Chinchilla Might Be Pregnant Too Young

[Sinfonian]

I'm afraid that, in my first few months of "chinparenting," I made the crucial mistake of allowing a male and female to have open playtime together. I was initially under the impression that I could prevent pregnancy by simply stopping mating behavior as it occurred. Since then, I've been become aware that chin pregnancy can result from mere seconds of mating behavior. In a normal case, I would simply prepare for kits just in case and would not be worried. However, the female chin is just shy of being six months old, and could potentially have become pregnant shortly after her sexual maturity at four months. I've been told that pregnancy this young can be fatal, so I'm worried sick about my little girl. I am keeping a close eye on her for signs of pregnancy, but I'm told such signs don't appear until just before delivery. She has had a greatly increased appetite lately, but this could just as easily be attributed to her growth as it could to pregnancy. For the time being, I'm going to operate under the assumption that she is pregnant. My problem is that I don't know what to do from here. What can be done to help her if she is pregnant?

 

[chinchewy1]

The only thing you can do is to put her in a baby safe cage and find a good vet that has experience and could do a C-section if needed.

Feed her a healthy diet and count 111 days from the last time she had play time. Hopefully the 111 days will come and go without anything happening. Keep checking to see if she has elongated nipples or any movement(kits moving) in her belly.

If you do discover she is pregnant then watch very closely for signs of labor and have the vet on stand by.

I have had a 6 month old give birth to twins before. I bought her from a breeder at 5 months. The breeder had mis sexed the sibling and thought she had two females caged together. My 6 month old did fine with the birth and took care of the babies just fine. So don't get too worried.. just be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

 

[tunes]

Ditto what Kelly said. No need to panic at this point, just be prepared. I've seen it happen before as well and the mom did okay. Is it ideal or recommended? No, of course not. But it can and does happen.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I agree with what was stated. I took in 30 rescues awhile back and a few of them could not have been more than 5-6 months old and had babies. They did fine, although the births took a lot out of them. There were other issues there though that hopefully your girl does not have to deal with. Good luck and hoping that she is just growing!

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

what watch and have a vet that you can trust with chins ready (know when/where you get a hold of one). After birth , watch the mother VERY carefully (her eating and pooping and for any seizures). I know of a young mother chin that did not make it. She delivered 2 healthy kits and seemed fine. A week after giving birth, she convulsed and died before she could be gotten to a vet. The kits had to hand fed. Probably won't happen to you but please watch the new mom carefully

 

[starleomach]

I agree with all above, also to be safe I would stop the playtimes together as well.

 

[Sinfonian]

Thanks all for the advice! Have any of you had an experience with a chin getting a c-section? Does the benefit of that operation generally outweigh the risk? How much could I expect to pay for such an operation?

 

[addictedtochins]

I think it is best to think about neutering the male chin, than spaying a female. Do a search on here, you will find various threads about neutering.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

are you talking about a c-section (emergency operation to save a chin's life and her babies because a pregnancy went wrong) or a spaying. A spaying for a female chin should ONLY be done to save her life - NEVER just so she can't have babies. A c-section is to save her life and her babies because she can't deliver her babies (she has been in labor way too long) There is NO choice when a vet has to do a c-section unless it is to put the chin down instead

 

[Sinfonian]

I was talking about a c-section, not spaying, and thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure if a c-section could be done close to the projected delivery time as a preventative measure, but I'll trust your experience that it's only to be used if there are complications in labor.

Thanks all for the information!

 

[bubblesjoyluck]

Thanks all for the advice! Have any of you had an experience with a chin getting a c-section? Does the benefit of that operation generally outweigh the risk? How much could I expect to pay for such an operation?

When my Minnie had to have a c-section it alone cost $600. After everything was added up(care, meds, overnight stay, etc.) it cost a little over $800 total.

 

[tunes]

Sinfonian - Were you intending to breed these two on purpose at some point? If you are, you might want to take a read through the chin breeding and baby section. Read the FAQ, some of the stories. There's a lot of information there that would be of benefit to you.

The more research you do, the better it is for your chins, and the more you are empowered with knowledge so that if something does happen, you'll know what to do and not feel panicked.

Most of the time a chin pregnancy goes smoothly. The kits are born, mom knows what to do, she produces milk, etc. But there are times when it goes anything but smooth, and then you need to be armed with the knowledge of what to do, i.e., when to consider a C-section, scheduling your entire life around those kits if mom can't feed them herself. This means you have to do it for her, every 2 hours, around the click, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until they are old enough to shift to every 3 hours, then 4 and so on. The more knowledge you have, the more informed you are, the more you'll be able to take whatever happens in stride. Everybody has to start somewhere, and that breeding section may answer a lot of questions you didn't even know you had!

