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[Mcdoog7]

Hi all. I joined this forum to connect with other chinchilla owners, as I had a terrible experience yesterday and I was hoping some of you can help me understand what went wrong and what I can possibly do in the future.

My female was pregnant and had her babies, and none of them survived. It was a bizarre discovery. I came home to find a beautiful fluffy white baby laying dead on the floor of the cage (my female, Goodie is a hetero beige and the male, Coal is a standard grey). I checked around the cage to see if maybe she had more babies, and when I put my hand inside their hut, I pulled out another dead grey baby with it's scalp missing. This grey baby wasn't even cleaned when it died; it was half dry/half wet. It was so traumatizing and I couldn't sleep last night because of this discovery.

Later on that evening, Goodie gave birth to conjoined twins and when I discovered them, I noticed that both of their heads were partially eaten. I know this is disgusting to think about, so you can imagine how I felt seeing it.

Has anyone here ever experienced anything like this? Does anyone have any advice? I've had experience with breeding chinchillas and have already gotten an earful from a chinchilla breeder, she thought that I was a troll because my story is so bizarre, and believe me, I know it sounds crazy. This breeder told me that it sounds like I bred a chinchilla that should not be bred. Do you agree? Why on earth would she do this to her babies??? I guess with the conjoined twins I can kind of understand why she didn't allow them to live, but the little fluffy white baby looked perfect to me, and the grey baby looked healthy too despite it's missing scalp.

Background on Goodie: I got her from an out of town breeder (I think they're just hobby breeders) and paid $80 for her. She is a hetero beige and will be 2 years old next month. She is very active and playful, but doesn't like to be held or even pet that much. Despite her ordeal, she is recovering nicely in her cage and is eating a bit and drinking.

Please, I am only looking for advice and online help. Please don't condemn me because I feel terrible enough as it is. Any advice is much appreciated, thanks!

[kneesaa]

Hi,
I have had rabbits do that. I didn't breed her after that. Some females aren't cut out to be mothers. But I do know how you feel, half eaten baby's everywhere. Yuk!! I'm sure some one else will have more to tell you, but for me I wouldn't breed her again and try to put this behind you. Who knows, the baby's might have been still born or even sick.  Good luck Shannon

[ABC Chinchillas]

It may have been a difficult delivery, the male may have killed them trying to re-mate with her, She may just not be cut out to be a mom, or it could have been a fluke. These things sadly happen when breeding. It can be the 1st litter or the 10th you just never know.  Sadly not all litters go well

[Mcdoog7]

So do you guys think I should try again? I do want Goodie to have babies but I *never* want to go through this again. It really was traumatizing for me.

[Mcdoog7]

I guess my last post was directed more at the chinchilla breeder, but I really appreciate your input about the rabbits! It's nice for someone to be able to emphathize with me on that one   

[kneesaa]

Hi,
It's really up to you. You know that the first litter died and who knows what was wrong with them, but I found that when I tried to breed my rabbit who had stillborns, she kept on having stillborns so after the second time I said done and she lived her life quite well after that. Again it is up to you. Good luck Shannon

[Mcdoog7]

Well, maybe I will give it one more try and I will take the father out well before she gives birth. I am also going to take her with me on out of town trips so I can keep a better eye on her. But if this happens again I think I might look into getting my male neuteured...anyone know how much that costs?

[cusunfireguy]

Bless your heart!  It could be a case of any of the above answers or it could have been a bad pregnancy.  It sounds like she tried to have a large litter her first go round.  Any time I have had 4 in a litter, as least one of them died during birth or shortly after.  You don't have to remove Dad right away after breeding.  Just be mindful of the 111 day gestation period and make arrangements to move him to an adjacent cage near the end.  Make sure they can still see and sniff each other but not close enough to, well, you know.  She will go back into heat right away after giving birth.  Hopefully, she is not pregnant already as a break should be given.  I know it's hard but if you have your heart set on babies, I may give it one more try and if it's bad again, seriously consider not breeding anymore.  Best wishes to you!  Babies are great and I know the draw to having them!

