Ok, this is a long story, so I will try and shorten it!
Basically my friend bought a boy chin, then she got a baby boy from a woman she works with and she called him Archie!! It seems Archie is actually Archie-ina and is due to give birth in a fortnight!!!!!!!
The daddy chin went for 'the' operation last week to stop him having more babies but when they put the chins back intogether Archie-ina tried to kill him!!!! They tried a few times but it wasn't working.
So, as I had a spare cage and much more room in my house, I took the pregnant one and have re-named her Annie!
So, I now have a new chin and much more than I bargained for, lol!
Anyway, I am not worried about having lots of chins, I just need to know if there is anything I need to look out for, or do or give her that would help her??
I have read all my books on chins and have a fair idea of what not to do etc but as a few of you have bred chins before I would just like some advice please!
I have a large aviary that I am going to divide in two so that Annie and the kits can go on the bottom, so that the kits have nowhere to break their legs and have space to run around the floor. There are also shelves mummy can get onto to eat on her own etc.
So any advice would be much appreciated thanks!!!
Nik
P.S Pics to follow!!
Full Version: Help - Pregnant Chin!!
Hi Nik,
quite a few of us here have experienced that "whoops - he´s a she!" problem
very good of you to take Annie in!
I won´t comment on the baby business cos there are way more experienced members on here who will hopefully be around in a bit to give you loads of useful advice. I just wanted to point out that a male chin can "produce" babies for quite a while after the actual operation (i think up to 6-8 weeks), so a freshly neutered chin should never be put straight back to the female but be kept in a separate cage until it is 100% "safe"
I hope everything goes well for you and Annie, bet you are looking forward to having a kit in your home
quite a few of us here have experienced that "whoops - he´s a she!" problem
very good of you to take Annie in! I won´t comment on the baby business cos there are way more experienced members on here who will hopefully be around in a bit to give you loads of useful advice. I just wanted to point out that a male chin can "produce" babies for quite a while after the actual operation (i think up to 6-8 weeks), so a freshly neutered chin should never be put straight back to the female but be kept in a separate cage until it is 100% "safe"
I hope everything goes well for you and Annie, bet you are looking forward to having a kit in your home
The most important thing to make sure is that the spacing between the bars of your cage are suitable for kits.
3/4" by 3/4" mesh is the ideal size as any bigger the kits are small enought to squeeze out.
Many people have been caught out by losing kits that have escaped the cage and then died from not being able to get back to mum.
Some books are very misleading in the advice given on chins so to be honest you would do better to do a search on here for chins giving birth and read all you can from experienced owners before the birth.
Any questions or doubt just ask and people will help when possible.
Good luck with everything and yes definitely piccies please
3/4" by 3/4" mesh is the ideal size as any bigger the kits are small enought to squeeze out.
Many people have been caught out by losing kits that have escaped the cage and then died from not being able to get back to mum.
Some books are very misleading in the advice given on chins so to be honest you would do better to do a search on here for chins giving birth and read all you can from experienced owners before the birth.
Any questions or doubt just ask and people will help when possible.
Good luck with everything and yes definitely piccies please
Sounds like you are going to be busy over the next couple of weeks
It's been a very long time since I heard the patter of tiny little paws here so I'm a bit rusty with info but luckily we have a couple of baby related topics in our FAQ section including some very clear photos to help you sex the little ones when they are born.
If you are sure of her due date, now is the time to organise her nursery cage and get her settled. Kits can squeeze through the smallest spaces so double check that the cage is Kit proof. If the floor of the cage is mesh then the mesh needs to be covered with newspaper or even a bit of fleece, something that if they chew they won't come to any harm. When preparing the cage for her, make sure there are no high shelves or ledges in the cage as Kits will climb without any consideration for their own health and safety, a very low shelf will suffice but you don't want to encourage Mum to leave the babies unattended and if you give her an escape route she might just make use of it leaving the kits hungry and chilly at the bottom of the cage, although this is unlikely as already said Kits are master climbers and there is rarely a Mum that can escape a hungry kit, but better safe than sorry!
There is a good article here that should help, the info on how to prepare for a forthcoming litter is about halfway down the page.
It's a miserable thing to have to think about but it might be worth getting an emergency feeding kit together just in case there are any problems, it's better to plan ahead and have everything to hand. This article should help.
Are you planning on trying to reintroduce Annie to her partner? If yes, then let her have the kits and wean them before attempting any reintroductions. If/when you reintroduce them you will have to go right back to basics with the introductions. I suspect the reason they fell out after his op was a combination of pregnancy hormones and him coming home smelling of Vets which would have scared her enough to upset their relationship. As Ula has mentioned it does take about 8 weeks for the castration to be effective so if they had continued to live together there would have been a chance that he could have impregnated her again directly after the birth of this litter. It seems her feminine intuition worked well in her favour in this instance if not in his. I hope her (ex) hubby is ok and survived her wrath ok?
Finally, Good Luck Annie and Nik, hope everything goes well and keep us updated
It's been a very long time since I heard the patter of tiny little paws here so I'm a bit rusty with info but luckily we have a couple of baby related topics in our FAQ section including some very clear photos to help you sex the little ones when they are born.
