What can I do to help this newborn?

[cdxrd]

Alright all, One of my chins gave birth some time today while I was at work. She has two little ones, but sometime during the process one of them got out of the cage and fell. I found him behind the cage on the floor, cold and barely moving. We got him warmed up, a little more active, eyes are open and he is somewhat able to move around on his own. His back legs still arent holding him up like the other ones, but the problem Im having is the mother doesnt seem to want to take care of him. She is doing good with the other, but this one she is paying a lot less attention to and we havent seen him be able to latch onto a nipple at all yet. He is at most 6-8 hours old, and I really dont want to lose the little guy! He seems to have a fighting spirit doing his best to stay near mom and walk around her, he just cant seem to get under her to get to dinner! What can I do to help the poor little guy?

 

[tunes]

First, you need to get food into him ASAP. He's been way too long without. Warm him up, rub his little body with a warm towel to get him stimulated. Then you need to start hand feeding.

1 can goats milk
1 can water
1 teaspoon baby rice cereal

Mix it up and give it to him at room temperature. I use a syringe, but if you can't get ahold of one, get a glass eye dropper. Place a drop of the formula on his lip at a time, and let him lick it in. Consider yourself lucky if you get a few drops in the first time. Wait a little bit, try it again. After that, if you get him eating, you need to take care of his bodily functions. Gently rub his genitals from front to back, down over the rectum, with a BARELY moistened warm cotton ball. You don't want to soak him, you want to stimulate him.

You're going to need to hand feed him every 2 hours around the clock, and take care of defecation and urination. Set your alarm clock. If mom is absolutely not paying attention to him, then put him in a carrier with a heating pad under half of it on the lowest setting. Give him a stuffie to cuddle with as well. Every time you take him out to feed him, try placing him back in with mom again and see if she takes him. Make sure you use mom's shavings to put in the carrier where you are keeping him.

I would not put him in with mom, and then just go to bed, even if you "think" she's accepting him. Do it while you know you can keep an eye so you can pull him if need be, feed him, and warm him.

Once you get him eating and moving again, mom may take over. With him being so cold, she may be rejecting him because she thinks he isn't going to make it.

Also, GENTLY move his back legs up and down in as natural a motion as you can. Slowly and gently. Continue to rub him with a warm towel from head to tail trying to restore circulation.

After you get all that going, read through the FAQ under the breeding and baby section about caring for kits. That should give you all the information you need in more detail.

Good luck!

ETA: If he got out of his cage, is it a baby safe cage? If it's not, you need to either buy a new cage, or somehow turn this into a baby safe cage so it doesn't happen again.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

After following Peggy's instructions make sure you get the cage baby-safe so it doesn't happen again. Good luck!

 

[cdxrd]

After following Peggy's instructions make sure you get the cage baby-safe so it doesn't happen again. Good luck!

That parts already been accomplished and already been working on the rest. I dont have any goats milk on hand and no way to get to the store, but there is a can of infant formula.. We did get him warmed up and crying a bit, but I dont want to lose the little guy.. thanks for the help!

 

[chinchewy1]

Mix that formula up like Peggy said and put it into ice cube trays. Cover and freeze. When it is frozen take the cubes and store them in an air tight zip lock in the freezer. Only thaw one cube at a time. The forumla if not frozen only is good for about 24 hrs.

If he was able to get out of the cage then you need to be sure you move Mom and the babies to a baby safe cage with cage spacing no more then 1inch by 1/2 inch. Babies are very active from the time of birth and can and will get out of larger spacing

You also need to put a heating pad on low on half of the cage. If he is not going under Mom and she is rejecting him he may get cold and die by the next two hour feeding.

You will have to bring him to work with you or take off. If you can't do this maybe someone on here that is close to you can take over.

Good luck and let us know if we can be of any other help to you.

Edited to add: I just seen your post about not having goats milk... Where are you located?

 

[cdxrd]

I'm over in Boise, ID.. Car is back so I'm getting ready to run down and get some for the little guy.

 

[chinchewy1]

Great news! good luck!

 

[DaphnesandFreddysmom]

What about trying to weasle the little guy in while she's nursing the other? Maybe that would stimulate her to care for him?

