Chinchilla Community Forums

Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: Squirrel_Butt on October 08, 2011, 10:27:23 PM

Title: How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?
Post by: Squirrel_Butt on October 08, 2011, 10:27:23 PM

Bonnie and Clyde will be weaned from Raisin on October 23.  What can I do to make the weaning process as stress free as possible for them?

Title: Re: How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?
Post by: PSV on October 10, 2011, 03:03:07 AM

Place them together for a while, out of sight and out of "scent" from the mother. That's about it imo.
They don't need special treatment nor any special attention once they are weaned. Starting the 45th day (give or take a couple of days) of life their body temperature isn't mother dependent anymore therefore they can survive without the mother nearby.
Just make sure that they are eating solid food and drinking water and they're just fine.

Title: Re: How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?
Post by: Squirrel_Butt on October 10, 2011, 02:42:09 PM

How far can their mother's scent travel? They are in the same room. I had them all in the mother's cage at first but they kept getting out so I put them all in a new cage.  This Friday I am putting them all in the mom's cage. When they are to be weaned, I'm puttting Bonnie in the cage they are all in now, and Clyde in the one next to it.These are my first kits. Wasn't even my choice to have them, but it certainly was my choice to keep them and do well with them. Would lots of attention help them? Or would that make things worse?

Title: Re: How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?
Post by: Debbie.nl.ca on October 24, 2011, 11:59:53 AM

Yes now is the time for you to take mom's place. Handle them, love them. play with them.

Title: Re: How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?
Post by: Squirrel_Butt on October 24, 2011, 03:16:20 PM

Should I let them visit mom for an hour every other day so they finish the milk she is still carrying? On week 7 The vet had me separate the mother from the kits because Raisin was losing a huge amount of weight.  The kits visited Raisin every day for an hour so they could nurse, but not drain too much of Raisin's strength.

Title: Re: How do I make weaning less stressful for the kits?
Post by: Debbie.nl.ca on October 28, 2011, 07:16:33 PM

At 7 weeks they should be fine to wean, under the circumstances. It's only a week early.