestinal blockage, something genetic, or maybe his immune system was too week to fight off an infection. Choke is a possibility, as well.

I'm sorry you went through this. As Peggy said, babies can and do pass away. This is why people that are thinking of breeding need to make a decision as to whether or not they can deal with that type of loss. I don't deal with it very well...every time something happens to a little one it hurts.

conniedc · Apr 12, 2010

Original poster here, thank you for your kind words. It makes me feel a little better knowing that kit mortality is fairly common. I've been beating myself up since it happened. Thank you, thank you.

AZChins · Apr 12, 2010

When everything goes well, it goes extremely well. When it goes bad, it goes super horrible bad.

My vet always mentions about how maybe certain kits didn't get the original antibodies present in the colostrum. I had another vet mention how she thought it was amazing how anything ever did go right because so much can go wrong.

Around here I will have everything go perfectly for several months and then have the worst string of bad luck. Don't beat yourself up! As long as you provide good food, a clean environment and lots of love, you are doing nothing wrong and everything you should be doing. I know that it doesn't help all that much to know that...it hurts to lose the little ones.