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[Andriani]

1,5 month ago i saw "the mating plug" ,  i thing so , and i thought that brandy could be pregnant .
had not changed anything.
but today I made sure that she is pregnant.
For over a month has started lying on the side and eats a lot more than before. and today was lie down, very gently touched the belly and felt something moving.
has taken several grams lately and lying more than before.
could you tell me what i must do .

Sorry for the bad english but i'm greek ...

[dianah]

ok. deep breath

now, if you can feel things moving, she's probably about two weeks away or less. gestation period is 111 days +/- a few days, it is very unlikely she's only a month and a half pregnant, you would not be able to feel the babies as they are very little at that stage.

how much weight has she put on? do avoid picking her up unless she doesn't mind being handled at all but even so be very careful.

you could gently stroke her tummy to see if her nipples are elongated, they have six in two strips, each starts just underneath the armpits.

is she still in with the male?

 

[Andriani]

she put on aproximately 200 grams .
i felt nipples and she is still with the male , is thiw bad ?

[dianah]

ok. if you can feel her nipples that means they have started elongating (this happens from 90th day onwards), if they are quite long, she's about two weeks or less away from birth, from my experience.

has she started staying at the bottom of the cage more than usual? monitor her water intake, they drink a lot more a few days before birth.

the reason i was asking about the male is because they go into heat straight after giving birth so she could get pregnant again. this is not good for her or the babies as nursing and being pregnant is quite exhausting. it would be a good idea to remove the boy once you notice she starts staying at the bottom of the cage as they naturally do this a few days before birth.

you will need to make sure the cage is baby escape proof, this means that ideally the spacing between bars should be half an inch (1.2 cm) - babies are tiny and LOVE to escape.

it's a good idea to put her into a single level cage or remove shelves although my girl got really stressed when i tried to put her into single level cage so i just left her in the normal one.

you will need a scales that weighs in grams and weigh the babies every day. it's normal for them to lose a couple of grams the first day while mummy's milk is coming in but after that they should be putting on weight steadily. if for any reason your girl can't nurse - hopefully this won't happen but she may need a bit of help if she has too many babies or if there's a problem - some people use formula, i used fresh sheep milk and goat's milk is good too.

i would let your vet know just so they are aware you have a pregnant chinchilla, sometimes there are problems and it's better for them to be ready. how old is brandy?

[Andriani]

she's 1 year and 3-4 months is that ok ?
the space between the bars is 2,2  and i think that they will escape .
i thought i should go and take another cage but i suddenly came up an idea (if its right)
i have a terarium and I thought το put them there and to get air , make a wire lid .

[dianah]

what colour is she? unless she's an ebony or a colour that develops slower, a year and 3-4 months is ok.

terrarium is not a great idea, because it's glass and there's not much airflow even with a wire lid, there's a high risk of overheating and you definitely don't want them, especially as you will have them all constantly in a bunch so even warmer.

you could, temporarily, put cardboard tightly around the cage but i have had them climb up the wall of the cage and above the cardboard - you'd be ok for a week or so with the cardboard.

you can put the male back in about a week/10 days if he still shows interest after birth, just observe them for a bit to see what he's like with the babies, it should be ok but you never know, she may not want him back or he may not be keen on the babies. you will also need to separate any male babies at 10 weeks otherwise they can get their mum or sisters pregnant.
brandy will also get pregnant again if she's in with the boy, the go into heat every month. given that this pregnancy is a bit of a surprise, i'm wondering if you do want her to get pregnant again?

[Andriani]

I have 2 questions :
1)what do you mean to put cardboard ? do you have any photos?
2)what does this mean "the go into heat every month " ?
she's the natural grey

[dianah]

natural grey is good she's a good age. there is a danger of babies getting stuck in girls that get pregnant before they are 9 months old but yours was old when she got pregnant so that's good

1/i don't have any pictures but what i did was get a box, cut it up and put it tightly around the outside of the cage. my base of the cage is slightly bigger than the metal bit so i could just slide it into that. does that make sense?
2/ basically, they want to mate and have the ability to get pregnant for a few days each months. you know, like ladies have periods and are most fertile just before and that happens every month and dogs go into heat a couple of times a year - similar but chinchillas don't bleed.

it's also a good idea to put something down at the bottom of the cage. some people use paper, i use fleece pads - if your girl is not a chewer then you can use those.

[Andriani]

i'm so happy she delivered the chins today !!!
they are 2  what should i do from now on ?
and i'm thinking of putting wires in the space of the bars to so as not to pass through them is it ok ?

[dianah]

oh yay congrats! wires are good as long as there's no sharp bits.

stick the water bottle where the babies can reach it, they do start nibbling onto solid food quite quickly and may want a drink.

the boy's not with her, is he?

are they both nursing nicely? moving around? eyes open? all good?

WE WANT PICTURES!

[Andriani]

the boy is not with them beacuse when i went to see if we had babies i saw flock and scared if he harmed the chins .
they're moving around and the eyes are open and i decided to call them chewy and gummy (chewing gum   )

[dianah]

that's good he shouldn't want to harm babies, dad's usually help but it's important he doesn't go in for at least a week or she will get pregnant straight away and it's not good for her.

great news on moving and i love the names

[Andriani]

so I should put them back together in at least 2 weeks ?
should the chins eat raisins (once a week ) ?
fotos coming soon !

[dianah]

a week but observe them, if he tries any funny business with the lady, take him out for another 2-3 days.

do not give ANY raisins or any other treats to the babies until they are at least 6 months old.

you could give mum some alfalfa hay in addition to her usual hay. also, you could mix some pure (unsweetened - very important) with water - half an half - and put this in an extra bottle for the mum - it helps with milk production and helps prevent mastitis.

looking forward to the pictures

[Andriani]

what is pure ?