Unexpected kits

[Littleloaf]

It would appear we have become chin breeders by accident. After adopting two chinchillas nearly 18 months ago we took them to the vet to be sexed and checked over as they were looking a bit worse for wear (tattered and matted greasy fur, undernourished etc). The vet reassured us that the chins should improve with tlc and that we had two girls. Over the following months they obviously became much happier as one day we found two kits in the cage! It was easy to identify mum and the vet suggested that mum would most likely already be pregnant again so our choice whether to remove dad or not. We had him castrated a few weeks later but it was difficult to reintroduce him taking several weeks of playtime and coaxing in our bath with close supervision and fluff flying. We then had our boy kit castrated but he was reintroduced fairly smoothly. Quite unexpected to see both mum and daughter looking a bit more rounded last month! My partner was convinced I was imagining things because I currently pregnant and our first baby is imminent, and lo and behold four new kits - 3 girls and a boy.

I rang the vet for advice as I was unsure how to manage the two mummies and their babies; I felt the original chin mum was taking on too much responsibility for all of the kits, and one of her kits (the male) was a bit runty and fighting with his sister interfering with feeding. I've separated the two mummies and kits. Currently rotating the fighting kits 2hourly (good practice for night feeds) and have removed all shelves from the other mums cage and trying to encourage her milk by giving her applejuice/water as well as ordinary water. All the kits appear to be gaining around 2g a day, with the runty male gaining 8g then 6g after starting the rotating 2 days ago.

I will certainly be removing the male kit at 8 weeks if he weighs enough to be weaned as do not want to become a chin breeder! Thankfully have homes for two of our kits and can take on the other two ourselves lol.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

How long after the neutering did you reintroduce the males? It is possible for sperm already in the duct to survive the procedure which is probably how they got pregnant...Either that or your vet took your money and gave you back your fully intact chins...which would be no good...Rotating is the right thing to do, glad your weights are good...

 

[chinchillalover0927]

wait...so your father bred the daughter and the mother back??

 

[starleomach]

I would suggest this time around pull all the males..house them together and keep just the females together

 

[chin_gal]

This is crazy. I would certainly be questioning your vet! You're doing such a great job though!

 

[Littleloaf]

merging posts

I think the most likely father to the new kits is the son who has bred with both mum and sister, and we were just unlucky as the gestation of 111 days is around the time of castration of son whereas dad had been castrated much longer and had been out of the cage for 3 months due to reintroducing him slowly. Son was 6 months when we castrated him, vet refused to do the operation when he was younger and we hadn't realised he was fertile so young (from being completely new to chinchillas we are learning fast). I trust our vet has carried out the operation and think it would be a shame to separate the two male/female pairings as they are such good companions and have been through the surgery and risk of anaesthetic already (but appreciate opinions if you think I am naive here...).

There is one thing I would appreciate opinions on... When rotating the fighting kits we have sometimes put the female kit with the other mum and kits as they play and she grooms/keeps warm the kit as her own. She sometimes appears to suckle but I'm not sure. As I will be going into labour any day I was wondering if this might be a temporary solution as I will be unable to rotate at that time and don't have anyone else to help. The only other thing I've been considering is whether to try and teach them to use a bottle for milk but then I won't be able to change the bottle either. The last resort would be to put them both in with mum for that time but I'm nervous that without supervision I will come home to an injured/dead kit (.

Ps I've just re-read my original post and realised that I hadn't made it clear that the vet who sexed the chinchillas incorrectly was not the same vet who performed the surgery- only the principle vet at the surgery is qualified to do the operation due to chinchillas being classed as exotic pets. The check over/sexing was carried out by one of the practice vets (though must admit I wish I'd have tried it myself as sexing the kits has been fairly straightforward).

 

[Rickman]

I'd be asking for the original charges as credit towards the original castration, and a discount on the second - after all, it was THEIR FAULT! Granted, practice makes perfect, but, in this case, the result was expensive!
If the cage is large enough, I'd put the two Mom's together - they'll work-out any feeding procedures! I've had a few mother/daughter trios, [different male] and it worked out well!
Must add, they usually had litters within a week of one-another, too!
I separate male kits @ 6 - 7 weeks to avoid situations like this!

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Yes, this is a good lesson to anyone reading that male kits need to be removed no later than 8 weeks for weaning - sorry you had to find out the hard way! If it were me, I would just arrange them in same sex housing to be absolutely sure to avoid this from happening again. They will have each other's company so don't feel guilty about splitting them up - they will be just as happy. And if you need help sexing the kits there are pictures at the begininng of this section (just to be absolutely sure )

I agree that it probably was the son - you should be able to figure it out by counting back...What day were these kits born? Were all four born the same day? I can't quite pin the time line from your post...

Many people foster out kits to willing moms when mothers die in birth, don't get milk in, or have large litters. As long as she accepts the kits it's ok - You could house them together like Rick said, however I am not sure this would help with the kits fighting amongst themselves which is why you are rotating in the first place.

You are definately right to be concerned I have had kits severely injure each other in fights so I would be cautious. Is there anyone who might be able to come in and check on them for you? I have also hung bottles when i had to be at work or class so you can do that for a short while - problem is the milk won't stay good long and some kits are particular about the temperature of the milk...