Hi everyone, I'm new here, and I need some advice.
In December 2013 I purchased 2, 5 month old male chinchillas from a pet shop. 1 standard grey, and 1 white mosaic. Approximately 24 hours later the Mosaic had a seizure, unfortunately everything happened so fast there was nothing I could do. Poor little thing died. So I went searching locally and found a lady who was looking to rehome one (out of 4) of her male chinchillas, as he wasn't getting along well with the others.
He was around 4 years old when I got him, and he became best of friends with the other chin. For the past 8 months they've been living in harmony, no squabbles or (observed) sexual behaviour between them. So imagine my surprise when I wake up and find 2 little kits suckling on my male chin đŻ if you haven't already figured it out...he...was a she *sighs*
The kits are lovely, and I've observed them running around, and climing the side of the cage. After a few busy days I haven't handled them for while (48-72 hours) and for some reason I have a feeling that they are slightly older than a day, and I just missed them when I was changing the chins water. and feeding them. Sorry if this is too long.
Anyways I now have quite a few questions:
1) Can I leave dad in the cage? If not, why?
2) How do I kit-proof the cage? The bar spacing is correct, but what about things like additional floors - their current cage has 3 different levels and 2 ladders - what should I cover wire floors, shelves, ladders with?
3) When can kits start nibbling mums food? Until then do I have to make sure it's out of reach of the kits?
4) What kind of 'nest' or den can I provide?
5) What temperature does the room need to be?
6) What kind of issues should I be looking out for?
7) How often/for how long should I handle them? And when?
8) Should I wean at 8 or 10 weeks?
9) When I do wean them, how do I do it?
10) One is male, one is female, at which age do they need to be separated from parents to stop inbreeding?
11) When should I let them go to new homes? 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks?
12) I'm 100% sure they've already mated again, I know the average pregnancy is 111 days, but how much earlier/later can kits arrive?
13) How do I know if mum is producing enough milk for her kits?
14) Each kit is 40g, how much weight should they gain/how fast?
15) As they have already made a strong bond, would it be cruel to seperate them? I really don't want to...
16) If I learn more about breeding, would it be okay to continue breeding the pair? I mean I never would have ever, but now that this has happened, what's the harm in kits 4 times a year? What would your opinion be if I continued to let them breed?
17) From the photos below, do my chins look the part? They have lovely temperaments, very chilled back guys.
18) What qualities should be looked for in a potential breeding chinchilla (make & female)?
19) Am I right in believing my Sparky (dad) is a standard grey? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
20) What color would you classify Pookie (mum) She has white/light grey/ginger (only a little) fur and pink ears.
21) What colors are the kits classified as?
22) What fur color combinations could Sparky and Pookie produce? Is it just the two colours of the kits?
23) How old would you guess the kits are from the photos and description? 1 day old, 2 days, 3 days?..
24) Until what age can a female chin safely have kits? Is 8-12 the earliest?
25) What do you think of the parents and kits?
Pictures in order; Sparky (dad), Pookie (mum), Female Kit, Male Kit, (left to right) Male Kit & Female Kit.
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If you could take the time to answer all of my questions, it would be appreciated so much! I've been preparing and learning all night...I don't want anything to go wrong, and now I'm just really curious đ any help/suggestions is more than welcome! Thanks.
In December 2013 I purchased 2, 5 month old male chinchillas from a pet shop. 1 standard grey, and 1 white mosaic. Approximately 24 hours later the Mosaic had a seizure, unfortunately everything happened so fast there was nothing I could do. Poor little thing died. So I went searching locally and found a lady who was looking to rehome one (out of 4) of her male chinchillas, as he wasn't getting along well with the others.
He was around 4 years old when I got him, and he became best of friends with the other chin. For the past 8 months they've been living in harmony, no squabbles or (observed) sexual behaviour between them. So imagine my surprise when I wake up and find 2 little kits suckling on my male chin đŻ if you haven't already figured it out...he...was a she *sighs*
The kits are lovely, and I've observed them running around, and climing the side of the cage. After a few busy days I haven't handled them for while (48-72 hours) and for some reason I have a feeling that they are slightly older than a day, and I just missed them when I was changing the chins water. and feeding them. Sorry if this is too long.
Anyways I now have quite a few questions:
1) Can I leave dad in the cage? If not, why?
2) How do I kit-proof the cage? The bar spacing is correct, but what about things like additional floors - their current cage has 3 different levels and 2 ladders - what should I cover wire floors, shelves, ladders with?
3) When can kits start nibbling mums food? Until then do I have to make sure it's out of reach of the kits?
4) What kind of 'nest' or den can I provide?
5) What temperature does the room need to be?
6) What kind of issues should I be looking out for?
7) How often/for how long should I handle them? And when?
8) Should I wean at 8 or 10 weeks?
9) When I do wean them, how do I do it?
10) One is male, one is female, at which age do they need to be separated from parents to stop inbreeding?
11) When should I let them go to new homes? 10 weeks, 12 weeks, 14 weeks?
12) I'm 100% sure they've already mated again, I know the average pregnancy is 111 days, but how much earlier/later can kits arrive?
13) How do I know if mum is producing enough milk for her kits?
14) Each kit is 40g, how much weight should they gain/how fast?
15) As they have already made a strong bond, would it be cruel to seperate them? I really don't want to...
16) If I learn more about breeding, would it be okay to continue breeding the pair? I mean I never would have ever, but now that this has happened, what's the harm in kits 4 times a year? What would your opinion be if I continued to let them breed?
17) From the photos below, do my chins look the part? They have lovely temperaments, very chilled back guys.
18) What qualities should be looked for in a potential breeding chinchilla (make & female)?
19) Am I right in believing my Sparky (dad) is a standard grey? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
20) What color would you classify Pookie (mum) She has white/light grey/ginger (only a little) fur and pink ears.
21) What colors are the kits classified as?
22) What fur color combinations could Sparky and Pookie produce? Is it just the two colours of the kits?
23) How old would you guess the kits are from the photos and description? 1 day old, 2 days, 3 days?..
24) Until what age can a female chin safely have kits? Is 8-12 the earliest?
25) What do you think of the parents and kits?
Pictures in order; Sparky (dad), Pookie (mum), Female Kit, Male Kit, (left to right) Male Kit & Female Kit.
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If you could take the time to answer all of my questions, it would be appreciated so much! I've been preparing and learning all night...I don't want anything to go wrong, and now I'm just really curious đ any help/suggestions is more than welcome! Thanks.
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