Ruby had babies!!!!!

[Jenn]

I can't give you a great answer as I have never delt with breeding, but when you get a scale, you will be able to monitor that the kits are gaining steady weight, and if not, then you may have to step in to hand feed.

I love bebbies! lol. Hopefully they thrive for you and you can thoroughly enjoy them. Are you going to keep them or adopt them out?

 

[Airyn]

Thanks Jenn!! I have noticed that one kit is digging at Ruby's belly to try and reach her nipple to feed. I think Ruby got annoyed at kecked at her she's still letting her feed but is this normal?? Both kits lay in the oddest positions to feed. I saw one of them with both hind legs in the air on their back feeding!! haha it's so cute!

Mine laid in bizarre positions too. One would lay on his back, completely underneath mom to go for a nipple on the other side, so you'd see feet on one side and his little head and hands on the other. Too cute!

 

[mishalaa]

Yes, it's normal. The furious pawing helps to stimulate milk production, she probably doesn't have any or much in yet. That's normal, too, it can take a day or two. The kacking is just her letting them know she's annoyed by it. =p

 

[Sdo9396]

*UPDATE*

Got weights on the baby girls! One is 49 g and the other is 57 g. It's so hard to tell them apart they are almost the exact same colors lol

Mom and babies are doing well. They are making all kinds of noise in there! It's so adorable! My boyfriend and I attached wire screen around the entire cage. Ruby didn't like that very much but it's for her own good! She also didn't like getting moved from her FN 142 to an FN 141. She loved her 2nd level . I also did the 50/50 no-sugar added apple juice with water along with her normal water bottle.

Question: Can Ruby have her chin-spin or no?

 

[mishalaa]

No. That's asking for a kit to get flung.

 

[Sdo9396]

That makes a lot of sense! lol how long til Ruby can have it back? She loved that thing!

 

[SmileX3]

Congrats!

 

[mishalaa]

Not until after the kits are weaned. She needs to stay with them, and they don't need to be running on it either. They need to use their energy to grow, not run.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Kits will crawl behind or under the wheel and if they do that and mom starts running on it, they get crushed and killed. It's happened numerous times before so no wheel until the kits are weaned and no longer with mom. Young chinchillas should also not get playtime or a wheel until they are at least six months of age.

 

[Sdo9396]

So if I play on keeping mom and babies as a trio then she won't get the wheel til babies are 6 months? I guess Ruby can get her exercise when she has playtime?

 

[Essentia]

She's going to be so preoccupied with those babies that she isn't going to care that her wheel is gone.

 

[Sdo9396]

Thanks for all the great info everyone!

 

[Sdo9396]

So I weighed the kits again tonight..one gained 7 g and the other only gained 1 g. Should I be worried about the one who only gained 1 g? I felt her belly and it is warm and round so I believe Ruby is nursing her. I have seen both of them nursing from Ruby as she was hunkered down and ears red. Opinions please!

 

[Mookie]

Congrats on the little guys! I wouldjust wait a little while and see if the kit keeps gaining weight. I think he should be fine as long as he's not loosing weight

 

[Sdo9396]

I can't do math..the one kit gained 5g not 7g. I will check the other kits weight again tomorrow and hopefully she will have gained some more.

Are you going to keep them or adopt them out?

I'm going to keep them of course! I can't bear to separate a mama from her babies. Yesterday when I switched them all to a smaller cage, Ruby was looking all over the place for her girls and I felt so bad..they were only out of her sight for 5 minutes! Plus, it'd be nice to have a trio!

 

[Jenn]

I sure don't blame you for wanting to keep them! I would want to keep them too

 

[Sdo9396]

We finally picked names for the girls! We wanted to stick with the gemstone theme so the bigger/darker colored kit we named Amber and the smaller kit we named Jade. =)

Jade was sitting on the pillow on her butt cleaning her whiskers and she lost her balance and tumbled forward! Poor thing was so cute! She sat back up on her hiney and kept on cleaning with her hind legs sticking straight out in front of her. :hug2: I wish I took a picture of her!

Jade has remained the same weight (54 g) since last night and Amber gained 1 g (now 59 g). Hopefully by tonight, Jade gains some weight. I felt both their tummies and they are still round and warm so they're feeding. Maybe Jade isn't nursing long enough??

 

[Andrea]

Adorable. Congratulations!

 

[Sdo9396]

Thanks Andrea! I wanted a trio just like you!

 

[Andrea]

Are you keeping the kits?