Seperating Babies

[gumdropyo]

I have a mom with 2 babies - one's a boy and the other's a girl. They are now about 7 weeks old. I have read and heard several different things about separating the male from the females. Some say at 4 months and others say 8 weeks. I do not want to have an accidental pregnancy. I've also noticed that he's started to mount his sister. When should I separate the boy from mom and sister?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chinniechantel]

Can you weigh the babies? Since he is mounting her, I would take him out, and leave the female with mom for a few more weeks. You can put the male with dad.

 

[gumdropyo]

I took them to the vet last Tuesday and the male was approximately 10 0z (283g) and the female 7 oz (198g), but I know they have grown a lot since then (I was out of town for 3.5 days and when I got back, they were so much bigger!). I don't have the dad, so he will be moved to his own cage while mom and baby girl will live together.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

You can separate the male now. He is a fine size for weaning.

 

[gumdropyo]

What is the maximum age I can wait before separating them? It should be no longer than a week, but I just have to get the other cage up and ready for him.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I wean at 8 weeks or once they are 250 grams. If the male has started mounting already, I would separate him now. At 283 g, he is big enough to be weaned.

 

[Brea]

I would as soon as possible. I would just get the cage together quickly, since he is obviously old enough and big enough.