Help! Unexpected babies

[chins1222]

So my "male"chinchilla that I've had for almost 2 years has 3 babies today. I came home and went up to let my puppy out of his crate and he kept whining and going over to the one side of his cage I didn't think much of it at the time but then later he would not leave the shelf under the cages alone and I looked to find a baby, found the other one of the floor as well and the last one was still with mommy. I haven't found any more so I'm assuming she had the three.

I moved them to a single critter nation(my poor gerbil had to down grade and was wondering if I need to attach anything the inside of the cage to prevent escape or if a critter nation will be enough?

They appear to be drinking from mom I did see 2 of the babies "wrestling"? Do they play with each other this young? Or were they fighting?
I will need to pick up a digital scale tomorrow as the one I have doesn't work very well.
Do I need to attach the water bottle where they can reach it or do they get everything from mom at this time?
Anything special I should be doing fro mom? I have pellets and hay in there
Any tips?
Here is a pic of the setup the box is temporary I just didn't have another hide to use

 

[Godofgods]

Im assuming you moved them to a CN because the other cage is not baby proof. Is thats so i would give an incredibly good check everywhere else in your house for an escaped kit. (I found my first kit under the refrigerator in the very back before i new he was even born.) They are very small and can hide anywhere.

That being said, babys shouldn't be able to escape a CN's 1/2" bar spacing so you shouldn't need to ad anything to that.

Babies will probably get all they need right now from nursing. But it never hurts to have food/water within there reach. Maybe a chew item or two for momma.
Since you mostly want to keep the cage one level anyway. Kits are clumsy but adventurous as times. They could easily hurt themselves trying to hop around from ledge to ledge.

Definitely get that scale. If the mothers milk has already come in and everything goes fine then the momma should do all the work. Its when things dont go normal that you need to be prepared. For example if the mothers milk hasnt come in yet. Then the babies have nothing they can eat. Weighing them helps determine this. If they are gaining weight then thats good.Cause sometimes kits will try and nurse even if momma doesnt have anything left. Hopefully such a thing doesnt happen. But if it does its something you want to no about.

I think they can be fed goats milk from a syringe if mommas milk isnt in yet. I could be wrong tho. Hopefully one of the breeders can elaborate on that whole aspect. They would know a lot better then me.

 

[Amethyst]

Another thing you might want to add is alfalfa hay for the mother, it has more calcium then grass hay. Since CN cages are a little high you might want to put down an extra layer of fleece on the floor to make it more padded, kits like to climb walls. Be careful with hidy houses, some mothers will sit on top of the house to escape the kits, so maker sure she is feeding and caring for the kits. not ignoring them. Also if you keep the box make sure it wont collapses under her weigh, which could hurt the kits if they are inside.

 

[Dreamlite]

You need to separate the adult chins asap. The female can and will breeder right after birth which is extremely hard on her. They need to be kept apart forever now since Im assuming they dont have pedigrees. The female should take care of the babies needs. You can weigh them once a day to check for growth. They may not gain weight until day 3 or 4. This is normal as long as they are not loosing. The cage should have no shelves or hiding areas. You want to make sure the female can not get away from the kits. Good luck

 

[Godofgods]

Since CN cages are a little high you might want to put down an extra layer of fleece on the floor to make it more padded, kits like to climb walls.

Good point, i forgot about that. Those **** kits become experts at climbing the bars while they are young. Led to a number of scares for me...

 

[chins1222]

Thank you for the replies. Yes I moved mom and babies to the CN because they were originally in a ferret nation. My dog found them first luckily they were under the shelf of the cage. Mom will forever be separated from my other males as I do not want this happening again.mom does have alfalfa available as well

On Wednesday babies weighed 42,42,39 yesterday they weighed 40,40,39 and today they weigh 39,39,36. I checked moms nipples and the one side is slightly swollen and elongated and if I sneeze gently a very tiny drop of milk appears the other side has elongated nipples and some milk as well I believe. They are always under her and appear to be nursing.
I will remove the hide now shelves have already been removed and I have a cushiony layer of fleece down.

I feel like with the weight loss I should start supplementing their diet some, what do I give them? I've read goat or lamb replacement milk, is this correct?

Thanks for your help

 

[tunes]

The 30's are a nightmare for me. Once kits hit the 30s, I start supplementing every 2 hours. Once they start gaining, I'll back off. I would suggest you try rotating as well. When I rotate/hand feed, I will put them on a 2 hour time limit with mom. Kits coming off of mom get hand fed, kits going in do not. They only get supplemented when they come out of the cage.

Here is a link so you can read on what to do: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21

 

[chins1222]

Thank you. I started hand feeding on Saturday and rotating with the smallest one in while the biggest were out with me. They started gaining but unfortunately I lost the littlest one.
she had gotten a bite to the face probably from mom and she just seemed off from the start
The other 2 are doing great and the little girl is actually bigger than her brother lol but they're both gaining steadily now and I hadn't had to hand feed any more.

They were born on the 8th is it ok to give them and mom a dust bath now? She's looking a little rough lol

 

[Cuddlebug]

Mom can have a dust bath. Watch the babies for any more signs of fighting; that is what you saw before. If they are not getting enough milk, they will fight and can seriously injure or even kill each other. The bite on the little one was probably from a sibling.

 

[chins1222]

I gave them a dust bath babies just tried to eat the dust lol and I haven't noticed any more fighting, they're both gaining weight and cuddle together with mom all the time. I figured it was from mom because of how wide the bite was but I guess it could have just been 2 separate bites. I am just glad the other two seem to be getting along well. Thank you