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[Jo Ann]

Hi All ...

    I've been breeding chinchillas for years and have over 200 chins, but, due to an accident back in November, I was not able to personally tend to my chins for about 4 months.  As is normal, that's when something abnormal usually happens.  I want to know if anyone else has had this problem or knows of this problem.
     The kit was born the day after my accident.  It was born with only 2 teeth ... the front bottom teeth.
     He has an exceptionally good momma ... she continued to allow him to nurse and fed him by chewing food and putting it in his mouth like a mother bird would do. 
     The vet wanted to put him down, but after his mom fought to keep him alive and healthy, especially that long, I could not do that.  Nor could I leave him with her either.  She had a breed back the day he was born and delivered them when he was 112 days old.  All the kits in previous litters and in the new litter have never had any tooth problems.  The father has also fathered other litters with other females and there have been no tooth problems, so the vet says it should not be a hereditary problem.
      At six months, he has finally developed some back teeth , but still no upper front teeth.
      Needless to say, the fact that there were no upper front teeth, he could not/can not chew normally or keep the lower two front teeth ground down properly, so we trim them every 10 days to 2 weeks.
      He can eat hay, regular chinchilla pellets, raisins and a supplement, now and is doing very well, under the circumstances.  He is a little smaller than normal for his age, but is otherwise very healthy.  We keep the lower two front teeth trimmed to a normal length.   The picture of him below is before we trimmed his teeth.
     We first discovered the problem (the first day I was able to visit them).  It is a shocker to think he could have possibly survived, but his momma made sure he would. 
      Please, to explain ahead of time ...  nothing bad is to be said about the person taking care of my chins while I was sick.   It was my husband that took care of my chins while I could not and he is still having to help me do so.  He was overwhelmed by it, plus doing everything he and I both normally did and seeing to me in the hospital and nursing facility during this time also.   Besides, who would think to check every tooth inside each kit's mouth???
     Love to get some input on this ... especially if it has been known to happen before.

 
Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

The poor little darling, I guess anything can happen,but it's a new one on me.I have never heard of such before.
You know I'll be checking for teeth now
Something to add to the check list.

[Jo Ann]

Hi Debbie,

      That's one of the reasons I posted this.  So everyone would check their little one's teeth.  It must be extremely rare, my vet hadn't seen it before either.  I am hoping that I will never see it again! :-[

     Remember, when you post a problem, it may not only help you with the answer, but also keep it from happening to another chin and/or let other people know what to do, or how to handle it, if it happens to them.   

 
Jo Ann

[chinclub]

Wow,
that looks horrible! Its amazing he was able to eat with teeth that long!   Now that he is getting molars he probably will have a much easier time.  I'm wondering if his top gums are developing a callous?  You know goats only have one set of teeth in front and the other gum is just very tough and they graze very well like this.  I guess this little chinchilla has learned to eat like they do.

Isn't it amazing that we are constantly learning about new medical problems with chinchillas.

[Jo Ann]

Very true.

    What made me realize something was wrong, was that he was eating with his head tilted back (so the food would go down), which is not normal for a chinchilla.

     He does have a little callous where his upper teeth should be ... didn't even think to check for that.  Thanks, Jamie.

     He will hold a piece of hay in his mouth and pull it from one side to the other, stripping it into smaller, thinner pieces with his two bottom teeth.  This is to make it smaller and easier to chew with his new back teeth.

   Before, when chinchillas were used strictly for fur, the ranchers shared information with one another concerning health problems in the herd.  Most were breeding strictly high quality chinchillas that rarely had any health problems. This was their "business/lively hood" and they could not afford to breed any thing less than the best.   It would have been to expensive to run one to the vet every time they had a problem, so they would take it's parents out of breeding if they found it had an inherited physical problem.  With ranchers, they are usually exposed to very little of the things out side a of a cage and not to other animals or home environments.  Also, they, as a rule, were only breeding standard grays and black velvets.

    Once breeders started working with the different colors (mutations) of the chinchillas, they found that breeding colors to other colors or to the same or colors often gives you a weaker, smaller, less healthy chinchilla.  This is one thing, we as 'pet' breeders and individual owners have to keep in mind when putting a male and female chin together.

    Now that chinchillas have/are becoming  "pets" or a part of the humans family, there is much more being learned about them and any problems they might have.  There are lots of studies being done on them now.  Also, unfortunately, they are being exposed to many more things and we are finding out what NOT to give a chin, what NOT to feed a chin, what NOT to do with a chin.  The more you learn, the less likely you are to make a mistake you otherwise would probably make.

     We must also be very careful when putting a chin into breeding, so we will not compound problems for the future kits.  Know your chin's background!  Health and colors!  Breed only what will make the future generations better and stronger!

 
Jo Ann