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[Luckydiscovery]

I have a female chinchilla that I got last july.  She was housed with a mosaic male after I introduced them slowly.  She was supposed to be over a year I think... and He was 3 years I think.  In December the mosaic died and shortly after she seemed depressed so I got a young male (that was born in November) and housed them together.  They have bonded exceptionally well.  She has never been pregnant, but here's the problem.

We recently switched feeds to a comparable rabbit feed (I know people say its wrong, but we compared nutrition and I feel its the best thing to be feeding them).  I honestly don't weight them but I handle them from time to time.  The other day I picked her up and she was huge.  Do chinchillas get bloat?  She still has an appetite, stools are normal, she is just HUGE!  I just figured that since she has never been pregnant before and she was with a male for so long.  Help?

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes they do, but I would expect she's pregnant. Some will do that for what every reason.
I have one that only gets pregnant every couple of years, and a couple that just seem to have stopped.
I have never seen bloat so I'll let others go over that with you.

[Courtney]

Yes, chinchillas can get bloat. But she also may be pregnant. Is she pooping?

If she has bloat you will have to take her to the vets for some medication. Actually to be on the safe side you should take her to the vets. Your vet will be able to tell if she is pregnant or has bloat and bloat NEEDS to be treated. 

[Jo Ann]

   Sounds like you may be seeing some little ones running around fairly soon.   

   Why do you think she might have the bloat?  I would get her to a vet to make sure one way or the other.  Bloat can be very dangerous for chinchillas ... it can kill.

If she is pregnant and is "huge", it could deliver sooner rather than later.  Do you have a second cage for the male when/if she delivers a litter of kits?   What type of cage do you have?  Size and number of levels ...

Will she allow you to hold her?  If the answer is "yes".  Get comfortable in a chair, have someone hand her to you (have a treat ready that takes a long time to eat - maybe even a couple of them)  Place your hand palm side up on your lap, place her on top of your hand with your fingertips towards her tail.  Give her her treat/talk softly to her.  Let her set there for awhile (usually 10 to 20 minutes) and see if you feel any movements in the palm of the hand you have under her.  If you feel movement ... she is probably pregnant and will probably deliver within the next two weeks.  If you feel no movements, that means one of two things (1) she is not pregnant or (2) If she is pregnant, it will probably be more than two weeks before she delivers.  I would repeat this daily, until you feel a movement ... the first time you feel a movement of a kit inside her ... it will probably be about two weeks before she delivers ... be prepaired!  If you feel movement the very first time you try this ... she could deliver any day now.


WARNING:  Do NOT poke around her tummy, if she is pregnant, you could kill the kits.

I have one pair that were together 7 years before they had their first litter ... it was a single kit.  They have not had any kits since and have been together over 10 years.  Never say never ... these little critters can fool you!   

   Jo Ann

[Luckydiscovery]

I thought it may have been bloat because we switched feeds.  Though I had done it gradually, I was still worried.  I haven't taken her to the vet yet and she seems fine.  Yeah, she does poop and is eating and drinking fine.  She seems to be rather depressed looking or uncomfortable.

She's still growing and yeah we do have another cage for the male if she delivers.  We only have one level left in the cage they are in now and it's not very high.  They seem fairly bored with it, but I don't want her to hurt herself or her potential babies.  I haven't been poking around but I have felt her (she's a very friendly chinchilla... she's my baby) and she doesn't mind being touched, she just looks so uncomfortable/depressed.  I'm trying to do my best to keep them cool (it's been tough up here in NY with all this hot weather!) but they've seemingly been doing fine.

She took a great interest in a few blocks of wood I gave them earlier, so thats a plus!

Thanks for the help and I'll let you know what happens! 

[smokie]

I'm worried about the feeding chinchillas rabbit food.  Recently lived with a family who killed their chinchilla by changing it's food to rabbit food!!

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Not all feed is created equal. There are just as many bad rabbit pellets as there are bad chin pellets.
A good show quality rabbit feed can quite often be better than the local chinchilla.
You need to do your homework on what's available to you, either locally or by mail.
I have be feeding mine a show quality rabbit pellet for 8 or more years with out any problems.
I sold one to a lady who against my advise bought a cheaper brand and with in a year the kit became sick and developed mallocclusion.