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1

General Breeder Chat / Please help me figure out this kit's color...

« on: January 25, 2009, 09:31:38 PM »

Ok, I have a female kit born yesterday.  The dam is an ebony female, and the sire is a tan tov.  The little girl's base color is a light to medium ebony.  Her belly is a light ebony, definitely not a white.  She has a dark cape over her shoulders and back, and paw stripes like a tov, but she does not have any sign of a mask.  Her face is almost the same color as a standard gray, maybe a shade darker.  My experience with TOV has always been the mask first, with the kit developing the rest of the markings as they grow.  Has anyone had a TOV born without a mask? 

2

Chit Chat / Please help if you can...

« on: November 06, 2008, 06:44:16 PM »

Today I was on the website doonenicething.com  This site is dedicated to highlighting charity activities and people who are making a positive difference in this country by doing nice things for others.  For example, they encourage something called "pay it back Monday", which asks that on Mondays you show kindness to others by buying for the person behind you in line, whether it be at Mcdonald's, or Starbucks, or even the grocery store. 

Anyway, I was there today and read about a charity drive they are doing now for some chidlren in KY.  The story just broke my heart!  So I wanted to post the link and ask for any help you can give.  No child in a country as prosperous as ours should have to go hungry!

http://www.doonenicething.com/d1nt-ideas.php

Debbie Tenzer, the woman who runs this website is absolutely legitimate.  She has been on Fox news and numerous radio stations to promote her website.  Last year we managed a drive for the kids in Afghanistan who had no school supplies, not even desks!  The marine corps had requested 1,000 packets of materials, like pens, paper, small toys.  To date, the marine corp has had to keep three officers working full-time just to coordinate all the donations that have come in! 

So, anyway, I just wanted to put it out there, and hope that you all will be able to help, too.  Thanks! 

3

Chit Chat / I'm an aunt!!!!

« on: September 24, 2008, 06:00:14 AM »

My brother and his wife welcomed their new baby into the world this morning, after just one hour of labor!
The result, a healthy 8lb 5oz baby boy.  They are naming him Domenic James (DJ, for short).  I am ridiculously excited and just had to share! 

4

Health / Blind chinchilla

« on: August 10, 2008, 06:03:20 PM »

I recently had a kit born whose eyes did not develop properly and he is blind.  I am unsure of how this will affect his life.  So far he is nursing, gaining weight, and is moderately active, but not nearly as much as his two sisters.  They were twice his size at birth...so I am thinking this may be a case of superfoetation...this would mean he is essentially premature.  He doesn't seem to be in any pain at this point.  But his eyes have turned white.

My quandary is to decide whether or not to have him put down.  I have no experience with blindness in chinchillas, so I don't know how this might affect his quality of life.  All of my adult cages are multi-level, so I guess he would have to live in the one-level maternity cage.  But, chins have poor eyesight to begin with, so maybe it wouldn't be so debilitating for him....

Has anyone here had experience with blind chinchillas?  If so, do you feel they can live a decently normal life with this handicap?  I don't want him to be miserable for his whole life.... 

5

General Breeder Chat / Premature Kits

« on: January 25, 2008, 05:19:42 PM »

My female, Isabella, had two male kits about two weeks premature.  They are now to a weight that I am sure they will be fine.  Both seem to be healthy, straight teeth, good eye development, and no heart murmurs.  The one is a cute fluffy little white mosaic.  The other is kind of weird.  His fur is black at the tips and white at the base and his belly is white, it's kind of long and a little wiry, and sticks straight up on his back like a mohawk!  He is really very unattractive for a kit, which is suprising since his father was a color reserve champion ebony, and his mother is a quality white mosaic.  Has anyone else ever seen anything like this?  Do you think it could be due to his being a premie?  Will it get better as he gets older?  He has a very sweet personality.  It just seems like he got the absolute worst genes he could get from each parent.

6

General Breeder Chat / Color question

« on: April 15, 2007, 05:15:59 PM »

My ebony female, Cybil, just delivered two kits, a beige male, and a female that is mostly white with dark gray/black markings on her face and back.  I am not sure whether this girl is a white ebony or a mosaic.  The father is a pink white, so both colors are possible.  Does anyone know how to tell the difference?

