Raising Chins without mom

[tunes]

You can use Carnation milk as well as the goat's milk. Here in the states, we have easy access to the goat's milk so that's what we use, but if all you can get is the Carnation, that works as well.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Can someone tell me at what point I should move chins to a normal cage? At the moment they are in a small cat carrier with a soft towel inside & a heating pad. We keep the temperature around 69-71 degrees F (~22 C) in the room. By when do they have a normal coat and do not need the warmth anymore? They still sleep under the towel most of the time. I'm afraid to let them run around the room just in case they will get cold. Tried to teach them to use a water bottle; two of them are drinking from it if you hold it up to them at feeding time but go by in their cage without any notice.

 

[Claire D]

They are about 10 days old now? They will be enjoying the warmth & comfort of the towel & the heat. I would leave them in the carrier until they are 3-4 weeks old & then move them to a kit safe cage.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Hello to everyone. I need your advise again. Our chins are 11 days old today. We will try a dust bath this weekend. I worry that they are not gaining enough weight. I know that they should be gaining 2-4 gr a day. Ours gained 3-5 gr on one day after starting the goats milk, then 2 gr and now it slowed down to 1 gr or none. Should I add anything to their milk to increase weight gain? Yesterday their weights were 51, 52 & 54. I've read somewhere that by end of two weeks their weight should have doubled. They were born around 40 gr so there is no way that they will gain 25 gr in next 3 days. Is it normal for chins without mother's milk to be gaining weight so irregularly and slowly? Thanks

 

[tunes]

Did you try adding the baby rice cereal? That can help put a little weight on. Also, how often are they being fed? The first 2 weeks it's crucial that they get fed every 2 hours around the clock to get that weight gain started and on it's way. If you weren't feeding them every 2 hours, then I would try upping the feedings and see if that helps.

Are you able to make the dry formula? All the kits I've offered it to just go crazy over it.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Yes, I've been adding baby rice cereal into goat's milk. We've been feeding them every 2 hours since day one. Haven't tried evaporated milk yet. Do you think we should? Is it okay to be switching their food so often?

 

[tunes]

If you're using the goat's milk already, I don't really see any purpose to switching. Mine really did better on the fresh than the canned, but I use canned in a pinch because I can keep it on hand at all times.

Just keep feeding them as you are. Sometimes kits will plateau and it may take them a little time to kick it in gear again. Other than to keep feeding them, there's not a lot more that can be done.

 

[Riven]

Sorry, I didn't read all of this thread... are you wiping their butts as well?

If they are hungry and eating that's all you can do.

Do you have any dry mom and kit formula with them? If not free feed that as well.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

I skimmed this thread, not sure if anyone mentioned, but you can/should also keep a small bowl of the food you were feeding the mother, in their carrier (nothing with raisins, sunflower seeds or any of that other poop in it). My lil Ivan tried solid food on his first day, so between feedings your 3 guys (have you sexed them, BTW?) will eat some solid chin pellets and that will help boost their weight. Also, are you providing any hay?
Sorry if this was mentioned before, I didn't think I saw anything like this though...

 

[Tugaudzius]

Thanks for your input. I've been a bit down since we couldn't take care of the babies ourselves and had to take them for the week (Mon-Fri) to my partner's mom. I hear that they are doing okay, but I'll know how well tomorrow after work, once they'll be with us again (at least for the weekend). Yes, they have hay and solid food in their cage since day 3 probably. They took to eating hay really quickly. I've placed a piece of wood there as well since they started chewing the cage and they loved it. I'll see what's left of it once they are home. They are 17 days old today & are being fed every 3 hours. Next week we'll start to feed them every 4 hours.
Guys, at what point would they be able to last through the day (11 hrs) on hay and solid food? I can feed (milk) them myself from 6 p.m. till 7 a.m. any day, but untill they can last 11 hrs without milk they can't stay at home. Thanks.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I wouldn't let them go that long without milk until they are almost weaned - depending on weight of course - Because if you scale back to every four hours and then leave them for 11 hours they are only getting 3 feedings of milk a day, which imo isn't enough at this point. You can hang a bottle on the cage if you need to leave them alone for that long - sometimes they will use it and sometimes they turn their nose up at it. Any bottle will work however, I think the babies have an easier time on the glass tubes rather than the ball and spring bottles. You can use a small babyfood jar and a rubber stopper with a glass tube - shoots has a picture of it on their website http://www.shootschinchilla.com/scenes-around-the-ranch.htm bottom picture. Can't remember what type of jar they used, but im sure they'd tell you if you emailed them.

 

[tunes]

You cannot leave milk exposed to warm air for 11 hours. When you use the bottle, you change it out every couple hours. If you leave it for 11 hours it could spoil and you would have sick kits.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

True, it would be a gamble even left for a few hours. I guess I am thinking of leaving only a small amount that would be consumed within the first few hours and didn't articulate that.

It would probably be best for someone just to come by at lunch time and just feed them once they are used to a 4 hour rotation.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Thanks, guys. Looks like they will have to go to my partner's mom's for the next couple of weeks. Have no other way. I want to take care of them myself at least at night but there is no one around here who would be able to help out during the day. I keep on thinking about their mom. How much placenta chinchilla can eat? She had 3 babies and I'm assuming ate all the placenta (vet didn't tell us anything other). Could she have died from that? She died at vet's office and the vet wasn't sure of what, said it was some kind of seizure.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Only way you would know what the cause was is a necropsy.

 

[Tugaudzius]

I understand that. But can someone tell me how much placenta chinchilla can eat? Let's say my other chincilla will have babies. Should I let her eat all the placenta (if she has 3 babies)? Or should I supervise and let her eat only so much?

 

[greychins]

I understand that. But can someone tell me how much placenta chinchilla can eat? Let's say my other chincilla will have babies. Should I let her eat all the placenta (if she has 3 babies)? Or should I supervise and let her eat only so much?

I can only speak for what happens here... but we're never around for chinchilla births. If we leave for 30 minutes, we come back to kits. Chances are, you're not gonna notice when your chin's birthing, even if you did want to stop her from eating the placenta. You'd have to be staring at the cage 24/7 or get realllly lucky on timing. Likely, you'll get back, and she'll have eaten what she wanted and left the rest. We have three 6 week old kits now... left for half hour, came back to kits. Typical. Anyway, we did find some leftover placenta in the cage, but it was clear that mom did eat a bit of the placenta... and even if we had wanted to stop her (dunno why we would), we weren't there... As far as I know, lots of animals in the animal kingdom eat the placenta. I always have assumed it can't be harmful because otherwise they'd have babies, eat the placenta, and poof! die. Maybe not that dramatic, but you get the idea. Without a necropsy, it's impossible to know exactly why a chinchilla died. There's guessing and conjecture, but you can't know for sure.

 

[Tugaudzius]

Can some one advise me of what to do if our kits are constipated?

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

Be sure they are drinking plenty of fluids.

 

[Tugaudzius]

they are 3 weeks old & drink only milk.