Unexpected babies

[Erica_74]

I got my first chinchilla from craigs list about a month ago. on wednesday she had three babies. Two of them are grey like their mom, and the runt is a light color. I found this forum searching for some info on babies, because the runt was very tiny. I bought a scale, and she only weighed 25, the other two babies weighed 40 grams. I got some goat milk and have been feeding the runt, and still letting her have her moms milk.
They are now a week old, and the two grey ones weigh 55 grams each, and the runt weighs 40 grams. Are those good weights?
I have been looking at the forum, and learning a lot, and I see that pictures are very welcome, so I got a few, here they are:

Sullivan (the boy)

Brooklyn (big girl)

Britton (still deciding on the name, this is the runt)

It was extremely hard to take pictures of the little runt, she is a fast little bugger.

 

[greychins]

Hi,

Welcome to the world of chin ownership. And welcome to the forum! You'll find lots of great information here.

The runt appears to be a beige. The birth weights are a bit lower than ideal (especially the 25 grams), but it's not uncommon for triplets to be smaller than if less kits were born.

The weights now, at a week old, are good weights. Ideally, you want them gaining 1-2 grams per day, so (for the larger ones) going from 40-55 (15 grams/7 days) and the runt going from 25-40 (15 grams/7 days) is about 2 grams a day. That's good. The important thing is that they're all gaining, not so much what they weigh (although that is important too, but if they're gaining, that's what you want).

Congrats on the kits, they are just precious. :heart:

Do you have mom/kits in a baby-safe cage so they can't escape?

 

[Erica_74]

I have them in a big aquarium, is that okay? I do not think it's the best thing to have, but I can't really afford to buy a whole new cage, and the room they are in is very cold, and i clean the cage every day, they have been doing great in it so far.
thank you for the congrats, I adore them but it's a little overwhelming to go from one new chinchilla, to four of them!

 

[greychins]

Do you have a wire cage for them? If you do, I suggest getting hardware cloth, or some other sort of smaller-opening wire, to wrap around the cage for the time being. There's so little air-flow in aquariums that you ideally don't want to keep them in there if you can avoid it.

I bought a roll of hardware cloth at the local Tractor Supply, by the rabbit stuff... it was just a few bucks, and you could attach it (maybe cable tie it) to the wire cage, if you have one.

I bet it is overwhelming.. it's like a crash course in chinchilla care, haha. You're doing great though, especially since you found the forum, are reading up on em, feeding the baby formula... you're on the right track! *thumbs up*

 

[Erica_74]

I didn't even think to use hardware cloth! Yeah, the mom came with a huge cage, but the bars are so big, the babies heads fit right through. I will definately pick some up asap.

I am so glad i found the forum, it's really helpful.

 

[Essentia]

Erica, where are you located? There may be a member here who can let you borrow a kit safe cage.

 

[Erica_74]

I am near Louisville Kentucky. If i can get the hardware cloth tomorrow, that should work fine, i dont think im going to need to borrow a cage. If anything comes up, i will be sure to look here first!

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

The problem with the aquarium is that with so little air flow, the air does not circulate and it can lead to URI's and other problems. So if you can get to a hardware store and get that cloth it would be great! A trick to remember though, wrap it from the inside so the kits can not get between the hardware cloth and the actual cage.

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the world of chins and babies!

 

[proudmom25]

Also, if you do use the wire cage and wrap it with the hardware cloth please remember to take out all shelves and to wrap the top of the cage as well. Those little babies are super climbers.