What do i do?!?

[bubby124]

i bread my chinchillas and they finally had 4 babies today but they escaped from their cage and the mom and dad are sitting together in the cage freaking out. how do i catch them? And i saw one of the babies eating food that i put on the ground... can i take them away from their mom yet?! im very new to this stuff and not very educated on it. Lastly when can i sell them to new owners? all answers welcome.

 

[mercynursie]

Can anyone answer this post?I'm not sure what to say or where to start!First off baby safe your cage.You can find several solutions for baby proofing if you use the search.Then you can dig in and learn about basic care and requirements for all of the members of your chinnie family.

 

[Snickers]

you need to catch the babies and put them back with mom and dad. They need the mom's milk to survive. Do you have a small cage that you can sit on the floor maybe mom can call them. Also baby proof the cage. You can take them away from the mom maybe at 6 weeks old at 200 grams. Sell the babies at least at 8 weeks old.

 

[ChinnyMom]

first thing you need to do after catching all the kits is baby proof that cage with hardware cloth from a place like home depot and remove all shelves from the cage, and then go out and buy a second cage for your male chinchilla. the mom and dad need separated asap, because you don't want to continue breeding chinchillas that don't have a pedigree/ have unknown health issues in their lineage.

mark your calendar 111 days from now, because if dad was in with mom before, during, and after delivery of the babies then there is a very high chance that the mom has been bred back already (female chins go into heat right before/during/after delivery). a chinchilla's gestation period is approximately 111 days long.

with four kits i would get yourself ready for hand feedings, just in case, as momma may not have enough working nipples or enough milk for them all. there are many breeders here on the forum that can help you with what supplies you will need and how to go about it. one other essential item to buy is a digital kitchen scale that weighs in grams, so that you can track and monitor the babies weight to ensure they are gaining.

most of the reading i've done on weaning age says 8 weeks as long as the kit is in good weight, healthy, and doing well. male kits need to be separated from the female kits and momma at this age, to prevent them from breeding with either.

other members here will have much more detailed advice, and hopefully will chime in soon.

 

[starleomach]

First off the cage needs to be baby safe or your chinchilla babies will die. The babies need to be with mom for 8 weeks, They can go to their new homes after they have been weaned and you are sure they are eating. That is after 8 weeks.

with quads it is likely you will need to hand feed and you will need to pull dad out now. Mom nursing 4 babies is going to be hard on her body and she will need a break. Being that dad was in there she may have already bred back. He needs to be out soon. If she bred back she should be away from him for a year if she didn't keep him out for 6 months. growing then nursing 4 babies is very hard on mom

 

[tunes]

Did you do any research, any reading at all, before throwing this male and female together? I ask this because anybody with even the most basic knowledge of ANY animal would know that you would not pull the babies away from the mom on the first day.

The very first thing, before any of the other stuff mentioned above, is that you need to find the kits. Nothing else matters at this point. I don't care if dad is in with mom, because if she was going to breedback she already did. Right now you have 4 kits running around starving to death. Kits do not eat pellets on the very first day. I have not in 10 years seen kits eat pellets the first day they are born. You need to find them or they are going to die.

After that, buy a second cage, make sure it's baby safe, and put mom and the kits in it. You can give mom a break now and again by putting the babies in with dad in the old cage, AFTER you baby proof it. You may also need to use dad to help keep the kits warm and to help care for their toileting needs if you end up rotating. Go to the FAQ's and read the one on the second page about how to care for kits. It will give you all the information you need to know in order to take care of the kits if mom can't do it by herself.

 

[6Dusters]

hmmmm....brand new kits eating food you put out? Should I point out new born kits don't run fast that you couldn't catch them? Something wrong with this thread.
And bread for is eating for heavens sake.

 

[ticklechin]

Troll.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I was thinking the same thing. I can't believe someone would actually think it is ok to wean ANY animal the same day or right after they are born. Something is very wrong with this post

 

[Airyn]

...or really young?

 

[Brittany]

Have the kits been found?

 

[AZChins]

I read this and thought that someone had to be pulling a prank. That has to be it, right?

I really hope that (if there are) any babies have been found and placed into a much safer cage. Little babies can get into any small space and get hurt.

I definitely agree...the person, who wrote this, needs to do a lot more research on chins. Feel free to contact me or call me if you need help - my number is on my website. Now, if this is a troll, it wasn't very nice to write this thread - you knew it would make people's blood pressure go up, shame on you.

 

[liewwan]

This has to be a hoax! Nothing sounds right, if this is true than I'm truly shocked!

 

[VolunteerChin22]

wow. not going to waste my time on this one.