Missing kit survival

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Kirari

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Joined
May 10, 2011
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8
This may not be what the mods classify as an emergency, so if not, I apologize.

I woke up this morning to both of my month-and-a-few-days old kits having escaped their new cage last night (which is especially heartbreaking as I doubts about moving them, but I watched them for roughly 6 hours in it and they couldn't fit through the bars, though they did try).

I found one of the kits after an hour or so, (I've been tearing the house up for three hours at this point), but I can't find Scoot. How long can a month old chin stay away from his mother? He was eating fairly good on his own, but I know he isn't old enough to be weened. I'm terrified that something is(has) happened to him, and now my boss has announced that if I don't come in soon, I'm going to be fired. How long can I reasonably expect him to be ok away from his mother (and not taking into an account any other accidents)? I don't know when they got out, sometime between midnight and 7am.
 
Put out food, a shallow water dish, a dust pan, and some hay. Put mom's cage on the floor. When he's hungry, he's going to gravitate to mom.

I had a little one that size loose for a couple days before I found him. We tore the entire barn down twice, and both times he managed to elude us before we were finally able to find him hiding on the top of a jump.
 
Thank you so much for the advice. I couldn't find much that gave an idea on how survivable being away from his mother for hours would be. Everything that I did read was panic-inducing at best. What really scares me is that I can't hear him moving around anywhere (that's how I found Squeak). Hopefully he has curled up somewhere and is taking a nice nap.

He just finally got the idea of a dust bath last night (though he never actually figured out to get in the dust itself, lol) so hopefully that will be an extra allure to him. Of course, mom's not happy now: not only is she down in the floor where she can't see everything, there's a bowl of water, a pile of dust on a newspaper, and some really tempting hay right were she can't get to them. What she has in the cage with her isn't good enough now, lol. I may put his tunnel out there, too. Do you think that might help?

Thank you so much again for the advice.
 
Put whatever he is familiar with out there. It's all to draw him out. Kits who are a month old have lived after their mothers have passed on just a regular chinchilla diet, so as long as food is out there, don't panic about that. You might even consider mixing up some of the dry formula mentioned in the kit care FAQ. At least he'll get milk that way.

Check every small opening you can find. Check the bottom of your couch for holes. Pull out every dresser drawer and check inside the dresser, as well as in the contents of the drawers (same with desks, kitchen cabinets, etc.) Check for holes around baseboards. If there were closet doors open when he got loose, leave them open. Only if you are 150% sure a room has been thoroughly searched and cleared can you shut the door to that area.

Also, spread some dust around the stuff that you left out. If he comes to eat, you'll see the dust is disturbed.
 
I think my biggest fear was of starvation/dehydration due to being seperated from his mother. I wasn't sure how long he could survive without her milk supplementing his diet.

I will probably add dry milk to his water dish, I have a neighbor who raises goats, so I have easy access to the formula thankfully.

I've also thought about letting Mama out to play supervised through each part of the house. I'm hoping that Scoot will come out for her, or at least make some noise indicating his presence.
 
I've had kits crawl under the refrigerator and then up into the open areas under it. You can't see them at all even if you shine a light under the refrigerator. Some mom chins will call to their babies if they are out of the cage. Look in the direction mom is looking when she calls. Night time is the best time to "hunt".
 
I wouldn't mix it in with the water. Then you have to worry about spoiling. If you're going to do the milk, do the dry formula.
 
Thank you guys for all of your advice and well wishes.

Thanks to the awesome suggestions, Scoot is now safe in his cage. While I think he may have spent the day hiding in the entertainment center somehow, I will monitor him for any changes in behavior or appetite over the next few days.

I did end up letting momma out for a supervised wander of the house, just to see. She never really made any signs that she was looking for him (never called for him, either :( ), but when she wandered into the kitchen (which I thought I had chin-proofed, HA) she made a beeline for the cat box. For a bath. Luckily I use clay cat litter, and it was clean (kitty accidentally got locked outside last night by some bit of fortune, and has been outside all day).

Again, I really, really appreciate all the of the patience and well wishes expressed to me. :D
 
So glad he is safe now. Yesterday all the chins must have staged a flash mob escape party. Two other babies on the forum escaped and last night my 1 year old Jack escaped. Luckly I got him before he ran out the open patio. His cage is decked out with chicken wire and after 1 year of that I should have checked it over to make sure no weak spots appeared. Lesson learned.
 
Glad you found him. If it helps for future reference I had a 2 week old out overnight while
I was away this weekend. hubby left the cage caught the mom in my live trap but missed the baby open I noticed when Got home. the kit is fine
 
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