Unexpected birth, worst case scenario

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furbabies33

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2016
Messages
15
Hi Everyone-

I am shocked, sad and angry as I write this post. I deceided to share so others can learn from mistakes and to seek some advice.

I own 4 chinchillas. I purchased a bonded pair from a reputable breeder in late 2016. The pair was discounted as the one chinchilla was missing a leg due to an injury as a kit. I'm not going to name the breeder out of respect as I do think this whole situation was not done intentionally and purely a mistake. Regardless, this breeder has a presence in the community. My second pair I bonded myself, one chinchilla I adopted off Craigslist and the other was from Petsmart. These little guys I got in early 2017.

Everything has been fine with them, no issues until yesterday. I have 2 double ferret nation cages with a pair in each. I recently moved in with family and my chinchilla room does not receive much traffic and I have some storage boxes, clutter from moving in the other half of the room. Yesterday, I cleaned their cages and began to shift around boxes since I had to put the window AC unit in. I lifted a folded dog bed off the floor and to my shock and horror I saw a dead ebony kit laying on the floor. I instantly recognized it as a chinchilla as it was stretched out and I saw the large feet. I stepped back and tried to process everything, I was so confused. I screamed for a family member as I couldn't bare to look. Sure enough it was a dead baby kit starting the decaying process. I instantly thought one of the chins I adopted from my second pair was pregnant coming into my home but so much time had passed. I have done research on chinchillas and owned one previously. I start rechecking their genitals and sure enough one of my bonded "girls" from the breeder was actually a boy. I am so mad at myself. I took what the breeder said at face value, I did take a look at the sex of the genitals at one point and thought it looked a little different then the others but figured it was because "she" was just a larger chinchilla. I'm also upset I missed the signs and somehow missed this little kit. I'm assuming my chinchilla gave birth and the kit fell out of the cage, hid and died. I know I read other stories of similar situations but it is traumatic finding this poor kit and knowing it suffered. I'm beating myself up with the maybes and I'm upset with the breeder for the mix up. I'm terrified to think there could be other kits. I tore the whole room apart, closets and looked everywhere. I don't see any droppings. I set a live trap just in case.

Again, I just wanted to write this so others can be alert, expect the unexpected and just don't take someone's word for it. Do you research and even then as I said be aware.:cry3:

As I try to move forward, I have separated the male and female. It is my understanding she could be pregnant again as they breed quick. I plan to wrap the cage in some mesh wire. Do I need to seek medical treatment for the momma chin? I gave her a good visual examine and nothing appears to be off. I pushed lightly on her belly, its soft, doesnt feel lumpy or hard. She's eating, running on the wheel, drinking, taking treats... ? Any input or suggestions is highly appreciated as I've learned so much from this community already.

Thanks for reading..
 
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