Well, it’s been an interesting 72 hours here at The Manor.
One of my female chinchillas was due to litter on Wednesday (23rd May) and I had taken 2 weeks off - primarily to be around for her since she is one of my favourite chins but also to finish sorting my garden - so I watched her off and on all day and she just sat there in her cage, looking at me as if to say “WHAT?”. So that was fine (a chinchilla’s gestation is usually 111 days give or take a couple) and I was not particulalry concerned that she might go a day over her due date.
Thursday dawned hot and sunny and the female again showed no particular signs of going into labour so I went out into the garden and attacked my shed, clearing out all the accumulated rubbish and discovering that it had been inhabited by mice over the winter. I did not realise how stinky mice could be until I found their communal toilet corner and the remains of my sun lounger cushion which had obviously been used as a nest and was looking decidedly tattered!
In between throwing out the rubbish, clearing the mice debris, and generally splashing Jeyes Fluid about to disinfect the place, I periodically came back to check on the female. Lo and behold at 2:30-ish there she was, sopping wet down her front, and showing off her first born kit. Typical!
A chinchilla’s timing can be quite amazing - there I was, stinking of mouse urine and Jeyes Fluid and there she was with a soggy kit which I could not touch (despite being phenomenally tolerant of handling their newborns, I did not think my female would have appreciated a kit which smelled of either mouse urine or extra-strong disinfectant - there are limits to even the most laid-back chin’s tolernace).
Jumping in the shower and attempting to get rid of the Jeyes Fluid stench from my hands (with the aid of a lemon, a scrubbing brush, and Original Source Mint & Tea Tree Shower Gel) I came out 15 minutes later (Jeyes Fluid is horrible stuff to get off!) to find the female sitting nonchalantly cleaning her chest and paws. No sign of further labour or of passing the placenta. So I waited and watched for a little while - nothing; not a spasm or contraction visible. Well, that’s ok because sometimes it can take up to 2 hours between kits - off to the garden to put the stuff back into the shed (which now smells much better) and to put the rubbish in a pile for taking to the “recycling facility” (whatever happened to the good old “tip”?).
Half an hour and one very clean, tidy shed later, I arrived back to see the female sitting comfortably with the first kit but still looking very, very pregnant. She had obviously passed the first placenta but had not eaten it (a common occurrance with chinchillas most probably due to the need to clean up after giving birth so no predators follow the smell of blood) and had thrown it through the mesh onto the tray below her cage. The kit was dry, fluffed up, and precocious - snuggling into her mother and attempting to find a teat. 
Chinchilla kits are born fully furred, eyes open, ready to go - and boy, can they go! They can often be found pinging about the cage like little fleas about 12 hours after they are born. They show no fear of anything and will climb the cage mesh and then flip off backwards, much to the chargrin of their human owners - that is one of the reasons that many breeders (including myself) use cages 15 inches high - so that the kits do not harm themselves with their acrobatics. They are also very interesting to watch develop and can often be seen copying their parents and nibbling at pellets and/or hay from about 3 days old. Chinchillas generally make excellent parents and the males will often babysit the offspring, keeping them warm and protected whilst the mothers eat or have some exercise or a dustbath etc.
By 4pm the female was still showing no signs of further contractions and I began to get a little concerned. It was obvious she still had a kit or kits inside her and although there can be 2 hours between kits there are usually signs of continuing labour. 4 hours is the absolute maximum that a female should be allowed to strain to pass a kit or show no signs of contractions between kits (as in this situation). I phoned my vets and booked an appointment to attend at 5:30pm if there was no developments in the meantime. I very gently palpated the female’s abdominal area which revealed a definite mass in the uterine area - there was at least one kit still in her but even that examination did not kick off contractions again.
