Possible prego chin, do I have everything covered?

[liewwan]

Alright so my dumb dumb self is now going through a case of possible pregnant female. Should she is she'll be due within 2 months. So I want to run my check list with you guys to make sure I got everything covered.
1) Syringes just in case of hand feed
2) Goats milk just in case of hand feed
3) hard wire cloths to run around the cage to prevent escape little convicts
4) Heat pad in case of mom rejecting baby that I'll have to be the human mom
5) Cat carrier for rejected baby with heat pad in it.
6) Unsweet cranberry or apple juice, mix half and half of either one with water for mom to help produce milk
7) Stop dust bath for mom 10 days prior to estimated delivery date and 10 days after delivery to avoid infection
8) Weigh mom and kits everyday for 2 weeks
9) Female kits will stay in the female cage and Male kits will be introduced to the Male's caged after 8 weeks of weening. I'll be putting the Male kits in a separate cage next to my current boys and do a slow intro. I will be prepared to separate the kits in a complete cage should the intro don't work.
10) Provide loose alfalfa for kits and also mom
11) End of this week I'll be putting the divider up to separate my girls, so the pregnant one can rest up and not be too active. Also all ledges that is high will be removed to avoid any falls.

Now I hope I covered everything. If not please let me know. I'm not 100% sure she is or not but considering her increase of weight and what looks like a tire around her waist I'm preparing for things just to be on the safe side.
What I can't find is when should a kit start taking dust baths? The female is currently on Mazuri, from my understanding I don't need to change her diet. Of course I have to keep checking her teeth to make sure it's yellowish/orange. Should the color lighten I'll need to add calcium supplement to her diet. Also alert the 2 breeders locally about this and they are ready to pick up their phone if I need a mentor asap. I'm so nervous since the worst scenario is happening possibly. I'm just hoping she is just having a growth spurt, but she's turning 2 in November. I thought the growth spurt stops at age 1. Sorry like usual long post.

 

[liewwan]

Ok did I forget to mention I told my boss about this and has plenty of pto to cover 3 weeks to be home just incase of hand feed situation.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Alright so my dumb dumb self is now going through a case of possible pregnant female. Should she is she'll be due within 2 months. So I want to run my check list with you guys to make sure I got everything covered.
1) Syringes just in case of hand feed
Curved eye droppers work better
2) Goats milk just in case of hand feed
3) hard wire cloths to run around the cage to prevent escape little convicts
4) Heat pad in case of mom rejecting baby that I'll have to be the human mom
5) Cat carrier for rejected baby with heat pad in it.
They will escape any space bigger than 1/2" x 1" - likely the door spacings are too big.
6) Unsweet cranberry or apple juice, mix half and half of either one with water for mom to help produce milk
Most breeders dont use that.
7) Stop dust bath for mom 10 days prior to estimated delivery date and 10 days after delivery to avoid infection
Bath day is bath day. 1 day, 6 days, whatever.
8) Weigh mom and kits everyday for 2 weeks
You don't need to weigh mom IMO. I weigh the babies.
9) Female kits will stay in the female cage and Male kits will be introduced to the Male's caged after 8 weeks of weening. I'll be putting the Male kits in a separate cage next to my current boys and do a slow intro. I will be prepared to separate the kits in a complete cage should the intro don't work.
10) Provide loose alfalfa for kits and also mom
11) End of this week I'll be putting the divider up to separate my girls, so the pregnant one can rest up and not be too active. Also all ledges that is high will be removed to avoid any falls.
I would take all ledges out. Mom needs to stay on the bottom with the baby.

Now I hope I covered everything. If not please let me know. I'm not 100% sure she is or not but considering her increase of weight and what looks like a tire around her waist I'm preparing for things just to be on the safe side.
What I can't find is when should a kit start taking dust baths?
They will likely not actively know what to do until about 4 weeks. they figure it out watching mom.
The female is currently on Mazuri, from my understanding I don't need to change her diet. Of course I have to keep checking her teeth to make sure it's yellowish/orange. Should the color lighten I'll need to add calcium supplement to her diet.
The alfalfa will likely take care of that, but do keep an eye on it. I have one female whose calcium dropped about 5 days after birth - lethargic, not eating were part of the signs.
Also alert the 2 breeders locally about this and they are ready to pick up their phone if I need a mentor asap. I'm so nervous since the worst scenario is happening possibly. I'm just hoping she is just having a growth spurt, but she's turning 2 in November. I thought the growth spurt stops at age 1. Sorry like usual long post.

See above. And you will need to handfeed longer than 3 weeks if it comes to that...handfeeding lasts until 8 weeks or weaning.

 

[liewwan]

Thanks for all the correction. The apple juice/cranberry juice I was really questioning (saw it on the f&q on this section).
My niece may still have her old hamster cage and I can put some fencing around it if the space between the bars is too big instead of using the cat carrier.
Can I get the curved eye dropper from the pharmacy than?
I'll check with my boss to see if I can bring the kit with me to work. Or if that fails I have a retired neighbor that loves the chins, I'm sure she won't mind helping out when I'm gone. I trust her dearly with my chins.
I'm so nervous even though I'm not 100 % sure if she's is pregnant or not. But I will have all the supplies ready should she is. Now as far as mentally I'm so not ready for this, but gotta pull it together. I just hope this is a false alarm.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

if the spacing on the hamster cage is 1/2" x 1/2" or 1/2" x 1" its fine with no modifications. Just make sure it is a plain cage. No tubes or stuff that could be dangerous. Petsmart used to carry a cage that was only around 35$ that was baby safe...not sure if they still do. Had a blue or red metal bottom and 1/2" x 1/2" spacing.

Yes, a pharmacy should have a curved dropper. I find them much easier to use...some people prefer syringes to measure the intake. Up to you. I often took babies to school with me in a small carrier. If you have a fridge there just bring along a little milk, a cup or something to put it in and your eye dropper/syringe. No one knew he was there until I showed him to someone. He was very quiet lol.

There is a good chance nothing will go wrong even if she does have babies. Lots of times its smooth sailing. It's those every so often litters that you have trouble with - mainly triplets for me for some reason. Better to be prepared just in case though.

Also, you may want to make friends with the two breeders in your area now and see if they have any babies they are handfeeding. Handfeeding can be tricky - takes some practice and if they have any they could show you how to prevent aspiration and how to hold them etc..

 

[liewwan]

If I have to bring the chin to work, there is a fridge I can use. As for warming the milk, I don't like the idea of microwaving to warm. Can I do the old fashion style that we use to warm up a baby's bottle with warm water?
I actually just about text one of the breeders every other day and the last time I picked up some bail hay I gave her some. She is always so nice and blunt and willing to help with info. She don't have any that's hand feeding right now. I can always call the other breeder and he is pretty good at giving me info, also his kits are all ween ready to be sold.

 

[liewwan]

I'm a worry freak at times and I want to prepare for the worst case. Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing, also kinda hope more on this is just a false alarm hahaha.

 

[jbcstratton]

Did you intend on breeding your chins, if not then males and females should not be housed together and you won't have to worry.

 

[liewwan]

Yes I am aware of that. I pulled a stupid moment back then. I didn't have the intentions on breeding. Now I'm dealing with the consequence of putting my girl in this situation. So I want to make sure I have everything I need, even though I'm not 100% sure if she is or not. I rather be prepared than anything else.
Is there any additional suggestions you may have for my list above. It would be greatly helpful. Thank you.