ETA: An emergency spay out here cost me a little over $500.00, but the vets out here are a LOT cheaper than just about anywhere else.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I had a chin with pregnancy complications (c-section and 2 days at the vet) that cost me $2,300 when all was said and done. I did not get any live kits out of it either and they then spayed the female

 

[Claire D]

Have any of you had an experience with a chin getting a c-section? Does the benefit of that operation generally outweigh the risk? How much could I expect to pay for such an operation?

I was talking about a c-section, not spaying, and thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure if a c-section could be done close to the projected delivery time as a preventative measure, but I'll trust your experience that it's only to be used if there are complications in labor.

I can understand your reasoning for asking but breeding chinchillas is not like humans having babies - you cannot pre-book a C-section. No the benefits do not outweigh the risks and I would be very suspicious of any vet who agreed to do an elective C-section.
As a couple of other members have said, C-sections are done under emergency situations and sometimes the kits do not survive. Occasionally the mothers do not survive either.

I have had a chin go through a C-section (out of clinic hours) which cost somewhere around £350 ($650). She lost both kits and the after care was long and hard - I had to take time off work to look after her and syringe feed her etc. She did not need a spay THEN but 2 years later she developed pyometra (possibly from the surgery and it was a "slow burn" to full - blown pyo) and needed an emergency spay. That was another £350+ (£650) and she, again, needed serious follow-up care. (http://www.chinformative.com/index.php?showtopic=921&hl=leilani)

C-sections are hard on chins because they are often exhausted from a failed labour, incredibly sore from the kits getting stuck, they don't want to eat or do much for several days. The guts can slow down and/or stop and it is hard to get them back on track again.


Please do plenty of reading about chinchilla pregnancy and kit rearing - there's loads of good info on here and it will stand you in good stead if your female is pregnant.

 

[addictedtochins]

I think it is best to think about neutering the male chin, than spaying a female. Do a search on here, you will find various threads about neutering.

Oh, hehe sorry, I posted at 3am and I guess I wasn't thinking straight. I thought he wanted to put the 2 chins back together as cagemates. I wasn't thinking about C-section as there was no birthing problems going on.

 

[Brea]

How old is your shine now? When was the last time they had playtime together? I would mark on the calander 111 days after then. That way you have an idea how late she could give birth. Just make sure you have a baby safe cage and keep a close eye on her.

 

[Sinfonian]

Thanks for all the information guys! Based on their last playtime, she would potentially deliver no later than the end of August, so I still have a considerable wait time. At that point, she will be 8 months old. Her appetite has actually been slightly curbed as of late, so I'm hoping that I was merely observing a growth spurt and not a hungry momma.

To answer some other questions--I had considered allowing the two to breed MUCH later on, but had never come to a decision. I have already done a fair share of my homework on breeding simply out of interest, but I don't think I'll attempt to breed at home any time soon. I'd much rather use what space I have left to provide a home for rescues.

While I certainly wouldn't wish for any complications in a potential delivery, I'm fully prepared to do the round-the-clock chin care gig. This little girl actually managed to get herself injured when she was younger (landed on her face!) and ended up with what was essentially Bell's palsy [unilateral facial paralysis]. While it wasn't life-threatening by any means, the little thing couldn't blink and could have potentially lost her eye if an infection was allowed to set in and run its course. I had to constantly give her artificial tears and antibiotic eye drops (sometimes as often as every hour) for about a month and half. She has fully recovered since then, and now there's this potential problem... she has had an eventful life thus far!

I'm keeping a close eye on her for the few signs of pregnancy in the late stage (nipple growth and irritability, basically). I won't try palpitating because I've never been shown how to do so properly. Keeping track of her weight doesn't seem to be of any use as she still has much growing to do.

 

[Chinniechantel]

Sounds like a plan. Although I don't think it is a good idea, she will be 8 months old which is when most start breeding. I wait a year in half except for TOVs because they are slow as heck for breeding, and so I start them when they have stopped growing for 3 months. Good luck, sounds like you have done everything correct to prepare. Do you have a baby safe cage?

 

[Sinfonian]

I have an extra one-level cage, but the spacing is still too large. I'm thinking of buying some chicken wire and attaching it to the outside of the cage wires.

 

[Laurie]

You can do chicken wire or window screening which I think maybe more flexible and a better choice.