What do I do? Is she pregnant?

[Mookie]

I hadn't been in the chin room since like mid-day last night to tonight and I went in and found one of my boys in my girl's cage. The girl is almost 7 years old and the boy is from her offspring and is around 3. They are both whites (one pink white, one mosaic)- which scares me since you aren't supposed to breed whites, nevermind interbreed. I don't know if she's pregnant or what happened, but I'm really nervous, what should I do? I don't want anything to happen. There was no fighting, which I am thankful for, but I still don't know what to do. Someone please help

 

[Pookinaround]

While there is always a chance of pregnancy occurring whenever a female is exposed to a male the only way to know for sure is to wait the 111 days to find out. Hopefully she wasn't at a point in her cycle to become pregnant. 2 things to cross your fingers and hope for the best about... 1. They were only together about a day and 2. She is an older chin. Older chins do tend to slow down and CAN take longer to get pregnant. They are all individuals however and there is nothing set in stone but you have a pretty decent chance of being ok...

 

[AZChins]

Chances are she isn't pregnant. Chins go into heat at certain times, they can't get pregnant ALL the time. However, it only takes a few seconds and little ones are on their way!

So, yep, the only way to know for sure is to wait it out for the next four months, or until you feel babies kicking. There's not much you can do. Chances are she isn't expecting kits, but you just never know.

 

[Vyxxin]

Another concern would be, how did your boy not only escape his cage (which is not uncommon) and get into her cage (which is quite uncommon)? While it isn't entirely likely that she's pregnant because as mentioned, chinchillas aren't in heat all the time...it is possible so should be considered as possibly pregnant for the next 111days. Also, you said the male is her son, when was her last litter? This plays a larger role in reproductive capabilities moreso than age. I have chinchillas of that age, that produce regularly for me...but they've been kept in breeding the whole time and have produced about a litter a year for me. If they'd been removed from breeding for a few years, the chance of them reproducing drops dramatically. Do I have conclusive studies on this? No. It's just a long term observation of mine. Females kept in breeding, stay breeding better. Females that take long breaks later in life, much less likely to breed again.

 

[Dreamlite]

I also want to know how he got into her cage. Its highly unlikely that happens by accident. Escaping a cage is one thing, getting into another cage is a different ball park. Mark you calendar for 111 days and keep her in a baby safe cage just in case.

 

[Mookie]

At first I had though that maybe my mom put him in the wrong cage if she took him out. But last night I went in and both of my boys were in her cage (the boys are paired together). I noticed that the boys had chewed through a tiny part of the cage bottom and were slipping through it (I have a critter nation split in half for the two cages). I found a temporary way to fix it, but I will be ordering metal pans to put in their, which I know I should've done a while ago, but chewing had never been an issue before this. I will be marking my calendar for 111 days, since I'm not sure if anything happened. Yes, the boy was her last baby, around 3/4 years ago. But now, I have to worry about a violet boy that also was in her cage.