[ABC Chinchillas]

So do you guys think I should try again? I do want Goodie to have babies but I *never* want to go through this again. It really was traumatizing for me.

Being that this is typed this may sound harsher than intended, So please understand I do not mean to be cruel.  If you cannot handle that, then you should not breed. You cannot imagine the things I have seen in the years I have been breeding. Things go wrong, not all the time but sometimes they go wrong and when they do it is a mess. I have had kits waste away despite assistance, I have seen kits torn to shreds,
       I have had to euthanise a female with a stuck kit that me and the vet were too late to save, I have brought a chinchilla kit back that was stiff and cold loved her and nursed her only to have her die two days later. I had to push a chinchillas intestines back in as they prolapsed and spent 3 weeks nursing him and praying that he get well (he has survived and is doing well). I had a friend bring me a kit that mom he bled out and died after delivery when they werent home, they found the body of conjoined twins, I found a mumified kit, had a two different females delivery still borns . This has all been just this year.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Well this is the first I've heard of conjoined twins aside for my own. And I had to pull them out.
Yes you could see anything when breeding.
The first time you see something like that is so hard to handle.
Sounds to me like a difficult birth. She could have chewed the scalp trying to get it out. And the white one may have come first and she still cleaned it even though it had died.
I would not breed her again for at least 6 months. Give her time to heal up inside.
It might be a good idea to have a vet check her and make sure there is nothing left inside.
The female of mine I left for a year and have tried her with 2 males seance but nothing.
No matter how many times stuff like this happens it will always hurt.
I don't think there is any getting used to it, but you do learn that these things are going to happen now and then.
The first kit I lost I thought I'd never be able to do this. But my love for the animals was stronger.

[Mcdoog7]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I've decided to give it another try and I guess being that this was my first experience dealing with dead baby chins it was traumatic for me but I am doing better now, and of course, so is Goodie. She is back to her old self again which makes me feel better. I am going to have to keep the male in a seperate cage for about a year then, but I am thinking she might be pregnant but hopefully not...we'll see and I guess I"ll deal with it as it comes.

I am glad to hear that others have had a similiar experience to mine, at first I blamed myself for not being there to help her, but then she could've had the babies anytime. So, I will try again and pray that this litter turns out healthy and happy like all my other litters before have. 

[Ari and Ingram]

This is a little off topic, but I am kinda new to Chins and curious to know more about them. In no way am I interested in breeding, but after reading all the posts I cant help but wonder why do Chins seem to have so many problems with deliveries and kits? These issues seem to be very common. Is there a specific reason why?

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Well for starters we hear more about the problems than the hundreds of thousand normal deliveries.
Anyone who's breeding will see some problems, no different than having human babies.
In 12 years or so I have seen a few problems, but it's about 1% of the normal deliveries.
And did you see all he kits Jamie has for sale??? That's a lot of normal.
When something does go wrong we share so we can learn.

[Cody]

I'm so sorry to hear you had this experience. 

Personally, I won't ever breed for 2 reasons;

1. I can't handle too many chins, and I would never let them go unless I found a home that I was sure would love them the way I do.
2. Emotionally I don't think I could handle what you went through or what some of the other breeders here have described.

I have 2 adult chins, am very happy with them and I choose to leave it at that. I think this whole issue is merely a personal decision for you, and I sincerely wish you the best of luck in whichever path you take.

[jmdebb]

oh star... how do you deal with it..

ugh.. when daisy had her kits and the one died of tortion at 3 weeks of age, it killed me!!!  i cried my eyes out. [it start with prolaps but when everythign was pushed in, it woudln't stay in....etc]

anyways, star is right.. if that really upset you, then dont' chance it again.. i tried breeding a few times and for me it was a nightmare..