I don't know much about baby chins but we did have a cat who rejected a baby until we weasled it in with the rest at feeding time and than she never had a problem with it. We don't know why the mom rejected it but the kitten is still here and is fine and healthy..

 

[cdxrd]

What about trying to weasle the little guy in while she's nursing the other? Maybe that would stimulate her to care for him?

I don't know much about baby chins but we did have a cat who rejected a baby until we weasled it in with the rest at feeding time and than she never had a problem with it. We don't know why the mom rejected it but the kitten is still here and is fine and healthy..

I've tried.. he just doesnt seem to get the idea to find a nipple and latch on either. She isn't ignoring, but at the same time she sure isnt helping him either. Just tried some goatmilk/rice and most of it ended up on me..

 

[Claire D]

How is the little one doing now?

 

[chinchewy1]

I've tried.. he just doesnt seem to get the idea to find a nipple and latch on either. She isn't ignoring, but at the same time she sure isnt helping him either. Just tried some goatmilk/rice and most of it ended up on me..

You should only be doing one tiny drop at a time on his bottom lip. If you do more you run the risk of him asperating.

 

[eroomlorac]

I have never bred chinchillas but I wonder if you took the more active one out for an hour or so and put the weaker one in alone with the mama if she'd take care of him better. But be sure to keep the baby not with the mama warm. Maybe if he's the only kit in with her she'll 'mother' him better.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I have never bred chinchillas but I wonder if you took the more active one out for an hour or so and put the weaker one in alone with the mama if she'd take care of him better. But be sure to keep the baby not with the mama warm. Maybe if he's the only kit in with her she'll 'mother' him better.

That's what I was thinking. Try routing the babies. Peggy can tell you exactly what to do with routing and everything you need to do for the one not with mommy.
Hopefully the little guy makes it.

(Makes me so happy that I didn't have any problems with Luna and the twins)

 

[chinchewy1]

Mother chinchillas do not "mother" much. They mainly just stand there and let the kits feed, then clean them. The most moms do is shove the kits under them. Rotating works when you have several kits fighting over nipples but if there is no fighting and it is the kit that is not trying to latch on rotating isn't going to do too much. If he won't feed she will ignore him so he will become chilled and die quicker.

Because this kit was wet and got chilled he was close to death already. The intention is to warm him and feed him to hopefully get him back from the edge and give him enough energy to start to feed on his own. Once he perks up we are hoping his rooting instincts return. If they do not then there isn't anything that will help(rotating, putting him under mom etc) except to hand feed him and keep him warm.

 

[Diva Chins]

Just want to throw in my two cents. I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but feeding a kit in an upright position is a must since they might inhale the milk.
http://www.geocities.com/jobernstein1949/
There are some very very educational videos on that link on how to care for a kit that was rejected by it's mother. It's by JoAnn at LuvNChins.
ETA: I just realized the link doesn't take you directly to it. Scroll to the bottom and click on The First Signs of Trouble' to see the vids and instructions. It's very good stuff!

 

[tunes]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but feeding a kit in an upright position is a must since they might inhale the milk.

I feed my kits any way they will take the milk and have never had a problem with it. Kits nurse upside down under their mom's all the time. If this was true, they would all choke to death in that position. The important thing to remember is not to put the syringe or dropper in their mouth, but to put a drop on their lip and let them take it in. That is how you avoid aspiration and choking.

 

[Megan]

How is the little guy doing? I hope he's doing ok.

As for the rotating advice.. This is fine in litters of triplets/quads etc where kits are fighting, and not letting each other nurse. In this kits case, he seems to be much too weak to support himself, chase mom around the cage when she decides to move ect. Handfeeding is the only option to get him back to where he is strong enough

 

[Rickman]

Fingers crossed for this little guy!

 

[cdxrd]

Well, Im at work but my better half is at home. When I left the house this morning, the little guy was doing much better. I had the cage sitting on the couch with the heating pad on low under one end of it for a while, then moved them up and away from it when I went to bed.. I did kick up the heat in the room a notch though to help.

When I left though, he seemed a lot more energetic, out running around the cage and generally seemed almost as good as his sister, but I only got to see him for about 2 minutes, literally. I'll find out more when I get home in about 8 or 9 hours.

 

[starleomach]

remeber they may not take much in at first, but ever litttle bit they eat is a step in the right direction.