Chinchilla Community Forums
Breeders => General Breeder Chat => Topic started by: marchevie123 on August 16, 2012, 03:25:05 PM
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So I took in a pregnantmom who had 4 babies Three days ago and the babies are fighting! They are biting hard I know this cause they have bite me when I break them up.they are constantly fighting so much I have to seperate them from the cage and mom! Anyone who can help please do I dont know what to do.
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Sounds like you need to rotate the kits. I do not know how long and hope someone answers soon. I'd start with 30min two kits at a time. Check that four tits are exposed and not buried too deep. It may be a milk flow issue. If this does not work it may require bottle feeding. If you bought your chin from a breeder give them a call.
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My friend is a relator and found them in a empty house,so I dont know anything about mom her health if she had been feed latley the house was empty for a week so I dont know how long they went with out food.
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What a bizarre and uncalled for situation!
I hate to say it but the prognosis might not be good for these chinchillas. The mother may not be able to produce the milk the kits need, at least for a time. She is going to have to recover from starvation which may have wreaked havoc with her intestines. Is she in a clean cage now? If so what does her output (urine and fecal output) look like. Is there any? How long have you had her? How old do you think the kits are? Was there any water left in the bottle?
Also are there any signs of trauma to the mother? Are any of the nipples injured?
Are there any signs of injury on the kits themselves? This may require first aid if there is.
Can you give us weights for the kits?
I think it is likely the kits will need to be fed formula until the mother gets enough nutrition to generate more milk. I'm referring you to this article but I am not an expert and cannot critique it. It may not necessarily be good advice but if you don't do something you will loose them all.
http://www.davidson-chinchillas.co.uk/pages/hand_rearing_chinchilla_kits___alternative_approach.php
Do not insert the pipette into the kit's mouth. They can suck in it with enough force to cause serious damage to their throat.
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It is very common for larger litters to fight. Mom can comfortably feed two at a time so the other two have to wait or fight it out. Usually one or two will get the worst of it. Take out the two that are the bullies and leave the runts in for about 30 mins. This gives the runts time alone to eat. You can then put the two bullies back in. Hopefully the runts will go off and let the others eat without a fight. If not you will need to remove the runts for 30 mins. Just keep rotating them as often as you can. Even if you can't do it constantly getting some alone time to fill up should help with the fights when they are all together.
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Therewas some food in the cage bur no water,Im guessing these animals wwre never taking care of because she also briught me two kittens that dont know how to use a litter box! Mom has lots of food and water now,but heres the other problem she bites and hard enough to draw blood,she also sits up and will spray me with what im guessing is urine if I try to touch her she just freaks out,my first chin wasnt the frienliest girl but nothing like this shs like a rabid animal Im scared if I try to look at her I will hurt her.
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I'm glad to hear there was still food available. She might not be too bad off as a result. Just make sure there is still fecal output.
If you are rotating and they are nursing okay then just let them be. It is possible to injure her if you're not sure how to restrain her.
You can use gloves to stop from getting bit when you rotate the kits. Getting sprayed with urine from the mom is not unusual in this situation. It is possible she was abused or mishandled by her previous owner. It is something that can be dealt with after the kits are weaned and the defensive instinct backs off a bit.
If you do happen to notice obvious cuts or bite wounds on the mom then she needs to see a vet. If there are it should be pretty obvious.
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She is also spraying the babies with urine is that normal.
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No that is not normal. See next post.
The babies could be hurting her. Especially if there is not enough milk.
Are they able to nurse at all or is she driving them off? Are you rotating the babies every 30 minutes or so?
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Some moms will do that. Especially if the babies are biting too hard when they nurse. If she stops letting them nurse altogether you will need to look at her nipples to be sure they haven't injured her. Moms will nip, bark, bite, and spray at the babies to calm them down.
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Yup I'm rotating them and I know this will sound crazy but the babies are mean when I go to pick them up they bite me and stay attached to my finger sometimes it can be over a minute be for I can get them off me.
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As they get fuller bellies they will settle down
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You can also supplement with kitten milk to help.
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OK so the little runt died,I tried to bottle feed him but he just keep getting weaker and weaker,And strangely the other babies have seemed to calm down,but now if I even walk in the room mam ma sprays urine I dont even need to be near herand I think I should clean the cage out to get any smell left by the little runt out or will this not make a difference.I dont want the mom to be upset if she can still smell him,but to be honest I'm not sure I can get her out of the cage without her going crazy and hurting herself.
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I'm sorry about the runt. It is very common for a group of 4 babies. It won't bother her if you don't change the shavings, but you will need to soon. They should be changed at least once a week.
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Do you have any idea how I could do that with out stressing her out more the poor chin is just a mess and I'm wondering what happened to the dad and if she misses him,could I put the cage in the bathroom let her climb out clean it and wait for her to climb back in or is there a possibility she wont get back in?
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You can do that. If you place it in a corner of the room you can always gently herd her back in and it will be less stressful than trying to catch her.
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Thank you so much for your help,Ive been rotating the babies every half hour and they are doing great they have become very active little babies.