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llough

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2009
Messages
80
Location
Phoenix
Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to let everyone know that D'Artagnan is florishing. He/she is now a little over two weeks old. He's a freaking little survivor, I tell you. He got his first dust both with his mom on Thursday and is looking a little bit prettier.

Here is an updated video of him playing as well as a photo of his/her genitals. From the example photographs, it seems like "he" is actually a "she," but not I'm not entirely sure. I kind of hope that D'Artaagnan IS indeed female as: a.) she would be the first female musketeer ever and, b.) Then perhaps I could keep him and have Fire, his father neutered, and then those two and Izzie, the very proud Mom, could live as one large happy family (or would that not be a good idea, do you think?).

Here is a photo of his or her genitals. I didn't want to scare him/her too much before to take the photo, but he has calmed down quit a bit!

Lastly, what color does anyone think he is? I'm guessing some degree of ebony (probably not hetero purple, although I was sort of rooting for that, especially if he was also glow in the dark,:dance3:).

Video: https://vimeo.com/161377936
 

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Here are some photographs of Fire and Izzie, D'Artagna's father and mother. Maybe this will help with the color identification? I have a feeling that Fire is a homo beige (white abdomen and red eyes), and I know that Izzie is an a extra dark/homo ebony, at least according to her breeder and has some whit, gray and possibly violet in her heritage.

What does everyone think?
Thank you for all the help! Have a wonderful Sunday :).
 

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Ok, I really don't understand why this forum won't let me post these photographs of Fire and Izzie. It keeps giving me an error message that I have already posted them on Surprise St. Patrick's' Day kits thread, but I didn't, and I don't see them. Any hints?
 
I am so happy to hear D'Artagnan is doing well, I was worried when I first read about him/her. The pic is at a bad angle to tell, but I'd guess female, basically is there a gap between the cone and the butt hole? if no then female, if yes then male.

For the pics of Fire and Izzie try renaming the files then re uploading, the forum thinks they got uploaded, since they kind of did just messed up so it's not view able. I also looked at the file names, you have it listed as IMG 1975.JPG.jpg I'm guessing the file is suppose to be IMG 1975 not IMG 1975.JPG so you need to remove the second .jpg that got added. That might be your problem right there as to why it didn't work the first time.

Also the kit looks medium gray to me. I wouldn't neuter Fire, its best to leave him alone, or get another male for him if you want (if the kit is female). Neutering is not a simple surgery like it is for cats and dogs, chins balls are tucked inside so it's an invasive surgery and it provides no known health benefits. Any time a chin goes under there is a good chance they wont wake up as they don't do well under anesthesia, so it's best to limit it to when it's really needed. You also need a vet that is experienced with chin neutering to even have a good chance of survival. If all goes well you will also be looking at a few weeks of recovery, that may require you to once again be hand feeding a chin, and make sure he doesn't pull or chew the stitches. It's I think 8 weeks before he can go back with the female without worry of any sperm being left in his system.
 
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Thank you so much for your concern! I agree, I was worried about D'Artagnan,, too at first, especially because the other two kits passed away and he/she was so much tinier than them. I think I read a long time ago that chinchillas have two uteruses (uteri? what is the plural of uterus . . .hah?) and can actually give birth to kits of different gestation ages . . .D'Artagnan looked premature compared to the other two kits. Does anyone know, just out of curiosity if that is true?

Anyway, the little one was 65 g this morning . . which is like huge growth spurt compared to his/her birth weight which was around 24 g two and a half weeks ago. Is that too much? I've been putting a pinch of Chinchilla Life Line and a pinch of Critical Care in the evaporated milk/water combination that I make every morning for him/her. Perhaps I shouldn't do that? Is it possible to over feed a kit haha?

I will try to take another picture of the little one to identify his/her gender, but he/she really doesn't like to be held that way with his stomach exposed, and I just hate to stress him/her out. There is no space between the cone and the anus that I can tell, so I agree . . .probable first female musketeer!

I also agree that I shouldn't neuter Fire. I'm thinking that if the kit is a female, then she can stay with Izzie in a separate cage. Fire seems to be very lonely . . he didn't really like to be held or cuddled before the way Izzie does, but he does now. I'll wait and see if he adjusts to being alone because four chinchillas is a lot!

As for color, the kit's stomach is the same color as the rest of her . . I read that this indicates ebony but I could be wrong. I tried the Chin-Cross calculator thing for color (which is really cool be the way), and you are right that a homo beige male and a homo extra dark ebony only have different versions of tan kits, which I doubt that D'Artagna is . . .if Fire were a hetero beige then a version of gray is possible as you said, but he has red eyes a and a white stomach so doesn't that mean he must be homo beige? Izzie has a pedigree and I got her from a very respectable and competent breeder who identified as extra dark ebony, but Fire's background is a complete mystery . . .

I need to get a light box! I'm working on the photos to upload. Thank you again for your help!
 
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