Who murdered who?

[Jackie]

Can anyone tell me what could have happened.
My male and female chinchilla were new, proud parents of 2 very healthy kits (born 30/11/2014) and for 4 weeks everyone was very happy. They are spoilt rotten, and have plenty room in their cage.
We went away for 9 days.. and left them in the care of my mom. On our return, we checked and the kits are perfectly healthy, everyone looked good and calm.
The next morning was a murder scene. It was horrific. I am still so upset by it all and I play the scenario over and over in my mind. We heard nothing and for the life of me I cannot figure out what happened.
Both kits were dead. Mommy looked like she had been fighting for her life. She had been hurt, no physical blood as such, but there was so much fur all over the cage and after careful investigation, it was obvious that entire tuffs of fur had been pulled from her. (her back and side) She was exhausted and very forlorn. One of the kits were ripped. I can’t tell what happened to the other. I don’t know if they attacked her, or she attacked them. Daddy looks calm as a cucumber, no marks, no strange forlorn behaviour, just as normal as every day. No fur missing. Mommy looks like road kill. Whatever happened, did not seem to involve Dad. If mom killed the kits, I get the impression she did not have a choice. But I don’t know if 4 week old kits are capable of such aggression.
Can anyone shed light on this for me? I am devastated, not only that the kits are dead, but that mom had to go through this and I never want a repeat.

 

[6Dusters]

While I have not had this happen. I don't leave my male in with my female once I know she is pregnant. Males will continue to try and mate despite her being pregnant and they can be foul to females. Not all. But most will.
Early in my breeding program I left a male in almost to the end of her pregnancy. I had to pull him as he was determined to chase her down and have his way. And she was angry as H** with him.

My guess is that the male wanted to mate with the female and she may have been protecting the kits.
If she is currently with him and"chattering" her teeth at him or spraying him, then its time to separate them asap. They do just fine being separated. In most cases you'll hear the male whining about the separation. He'll live.
She could also be pregnant again with a breed back.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Stackie]

I'm going to bet it was dad too. I've had one chin kill another and the aggressor didn't so much as have a scrape or missing tuft of fur. His cage mate on the other hand was practically bald and essentially scalped. It's like the one that got attacked didn't even try to defend himself. Chins can be so vicious to one another.

 

[Dreamlite]

I agree with above. It was likely the male even though he doesn't have any marke. I would separate and keep them that way. They will adjust fine. Keep in mind the female many be pregnant now and will need to be treated as such.

 

[tunes]

I personally would not breed that male again. I have never, ever had a male turn on kits. I have only ever had the dads be excellent foster parents when I need to rotate. If the mom was torn up and the kits are dead, and not a mark on dad, then it had to be him and he would be pet only.

It does happen sometimes that if you leave the male in with the female after they give birth that the kits can get stomped on by the dad trying to breed back, I had that happen once and another breeder recommended I put a jar in there that the kits could escape to if need be and it has never happened again. I don't pull the male when I know the female is pregnant because I don't always know the females are pregnant, especially when it is the bigger gals.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

I agree with everyone else - the male did it. I was told if a male kills, he will kill again. Get the male out ASP. I would also take the female to a vet. She could have hidden bites and get an infection.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I keep my males and females together in trios. I just recently had a male attack babies. the first time, we weren't sure if it was him or the other female so we took both out and let momma and the kits have their own cage. The second time confirmed who it was. Luckily, the mother had her babies in the house and was guarding the entrance. When I picked up the house to check the babies, the male went straight for them and I grabbed him up and took him to another cage. All babies are fine. I will definitely be taking this guy out as soon as I know at least one of his females is pregnant from now on.

 

[jags]

Welcome to the world of breeding. The more animals you have the more you will see things you never thought you would even possibly ever see. Some are very hard to understand. Also in my opinion the more animals in the same cage the the more bad things tend to happen.

 

[starleomach]

I agree with the above, It was very likely the male

 

[6Dusters]

When breeding in the same cage, I do take the male out when my girl is pregnant. ( as I stated above ) Usually when I see her laying on her side or have weighed her to see she is gaining weight. I just don't want the breed back. And males left in late stages of pregnancy can be so determined to mate. Almost to the point of being a rapist. Poor girls just hate them by then. I do have keep something in the cage for a female to run into before I know she is pregnant. Keeps those naughty boys in check. Girls in a hut can threaten them with karate. Hee Hee. And those teeth chattering help too.

Your right Randy, breeding can give you so many twists and turns. Both in the breeding pair or problems with kits. Remind me why we do this?? :crazy:

 

[Mrs-Pigz]

Both times Juicy was pregnant , her and Pickles were fine during the pregnancies. But after the first batch , he kept trying to "get his groove back" . So I separated them... he was MADDDDD!! He had resting grump face going on. But I had read about situations like this and it freaked me out. I am sorry about your fur-babies...

On a side note: nothing like waking up in the morning and hearing those baby squeaks of newborns!

 

[taiker]

sorry to hear that ;(