What the heck IS this?!

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JennyBug

JennyBug

Sometimes I love too much
Joined
Feb 1, 2009
Messages
658
Location
Indiana
When I refilled food and checked the cages this morning, I found this sitting in my quad's cage. I have NO idea what it is! I have seven girls, but two of the girls who live in the quad cage are Arlington chins, so I'm hoping to God this isn't some indicator of pregnancy.

I put my finger up next to it to give a size comparison (it is my left index finger, and I actually have fairly long fingers). I think the poops just stuck to it after the fact.

Chinchilla health.jpg

If you have any ideas, please let me know!!
 
If you are sure you've got all girls, then it could be a heat plug. You don't often see them, but one pops up every now and again. They are generally longer and thinner than mating plugs.
 
It looks like a heat plug to me too but I'd be double checking those Arlington chins just in case ;)
 
I double - no, TRIPLE - checked the Arlington pair, and according to pics on the forum, they are both girlies. The pair they are in with are both girls, not to mention I've had them for almost a year and no babies, and they didn't breed before I got them. I'll quadruple check everyone when I get home tonight.

I just don't want to be fined or have my two new girls taken from me if I made a mistake :(
 
From what I understand and based on an article I read, the Arlington SPCA stated that there would be a $500 fine per occurrence for any breeding of the chinchillas that were in their care. Their policy is no breeding - especially since these animals are of unknown parentage. NOLA Chins could also take Nova and Pele (my Arlington girls) back if he wanted to since he has a no breeding policy as well.

I hope I'm just worrying over nothing. I'll re-check everyone again tonight before I really start to panic!
 
I don't think you need to worry. You didn't purposely breed these chinchillas. I believe that these fines are mostly there to scare people who may be thinking about purposely breeding these animals. I don't see how they could fine true oops litters caused by the rescuing organizations missexing chinchillas. If they even think about fining you they first need to fine themselves for missexing animals. My opinion, of course.
 
Don't worry. It wouldn't be your fault if they were missexed, that would be the rescue party's fault. You shouldn't be penalized because of THEIR mistakes.

For peace of mind, you could take pictures of their parts and post them here to be sexed.
 
I think I will do that tonight. Both of the Arlington chins have the same parts, so I know at least they're the same sex. Daisy and Peach are around 5 years old, and they've never had a litter, but then again, they've only been with me for a little under a year.
 
They aren't going to take them away because of a screw up on their end. If they tried to, they would look like bigger fools than they already do for the mistakes they already made.

You don't even need to post pictures if you don't have time. If all four genitalia look the same, then they are all four girls. If one of them doesn't, then you know you've got an oops litter coming.
 
Would a chinchilla expel a plug just before giving birth? I've read some stuff online, but frankly I'm not sure which info is correct. From a picture I saw online, it could be either type of plug; I'm just not sure! I haven't had chins that long, but I've never seen a plug before, so after I got over being scared that there was something horribly wrong with one of my girls, I realized what it probably was.

I'm worried that I missexed Daisy or Peach. I know that the two Arlington girls are girls - I checked numerous times, especially after the surprise kit a member had a couple of weeks ago. We REALLY don't want to do any breeding; after reading some of the stories on here I know that I couldn't handle it.

Deep breath... whoosh... I think I just need to calm down. Que sera, sera, after all!
 
I found a heat plug this morning! I only see them every six months or so...and I freak out the same as you, Jenny. It seems to happen with females that have never been in breeding before the most...usually when they are maybe a year or more old.

The best way to tell...and this is gross....is to sniff it. If it's a mating plug, it will smell like rotten citrus. Also, it will be much larger and "chunkier." Sometimes the females expel them from heat, as well... Nope, they aren't expelled before giving birth. You can have a virgin chinnie girl produce them for you.

Don't worry...they can be all girls and have this happen. Trust me, I've been frightened by them too many times before with rescues...now I don't think much of them, but I still check any cagemates to see if they are male!
 
Well, I have two in the cage that are around 7 or 8 months old, so that would be about right! I'll still check when I get home, but I did throw the plug away (I don't have a really great sense of smell anyway), so I'll just have to check all of the nether-parts!
 
Yeah, it's icky anyway - they really do stink to high heaven sometimes though! If you have a plug like that and no males in the cage, it's safe to say that whatever female produced it is not pregnant. :)

I'm just so sorry that you had to see that especially if you had ever read anything about the mating plugs. Poor, Jenny! Now you know how so many of us have the brain damage from our chins...the constant worry and all the new surprises they throw at us. :p
 
I found one of those in Shell's cage this morning. So happy to know it is nothing serious. I did smell it and it had no scent. It was a bit sticky to touch though. What other signs are there when a girl is in heat?
 
Some signs that females are in heat can be slight clear discharge, some slight swelling...sometimes the girls will be a little moody, as well. Some females will have a bit of musky odor, but those are normally older females that have already had kits.
 
Well, my track meet was canceled tonight, so I got to come home early.

Everyone's parts look the same, so I guess it was an estrus plug *WHEW!*

Thank you all for the information. There is just so much out there, it's hard to keep track of what is accurate and what isn't. Glad you guys are around to help! :)
 
I am so thankful for this thread! Just found one of these in the cage with my 9 month old girl. Freaked me out. Never seen one before. She's in a cage with her momma, so no worries. I thought I was going to be making an emergency visit to the vet!
 
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