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[Squirrel_Butt]

Hi. One of my chins recently gave birth to her first litter.  When it is time to wean them, do I do it gradually or abruptly? And as far as them eating after being weaned, I have read different things regarding the amount of food they should have.  I feed my adults free choice, but I have heard that juveniles can die from over eating. How much pellets should my kits be given after they are weaned?

[chingirls]

the mom chinchilla from what I am learning will wean them herself. as for food I give mine very little.
hers a link hope it helps.

http://chinhaven.tripod.com/what_you_need.htm

it says at least 2 teaspoons

[PSV]

you'll easily know when to wean them: they'll start eating solid food more and more up to the point where both the kits and the mom will fight over it
Or you can simply wait 7-8 weeks and do it like the book says.

[chinclub]

You have to be careful about watching when they eat.  I have 4 week olds that fight for food with mom.  7 weeks is a good time to wean. Some moms will get pretty sick of babies by 8 weeks.  Abruptly is fine. When the day comes just move them to their new cage.  Be sure to seperate males from females by 3 months.

[jbcstratton]

Hay and pellets should be free fed, chinchillas do not gorge themselves.  Males should be seperated from mom by 8 weeks.  I usually ween at 8 weeks and when they are at least 200 grams. They are weened abruptly and put in their own cage.

[jmdebb]

Hay and pellets should be free fed, chinchillas do not gorge themselves.  Males should be seperated from mom by 8 weeks.  I usually ween at 8 weeks and when they are at least 200 grams. They are weened abruptly and put in their own cage.

.. why is it that some people say chinchillas will overeat and only give them 2 tablespoons of food a day. ugh!!!!

[Jhenderson27]

I have 9 chins in my house, 5 of which were raised from birth, they have free fed their entire lives, they may be fat little fluff balls, but they are all healthy and have been to the Vet and checked.  I keep hay and food on hand and fresh h20.

[Squirrel_Butt]

  Thanks everyone. I will be weaning them on October 23 as that will be when they are exactly 8 weeks old. The other cages are already assembled.  As food all chins right now are fed free choice. I'm confused as to the amount the weanlings get when they are on their own. 

One of my books says have food available at all times. The other one says "It is very important that you do not overfeed the young at this time; overfeeding kills adolescent chinchillas. Give them half the adult ration of pellets and hay. When they are five to six months old, slowly increase the rations to a full adult portion."  I'm under the impression that the author of this book fed hers a fixed amount.  I have always raised mine feeding free choice.  I fill the food dish half way and discard the uneaten pellets and refill with fresh pellets as needed. I have never raised kits before. Some of you feed free choice, some of you feed fixed amount.   

[AnnieHank]

With both my sets of kits, I fed freely as I did not know at the time that overfeeding could kill them. They all turned out fine but maybe I just got lucky.

[Squirrel_Butt]

Perhaps I should play it safe and start them on 2 tsp a day. Idk, I'll consult with my vet as well.

[dianah]

i honestly would not go with what any book says unless it is a veterinary textbook. i've got three - i think - books on chinchillas that have such rubbish in them it's unreal. one even suggests giving chins nuts. just because it's published doesn't mean it's got any truth in it whatsoever.

[Squirrel_Butt]

Even if the author is a DVM?  Don't get me wrong, I trust my vet more than anything. He has a lot of experience with chins.  I just don't want to mess this up.

[Jhenderson27]

Swquirrel_Butt-

I had 3 different litters of kits, a triplet, a twin, and a single (passed away from other complications as we got the mom and baby boy from a person who knew nothing about them and we adopted them trying to give them both the best, we so miss Lucky) but the point is I have free fed all the kits while with mom and on their own.  Mine have been completely fine and they are all 1 year+ now.  They are all hand friendly, healthy, fat, good chinchillas.  They do not over eat or gorge.  Free feeding is the best way as what happens if you get stuck out or something like an emergency happens, you want them to have food all the time. 

[dianah]

i trust my vet too. i know other vets i would not trust with my chins. all i'm saying is - and this goes for everything, not just this particular piece of info - just because it says so in a book doesn't mean there's any truth in it. i think you will also find that different vets have opinions. my vets have changed the treatment protocol in chin neutering after my chinchi died of complications after the surgery - the chins now get a full course of antibiotics post surgery rather than just a post op injection. as far as i know, some vet surgeries do this and some don't. it's the same with doctors, they don't necessarily agree with one another or use the same treatments.

if you do want to restrict the amount of pellets available to the kits, make sure there's plenty of hay. also, make sure mom can get all the food she could possibly want.

[Squirrel_Butt]

   OK then. Free choice it shall remain. Thank you very much