Possible babys!

[Waysidecorpse]

Been a long time sense i posted here, Mostly because I forgot my log in and such, but it appears i was lied to by a pet store and now i got a possibly pregnant chinchilla, Boco honestly didn't waste any time the little bugger.

Anyways I have 1 male and 1 female now who i caged together and because im stupid didn't check the others sex just trusting she was a male and went about with the introduction which went VERY well considering bocos anti social tendencies, at first they didn't seem to care much for each others but once i put a dust bath in there with them they got along just fine, ANYWAYS we decided to name our female Lily im not sure why but thats what my GF wanted and i just kind a left it at that, she is currently a year old while he is 3 years old. We think the breeding time is between November 15th and December 31st as we moved her in the 15th and just noticed she was a female around December 31st and im not sure what to expect i'v done my best to prepare the cage for babys or atleast half of it the other half is going ot be bocos home after she starts popping them out. but i could use some advice and what in general im suppose to do now

 

[Smidgeyy]

You want to count 111 days from the last day she was in contact with the male. If she hasn't had kits by then, she's likely not pregnant.

If you haven't already, make sure you separate them and keep them separate. Pet store chins are definitely not breeding quality animals so you don't want this scare again. They can breed in a second so it can happen at any moment, that's why you need to count from the last day she was around the male.

Make sure the cage is baby proof and just wait. Keep weighing the female to watch for any changes.

 

[Waysidecorpse]

I just weighed her and she is exactly 900 Grams, or 2 pounds which ever you prefer, and im keeping them around each other still because it calms her down she seems to suffer from the sudden lack of another chinchilla to lay on ((literally uses him as a pillow)) but the last time i saw them do any sort of mounting is in December and now she wont let him anywhere near her back end.

 

[Amethyst]

You can't always tell just by weighing a chin if it's pregnant or not, some chins don't gain, others do, and some even lose weight. Unless you are watching the chins 24/7 there is no way to know the male didn't mate with her, even if she wont let him near her when you are watching. Even having their cages less then 6" from each other the male can still get her pregnant, so no contact really means no contact even sometimes. Also females can go into heat right before giving birth as well as right after, so you need to separate them now not when she has the kits or she will likely get bred again and raising kits and being pregnant is very hard on a chin. So as said, count 111 days from the day you separate them and if after that if no kits you got lucky. I would also make sure you have a emergency vet lined up and have a couple thousand dollars set aside in case of emergency (I'm not kidding), an emergency c-section in the middle of the night is not cheap. I suggest you also check out this section to get an idea of things to watch for, http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=117

As for prepping for kits, make sure the cage the female is in has bar spacing no bigger then 1/2" that includes the top, sides, and bottom. Also no ledges and when the kits come no hiding house. You want to remove ledges or at least make sure they are low now so the female doesn't accidentally fall wrong which can hurt or kill unborn kits if she is pregnant.

 

[Cass C]

I agree, Seperate them ASAP! Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening. After the kits are born you can consider another 'friend' for your chinchillas, but same gender only in separate cages. Neutering is not worth the risk, as it's going to break the bond anyway. Trust me I've been down the neutering road and almost lost my boy due to a secondary infection thanks to his pulling out of his own stitches.

 

[Waysidecorpse]

Whelp lucky for Me today is cage clean out day and ill be moving my Male boco up top of the cage and leaving the female alone on the bottom, she probably wont like it but im sure it will be fine.