Quarantine problem:/

[ReneeM]

Right now my rescued chins and kits are in my basement. Im in a hard spot right now. I sprained my foot really bad tonight (they thought it was fractured) and cannot go up and down the steps without severe pain. I asked my brother if I could put the chins in his room, but it is right next to mine. Would it be okay if the doors were kept shut? If they were in his room I could care for them (probably by hobbling or crawling!). Otherwise my brother will have to care for them. He does not have time to weigh the babies twice a day. Since I will be home for at least a week, I can weigh them and take care of them if they are in my brothers room. My parents are away for two weeks so they cannot care for my chins either. I'm not sure what to do.

 

[ReneeM]

I forgot to mention my boys are in my room, currently away from the other chins.

 

[jacd061506]

First off, I'm sorry you sprained your ankle! Secondly, as long as your boys and the rescues are in separate rooms and have no access to each other and there is washing hands (possibly changing clothes) between handling the new ones and your boys (I'd handle your boys first) and it should not be a problem. Weighing babies doesn't necessarily have to be twice a day, as long as all are gaining weight. I would definitely move them to where you can work with the kits since you can't go up and down the stairs!

 

[Lillybabe]

I'm not sure what sort of cages you have or anything. Would it be possible to move your boys downstairs and the rescues into your room? This would mean they were farther apart and your brother could care for your chins and you could care for the kits? Your chins I assume are healthy and therefore require far less care than a new momma and her kits. This also would mean less risk of cross contamination between chins since one person would be caring for each set. Perhaps it's not necessary but I could see benefits and it would mean your brother wouldn't have to sleep with chins in his room.

 

[andreya]

I'm with jacd. Separate rooms should be fine. And you don't need to weigh them twice a day. After the first week or so I think most people don't even weigh them every day unless they seem to be dropping weight or just to check.

I hope that your ankle gets better.

 

[ReneeM]

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be crawling to the chinchilla cages. Lol, it hurts to much to put any weight on it My poor brother! He has to take care of our dogs too. I'm going to try and put them in my moms room across the hallway instead of right next store. I'll ask my brother about switching the cages out though, and putting the kits in my room as well. That might be easiest. I want to do what is best for them, but me as well. I really wish they could stay in the basement, but I dont think is feasible to go down the Steps. I can hardly make it 20 feet to the bathroom. This whole thing stinks At least I'll have kits to play with and keep me company

 

[Riven]

Switching rooms would cross contaminate, unless each room was cleaned extensively.

Kits don't need to be weighed all of the time. I don't weigh kits here at all unless I think there is something abnormal.

Didn't the doctor give you crutches? If not you need to get some or you're going to mess up the structure of your other foot trying not to be on the sprained one.

 

[ReneeM]

My brother is picking them up for me today (the crutches). We moved the kits and momma to my moms room across the hall. I wash my hands/ change my shirt between. I weigh the smallest kit twice a day. He did not gain weight yesterday, nor this morning. He has not lost any weight though and is nursing. I'm being extra vigilant with him. Thank you everyone for the advice.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I can't remember, how many kits are in this litter? It sounds to me that you may need to start rotating the kits so the the littlest gets time to eat without the rest of the litter pushing it away. To rotate, you would need to take the bigger kits out for a couple of hours, then put them back in for a couple of hours. Repeat this around the clock. The littlest one will stay with mom 24/7.

 

[ReneeM]

Mira had three kits. The other two are gaining weight, it's the smallest who isn't. I will need to get a baby safe crate. I only have a small cat crate I can use right now. The bars are too wide. I'll see once the pain in my foot dies down if I can drive to get what I need.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Could someone go get one for you? The littlest one needs you to start rotating now.

 

[ReneeM]

I actually went out myself. By brother brought a can home too. My foot is going to be paying for it though I started about 2:30 when I got home. It actually was pretty easy to drive with just a wrap around my ankle. It was the walking that stunk

I also found a carrier I used for rats in the shed. I cleaned it out really well and used that