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[wonton]

Help me please. I have a tan female that gave birth on Tuesday. She has 3 kits (2 females, 1 male) The first 2 days the mom refused to feed the violet female and the male was fighting with mom and the other 2 kits. After 2 days, the mother finally began feeding the violet female. Well now I have a problem with the male. For the last 2 days, mom refuses to feed him although she will let him sleep under her ? Got me confused.

Well the problem I have here is, mom got out when I was messing with the male. When I picked up mom, I felt "scabs" on her. When I turned her over to inspect, I found that all but 1 nipple has a scab growing over the nipples. I have NEVER had or heard of this problem.. What do I do to make mom better? How do I get her to feed the male again and what is best treatment I need to do from here???

[chinclub]

Your first problem is that Mom can't feed 2 babies with one nipple.  This is why she will feed one and not the other.  Eventually the kits will either fight for the one good nipple which could cause fatal injury, or one will get weaker and weaker from lack of food and will die.

To keep this from happening you should begin hand feeding.  I would suggest feeding them both.  Its quite possible that mom didn't get enough milk which would explain why they chewed her up.  If that is the case you should assume that the milk from that one nipple may not be enough to feed either baby.

Keep a close eye on the other nipples because babies have been known to chew the nipples right off. Since they are already scabbed over you may not can see the full damage done. Infection could set in which would call for antibiotics. Just in case your vet doesn't know a lot about chinchillas, Baytril is the antibiotic of choice.

Are you a Chinchilla Club or Chinchilla Breeders Org member? If so, there is an article about a female getting chewed up by the babies here:
http://www.chinchillaclub.com/members/mag/0803teat.html
Its in the Back issues of the Chinchilla Community Magazine so I'm afraid you won't be able to access it if you aren't a member.

[ThreeLilChins]

You should call your vet 1st thing 1st. That is never a bad idea. Next you should fix up a hand feeding mix. The rotate the baby chins evey few hours to enjoy to both get some of moms milk. It is whats best for them. While one is feed with mom. You should be hand feeding the other one to ensure the they both get enough food. I would keep the smaller one with mom first. The small chin will need moms milk. Best of luck to you and your chinnies.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Wonton,
   Yes, please notify your vet immediately.  More than likely if she has only one of her 6 teats left that are not scabbed over, she is really not able to feed any of the kits ... let your vet check her out to make sure. If both sets of mammary glans are infected, the milk would probably kill the kits, if she is even producing any at all.  What might "appear to be" milk under the skin, may infact be abscess fluid instead. Here is the article URL on my second website Luv 'N Chins II: http://www.geocities.com/jobernstein1949/ and click on Nursing and Damage Control at the bottom of the page.  What you will see is graphic, but, it is probably what you are facing with your little chin momma right now.  If both sides are infected, she may never be able to nurse kits again.
   Get you a nursing kit made up a.s.a.p. and start feeding your 3 little kits.  Do you have a second momma that is nursing OR that can take care of the kits?  If not, the daddy or a foster mom will be needed, even if she can not nurse them, she can clean, groom and comfort them.  If you put the kits back with their momma, they will probably open the sores looking for milk.
    Keep us posted on the progress!

 
Jo Ann