Seeking Advice: Mother Chin Died :(...

[riceball347]

My mosaic chinchilla gave birth (2 weeks ago) to a healthy little grey baby and 2 deceased babies. In the process, her uterus prolapsed and she was bleeding heavily. By the time I could get her to the hospital she had passed away from the intense bleeding and I was left with a little orphaned chinchilla.

I have 3 other chinchillas, 2 females and a male (the father) but none of the chinchillas seemed interested in fostering this little baby and neither of my other 2 females had given birth, thus... no wet nurse.

For the past 2 weeks, I have been feeding this baby every hour around the clock, using a little dropper (and yes I am EXHAUSTED). He lives in a little hamster cage right now.

Now for the question: When do I start decreasing the feeding times (so far I'm feeding every time he'll take some milk (about every 30 minutes to an hour) and at night every 1 to 2 hours), and how much should he weigh? Today he weighs 56 grams. I feel like that's a tad small for over 2 weeks old (he'll be 3 weeks on Sunday). He is extremely active, has definitely gotten bigger -- no longer does he have big head little body lol -- and is attentive. Whenever he hears the microwave ding he comes sprinting to the front of the cage ready to take in some milk!

Is there anything else I can do to help give this guy the best chance he's got? I have provided a blanket in there that he cuddles with, a stuffed animal and a heating pad under the cage so he can lay in that area to keep warm. I also let him hang out with me every second of the day that I am home. Currently, he's in my lap!

THANKS everyone! Sorry for the novel!!

 

[tunes]

First, you only need to feed every 2 hours, not every single hour. Right now, he's probably taking next to nothing because you are feeding him so often. If I have to hand feed, by 2 weeks mine are usually taking at least 2-3 syringes and sometimes more per feeding. So that's 3 mL's (cc) per feeding. If you're feeding every half hour or every hour he's getting a whole lot of a little bit, but not enough to really fill him up.

Do you know what his birth weight was? Ideally you want to see him gain 2 gm every day, and sometimes more than that, but he should steadily be gaining every day.

Around 3 weeks, I would back off to every 3 hours, providing he's put some more weight on that what he has. You're right, 56 is very small for a 2 week old. I lost a mom 2 days ago and am hand feeding her kits, they are 2 days old, one is 53 and one is 57 gm. So unless your little one was around 30 or 35 gm when he was born he should start edging up from that at this point.

You mention that he's in a hamster cage. Are you providing a heat source? When hand feeding a kit, there should be a heating pad, on low, under half of the cage so that he can seek warmth if needed. Especially since he is without a mom, he needs something to help maintain his body weight.

 

[riceball347]

thanks!

I'm sorry you lost your mom chinchilla

He was around 39 grams when he was born and now he's 56 grams.

Well, when I feed him every hour, he takes an entire (sometimes 2) eye droppers full of milk! When I go to about 2 hours, he'll take 3, sometimes 4! That's why I feed him every hour or so because he seems to just want to eat and eat all of the time, but I'm not sure if that's the best thing for him (hence the reason why I ask how often I should feed ) He has a BIG appetite!

So do you think I should just feed him every 2 hours even if he cries at 1 hour?

In my post I said that I have him in a hamster cage with blankets and a heating pad. He loves that warm side and he definitely loves to cuddle with me!

Thank you so much for your help! This is my first time hand raising a kit, so I'm definitely new!!

 

[tunes]

I missed the part about the heating pad. My eyeballs spin in my head when I'm hand feeding.

I would go to every 2 hours. He needs to rest in between times and you do too. You cannot keep up a schedule of every 1 hour. If he eats 3-4 syringes at one time, every 2 hours, then let him. He'll fall asleep after that and rest. I'm assuming since you have no foster mom that you're taking care of the peeing and pooping end? I would do that right after or before you feed him and make him wait every 2 hours. Soon you should be able to push that to 2-1/2, then 3 so you can get a little more breathing room.

You may also want to try hanging a water bottle with formula in it. My kits have never taken to it, but others have had great success with it. It's worth a try. You just have to change it frequenty so the milk doesn't spoil.

 

[riceball347]

I am doing the "toileting" I haven't done it before a feeding, but I do do it after! He never usually pees but he does poop. I have seen him pee on my carpet (he he he) without me doing anything, so I hope that he is urinating normally since he never urinates when I massage his little area.

I heard about the water bottle with milk but Bokie refuses to drink milk that is cool so trying to find a way to keep the water bottle milk warm would be a challenge!

He is now 60 grams! I jumped for JOY this morning when I saw he gained 4 grams!

Thanks for all of your help! You are so wonderful for helping me through this process. I am just so super exhausted. I haven't slept a FULL nights sleep since last Tuesday! I can't wait for the weaning process!

 

[tunes]

The formula doesn't have to be warm, just room temperature. So it would be okay hanging on the cage for a little bit. I just wouldn't leave it there for hours at a time.

Good news on the weight gain!

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

When my Ivan was sick at 2 weeks old I had to hand feed solids and hay and meds to him, he could still nurse from mom (it's a long story, he was partially paralysed but made a full recovery), and I took him everywhere with me so I know how exhausted you must be. Make sure you take care of yourself.

Also, not to give you TMI or anything, but I know Ivan liked to hang out in my bra. He was basically like "Oh hey this is just like being stuck between mom and dad -snore-". Lol. I could wander around the house and have my hands free that way and still not have to worry about him, so maybe you could try that? (Apologies if you are not female!:laughitup

 

[riceball347]

Bokie loves to be in my bra too! I think him being in between "the girls" keeps him warm lol!

I do take him everywhere too. I feel so guilty because he just stares at me from his cage just begging to come out so how could I say no to that? ;o)

I'm trying to figure out how to manage my time between feedings and finding a way to rest but I don't have the schedule down yet. I figured it will be like this for a few more weeks and I'll be able to relax. The horrible part is is that I have my college finals next week so I'm just super exhausted and I'm not able to study much because I'm napping every chance I get! Who knew taking care of a little chinny would be this hard! I sure didn't, but it's definitely WORTH IT!

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Not sure if you know this, but he should definitely be able to eat some solid food now, smaller pellets and hay and whatnot, so make sure you've got that in his little cage so he can pick from that...maybe he'll shoot right up in weight and you can dramatically decrease the milk feeding times in time for your finals
Ivan was born on 12/8, New Year's eve is when I started nursing him, he could still nurse from mom at night and when I was home, but when I was out during the day he got solid food. He loved Alfalfa and the tiny pellets from the bottom of the bag of food, that way he got to chew it all at once and my fingers weren't in his face the whole time
Actually I caught Ivan eating solid food the day after he was born. They're amazing creatures. Sooooo the moral of this post is to give Bokie everything you'd give an adult chin, except for treats.

 

[6Dusters]

I used a coffee grinder to crush pellets for my little kits about two weeks after they were born. They ate it while mom ate the pellets in the same low dish. Sounds like your doing a super job with the little cutie. Form of birth control isn't it? :hilarious: Human babies need this care all the time. Hee Hee