Z10 just born yesterday!

[kathiva]

My chin Malina just had a new kit born yesterday, he is a light-medium tan baby male, and his tail is darker than his body, he weighed 60 grams, he's one of my biggest babies ever born, and he is really sweet, his daddy is my dark tan boy Coco, and he's been nursing good since then and been gaining weight.

I just have a question about tans though, first time I get one born, so since I noticed that his tail is darker and his body is lighter, and since I've heard that some tans take up to two years to darken, I wondered if this little boy would get darker with time or not, and how would you recognize that, would there be any especial markings or something, the tail for example? because his tail is pretty brown,

Will work on getting his pictures soon.

byeee

 

[kathiva]

Here are pictures of the tan baby as promised, he is a really sweet and healthy boy, just wondering if he will get darker

With the white sapphire baby boy

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

I want them.

 

[Rickman]

In your case, I hope he darkens-up. IMO the darker the tan, the nicer!
However, I've a violet-wrap male born 5/27 with a black tail, and I hope he doesn't darken to match! Haven't had this before, and really haven't a clue what's going to happen!

 

[hkkjstwcl]

Awwwwww. I want them now!

 

[Ash]

Cute, but I think it's time to start offering dustbath to the white sapph's mom so he can get a few rolls in, too.

 

[kathiva]

Hi

Yes, I have, I just started this week, the baby is only about 4 weeks old, so he is learning now from his mommy, I see him just dig in the dust, but no rolling yet, but I know he will learn how to do it soon, and they love to go with their moms in the dust, I am sure when they see their moms they think that it must be a lot of fun.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Sometimes tans darken, sometimes they don't. You'll see as he grows. Patience is something you need a lot of when breeding.

The white sapphire shouldn't look that scraggly. At four weeks mom should still be helping keep him clean. My babies usually get their first dust baths after weaning or shortly before weaning. How often do you clean cages and what bedding do you use? Feed also plays an issue with coat health. He just shouldn't look like that...

 

[kathiva]

Hi

I use the pine shavings and I change them every week, they are also litter trained, so they go in that little litter pan in their cage, not all my chins are litter trained but I noticed that they started to pee in the pellets and in the hay bowl, so put them a pan in the cage and they would go in there.

I also feed them the Oxbox hay and the Oxbow pellets, so don't know then, they also sleep in a hidey house, so maybe since they are cuddling together in a little hideout it might do something to their fur, if you say you give a first dustbath to the babies after weaning or a bit before weaning, I guess I am doing it way before that, the baby is not weaned yet, and what if the color plays a factor as well, since he is a white sapphire and sapphires usually don't have a very strong fur compared to standards, this is my first sapphire baby born, so first time I get to see the result in a sapphire producing pair.

If you have any suggestions that could help, let me know

 

[kathiva]

Oh, forgot to mention, I meant I feed the mom and the rest of my chins the Oxbow products, but they baby just nibbles at it and is still drinking milk from the mom

 

[saphire]

sapphire male - weaned at 8 weeks 1 dust bath - feed Oxbow pellets and Hay and on pine bedding - changed 1/week.

 

[Ash]

Tab forgot to mention, she doesn't have to dust as often due to lower humidity levels where she lives. The higher the humidity, the more you need to dust. Also, the more you handle the chins, the more they need to be dusted.

That baby doesn't look like it has poor fur, it looks greasy.

 

[kathiva]

wow, that is a gorgeous sapphire,

 

[kathiva]

Tab forgot to mention, she doesn't have to dust as often due to lower humidity levels where she lives. The higher the humidity, the more you need to dust. Also, the more you handle the chins, the more they need to be dusted.

That baby doesn't look like it has poor fur, it looks greasy.

Oh, ok, yes, I do handle him a lot, I almost pet him everyday, so he gets used to people, but I guess if you handle them too much it does play a factor in the looks of the fur, I also have my chins in the basement where is cool, and I have a dehumidifier in the basement, so I guess my basement must be more humid than having the chins in a room upstairs, right?

 

[Ash]

We have no clue what the humidity level is in your home. Yes, most basements are damper than other areas, but the best way to get a reading of the level is to get a thermometer that also reads humidity. If you're handling him daily, then he's definitely going to need a bit more dust bath than just one or two. And that goes for all your chins, not just babies if you want to keep them looking nice.

 

[kathiva]

We have no clue what the humidity level is in your home. Yes, most basements are damper than other areas, but the best way to get a reading of the level is to get a thermometer that also reads humidity. If you're handling him daily, then he's definitely going to need a bit more dust bath than just one or two. And that goes for all your chins, not just babies if you want to keep them looking nice.

Hi

Thanks so much for the advise, I will for sure look in that now and into the thermometer thing.

But the other thing, I think, you still want to handle the babies when they are little so they get used to people, but if you don't want to pet them so much to preserve the nice fur, then how can you do to make them a friendly chin? would you just pet them a little bit, or just give them a lot of dustbaths?

 

[RDZCRanch]

You should probably check the humidity in your area then. When the humidity is high, the chins coats will get scraggly like that, faster and more often. If the humidity is above 40% you need to be dusting more often. Once it reaches a certain level you'll need to dust almost daily to keep them looking like chins. It's healthier for them to stay clean and when their fur parts like that...they aren't clean. It shouldn't have anything to do with the mutation, and like I've said before, recessives are not for beginners. They are very difficult to work with.

Check your humidity and when it is high, dust more often and clean cages more often.

 

[kathiva]

Thanks, I'll do that so I'll know what is the level in my place and what to start with, I really had no idea that humidity would be a factor, but thanks for letting me know, I'll try and I'll see what happens, and when I know the if humidity is quite high, then I know that I have to give them dust baths daily for sure

 

[Spoof]

Depends on your lines, mine darken to their tail colors, or close to. I've even had a few born with "black" looking tails turn very dark. =)

I don't worry about what they look like, I handle away. It's just people being picky. If you're really worried about your internet image you can get a grooming comb and groom them up before photos. )

 

[kathiva]

Hi

Thanks so much for the info, I am hoping that this little one darkens to the color of his tail and looks like his daddy Coco, is the first time that Coco has a baby boy like him, he has had a lot of different color kits (not with me) even some dark tan females, but never a boy, and yes, I love to pet the babies very much when they are little, is just too hard to resist to pet them, but I will try on grooming them better for my pictures, that was just a quick shot that I took.