my chins are heartbroken, :/

[aleshalyne18]

i have two chins, one is a male who is about a year old now, his name is charlie....and i have a female that is going on 6 months, her name is pebbles....what i was wondering is, sometimes i let them out to play together, but for the most part their 3 story cage is divided in the middle with chicken wire....these are my first two chins, but i DO plan on breeding these two, maybe expanding in the future....i already have a list of homes and everything! i wanted to know, will i ALWAYS have to have them seperated unless to breed? when they are out together, besides trying to jump on her all charlie wants to do is cuddle, and before i made their big cage with the seperator, they were in charlies small cage together, and they slept together all day everyday, and when i say cuddle, i mean cuddle! but back than, she was way to young to get pregnant.....when she turned 5 months, i seperated them....im not sure if she has gone into heat yet before, everytime i check her vagina is not swollen, pink, or open....i just want to know if my chins will ever be able to live together again.

 

[Riven]

Firstly that jumping on her, is probably breeding her. It literally takes seconds for a male to breed a female.

Nextly he can breed her through chicken wire... Females can get pregnant before 5 months.

Thirdly you can not see her vagina... unless you're using a speculum you're looking at her labia.

It sounds to me like you need to a do a lot more research before even think about breeding, and move them away from each other. If they live together they will breed.

There is more to breeding other than having a list of homes lined up. Are the chins breeding quality? have they been looked at by a qualified person to identify their strength's and weaknesses? The female is not even full size, is she going to be big enough to breed? There are so many questions not answered here.

This video is actually a little disturbing because it's in a classroom where chins really shouldn't be bred, but this is how long it takes for a male to bred a female: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PRw-cy2qXg

 

[Cuddlebug]

You need to separate them now and do not allow shared playtime. She is too young to be with a male. There is a chance that she is already pregnant. Quite a few very young female chins have ended up pregnant due to the mistaken belief that they cannot get pregnant before certain age. This can be quite harmful to her health can can actually kill her if she is not physically big enough. Please read the breeding FAQs. You have a lot to learn. Oh and count 110 days from the day you separate them. If she does not give birth by that time, she is not pregnant.

 

[Zoaea]

Oh and when Riven says have them checked by a qualified person she doesn't mean a vet, she means a competent breeder that is familiar with fur and body standards in chinchillas. You should find a chinchilla show or established breeder near you to show you the ropes.

You should also think of her as too young, they dont even have their final adult coat till 9 months, and can keep growing up to 18 months. At the least read the breeding FAQ here, and Riven's site has a few sections on picking good males and complications and kit care that is good to know.

PS they aren't heartbroken, chins natural behavior is to snuggle, its not a sign of love or attachment. Chins that are same gender will snuggle too. Just give them attention individually, and they should be fine.