Weight!

LittleWomann · Apr 29, 2015

So i just weighed my beautiful male chinchillas today, and they are both 3 months and 1 week old, they are both around 230-248 Grams, the Standard being 248 and the Mosaic 232.

Is this too low? I've been researching a lot and it says they should be between 330-600.

I really need to know if this is fine or not and how regularly i should weight them.

I'm thinking i should weigh them again next week.

Amethyst · Apr 29, 2015

Since you said they are only 3 months then they are still growing and maybe only about half adult weight a most. Most chins grow until they are around a year, but some don't reach adult size until around 2 years. Once a week is a good time frame for weighing, just remember to do it at around the same time each time since weight can vary through the day based on if they just ate or drank, or if they just peed or pooped. If the weight seems off, like if it's suddenly dropping, then weigh them again for a few days in a row to make sure it's nothing. Weight loss is commonly the first sign something is wrong and a vet visit is needed. Also chinchillas can vary a lot (it's like asking how much a human should weigh), adult weight can be anywhere from around 400g to over 1,000g.

LittleWomann · Apr 29, 2015

Thanks you for the information!
Eased my worries for now, hopefully they're growing normally and not losing any weight, i'll keep my close eye on them for any changes.

I'm mainly worried because they seem to keep trying to mount each other and the Mosaic likes to pull out fur of the Standard.

They obviously haven't established the alpha yet and it does worry me considering cheeky Cheeko (standard) seems to have a patch of thin fur at the back where he's been nibbled!

Godofgods · May 2, 2015

if one or both is being aggressive then they might have to be separated. Other wise some bad things could happen when your not there.

LittleWomann · May 3, 2015

They're not aggressive, the Standard doesn't seem to really care about the Fur Pulling and it has become less common
The Mounting is a little excessive at night, but again, no aggressive sounds or anything like that.