Remove the Dad After Birth??

[GwiLo]

Hello

Today I awoke to two baby chinchillas hanging out with mom and dad in their cage! We were not aware the female was pregnant and I have a few questions regarding the handling of the new baby chins.

We noticed dad was trying to mount mother just hours after giving birth. Should he be removed from the cage as protection for the mom and babies? When can he be put back? At the moment he is in a separate cage which is right beside the mothers cage.

Any help would be greatly appreciated (along with any tips)!

 

[tunes]

He probably already bred her. Chins can breedback while the female is still pregnant, just before giving birth. He can also breed her while she's attempting to birth the kits and right after. If he was already mounting her, she may have bred back, which means she will have kits shortly after you wean these kits.

I personally would keep him apart from her until after you know for sure that she didn't breed back, or it can just happen over and over. If she did breed back, she's going to need at least a six month break before you put her back with him anyway.

As far as handling the kits, I handle mine from the day they are born, wet, dry, whatever. I like to get birth weights on them the day they are born to keep track.

You might want to read through the breeding and babies section, especially the FAQ's. It should give you most, if not all, of the information you need regarding breeding.

Welcome to CnH.

 

[saphire]

welcome

 

[Sasha]

Have you had experience with kits before?

If not, my first suggestion (aside from removing the father) would be to ensure that the spacings in your cage are very small, or you have a "baby safe" cage. Those little guys can squeeze through the smallest of holes. You can check out the Breeding&Babies FAQ's for additional information here: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=864

& Welcome to the forum!

 

[warmice]

You might want to do a 111-120 days of countdown for the mum. There is a high chance that she might be pregnant again.

It happened to me once before. I separated the dad away from the mum a day before my female gave birth. A breed back still occurred . Chinchillas could be pregnant again before she delivers.

 

[GwiLo]

Thank you for your help!

I guess I have my work cut out for me!!

 

[GwiLo]

Is it possible to neuter the father and put him back with his family right away??

Thanks again for your help!

 

[jarp]

No - even if you found a vet experienced enough to perform the neutering of the father you would still need to wait an extended period of time before he could be put back in with the family. The reason for the waiting period is so that any viable sperm that the father still carries can be allowed to expire. Secondly you don't want the father in the cage with the Mom and kits because you want to keep movement in the cage to a minimum. Kits can be easily hurt or killed by the mother and father running or falling onto them. By taking the father out of the cage you are cutting down on the possiblity of this happening.

 

[tunes]

The dying of the sperm is correct, not so much the trampling of the kits. It does happen, but I can count on less than one hand how many times it has happened here in 9 years.

Any surgery on a chin is "major" surgery. They can take a long time to recover from it. You need your male in a separate cage so he can heal. You also need to be able to strictly monitor his peeing, pooping, eating, and drinking. You also need to monitor for blood or any kind of discharge. You cannot do this if you put him back in with his mate. After surgery he should be kept on white paper towels so that you can see everything that's going on. You'll need to change them daily, but it takes seconds.

 

[GwiLo]

Thanks again for your replies!

Everything went well with Rodney's neutering and he is doing fine. The vet told us he can go back in with his family in 2 weeks, should we wait longer?

 

[fanov8]

Glad to hear everything went well! I've never dealt with neutering (or males for that matter) but I believe that every post that I have read says 6 weeks. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...