Chinchilla Community Forums

Breeders => Breeding 101 => Topic started by: sarahrose080 on March 19, 2018, 11:26:57 AM

Title: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: sarahrose080 on March 19, 2018, 11:26:57 AM
My chinchilla gave birth a week ago, she has bred before with the previous owner. She weighs 1lb 10 ounces right now, How Long will it take her to lose her baby weight? I can also feel her spine when I pet her back, is this normal because she’s carrying excess weight in her belly or should I be concerned? She’s acting fine, eating well, nursing. The baby weighs 51 grams now, it was 45 grams the day after it was born.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: GrayRodent on March 21, 2018, 05:36:47 PM
She's going to be heavier until the babies are weaned as she is producing milk. As long as they are acting healthy I wouldn't be concerned about it if she weighs more than usual. It is weight loss that tends to be a danger sign in chinchillas.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: sarahrose080 on March 21, 2018, 11:57:16 PM
She seems to be healthy, just tired. I just picked her up and noticed blood on my hand. I’m not sure if it’s from her genitals or anus, what could this mean?
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: GrayRodent on March 23, 2018, 08:40:19 PM
Blood is abnormal. You should try to find the cause. Check the teats and look for abnormalities there.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: sarahrose080 on March 24, 2018, 07:48:24 PM
I took her to the vet because I was concerned. She’s very thin but weighs more because she has a bunch of excess fluid in her body. She has hemtomas everywhere. The vet put her on vitamin supplents twice a day (calcium and vitamin k) and I’m feeding her critical care 4 times a day. Baby is still healthy and active, the mom is producing milk. Her energy levels seem a bit higher now, and she goes for a follow up on Thursday.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: GrayRodent on March 27, 2018, 03:14:14 PM
Wow that's awful. How is she doing now? I recommend contacting the breeder and see if you can line up any nursing moms that might be a good surrogate if she doesn't make it.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: sarahrose080 on March 30, 2018, 05:42:36 PM
Mom chin is doing a lot better but unfortunately the baby passed away last night. Mom wasn't producing as much milk as she should have been so the vet had me start supplementing kitten formula out of nursing bottle. A few hours after the first feeding I noticed the baby was barely moving so I contacted a 24 hour vet (45mins from where I live) and the baby died on the way there. The 24 hour vets were pretty sure the baby aspirated and got fluid in his lungs from the bottle. It was sad and long night. The mom's health is progressing forward though, and I plan to get her spayed. I would love to breed her again (She's a beautiful black velvet) But I can't go through this again if there's a possibility she has another tough pregnancy and birth.

-btw: I don't have the breeders contact info anymore and the business is shut down.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: GrayRodent on March 30, 2018, 08:35:43 PM
OK. That's definately not something to try again. I'm very sorry for your loss.  Whatever the underlying cause is of the fluid retention might not make your chinchilla a good surgical candidate though.
Title: Re: Week old kit, is Mom okay?
Post by: BLS Chins on April 04, 2018, 09:15:35 PM
A chinchilla should never be spayed unless medically needed. The surgery has a lot of Ross and no benefit.
Remaining fluid is normally a sign of heart issues. Is this vet knowledgeable about chins? I'm concerned that they are not since they advised kitten milk which is not good for a chinchilla kit. The excess protein and lower fat make it very hard for a kit to thrive