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1

Guestbook / Re: Mommy of 3 Chins

« on: April 30, 2009, 06:54:19 PM »

I live in Oregon so if there are any breeders close to me that would be wonderful. That way I could also have someone to talk to in a rushed time of need! (If I need help during a birth) I would also love if anyone in the area of Woodburn/Salem/Oregon City might know of a good reliable vet in case I need to take Anabelle in. I've been calling everywhere and no one specializes or even feels comfortable caring for chins. They'll deal with skunks and ferrets but not chins. Geesh.

Petunia and Anabelle aren't related. They were in different cages with their parents. I'm taking a guess here...I'm 90% sure Petunia's mom was a homo beige and dad was a standard grey. A very light standard grey though.

I got myself mixed up. The lady had told me she put the chins outside right afte the babies were born. I can't believe she mixed up who was killed though. The way she talked about them, they had completely different personalities so I'm shocked she'd go on for 2 weeks thinking the male was the female. All I know is my 3 will never be treated the way she treated hers.

The rat the babies was put with was deffiately male. He was named "cajones" for a very obvious reason! 

I'll do some more research and watch those videos Jo Ann. Sounds like it will be very helpful. I've also made my list for the things I'll need during the birth and will be checking to see if my local walmart has goats milk. By my calculations based on when I saw the mating plug, she should deliver on or very close to August 8th. I hope more than anything she'll be ok. She loves Penny very very much. I'm starting to think they've become a bonded pair. Penny sleeps on top of the hut whenever she's inside like he wants to protect her and when she eats he's right next to her helping to spin the hay wheel when she can't reach a piece. Such a sweet pair. Petunia is almost like the baby of the group and plays non stop but then will cuddle inside the hut next to Anabelle to sleep. I'm so in love with my chins. Never thought I could love such a small animal so much!!!!

2

Guestbook / Re: Mommy of 3 Chins

« on: April 29, 2009, 10:41:02 PM »

I was hoping so. Anabelle has beautiful coloring. She has adorable thin pinline light grey circles around the bottom of her ears, otherwise she's very dark all over. I fell in love with their coloring when I first saw them because I've never seen anything other than a standard grey at pet stores in person. I think chin colors are so gorgeous. If I ever had another chin I would want a wilson white.

3

Guestbook / Re: Mommy of 3 Chins

« on: April 29, 2009, 05:54:04 PM »

Jo Ann: The lady I got Tid Bit and Penny from wasn't a breeder. She had 2 chins originally from her daughter that ended up moving out. They kept breeding so when I picked up the two from her she had Penny, Tid Bit and 2 new babies. From what she told me, Right before the kits were born, she had taken their cage outside so they could play and eat some grass while she cleaned. Apparently their new coon hound puppy knocked over the cage and the "dad" (in actuallity the mother of the kits I'm assuming) got out and the dog got it and killed it. So I can say all the bad things in the world about this lady but I am honestly glad I could get Penny and my poor late Tid Bit out of that situation. I think she was honestly clueless.

Anabelle is 6 months. I know she is too young to breed so I wish I would have discovered Penny's little secret earlier so I could have kept them seperated. Now that it may be too late, I'm wondering if I should give her some kind of extra supplement to keep her strong and healthy? I feel like the worst chin mom ever!!! Almost anything that can go wrong with a new owner has happened to me. All I want is for them to be happy and healthy. What you were saying about the plug, when I noticed it, there was a creamy (like you said egg white) discharge right where she laid in her hut with a more solid looking white substance half the size of a pencil eraser then on her female parts. It was only there for a day. I checked the next day and it was gone and I haven't seen anything since resembling that in the cage.


Oh and get this....the baby kit from the first lady, she puts the kit(s) in with a male rat. I guess the rat helps raise the kits. Luckily after I took Penny and Tid Bit, she was only left with the one baby and had already made arangements with a pet store to purchase the baby when it was of age. So I am sure she doesn't have anymore chins which is such a good thing! She told me when Tid Bit was a baby the male rat had raised him as well (mom kept being rough with the kits and would kill them). I wish I could have taken the kits with me too when I bought her, but I already had spent almost $300 for the supplies and cage then she wanted another $200 for the babies. I know with a majority of chins that's cheap for babies but as a new owner I wasn't ready to take on 4 chins right off the bat. Even if I had, now that I know the mother was the one to die, I would have felt bad bringing them home then having them pass away shortly after because of not realizing Penny was their dad and not their mom.

