A New generation

Small litter size is another interesting chinchilla characteristic. Most chinchillas average only two babies in a litter. chinchillas are not animals of mass production.

CARING FOR BABIES: It is not normal for a mother to abandon or reject her babies and hence fail to carry out her motherly duties.

WEANING: A weaned animal is an animal that no longer requires and is no longer receiving nourishment from its mother's milk. chinchilla kits can run an play the day of birth and take a real interest in solid food, especially about a week from birth. nevertheless, they cannot survive without their mother's milk and need to have it until at least three and a half weeks of age in order to survive.Survival rates by the time of weaning are often as low as 75 percent. Kits should not be weaned from their mother earlier than six to eight weeks of age.

Raising the Babies: Once you wean the young chinchilla, they can be housed just like the adults. They have the same needs: nutritions food, fresh water, an exercise wheel, a dust bath, interesting toys, a comfortable temperature, and safe, escape-proof housing. Of course, they also need lots of attention!

Kits are also curious and love to investigate. Sometimes they want to explore, and other times they enjoy being held. Your chins will be a continual source of entertainment for you. The more time you spend with them, the friendlier and more fun they will be.

Emergency Formul for Orphan Chinchillas:

• 1/3 oz (10g) ground chinchilla pellets (make sure these contain calcium)
• 1/3 oz oat cereal
• 1/30 oz (1ml) dextrose (available from VET)
• 1/6 oz (5ml) Pedialyte
• 10mg vitamin C (  tablet or liquid from pharmacy)
• Bottled water, enough to make a liquid when ingredients are blended  

TIP

Nutrition for Newborns: As early as the first days of life, newborns chew on sstrands of hay, and soon thereafter on pellets. along with the mother's milk, that provides plenty of good nourishment. the transition from mother's milk to solid food is smooth. the little chinchilla's stomach and intestines gradually adapt to adult food, which is harder to digest. After three weeks the young animal has doubled its birth weight. In the first six weeks you don't need to be concerned with feeding the offspring. Young animals eat some of the mother's food-in fact, as much as they need- so give the mother a little more hay and pellets thant usual. In litters of three or four young the mother often doesn't have enough milk to go around. In this case you have to relieve the strain on the mother; otherwise, in their struggle to get mild the little ones will bite her teats. Mix canned milk (7.5 percent fat) with warm drinking water in a ratio of 1:1. Fill a dropper with this milk warmed to body temperature.take a little one in your hand and feed it with the dropper. With larger offspring, merely hold the dropper to their muzzle; they'll suckle from it themselves. So not force the milk down; it will get into the baby's lungs. Wipe fluid off the nose so it doesn't go in and choke the little one. ( this type of feedind is effective for just the first week or two of life.)