New Baby Question

[ChinCrew]

Currently, we have two females living together. One of the females is about two years old and a rescue, the other female is about five months old and one of ours. They get along well. Both are healthy and happy together. Today we found a new baby which clearly belongs to the rescue. My question is, can I leave the two older females with the new baby, or do I have to separate the five month old? I would prefer to keep the original two females together as they get along well and are very fond of each other, but I don't want any harm to come to the baby. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[tunes]

They will "probably" be okay. What you need to be really careful of is that the 5 month old doesn't stomp the little one. That will sometimes happen if the older one is jealous or if they get too rambunctious running around.

If it was me, I would take the 5 month old out until the kit is weaned from mom, then put them back together. It would worry me that the 5 month old might hurt the kit, either intentionally or unintentionally. But, once the little one has caught up a bit, they can hopefully cohabitate again.

During the time that mom is nursing, you can also remove the little one from the cage and let mom and the older gal hang out toggether for a while, then remove her and put the baby back in. It will give you time to spend with the little one as well.

 

[Claire D]

Some pairs of females will happily raise kits together, the "aunty" will often clean the kit & generally keep it warm etc - giving the Mum a bit of "time out".
If they seem to be getting on fine & the cage is kit safe then I'd just keep an eye on them for now. If one female seems to be over zealous or even jealous then I'd separate them out. A youngster (the 5 month old) might be a bit boisetrous at first but I would imagine a little kit would intrigue her & she might well take to being an "aunty".

 

[ChinCrew]

Thanks for the advice. The cage is kit proof. The five month old is not aggressive toward the kit. They all seem to get along well. My only concern was the possibility of the baby getting hurt unintentionally. I think we will separate them and give them together time when we can monitor closely.