I would post pics but I made the tragic mistake of loaning the camera to my brother, who seems to have "borrowed" it permanently 

Thanks ahead of time for your help!

7

General Chat / Help!!!

« on: January 29, 2007, 07:28:11 PM »

OK, one of my recently born kits is turbo-aggressive!  She beats up on her siblings and won't let them nurse, and she has bitten me a couple of times.  I have tried feeding her and keeping her full, hoping she would calm down, but no good.  I really don't want to separate her from the group, as I don't have any other chins to foster her.  Any ideas?

8

New Births / My first triplets!!!

« on: January 27, 2007, 12:34:33 PM »

Today, at 12:00, my violet wrap, Jasmine delivered three awesome violet kits!  Two females and one male, 55, 51, and 50 grams!  Mom and babies are resting now.  I'll try to post some pics in a day or so. 

9

General Chat / Chinchilla book--have any of you seen this?

« on: November 29, 2006, 05:55:54 PM »

I was shopping on Amazon and came across the following book:

Diseases of Small Domestic Rodents (Library of Veterinary Practice)
by V. C. G. Richardson

I was wondering if any of you have come across or heard of this book before?  It is copyrighted 2003, but I am unsure of its reputability (if that's even a word)  Thanks!

 

10

Web site Reviews / Well, Here Goes....Virginia Chinchillas Website review

« on: November 07, 2006, 09:55:29 PM »

*Gulp* Here is my website up for review:

Virginia Chinchillas

I just updated everything so hopefully it is all accurate.  Thanks guys!

 

11

General Chat / Where can I find Manna Pro products??

« on: September 27, 2006, 06:53:15 PM »

I am thinking about switching my chins to Manna pro sho, as I have been hearing great things about it.  But I can't seem to find anyone to buy it from.  Does anyone know of a dealer in Virginia or Maryland? 

12

Breeding 101 / Babies in a multi-level cage

« on: September 10, 2006, 12:47:21 PM »

I was just wondering when it is generally considered safe to put kits in a multi-level cage.  I have several moms with older kits (5-6 weeks) and they are getting pretty antsy in their maternity cages, even though they get exercise in a play area every night.  I would like to put them back in their big multi-level cages but I wasn't sure when it would be ok for the babies.  Thanks!

13

Breeding 101 / Weight gain for orphaned kit

« on: August 24, 2006, 07:01:37 AM »

I have a newborn orphaned kit, she is now one week old and I cannot get her to gain weight.  I have tried her with a foster mother which worked fine, but she still didn't gain weight.  I have tried syringe feeding her a couple of times an hour all day long and several times during the night with KMR mixed with a little nutri-cal and some baby rice cereal, and still no luck.  We have been bouncing back between the same two weights for several days, and she is down significantly from her birth weight.  Is there anything else I can do?

14

New Births / More new babies!!!

« on: August 16, 2006, 06:13:03 PM »

   Pepper, my standard female, delivered two beautiful beige kits today; a boy and a girl.  I am so excited! The boy was 66 grams and the girl 53 grams.  They were already fighting over access to mom though at one hour old, so I am going to remove the boy for short periods of time during the day to let his sister catch up to him.  Does that sounds like a good idea to everyone else?  I have only had one other litter of multiple kits, so I am not experienced with sibling rivalry.  I am terrified that they will get more aggressive over time and actually hurt each other! Is there anything I can do to reduce the chances of an injury?  Thanks!

15

Breeding 101 / WEIRD PREGNANCY

« on: August 15, 2006, 04:41:50 PM »

My black velvet female is full term in her pregnancy, and she has seemed to be in active labor a couple of times over the past week or so.  Last week she actually bled a little, but still no babies.  I took her to the  vet today and we found a kind of gooey brownish discharge coming fom her vaginal area.  The vet was not sure but felt that she was experiencing a fetal re-absorption, but without an unltrasound she couldn't be sure.  She listened for the kit's heartbeat but was unable to hear anything.  We put her on antibiotics as a precaution, but I was holding her earlier and think I felt some kind movement.  Does anyone have any idea what is going on???  Is it just wishful thinking that she may still have a live kit?  She is continuing to act like an expectant mother, laying on her side and stretching a lot, cleaning her vaginal area frequently, etc.  If she does have a live kit still could the antibiotics hurt it?  Should I wait to administer them?  Help!!!