Rescued pregnant chin- need some advice

[crushinator]

A friend of mine was at a yard sale the other day and somehow found out that the woman holding the sale had a couple of kits she wanted to find good homes. My friend immediately called me and asked me if I would consider taking them. I decided to call the woman to hear a bit about the situation. Apparently this woman bought two pet store chins (a male and a female) and housed them together for the last year and a half. The female of course gave birth to two litters in that time since the male was never separated. The woman was able to sell the first litter but kept the last two kits that were born. She housed all 4 chins together (i.e. the dad, the mom, the daughter, and the son) for the last 6 months because she didn't want them to get lonely! Now she suspects based on the momma's size that she is pregnant again.

After seeing this situation- housing all four chins together, feeding them guinea pig food, no hay, giving them random branches from outside to gnaw on, the most disguisting cage I've ever seen, the list goes on... - I couldn't leave them. My boyfriend and I took them all home that same day. I immediately separated the boys and the girls into two separate cages, gave them Mazuri pellets, mounds of hay, and kept them in a separate room from my two original girls.

I am worried now because if it is true that the momma is pregnant again (she does look awfully plump), I don't know whether she was impregnated by the dad or her son AND it may also be possible that the daughter could be pregnant by either her dad or her brother. What a mess!

I have never had a pregnant chinchilla before. I have had my two girls for 6 years but I never considered breeding either of them. I just figured after seeing these poor chins that as little as I know about breeding, I am at least motivated to learn unlike this woman who couldn't even take basic care of them :hair:

So on to my questions...

Is it ok for me to keep the two females together in one cage even if one or two are pregnant?

Is there anything I should do or be aware of now that there is a possibility that inbreeding has taken place? What kind of outcomes am I looking at here? Is the mom in risk of complications?

Any advice you guys can give me is greatly appreciated!

 

[RDZCRanch]

A chinchilla is always at risk when birthing babies. The list of complications is VERY long. You don't have to worry about any problems from inbreeding. One generation of mom to son won't cause the kits to be born with any defects or problems. If the two females are close and snuggle a lot you can keep them together. Especially since they are a mother daughter pair I don't see the need to separate them. Make sure they have a large supply of hay, pellets and water.

Read through the FAQ's pages for breeding if you haven't already. There's quite a bit of helpful info in there and any extra questions you have not covered in there, just ask and someone will answer!

Good luck and I'm glad you were able to take all four chinnies!

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Agreed with Tab - make sure you have a babysafe cage and since you have no idea when she is due I would put the girls immediately in a cage that is babysafe - you need wire spacing no bigger than 1/2" x 1" or 1/2" x 1/2" - they will escape any bar spacing larger than that within hours of birth. Don't try to feel for anything also because you could injure the fetuses if you dont know what you are doing. Most people have a pretty hands off pregnant female philosophy. I would prepare for babies as far as 109-114 days from the day you picked them up. Good luck!

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

I just wanted to say thank you for rescuing those chins. They'll be much happier with you than their previous owner.
From what I have heard on these forums, even if they have litters at the same time, female chinchillas are very good about raising kits together, helping clean them, etc.
Be sure that once she has the kits you remove any ledges or anything the kits could get stuck behind, especially the wheel. The mother/sister could jump from the ledge and easily harm the newborn kits. In general, don't worry...if you worry too much, you'll just stress yourself out more than necessary. :hearts: Good luck, and get a camera ready...

 

[crushinator]

The pregnant momma chin had her babies this afternoon! She had 3 gorgeous kits, 2 standards and 1 mosaic, weighing 41, 50, and 51 grams. I think they are 2 females and 1 male but I wanted to double check with you all.

And here is a picture of the mosaic who I believe is a boy...

One of the standards (female?)

And the last standard (also female?)

Also 2 pics of the fluffy babies since they are just so cute hehe

The 2 standards both still have their eyes closed. How long should I wait before trying to get them open?

Thank you guys! I am so relieved that the delivery went smoothly, I was so worried that something would go wrong!

 

[starleomach]

the first one is a boy the other two girls. congrats

 

[inzeos]

Looks like you determined their genders correctly to me.

With our recent kits we waited about a day and half before we started assisting with the eye opening. We used moistened cue tips and gently held them towards the front of the eye and drew them softly across towards the back, making sure not to press down on the eye. After about 4 or 5 times of doing this the chin was able to assist in the process and had open eyes.