i came home today, grabbed some raisins and prepared to give my chins their daily treat. instead of 2 large fur balls in the cage i had two large and one small. Chimi and Chunga are now parents. ahhh now what? i didnt even know she was pregnant. the person we got them from had them for over a year and never had babies so i just assumed one of them was sterile so this was a BIG surprise. so any pointers anyone can give me? we put some cardboard and towels down to line the bottom of their cage so the kits lil feet dont fall through the mesh. im at a loss, i wasnt expecting this so i didnt read up on it.
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Any former or current chinchilla breeders here?
- Thread starter rattler
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superimposedhope
Somewhat Unstable
My wifes best friend is a breeder of the blue/silver/purple ones. She lives in Hawaii. I'll se if I can get ahold of her.
Joe
Joe
BLUE and PURPLE chinchillas? holy guacamole! any pics? I couldn't find any in google.
Trapper7
Loves VFT's!
I'm no expert on Chinchillas,but I used to breed rats,and they always said to take the papa out after(and even before)the female gave birth,cause a-the female can hurt the male,cause she stressed,and b-the papa can hurt the baby.So I dunno if you wanna do that or not,and I'm not sure if you have to with Chinchillas,but you do with rats,mice,hamsters and such.Anyways,GOOD LUCK and congrats on the new addition
*Niki*
only thing ive come across on seperating is when they are 8 weeks old to prevent inbreeding. Chins that get along together arent as protective as rats(ive bred those before). these two have been together for over 2 years and get along fine. chins are supposedly more closely related to rabbits than rodents which means genetically they are closer to primates than rodents its just a case of convergent evolution. as to blue and purple chins its a tint to their fur they arent a true purple or blue.
aww... that sucks. I don't think there are any blue/purple mammals out there 
(unless you count the skin... which I don't)
(unless you count the skin... which I don't)i should have a pic of the lil guy/gal up later in the week. i took a couple pics of it in Darlas lap. we had to take it out to put the cardboard and towels down. and to answer the next question, Chimi didnt mind a bit and is now in one of their hides with the baby. looks like a slightly less fuzzy vesion of its parents but with a big nose and big feet.
superimposedhope
Somewhat Unstable
The fur is a light bluish/purple with silver at the tip of the hair. Very cool and irridescent looking for a fuzz ball critter.
Joe
Joe
chinchillas are in the order rodentia (rodents) and rabbits are in the order lagomorpha... so chinchillas are more closely related to rats and other rodents than they are to rabbits and rabbits aren't rodents.
AE i could have swore i saw a paper somewhere that recently linked Chins as being closer to rabbits than to rodents. it was a recent DNA study or some such thing. my memory could be wrong but i dont THINK so. i am fully aware that until recently(if my memory is correct) chins were in Rodentia
AE, im having trouble finding where i saw it. when i come across it again ill post it here. putting "chinchilla dna study" in a search on MSN, Yahoo and Google leads to some strange stuff. everything i find on chinchillas placement on the "mammalian family tree" is to old, i know i saw the study or referance to it with in the last 10 months. probably less than that as i think ive only had my chins for about 6 months and i probably wouldnt have given a second look to the statement w/o some reason like having the chins. anyways ill bow down to your superior knowlege UNTIL i can find my referance again
Rabits aren't rodents. Their teeth don't grow constantly and they have a second pair of upper front teeth behind the front ones.
rabbits and rodents are a case of convergent evolution(think sugar gliders versus flying squirrels, ones a marsupial one is a rodent but they have evolved for a simmiler niche so they look alike even though there is no relation). genetically rabbits are closer to primates than to rodents by quite a bit. they have just somewhere along the line way back evolved into a similar niche(probably to eat similar foods) as the rodents so they have evolved the same sort of chisel teeth.
Trapper7
Loves VFT's!
BTW TheAlphaWolf,rabbits teeth DO grow their entire lives.My friend breeds all sorts of rabbits,and I have one that I have to take to the vet to chissel his teeth down cause they grow.My other friend has two rabbits and also has to take them to the vet to chissel their teeth down.So yeah rabbits ARE rodents,lol.They aren't closely related to rodents,but they ARE related.*Niki*
seedjar
Let's positive thinking!
Rattler, unless you want more babies in a few months, put dad in a separate cage (this is also a good idea to prevent biting.) Chinchillas can and will breed immediately after childbirth. Also, I'm told more than three litters a year is more than most chins can healthily bear, so keep that in mind. Make sure you have a big enough sleeping house for mom and the kits (another important part of preventing biting.) Weaning takes place after six or seven weeks, and once the kits have been separated from their mother, they may overeat for a while, so their diet and droppings should be monitored. The kits may already be getting into mom's solid food, which is normal and healthy, but you should make sure she has plenty of hay and pellets. The kits will reach sexual maturity in four or five months, and I think you can sex them after three. I hope that helps some! Your local exotic vet should be able to help you, too, as chinchillas are becoming fairly common pets.
On a side note, just because something is classified in an order with one group doesn't mean it's more closely related to that group than any other. Taxonomy is a human invention which has no bearing on the actual relations of critters. As for chinchillas being rodents or lagomorphs, taxonomists have been debating moving them in to lagomorpha since the 80's, but it's not an easy choice to make - some professionals have even suggested adding a new classification, if I remember correctly.
~Joe
On a side note, just because something is classified in an order with one group doesn't mean it's more closely related to that group than any other. Taxonomy is a human invention which has no bearing on the actual relations of critters. As for chinchillas being rodents or lagomorphs, taxonomists have been debating moving them in to lagomorpha since the 80's, but it's not an easy choice to make - some professionals have even suggested adding a new classification, if I remember correctly.
~Joe