Questions about Kits- Unexpectedly Birth

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swimgirl1995

New member
Joined
Feb 2, 2019
Messages
3
Location
Fort Wayne, Indiana
So last week my fiancé and I came home to find two little kits running around the bottom of the cage. This was her first pregnancy, at least to my knowledge. I immediately moved mom and babies into an extra cage that I used to keep my first chinchilla in, as I do know that females can get pregnant right away. I removed all ledges too. Both of the babies are nursing well and have been running around and climbing like crazy. I actually noticed last night that one of the babies was climbing the side of the cage to the top and then dropping down. I’m obviously concerned about the possibility of injuries. I guess I am just wondering what the best way would be for me to baby proof the cage a little better and possibly reduce the height of the cage. And what size mesh can week old babies squeeze through? Also , when can I start giving them dust baths? Every resource I have looked at has told me something different about a timeframe. And what age can I tell what their coloring will be once matured? Mom is a mosaic with white, black and gray that looks kind of brindled and a white tip on her tail. Dad is a beige. One baby appears to be completely ebony, and the other seems to be all white with a few tan or gold spots with the same marking on its tale as mom.

I don’t mean to sound dumb. I have done thorough research, but it would also be nice to hear from experienced kit owners. Thank you in advance!
 
If possible have them in a cage that is no more then 2ft tall, ideally less, and put lots of extra bedding or fleece liners (depending on what you use) down so it helps cushion the landing. The cage should also have bar spacing 1/2 inch or less, or the kits can escape. Since I don't know what cage you are using it's hard to give many suggestions on how to modify it.

I'm not positive on when to give a dust bath, I think it depends on the mother, but I would say maybe a week. The kits learn to dust bath from the mother, so they dust when ready.

It would help if you know more about what color exactly the parents are, like is the mother white and light, medium or dark ebony? Also is the father hetero or homo beige? If you know you can check out the combo calculator http://www.silverfallchinchilla.com/genetics/ChinCrossCalculator.aspx or you can just play around with it if you don't know to get an idea of what the kits might be. From your description is sounds like you have an ebony and a tan and white.
 
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