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[trsanimallover]

I wanted to breed my male and female chinchillas so, I put the male in the female's cage.  He has been in there since November and I don't know if my female is pregnant.  I thought she was going to have them the end of April so, I took the male out but she never did.  I felt her stomach and it feels like she is pregnant but she is a big female.  So, I put my male back in her cage so if she never was pregnant, she would get pregnant.  How do you tell if she is pregnant??? 

[jmdebb]

has she gained any weight?  do you ever weight her and keep track?  thats one way of finding out

when its close to deliver her teets will start to get long and thin, and the ends will be white..

if her attitude changes...

[trsanimallover]

No, I do not weigh her.  I think she has gained weight but i am not sure.

[Courtney]

The best way to tell is if they gain weight and also they will start lying on their side sometimes. What you can do is take mom and gently feel her belly, make sure you are very careful and you may feel movement.

When they breed they leave a waxy looking plug, it's called a mating plug but it can easily get lost in the bedding.

But she will be more tired, eat more, drink more. They do a lot of a stretching as well. 

[jmdebb]

not necessarly .

when my chins were pregnant i never foudn the plug.

they were all acting normal, until the very end of the pregancy.. very end... no one laid on their side, although my male does alot.hmm  no one ate more , or drank more... just in the last few days of pregnancy, my females become *itches.. literally.

from how i have learned, poking around the stomach isn't that great of an idea to do.. can maybe hurt some kits... maybe thats not true, but how i learned... why take chances

i have learned threw experience there is no way to tell if a chin has lost or gained weight except to weigh them.. you can not tell by picking them up..

[jbcstratton]

I agree with the fact that weight gain is the easiest and best way to know if your chin is pregnant.  Even if nothing more that knowing you chin is healthy investing in a postal scale that measures in grams is a huge help.

[jmdebb]

stratton, that is 100% correct.. about investing in a scale, cheap -- but smart move.

without getting into the long drawn out story.
in the beginning of time.. i mean.. when i first started out with chinchillas, i never weighed them..big mistake!!


i learned the hard way that was the dumbest thing not to do, it is so easy to take their weights down once a month, sometimes twice if i feel like.. now i have a track record to look back on if i need it again.  playing the quessing game simply does not work,

all of mychins has lsot weight lately [i wonder if heat will make a chin cut back on eating hm..] if i wasn't weighing them, i would have no clue i need to keep a close eye on all of them, because you can not feel the difference, and i'm not talking a few grams either...

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes especially when starting breeding, weighing is a must.
Even with the kits, you want to make sure they are gaining.
Now over the years I have learned to depend on mine less.
And some of my females never show they are pregnant till I find kits in the cage.
Some a very obvious and go by the book.