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[Whitetiger]

I have a general what would you do question.  My chins Dayzee (3.5) and Squeaker(3) have been together since he left his mom at 6 months.  Yes he was a momma's boy.  They were together for about a year and a half before they had their first litter.  Two very adorable boys and the next set came a few months later they did not survive.  They have not stopped since (just kidding) only one more litter(3 boys), Possibly a set in the oven.  She is a chubby chin always has been so it is hard to tell the first month or so.  I know you are asking what my question is... Well, she is a wonderful mother and chin and I don't want to jeopardize that so as a precaution now that he knows what he is doing should I purchase another female and allow them to "share" in his "giving" so that she is not always pregnant.  She doesn't seem to be drained or be unhealthy she is eating and drinking good as always and I have had check ups done on her and she is always fine but to prevent anything I think this would help both.  Yes I have done the separation thing but they will not eat or drink or stop crying when they are not together.  I introduced them at very vulnerable points in their lives so they took to each other very quickly and don't want to let go.  So I reintegrate that separation is not an option I just want to make sure that they are healthy if this does not work I guess I can look into neutering him but that just doesn't seem right (he is a young vibrant male) or spaying her which again does not seem right (she is a young, very sweet and excellent mother).   

[chinclub]

If she is letting him breed her everytime she is able (meaning she is staying pregnant and nursing babies at the same time) she will eventually become drained.  If she is giving herself a few months of recoupe time she is fine.  I didn't follow your time line so what I suggest it counting the days between delivering.  If they are within 200-250 days of each other I would consider some rest time.

I would not suggest trying to put another female in the cage with these two. What I would suggest is a ranch-run style breeding system.  In this set up the two females are in their own cages which are side by side. Each female wears a collar (much like you would put on a dog or cat)  The two cages are connected by a tunnel. The collars are too big to fit in the tunnel so the females have to stay in their own cage.  This keeps the girls from fighting.  The male doesn't have a collar so he can squeeze into the tunnel and go from cage to cage.  When a female has babies you close the hole to her cage. She doesn't miss her male because she is so busy with the babies and the male can still see her and the babies through the wire.  He doesn't miss her because he has his other female.
You keep the male out for the full 7 weeks she is nursing them reintroduce him.   

Occasionally you may have both girls having babies at the same time so he will have to stay with one of them, but if you keep good records you can be sure the next time it happens he stays with the other girl.  An occasional breed-back is OK, you just don't want it happening all the time.

Are they used to a very big cage?  If so you will not be able to buy pre-made ranch-run cage because they would be too small for your chinchillas. Chinchillas that are used to smaller cages doesn't mind, but trying to put a chinchilla into a much smaller cage than it is used to could cause depression or fur-biting.  It is very easy to make your own.  Here is a picture of some of our cages to give you an idea:



Jo Ann on this board builds her own so she could tell you where to go to buy the parts you would need and a little how-to advise as well.

[ThreeLilChins]

Runs are one way to go. If you know the weight of the expectant mama. You can remove the male from the cage when you feel that mama is gonna pop(her weight should level out about a week before birth),avoiding the breed back. Which will help mom supply the nutrition need for devolpment of her new kits. We only keep mom from dad about two weeks. We also keep their cages next to each other, so they dont feel so far a apart.

[Whitetiger]

She has yet to (thank goddness) be pregnant with new borns or babies.  She has had them all after they were weaned(i.e... she has babies, they leave a few months later she has more). So there is plenty of time.  I just don't want she to tire out. 

[Jo Ann]

Hi WhiteTiger,
  For the pass thru doors and cage supplies we normally go to Valentine's Inc. at: http://store.valentineinc.com/cagestuff.html  There are other places on the net that provide the pass-thru doors.  I'm sure some of the other members probably know of them.

She has yet to (thank goddness) be pregnant with new borns or babies.  She has had them all after they were weaned(i.e... she has babies, they leave a few months later she has more). So there is plenty of time.  I just don't want she to tire out. 

    Keep in mind that 111 days is over 3 1/2 months, and you have to add 7 weeks of nursing is almost 2 months ... that makes 5 1/2 months of being pregnant and nursing, both of which drain the calcium and nutrients from the mom's body. 
So, if she delivers within the 3 1/2 months, she got pregnant immediately after giving birth.  This is called breed back ... not good for all involved.   
    If she gets pregnant while the kits are still nursing (giving birth between 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 after the first litter, you still have a double drain on the system - not good.
    Jamie suggested making sure the litters born were at least 200 to 250 days (6 1/2 to 8+ months) apart.  Not only does momma chin need to have calcium to form the kits and feed the kits, she also needs time to replenish her own body. These extra 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 months are needed for mom to replenish her own body.
    In the wild, only one litter per year was born.  Maybe we need to listen to mother nature, she usually knows best. 
     In a ranch run, like Jamie has pictured, they can still see, smell and even touch each other, they just can't mate.   A happy healthy pair.   

 
Jo Ann[/i]

[Megan]

I like to give my females a break. If they have two litters a year, they get around a 6 month break.This means no contact at all with their male. I figure I wouldn't want to be breeding like crazy, having baby after baby- so why would she?

A lot of people think their chins will be so depressed, and they won't get over it. Most of the time this isn't the truth. They get over it in a few days, and are back to normal. If this is one of your concerns- Perhaps hold back two kits? Keep a female in with mom, and a male in with dad? This will give each of them some company while mom rests up.  How long are you leaving them seperate? Sometimes we just have to be tough... The last thing you want is for mom to eventually get so worn out she can't care for her kits, it takes too much out of her etc and she gets sick or dies.