If you are sure of her due date, now is the time to organise her nursery cage and get her settled. Kits can squeeze through the smallest spaces so double check that the cage is Kit proof. If the floor of the cage is mesh then the mesh needs to be covered with newspaper or even a bit of fleece, something that if they chew they won't come to any harm. When preparing the cage for her, make sure there are no high shelves or ledges in the cage as Kits will climb without any consideration for their own health and safety, a very low shelf will suffice but you don't want to encourage Mum to leave the babies unattended and if you give her an escape route she might just make use of it leaving the kits hungry and chilly at the bottom of the cage, although this is unlikely as already said Kits are master climbers and there is rarely a Mum that can escape a hungry kit, but better safe than sorry!
There is a good article here that should help, the info on how to prepare for a forthcoming litter is about halfway down the page.
It's a miserable thing to have to think about but it might be worth getting an emergency feeding kit together just in case there are any problems, it's better to plan ahead and have everything to hand. This article should help.
Are you planning on trying to reintroduce Annie to her partner? If yes, then let her have the kits and wean them before attempting any reintroductions. If/when you reintroduce them you will have to go right back to basics with the introductions. I suspect the reason they fell out after his op was a combination of pregnancy hormones and him coming home smelling of Vets which would have scared her enough to upset their relationship. As Ula has mentioned it does take about 8 weeks for the castration to be effective so if they had continued to live together there would have been a chance that he could have impregnated her again directly after the birth of this litter. It seems her feminine intuition worked well in her favour in this instance if not in his. I hope her (ex) hubby is ok and survived her wrath ok?
Finally, Good Luck Annie and Nik, hope everything goes well and keep us updated
Thank you everyone for all the advice and Nox, I will go and have a look at all of that info!Annie wont' be going back with Angus, it will hopefully be one of the babies that will go and stay with Angus the daddy. I am hoping that eventually Annie and Jasmine and the rescue chin when I get it will all live together in harmony!!! 
If not I do have 3 cages!I will hopefully attach a pic of the aviery where Annie and bubs will be, they will have the bottom half and I will take the shelves out or put them down lower, it wont' be hard! The bottom of the aviary doesn't have any mesh or wire at all so that will be much safer!Angus is fine after the ordeal and much happier on his own!Hopefully this is a pic of Jasmine all on her own in the cage, the middle will be put in and Annie will be on the bottom, do you think this will be ok? I also have one of those 'pets at home' cages but would rather not use it with the mesh on the bottom!
And another one!You better watch I might get carried away!
If not I do have 3 cages!I will hopefully attach a pic of the aviery where Annie and bubs will be, they will have the bottom half and I will take the shelves out or put them down lower, it wont' be hard! The bottom of the aviary doesn't have any mesh or wire at all so that will be much safer!Angus is fine after the ordeal and much happier on his own!Hopefully this is a pic of Jasmine all on her own in the cage, the middle will be put in and Annie will be on the bottom, do you think this will be ok? I also have one of those 'pets at home' cages but would rather not use it with the mesh on the bottom!And another one!You better watch I might get carried away!
Another wee question, I have read conflicting views as to when kits can eat pellets?? I first read that the food should be up high so that they can't reach it for a few weeks, then i just read that they can try them whenever they like.
Guinea pig babies eat food after the first day or so, but obviously chin babies are different!!
Should I just leave her pellets where they are?
Guinea pig babies eat food after the first day or so, but obviously chin babies are different!!
Should I just leave her pellets where they are?
I'm sure it's fine to leave the bowl where everyone can reach it, Chin kits are nearly as precocious as piggy pups and fairly self regulating in that (or at least in my experience) and I'm sure it won't harm the kits should they venture up to it or more likely *into* it!! I'm sure somebody with more experience will come along and correct me if I'm wrong on this 
It's treats that need keeping out of the kits way when they are wee, as they are tiny little junk food addicts given the chance, with very undeveloped gut flora that can easily be upset by the equivalent of a Chinny Mars Bar (raisin) or similar
Wicket was only a few hours old the first time he shoved his head in his Mum's food bowl, I'm sure he didn't actually eat anything and was only mimicking his Mum. It all seems such a very long time ago I honestly couldn't tell you when he first started eating and digesting the pellets but he certainly had a good try the minute he worked out what his mouth was for
Piggy babies on the other hand seem to fall out into our crazy world and sense the food bowl and scuttle up to it almost immediately 
It's treats that need keeping out of the kits way when they are wee, as they are tiny little junk food addicts given the chance, with very undeveloped gut flora that can easily be upset by the equivalent of a Chinny Mars Bar (raisin) or similar
Wicket was only a few hours old the first time he shoved his head in his Mum's food bowl, I'm sure he didn't actually eat anything and was only mimicking his Mum. It all seems such a very long time ago I honestly couldn't tell you when he first started eating and digesting the pellets but he certainly had a good try the minute he worked out what his mouth was for
Piggy babies on the other hand seem to fall out into our crazy world and sense the food bowl and scuttle up to it almost immediately
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.