fatal mysteries

[Ann Vole]

In the recent past, I had a pair of baby chinchillas who appeared healthy and active but after about 3 weeks, one was found dead and about 7 weeks in the other also died. Their bodies had no injuries, enough body fat to not feel the ribs, and color on their teeth (likely no mineral deficiencies). No unusual behavior and healthy fluffy fur before their mysterious deaths. Right now I have 2 new healthy babies by the same parents and am wondering what you people think might have killed those babies so I can watch out for my current two to prevent problems. I have two other girls who have grown to adult size successfully (different litters) but both lost a sibling early (one broke it's leg and one was sickly at birth and did not make it to day 2). Another pair had an eye infection causing their eyes to gum up... they lasted a few weeks but died like the other pair... healthy-looking except the eyes. I can accept the deaths of the ones with the gummed up eyes as there was obviously something wrong but the other pair really have me worried that I am missing some key fatal factor that could kill my new babies. These two are 2 weeks old now.

 

[tunes]

Are these all out of the same parents? If so, then I would not breed the parents to each other anymore. You've got two mysterious deaths, a sickly one at birth, and an eye infection that killed one. If these are all the same parents then don't put them back together again. It's possible they just don't mesh. Two surviving out of 7 are not good odds and I wouldn't risk it again.

If they were not the same parents, then I would look into your husbandry. What kind of bedding do you use? Is there exposure to anything like mold or chemicals that you're not aware of? It could be just really bad luck, but that's a lot of bad luck out of the small amount of animals that you have.

 

[melbur10]

It may help members to know a bit of background info on your pairs, colors(thinking of the leathal factor here) pedegries, ages etc

 

[RDZCRanch]

It may help members to know a bit of background info on your pairs, colors(thinking of the leathal factor here) pedegries, ages etc

The lethal factor occurs inside the womb and only occurs when the kit is either homozygous for white or homozygous for TOV. The babies are reabsorbed and never born.

 

[AZChins]

It sounds like something internal, possibly a heart problem or even something intestinal or a congenital problem like diabetes. Then again it could be an infection where the kits were exposed to some type of harmful bacteria....overgrowth of bacteria ending in a toxic shock condition, that would happen seemingly overnight. Chins hide problems very well.

I've always thought that lethal factor is just that the theoretical kits of a certain color are impossible. They is never a conception just because it can't happen. I could be wrong, but it seems like there would be an awful lot of dead kits being born at ranches where black to black breedings occur frequently and I haven't ever heard of that being an issue.

Breeding mutation to mutation can weaken the offspring, but they probably wouldn't have made it past the first couple weeks if that was the case...where the kits are just weak, that is.

 

[Ann Vole]

I have 3 females with a male... all standard grey color except the current mother is slightly lighter. I had a darker chinchilla in the past (I believe that shade is a "velvet") so I don't think there are lethal genes at play. All three females had a litter but only this one had two litters. I did not keep good track of which mother was which so it is just memory. All four adults are from different sources as far as I can tell (pet stores are not good at saying where the breeder lives). I have degus as well and no deaths at all with them so I figure the food and water are fine. I am only breeding a few for myself so I never went to the extra effort of getting quality stock from breeders but may do just that in the future (not to make any money breeding but to test some ideas I have for training chinchillas... they have amazing physical abilities). I will get a different male for future breeding as the young ones are daughters so this will be the last babies from this male and the current mother (she is older then the others by 2 years). It is a lot of bad luck I think because the deaths seem to have different causes but when two siblings
die without obvious cause and weeks apart... I figure I am missing something.

 

[Tagna]

While I am not a breeder, I suggest getting pedigreed chins rather than a pet store for breeding. There aren't many good breeders left in Canada but enough to get some quality animals. As well some of the USA breeders do ship.

 

[melbur10]

Are these pets store chins related?? You likely wouldn't be able to know that... There are reasons you don't breed pet store animals, and it looks like your experiencing those reasons.
While I'm not a breeder and my knowledge on the matter is limited but it sounds like your treating these animals like a science project with wanting to breed out a bunch of them and train them to do tricks.. :/ this is concerning at best...

I do hope that you can utilize the info that people here have to offer and possibly learn to be a good breeder

 

[DaddyslilDimwit]

I agree with melbur10, If you keep having this many issues and you are just breeding to get more chins for 'training purposes', I think you should consider stopping breeding all together. It seems kind of unfair to keep making sickly babies.

I hope you make the right choice.

 

[saphire]

Ann Vole, if your objective is to train your chinchillas to do tricks, you can do that with adults as well.
I have a customer of mine that adopted a fur chewer from the SPCA and is teaching her tricks.
So no need to breed really, there are some waiting for you to adopt them and make their lives fun.


As for the breeding, it has been said already. No need for me to repeat it, I am sure you heard it.

 

[Chinessa]

I work at a pet store, and while we do not sell chinchillas, I can most certainly tell you that the animals that are sold in pet stores do not come from what you may conventionally consider a "breeder." It is not one person looking to find the best pairs to make the healthiest offspring, it is a corporation breeding as many animals, of all different types, as fast as they can in order to send them out and make the best profit. Many times, all of the animals sold there come from the same source.

Not all pet stores carry animals from this situation, for example, my pet store sells rabbits that come from a reputable, local breeder. But it is very likely that bigger pet stores buy from these types of corporations. So, to repeat what has already been said, it's impossible to tell what the pedigrees are of your chins. It'd probably be best to stop breeding for now. If you wish to continue later, there are many great people here who can answer your questions as you research for future breedings.

 

[LVchinchillas]

I would definitely sell your male and maybe keep the 3 females as pets? If you would like to continue breeding be sure to find a pair of chins with pedigrees so the mysterious deaths will not happen. I am sorry for your loss its always heart breaking when a chin dies.

Good luck

 

[Ann Vole]

just an update, the two current babies are both still alive and healthy-looking. One has gained more weight then the other though which is not a good sign but other then not weighing as much as her sister, she seems healthy (including fat layer on her ribs and color on her teeth). There are a couple small-time breeders listed but both are about 1200 km away. No shows anywhere near here so that is not an easy option. Might have to base it on reputation and have chinchillas shipped by air. As for adoptions, the local shelter said they had not received a chinchilla for 2 years (as of last year) so not too many to obtain that way. When shopping for chinchillas (that was almost 2 years ago... did not buy any then), ALL the pet stores for the whole city combined had 4 on sale... all female. My point is simply that if I go into breeding for more then just having a few pets, it looks like a substantial investment (time, money, transportation) to get good stock.