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[TheFreedomAngel]

Hi all,

This morning I found my male chin Peng Peng show up in the female chin Guin Guin's cage looking really happy. They are in the same cage but they are separated by a pretty tough mesh wire, but apparently Guin Guin found a loophole to let Peng Peng in. I immediately put Peng Peng back in his section. Later tonight I found a white waxy object in Guin guin's wood house, it looks like a miniature white broken candle with wierd smell in it (see picture attached), and Guin Guin is continuously licking her bottom part. So i suspect this is a mating plug... and I am very worried because Guin Guin is actually turning 4 years old and she has never had a baby... No matter how hard i tried in her young age to have her mate with Peng Peng she wouldnt... until now.

So I have couple of questions:
1) Is my chin too old to be pregnant?
2) Where does this waxing plug come from? The male or the female? Does it mean 100% she is pregnant if I see this plug?
3) If I feel it is too risky for Guin guin to give birth, what are my options, can she have an abortion? I really do not want to risk it.

Please help me share your expertise... thx very much!!!

TFA

[GrayRodent]

The wax plug is a very good indicator your female is pregnant. Of course there is always a possibility that there won't be a pregnancy after breeding as with any animal.
The plug comes from the male. In the wild it helps to prevent other males from getting in there and passing their genes on.
Four years is not even middle age for a chinchilla that can live to be 10-15 years old so there's no heightened risk from age there.
If you are concerned for your pet's health can you discuss it with a vet. I recommend getting a check-up and having her pelvis examined as well. There are ways to abort the pregnancy but those also pose serious health risks as with any method of abortion. I think pregnancy is much safer for a healthy animal. Also ask your vet about obtaining calcium supplements to help with the pregnancy.
Chinchillas of the opposite sex should be separated at a minimum of two inches from each other. The fact is they can mate through the bars even if they are over 1 inch apart.

[TheFreedomAngel]

Thanks for the info. So even if my chin never gave birth or mated before, 4 years is a relatively safe age to give birth? Reason I am concerned is because long time ago I asked my breeder she mentioned 2 years old for first birth is not as ideal...

So if she is really pregnant, what are some good advise that I should follow moving onwards? I will ask my exotics pet vet for calcium supplements, he also seemed to be ok with the idea of 4 years having a baby.

Appreciate your inputs!!

[GrayRodent]

I know breeders who say they'll breed them up until they get very old, somewhere around 8-10. I'm not saying that's ideal, but it doesn't seem to cause harm unless a chinchilla is bred excessively over its lifespan. Some breeders will basically keep the animal pregnant constantly for years which is not good. Basically if it gets pregnant it should be just fine. What is not safe is breeding a chinchilla less than one year old.

[Jasonred79]

... what... Chins live for 15-20 years, and less than 1 year is too young, and over 2 years is too old? ... Something about that doesn't sound right...

...

I know it's totally inaccurate, but I was tempted to just multiply by 5... (15-20 Chin years = 75-100 human years?) ... but that gives 1 chin year = 5 human years, 2 year old chin = 10 year old human, so that can't be right lol...

Someone told me that Chinchilla's reach their maximum size at 1.5 years old or so... if that's true, then I do see why pregnancies under 1 year old might be bad! Logically, pregnancies DO take a toll on a body, so surely it's only common sense to let them finish puberty/ growth, before letting them get pregnant?

Also, offhand, if an organism can safely give birth up to 8-10 years old, having it's first pregnancy at 4 sounds fine? ... I think your friend has it backwards, and I'd assume that it's optimum to let chin's get pregnant a few months after they have reached maximum growth? In other words, 2 years old is about the optimum EARLIEST time?
Could be wrong there, I'm no biologist, so the whole "let them finish growing before getting pregnant" thing is just a guess on my part... please tell me if I'm wrong!

[TheFreedomAngel]

thanks guys, that is reassurring, i am totally excited about having my 4yr chin give her first birth in 3months!

is there any things i need to do or follow during this period? any suggestions from your experience?

[GrayRodent]

It is true chinchillas stop growing at about 1.5 years depending on the animal and its breeding. A standard grey with excellent breeding should be fully grown in about a year. Some mutation colors can take 1.5-2 years or more to grow.
I think breeders will usually breed out to 6 years for the females when breeding for quality pelts. I suspect sometime after that they will eventually reach menopause.
Average life expectancy for a chinchilla is 10 years but it can be longer for animals that are well cared for.

The biggest danger of breeding chinchillas that are not fully grown is the birth canal is too narrow for the kits to be born whole but is certainly not limited to that. The second thing you have to watch for with breeding is calcium deficiency because some individuals are prone to that. It can cause birth defects in the kits, especially malformation of the skull and teeth, and health problems in the mother. The formation of bones puts a very high calcium demand on the system.

And I should mention that immediately following birth the female goes into post-partum heat. So do be sure the male can't break in to where the female is or you will get breed-back which is not good breeding practice for chinchillas.