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[Fire.Rescue10]

I'm new to owning chinchillas when I say new I mean four days new. I thought I got two male chinchillas but no one is a female and the other is a male. Will as I noticed the female was a female I noticed her nipples are pink and long I also thought I felt something move but it was very light so not sure that is possible. One is off white (female) the other is black (male). I notice the female don't move around much she just sits/lays in the corner. I thought it was cause she was scared cause it's a new home and people. I separated them and now I'm doing more research on pregnancy in chinchillas. Is there any way to tell roughly how far she is or how much longer she has to go.

[GrayRodent]

I hope someone with experience will comment soon. I think at this point it can happen any day.
Be very careful moving her. Pressure placed on her abdomen can cause fatal complications.
She will need to be placed in a suitable cage. Bar spacing cannot exceed 1/2" x 1/2"

[Fire.Rescue10]

I'm done messing with her I read they can abort babies easy. Oh I hope I didn't mess things up. When I thought I felt something move was when I was looking at her nipples so I wasn't putting pressure on her belly it was more my hand touching her belly as I looked. Also is it normal for her private part to look open.

[GrayRodent]

I think your pet is in labor. Make sure the male is not in the cage. Make sure kits cannot escape. Do not use heating pad. Room temp should be around 73 degrees.

[Fire.Rescue10]

Omg!!!!

[kageri]

You really need to look at bar spacing.  Very few pet store cages have close enough spacing.  Kits are tiny with mostly just head so they pop right out of most cages.  A critter nation or usually cages with lighter wire that is in squares rather than bars are fine.  The bar spacing should be 1/2" on most cages.

Chinchilla birthing is not very hands on.  Make sure items in the cage can't be lifted and dropped on the kit.  Then the mother needs a good pellet (oxbow is preferred but at minimum no mixes, just plain pellets), a nice green grass hay, and some wood to chew on.  They will usually time it so when the kits actually come out it is overnight.

[Fire.Rescue10]

Great if it's hard to find I'll have an even harder time finding it i live 30 min from the closest town and only pet supply stuff we have is walmart and I don't think they have many choices in cages if any. I might just look online and see what I can find. Thank you all for your help from everything I read about she might still have a month left well that's what I'm hoping for.

[iSpi]

I am not a breeder, but I also had a chinchilla that I didn't know was pregnant. Here are some basic guide lines that I used and what others have already said.

Remove the male from the cage. The female can get pregnant again after giving birth.

Bar spacing cannot be more than 1/2 inch All around. Kits can climb and will squeeze out of any opening that they can get by.

If you cannot find a cage with that spacing, use wire mesh. I bought a roll from Home Depot and tied it to the bars of the cage with thick wire. The mesh cannot be under 16 gauge because chinchilla can chew threw it. If you do this, make sure there are no sharp edges sticking in the cage or where a chinchilla could potentially hurt themselves. I used grid a grid type wire.

No levels in the cage. Kits do not have depth perception when young and will fall. Also, the mother can accidentally jump on her kit and injure it.

Oxbow pellets and timothy are ideal. I bought alfalfa hay as well to make sure the mom was getting good amounts of calcium. You do not need as much alfalfa hay as timothy. No treats! Always have a good supply of fresh water. The mom needs a lot of fluids.

Buy a digital scale that weighs ounces and grams. Weighing the kit(s) is important, and so is weighing the mom. Keep a record of this every day. You may want to start to weigh the mom now and see what she weighs daily. If possible, put the scale in the cage and see if she will sit on it. Try not to handle her.

If you have Carefresh bedding or anything fluffy, I recommend taking that out and switching to aspen shavings. The kit I had starting eating the bedding and was not nursing as much to get essential nutrients.

I haven't looked to much into this, but if the mom does have multiple kits make sure she is able to care for them. Sometimes there is a weaker chinchilla and other kits may nip at him or not let him nurse. You may need to rotate kits to help the mom when nursing. She may not be able to feed them all at once, and as I said, there may be one that may not be getting as much. I would look more into this yourself.

Remove bedding that has anything from the birth on it.

Make sure she has a quiet space that is not too bright. Keeping her stress free is important. Try not to handle her too much.

If all goes smoothly, you will mainly just be there to check up and provide for the mom. The mom takes care of the kits for the most part. Of course, keep looking into this and try to contact a local breeder for advice (that's what I did).

I am NOT a breeder. I am simply going off of the things I did when I found a kit in my chinchillas cage one day. Hopefully someone who raises chinchillas and breeds them will respond and help more.

[GrayRodent]

Thank you so much for sharing iSpi. These are fairly common guidelines. I know others that have been successful with using 1/4"x1/4" construction cloth.
Please be very careful with this kind of setup to minimize gaps between the mesh and the cage bars where your animals can get their feet caught in them. I learned this the hard way with retrofitting a floor.
The bedding thing is very interesting. I do know that carefresh bedding has been found in a necropsy where it actually caused a bowel obstruction. I recommend for all owners of rodents or rabbits that if you use bedding use pine or aspen only as paper beddings can cause serious problems.

[Fire.Rescue10]

I read a spin and pine was bad for chinchillas so I bought that fluffy paper type of stuff. I'll keep you all posted . I'm talking with someone now that used to breed and has helped me out alot with advice I needed. He also says that it sounds like my chinchilla has maybe another left of her pregnancy. I'm scared but excited at the same time.

[GrayRodent]

I know there is some debate on bedding but the fact is kiln dried white pine or aspen is industry standard for breeding on all scales and has been proven safe. The drying neutralizes the resin that can cause harm. The only exception is cedar chips.

I know that paper bedding is known to cause bowel obstructions when ingested. I heard this through a breeder that performs necropsies on her own chinchillas. It makes sense because paper bedding expands once inside much more than pine and similar problems happen with larger animals with super absorbent bedding when the animals decide to eat the bedding. It also causes skin problems with excessive dryness, cracking, and bleeding. I've helped with several cases of this on our forums where the bedding was determined to be the cause. It is also true that owners have used it without any problems. It is your judgement call on what to use.

I hope your chinchilla pregnancy goes well. I'm glad you know someone personally who does this. That should help a lot.

[iSpi]

My one chinchilla will not mess with Carefresh bedding, but my kit will. Aspen is actually said to be good since if they do chew on it, it's just like them chewing a wooden toy. It's good that got in touch with someone who has experience with breeding. It's good to be prepared.

[Fire.Rescue10]

Still no babies so I'm not even sure she is pregnant.

[GrayRodent]

That's odd. Are the nipples still descended?

[BLS Chins]

Nipples are not always the best. If she has had litters before they may seem long to.an average pet owner. They can also fluctuate slighly with a heat cycle. When did you separate her from the males? Mark 111 days from that point as her last possible due date. Until then assume she is pregnant and keep her in a baby safe cage. You hace been given some good info in previous posts.