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[john8752]

My chinchilla had five babies they are two and a halfweeks old i had one pass last night, the runt,  and i have one acting funny right now.

I am almost positive it is bloat, is there anything I can do immediatly?

Her stomach is distented, very soft, she's streaching on her side to try to releave the discomfort and she's had few bowl movements.

please help, I don't want to lose another one, the first loss was devistating, I'm trying anything I can find online about bloat.

[Harleychin]

Call your vet now.You may need a  E - vet visit.
You can give simethicone(baby gas drops ),but I'm not sure that will be enough to help.
A vet can do an X-ray and see how bad the gas
Hopefull one of the long timers will be able to help you more than I can

[john8752]

we were able to get some meds for her luckily for pain and to try to stimulate her bowls, I just hope they'll work, and hopefully we caught it early enough.

[Harleychin]

I hope all goes well with the little one!
Please keep us updated on her.
Did you find out what caused it?

[john8752]

We just put her to sleep...the radio graph and whatnot just showed to much, and she was having trouble breathing...we tried to give her good bacteria and keep the motility drugs in her, but she just couldn't make it...she wasn't passing anything and she was suffering...

Artimis RIP, she's with her brother Aeris now     she isn't suffering anymore...we lost 2 in 3 days they would've been 3 weeks old tomorrow  ...I hope the other 3 out of the litter of 5 make it...

[Harleychin]

I'm so sorry you lost her.
I would do the same thing.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

How sad 

[ABC Chinchillas]

I am sorry for your loss. Big litters are rough more often then not they do not all make it. I prefer twins to any size litter

[Jo Ann]

   Hi John8752,

     My son's name is John, also.  

     You might try putting the remaining kits on goat's milk ... there could be something wrong with momma's milk.   They can be fed with an eye dropper or a bottle of goat's milk (in addition to the water bottle) can be hung on the side of the cage ... if mom drinks it ... according to what one of the ranchers told me, that it would be OK. too.
  
     Are you giving them (the mom) any treats or food other than chinchilla pellets?

     Normally, I am very much against nuts of any kind for chinchillas ... their systems are not made to properly digest the natural oils in the nuts ... but ... in extreme cases of blockage or no bowel movements, I suggest one almond ... that is the only thing that I know of that that can/might help them when they are not passing anything.

     What do the poops look like on the other kits?   Small?  Large? Hard? Soft? Wet? Moist? Dry?  This is an important question.

   Jo Ann

[john8752]

Know it's been a bit, had a lot of stuff to do!

Three are still with us, one's almost 200g, she's the last girl, of the boys one's 115g and the little tan one (only tan of the litter) is 70g, however he's the most acrobatic and mischevious of the three!

Their droppings are all...well I guess you could say normal?  Look exactly the same as normal, been feeding mommy and the babies critical care mixed with kittens milk and they absolutly love the stuff.  Mommy doesn't get treats often, maybe a dried kiwi from time to time, but she hardly gets to eat it because the biggest of the babies steals it from her! 

I feel the passing of the two babies was a blessing in disguise, the other three have taken off in progress and have become much much more active.  They got big enough to graduate into the big cage with mommy and her "sister" (been together since birth but not of the same litter ) the smallest one we have wasnt gaining weight and was staying at 40g for about 4 days, we thought he'd pass too but after our losses he sprung back and gained 8g in two days.

The babies love to play on the wheel and jump around the branches we have spread around the cage so they can get from the first to the second level (6 foot tall cage with three levels, the second level is split in half with plexi glass so the babies can see daddy, the boys will be moving in with daddy when they get bigger)

Overall the babies are doing great, they're eating hay, pellets and whatever else they can get their hands on!  They learned how to take a dusy bath from mommy, it took them a few times to figure out what the dust was but they couldn't get enough of it when they figured it out!

I just hope they all make it now, thank you for your kind words and sorry I didn't update anyone sooner, I forgot completly because I had a lot on my mind.

Thanks again

John 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

That's great John! 

[ABC Chinchillas]

I am very glad to hear the other babies have started to improve and are doing well. That is the tough thing with big litters more often then not there isn't enough of everything for all of them

[Jo Ann]

    Glad to hear the 3 are still with you, but I am so sorry you lost the first two.  In large litters there may not be enough to go around, this is often the problem you have to face.

Three are still with us, one's almost 200g, she's the last girl, of the boys one's 115g and the little tan one (only tan of the litter) is 70g, however he's the most acrobatic and mischevious of the three!

The female (200g) and the male (115g) have a very good chance to survive and be normal. 

If I am counting correctly, they should be 6 weeks old next week ... this is a normal weaning time.  But, since you plan to leave the female with the mom, there may be some changes in the schedule you might want to consider.  The female kit is the largest and is probably getting the lion's share of the milk from momma ... the smallest of the males is in the most need of mom's milk and the largest of the males is only slightly larger than 1/2 the size of the female.  You might want to feed the female with formula as often as possible ... this will keep her full and leave the larger portion of mom's milk for the two males.  (Just a suggestion ... this is what I would do under the same circumstances.)

    The little one weighing only 70g at 5 weeks old still has a way to go.  I am glad he is the most active an mischievous of the three ... this shows he has a strong fight for life inside him.  This and continued good care from you will be his best chance to lead a normal happy life.  The slowed internal development is what may be a problem in the future.  

The babies love to play on the wheel and jump around the branches we have spread around the cage so they can get from the first to the second level (6 foot tall cage with three levels, the second level is split in half with plexi glass so the babies can see daddy, the boys will be moving in with daddy when they get bigger)

A word of caution here.   The survival of the fittest is often determined in battle ... even among male family members.  Each time one of the females go into season, there will be the chance that two, if not all three, males may fight for the right to breed the female in season ... even if they can not get to her and regardless of the fact that they are related.  The father and sons or just the sons alone may get along for months or even a couple of years ... but one day, more than likely, they will hear the call of 'the survival of the fittest', when one of the females is in season ... this is when you may find one, two or all three males in very bad shape or dead.  

 I have seen it happen with one of my own  ... a father and son stayed together and seemed very happy, until the kit was about 9 months old ... then, without warning, the father almost killed his son when a female in a near by cage went into season.  The son lived, but was scarred for life. Male kits have the ability to impregnate a female chinchilla at the tender age of 10 weeks old.  This is one reason I always make it a point to tell people the male kits MUST be removed from the parents by the age of 10 weeks to prevent incest.

   Jo Ann