She was feeding my chins the Fiesta brand gerbil food because she said it was pretty much the exact same thing but it was cheaper. Is this true? If this is a bad idea I want to start the process of switching foods over so that I can get away from the stuff. I have no problem spending more so if it's in their better interest I'd rather go the safer route. I've only had my chins about 3 weeks so I have A LOT to learn!!!

Thanks guys 

P.S. After looking at the pics above of my chins, can anyone tell me what you think they're coloring is? I'm assuming Penny is a standard grey, but was guessing on Anabelle and Petunia that Anabelle is a form of ebony (dad was ebony and mom was standard grey) and Petunia is a homo beige? She's so light tan she's almost white and her eyes are red.

4

Guestbook / Mommy of 3 Chins

« on: April 29, 2009, 03:02:48 PM »

Hi everyone!!!

I recently became a new owner of 3 chins. I have never had chinchillas before this but always wanted one. I posted an add on craigslist and recieved a response that a woman had 2 chinchillas for sale. I did the necessary research (food, toys, diet, cage set up, etc) but didn't do research on sexing. Bad mistake. Hopefully I type this out well enough so you all will know what I'm talking about.

I started out with Penny and Tid Bit. They were sold to me as females (mother and daughter)
Went home and Tid Bit started to hump Penny. I did the research online finally about sexing and discovered Tid Bit was a male. Now keep in mind, when I went to pick up the chins, Penny had just had a littler of 2 kits 2 weeks prior (the owner insisted it was ok for Penny to leave her babies and gave Penny to me for free...if I would have known the damage that could do, I wouldn't have taken her) so I didn't sex her. I decided to call around to various vets and see about getting Tid Bit neutered. I didn't want them to inbreed. So I found a vet that was comfortable with neutering and with chinchillas and made an appt. I dropped off Tid Bit and left him for his appt. The vet assured me he would be fine. I got a call less than 15 minutes later that Tid Bit had passed away. I was crushed and felt like it was my fault for days after. Turns out the vet gave him the wrong gas and his heart stopped within 5 minutes.

Afterwards, Penny searched her cage day and night looking for Tid Bit. She became withdrawn and quiet. I decided she was meant to be in pairs since she had never been an only chinchilla according to her previous owner. I put up another craigslist post talking about what had happened to Tid Bit and that I was looking for a female companion for Penny. I recieved many wonderful responses and finally decided on one. I went up to get her (Petunia) and fell in love with another female while I was there (Anabelle). I decided since I have a 6 level cage that 3 wouldn't be too rough. I brought the girls home (made sure they were girls!!!) and for the first 4 or 5 days Penny was curious but the girls weren't best buds that's for sure. Eventually they got comfortable with eachother and made friends.

I noticed the day before I moved Petunia and Anabelle into Penny's cage, that my temporary cage had white discharge on the bottom where anabelle slept. I lifted her up and she had some all over her female parts. Now I've read 2 books and looked and looked online for as much as I could see about chins being in heat and mating. After reading that a white discharge will apear after mating takes place I felt my stomach sink. I lifted up Penny and checked and sure enough. Male. So it was the babies dad I had.

There were 2 things majorly wrong with this...one, Tid bit didn't have to die and I felt horrible that if I would have only checked both, he would still be here today.

Second issue is I just got 2 females and put them in with a male. Now Anabelle might be expecting and Petunia will be next. This faces me with another problem. Finding a vet again that is very skilled with chinchillas, that doesn't mind proving to me that he knows what hes doing (I've done a ton more research so I know exactly what to ask) and taking the risk to hand over one of my babies again and trust someone that he'll come back to me.

I had called the owner I got Penny and Tid Bit from previously to Tid Bit passing on so I could give her an update on how they were doing and she informed me at the time that one of the 2 kits had died. Now I know that it died not only because it was taken away from it's parent too soon but because the kits were trying to nurse on their daddy when I went there. They basically starved to death.

I have had one heck of a ride with having chins. I love mine more than anything though and they each have amazing personalities. They're worth every single dime you spend on them and every single hour you spend on research. I joined here so I don't have to search non stop for information anymore when I need it. Now I can come on here and talk to actual people that know the answer to what I need. Internet sites don't always have the accurate info.

So thanks for reading, if you need clarification on anything feel free to ask. I know it's a lot to read at one sitting.


Anabelle...


Penny...


Petunia...


My late Tid Bit (he's inside the hut)