Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: Snickerdoodlesmom on September 15, 2013, 09:55:15 AM
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If a kit is exposed to an unrelated, non- lactating adult female, will the kit think that the chin is its mom and try to nurse? And what about if a chinchilla is exposed to two lactating mother chins? Will the kit prefer its own mother or will it be happy nursing from the other mother? Just curious :) lol
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I can answer the first part but I don't know the second part for sure. For large breeders If a chinchilla is separated from the female due to due to sickness or death before it is weaned it is the preferred method to put it with a lactating female. In most cases it is the only way an orphaned chin can survive. Although it's possible to hand rear it it is rarely successful.
I'd imagine it will prefer its biological mother over another. That is how most animals are, and under the right circumstances baby animals will try to suckle on just about anything.
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So how does it know which is its mother?
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Chinchillas can identify each other by their smell. One trick that some breeders use to introduce aggressive chinchillas to each other (although I cannot vouch for its safety) is to put perfume on the nose of each animal to confuse them.
I know that males have anal scent glands like cats. I suspect (but I don't know for sure) they have scent glands under their jaw like cats as well to mark their territory. I'd be glad to see expert opinion on that one. The scent is virtually undetectable by people. In fact the only thing I can smell on my chinchilla is his dust bath dust.
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That's interesting, GrayRodent, because my chinchilla gives off a very strange (but not bad) scent when he's frightened.
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They do have the ability to release a smell when frightened that, in the wild, would deter a predator. In theory.
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I've certainly witnessed it, then.