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1

Health / Re: Should I give my chins any daily vitamins? HELP :)

« on: December 31, 2014, 02:59:33 PM »

I didn't mean to imply that I gave yogurt to my non-pregnant chins, though I can see how you might have interpreted that from my prior post. And the supplementing(for pregnancy/weaning) was for a finite period. At that time, I tried to get my hands on every bit of info concerning chinchilla health, but I never came across anything that warned of the trickiness of timing calcium supplementation with pregnant chins. Where were you able to find this info? Information like that is so valuable, and scarce(or at least it used to be) and members here that currently have chins could benefit from knowing where to access it.
Healthy chins don't need anything more than good quality chow, super fresh hay and water. I think everybody here agrees on that. The supplementing I did was to help chins that had special  needs(mainly malocclusion, and pregnancy). It was never done in a cavalier fashion. The yogurt I  used was not the most expensive, it was the best quality, which to me meant more active cultures. The fecal droppings of the supplemented pregnant moms remained very plump and healthy, so there didn't appear to be digestive issues with the yogurt. The amount given was about 6 cc's, I have no idea how one might kill an animal with yogurt, but they must have given huge amounts. But I'm not trying to be a poster child for feeding a mama chin yogurt. I was trying to share something that worked for my chins and seemed to help keep calcium staggers at bay.

2

Health / Re: Should I give my chins any daily vitamins? HELP :)

« on: December 30, 2014, 08:59:11 PM »

I fed my chins raspberry yogurt and they totally adored it. I used the highest quality I could find at the time, which was usually Alta Dena. The positive thing of course was the calcium content and acidophilus. The negative was the sugar content, but I never did see any problems come from that. If I were to start a chin on yogurt now, I'd use plain, low fat and see how that went. I had chins for over 20 years(our colony finally died out naturally about four years ago) and I did experiment with a few different dietary things, particularly with my chins that became ill, had dental problems, etc. For supplementing, the yogurt and a soy protein mix with spirulina were very helpful and I used them a lot in liquid food mixes with pellets and hay. This was intuitive on my part, but did seem to help chins that were under the weather.
The chin that I mentioned in the earlier post was given Neocalglucon by my vet, then I gave her yogurt til her kits weaned. She had one other pregnancy after that - I started her on yogurt as soon as I figured out she was pregnant, and she had no problems with seizures, delivery or nursing.

3

Health / Re: Should I give my chins any daily vitamins? HELP :)

« on: December 27, 2014, 06:37:56 PM »

There are some reputable folks that feel chins should have supplemental vitamin C to help prevent malocclusion. I didn't do it with my chins, but I think it would be worthwhile to read up on this(chincare.com is a good source of info on this). Also worth considering is supplemental calcium, particularly in regards to pregnant chins. One, it helps prevent mom from having calcium seizures, and two, the kits are less likely to be born calcium deficient(in turn making them less likely candidates for future dental problems). For non pregnant chins, feeding some alfalfa hay along with your grass  hay would give supplemental calcium. For pregnant chins, I started feeding yogurt every day, and continued it until the kits were weaned. I started doing this when one of my pregnant chins started having calcium seizures a month before her due date. My vet treated her, and I started supplementing her with the yogurt, and she was fine. No probs with delivery, or nursing.

4

Health / Re: Pink White with weeping, sore looking eye?

« on: December 20, 2014, 10:04:41 PM »

Sometimes it's just an irritation from dustbathing. Wrap your chin in a small towel, exposing his face and neck. Have a warm wet washcloth ready, and gently clean around the eye. I've used preservative free human artificial tears to help clean as well, especially if the dust has caked close to the eye. You mention that Caspar is nervous chin. I think wrapping him in the towel might help him feel more secure, and less anxious. I had an epileptic chin once who seemed to relax more when he was in a towel wrap, when I had to give him meds. Just a thought.
The irritation could also be conjunctivitis, or your chin could have a corneal scratch. This, along with the other possibilities mentioned by other members, means a visit to the vet pronto. And no dust baths, like GrayRodent said - that's very important. An eye problem can't resolve if it's being exposed to dust regularly.

5

General Chat / Re: Hypersexual behavior- abnormal?

« on: December 14, 2014, 07:09:26 PM »

I don't feel you were being over protective at all. It is hard sometimes to introduce 2 male chins - from what I've read and seen with my chins, the odds are kind of against this working out. It's much more likely that you could pair a male and a female, or two females successfully. Your decision to separate the cages makes a lot of sense, and it sounds like both chins are happier. Any type of aggressive behavior between chins needs to intercepted and then preventative measures need to be taken, or else harm will be done. Plus your little one having poor eyesight makes him more vulnerable and in need of your watchfulness.
Um, my chins had pretty boring sex lives, quite predictable! But this was because most cages had a male and female, and then occasionally a kit or two. But still they're quite interesting in their behavior and I found much to admire.(for example, male chins are great dads, and very patient). I gave one of my friends 2 male kits(brothers) and they got along well for many years. However, one of the males was sexually dominant and play humped the other male a lot. It didn't ever get aggressive, though. Then again, they were raised together, and that makes a huge difference.
You're doing great job with your guys, have fun with them!

