Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: onelifeoneson on September 09, 2014, 01:31:39 PM
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So, I rescued a female Chin that had recently had babies. The woman said she wanted to keep the momma and last baby together (two females). I had already had a male at home and when introducing he did not like them at all! He doesn't even like me holding them then going to him because he can smell them. Well, when cleaning mommas and babys cage, I noticed a dead baby (not all the way developed). Prior to seeing the baby, I asked the person I got them from if there was a chance she was prego because she was gaining some weight. She said no, that after having a litter she loses weight and she was just getting it back. Now that I found the dead baby, I KNOW she was prego when I got her. Long story short, I want to know if she could possibly have more babies inside of her? When I put her back in the cage she was freaking out looking for the baby so I know she knew it was in there. I think she might have aborted the baby due to the stress of moving and me handling her...
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It's not uncommon for pregnant chinchillas to abort when being relocated. While the possibility of another kit being in the womb technically exists it's very unlikely unless she is still in labor.
Considering that there is a male chinchilla in the house be careful he does not encounter the females because it takes a very short time for a pregnancy to occur. Also consider that females go into heat the day they have kits so she may be in heat.
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You can't really rule out retained fetuses unless you go have xrays done at the vet. It is possible for an animal to have a fetus remain in the womb and calcify for the rest of their life. More often though it causes an infection and they die if not caught quickly and put through spay surgery.
Most likely the male was either left in as she gave birth (often they can get pregnant right away) or there was a male kit left too long but they usually don't breed young. Chinchillas abort easy. As they get close to due date they have to be handled carefully and should not be moved even to a different room of the house. Usually they can be rehomed during early pregnancy and still give birth normally if handled carefully.
It is very difficult to put multiple chins of different genders together. Breeding females can get very territorial or protective of their offspring and injure or even kill the other female no matter what their relationship was before. Related females who have never been separated have better odds of raising offspring together but it's still quite possible one will kill the other. Sometimes they won't even tolerate the male staying around while they have kits. If your male is intact putting this group together is really not the way you want to get in to breeding.