6

General Chat / Re: I'm Scared, help!

« on: December 14, 2014, 06:47:12 PM »

Try to see this thru your chin's eyes. He's just had a major life change and he doesn't understand that it's going to be positive. Has he been living with other chins? Being alone will be a big, stressful switch as well. One thing you can do is to make his cage as cozy and interesting as possible. Give him appropriate wood branches to chew on and some type of safe stuffed animal to play/snuggle with. Get a large oatmeal tube, cut out the ends, and that'll give him something to hide in for the first few days, and then he'll discover the fun of chewing it. When you spend time with him each evening, pull up a chair in front of his cage, leave the door open and see if he comes to investigate you. You can put your arm in the cage - he's sure to come investigate, and then he'll get familiar with your scent and touch. It takes a lot of patience, I know...but it is worth it.

7

General Chat / Re: Advice needed please

« on: December 11, 2014, 08:38:19 PM »

I feel badly for you because this is such a puzzle. We once had a young kit(around 3 months old), who suddenly became "bitey". She wasn't vicious, but had become very squirmy and would try to bite when we picked her up. The only thing the vet could find was gas in her tummy. You can often hear gas sounds in a chin's gut if you put  your ear against their stomach. it sounds like a crackling and gurgling. I found infant simethicone to be a great help. I mention this on the off hand that it might help. There are probobaly many other possible causes. Hope you have a good vet to work with. My vet and I often felt that one had to almost be a psychic sometimes when trying to figure health problems with chins.

8

General Chat / Re: Advice needed please

« on: December 10, 2014, 01:41:06 PM »

Sometimes a chin will do this if they are in pain. I think it might be a good idea to have a vet check her out. This type of behavior is very atypical of a chin, especially a hand raised one. Which is why I think maybe there's a physical cause. Is she eating and pooping ok?

9

Health / Re: Kit Isn't Losing Weight But Isn't Gaining Much

« on: December 10, 2014, 01:36:34 PM »

What a little cutie! So glad things are looking up. For some reason, kits are little escape artists, and you end up needing to "kit-proof" the cage, like you're doing to keep them safe.

10

Health / Re: Questions with Bene Bac, Baytril, and Simethicone

« on: December 03, 2014, 06:03:35 PM »

I always found it kind of reassuring to have a good manual to look at when I had questions. That, along with posting on the forums here, will net you a lot of helpful information. Get as much info as you can before your vet's visits, and then you'll have a better idea of questions you need to ask.

11

Health / Re: Kit Isn't Losing Weight But Isn't Gaining Much

« on: December 03, 2014, 05:51:20 PM »

Great! That's super news! And definitely keep us updated - pics are great too. Kits are so cute!

12

Health / Re: Sneezing?

« on: December 01, 2014, 01:38:33 PM »

Hi there, what type of wood is the hutch made of? Could your chin possibly be allergic to it? It seems like the hutch may be the cause, since it's something new in her environment. You might want to listen to her chest and see if you hear any congestion or crackling sounds - if you do, rush her to a vet, as she could have a respiratory infection, and that needs to be treated asap.

13

Health / Re: Kit Isn't Losing Weight But Isn't Gaining Much

« on: December 01, 2014, 01:34:07 PM »

I think that all chins should have access to water at all times. I'm not comfortable with the baby not being able to get to the water bottle. You can always bring her out of the cage and see if she'll take any of the kitten milk or whatever liquid chow mix you have chosen to make. If she won't take it, don't force feed. You could try supplementing her at different times of the day, and hopefully find a time of day she's hungrier. I've never had a kit that seemed to drink too much, so I really don't have any good feedback on that for you...

14

Health / Re: Kit Isn't Losing Weight But Isn't Gaining Much

« on: November 30, 2014, 10:19:33 PM »

If the kit doesn't like the goat milk/pellet/oat mix, you can experiment around a bit. I had a fair amount of dental problems with my chins over the years, and  used a couple of different formulas that they liked. One was oats/alfalfa leaf/nutritional shake mix ground up in a coffee grinder and diluted with enough water to make it "lappable"(if that's a word). The shake mix I used was Nature's Way Spiru-tein vanilla. Proportions were like 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup hay leaves, 1 tsp  shake mix.
The other mix was equal amounts of oats, pellets(ground up in the coffee grinder)and raspberry yogurt. This was more perishable and I never left it in the cage for more than a few hours.

15

Health / Re: Kit Isn't Losing Weight But Isn't Gaining Much

« on: November 30, 2014, 07:28:13 PM »

Regarding the color of the kit's teeth - this info is taken from the Chincare website - kits are born with white teeth. The enamel darkens during the weaning period of 8-10 weeks. By a couple of months of age, their tooth color should be a dark orange, though some kits will be slower to develop this orange color.(I've paraphrased this quickly, as I'm in a hurry.)This is a good site, you might want to take a look at it. You can never have too many info sources on chins!