One female chinchilla (none too happy about being taken out of her cage and placed in a small carry cage), one small squeaky kit, a wet towel and 2 ice blocks later we were off to see my vet (Jade), aircon blasting icy air into the car to ensure the chins did not overheat (but also ensuring the kit did not get chilled). My vets and the receptionists know me very well - I have most of my chinchilla registered and have taken in many rescues over the last few years - the receptionists were eager to know who I’d got this time and were there any babies in the carrier? I was feeling quite nervous to be honest. The thought of my female chin having to go through a possible caesarian, the kit(s) inside possibly being dead, and the follow-up intensive care which would be required kept going through my head.
Jade did not look too relaxed when she came out to get us either. C-sections on small furries are notoriously difficult and delicate to perform, although Jade had successfully done one before (not on one of my chins). We discussed possible treatment options while Jade gently examined the female’s abdomen and uterus and we decided that giving Oxytocin would initially be the route of choice, followed by a C-section if that did not have any effect. Oxytocin basically increases the frequency of contractions. We also decided on an X-ray first to see how may kits we were dealing with and whether the kit(s) was (were) too big for the mother to pass without assistance.
For me, much pacing in the waiting room followed, while the female was having her X-ray and Jade was seeing another client while the X-ray was developed. The X-ray showed one kit remaining and we decided to try the Oxytocin to see if that would enable the kit to be passed naturally. I waited again while Jade went off to give the female the Oxytcin. I did not have long to wait which surprised me - I figured the Oxy had worked and the kit had been born dead (pessimist that I am). What had really happened was: The female had given birth to the second, live kit between having the X-ray and Jade returning to give her the injection!
I cannot begin to express the emotions which flooded through me but to say I was relieved is an enormous understatement! I had been concerned that I could end up with one live kit which would need 24 hour hand rearing, one dead female and however many dead kits still inside her - to go home with 3 live, healthy chinchillas was fantastic 
It is possible that the two examinations had started the contractions again but whatever the reason, there was a little, soggy chinchilla kit in the carrier under it’s mother. We went to an examination room and Jade towelled off the kit (a male). I decided that Jade could name the little kit if she would like to and he is now called “Thistle” after the Scottish flower (Jade is Scottish, as are my family so it is a very apt name) Both kits were cuddled by the receptionists and then we all came home for what was hopefully a peaceful and uneventful evening. Unfortunately though the kits decided to squabble a bit and the new mother (this is her first litter) was a little bemused by the whole thing. Eventually they seemed to settle for the night.
Friday saw the female and kits settling down except that the kits were occasionally bickering. This is a fairly common occurrance as the kits vie for dominance and position for the “best” teat. The female was still a bit bemused by it all and could not really seem to discipline her little furry hooligans. When I went in to the chin room the kits were quite often attached to the female and seemed to be suckling fairly well.
Saturday saw a concerning turn of events. Chinchilla kits naturally lose a little weight in the first day or so after birth. They usually start putting it on after the second day as the mother’s milk comes in properly and they are no longer getting just the essential colostrum. Some females are slow to produce milk and on this occasion it seems that my female is not producing milk of sufficient quality and/or quantity to satisfy her kits.
Today has been a day of intense fighting between the kits which has really upset their mother. She has been kacking (the noise an angry chinchilla makes) at them and has also been trying to separate them as they fight. The kits are both trying to attach to the same nipple, resulting in fighting and also nipping the female in the process.
The female kit is also sporting a small nick on her nose where her brother bit her - it is only superficial and should heal with no problems but it does show the intensity with which chichilla kits will fight - it is definitely a case of survival of the fittest! I have tried several things today in order to settle the kits (and mother) down but to no avail. I clipped the fur around 4 of the female’s 6 teats (the “best” teats are the top two, nearest the axillary area of the front paws) to make it easier for the kits but they keep going to the same side and then fighting. I have started to introduce a little hand rearing formula and am now rotating the kits every 2 hours as I do not have any other females with kits at present who can take on another kit.
Rotating kits works quite well and an added bonus is having another female who can look after the kit which is not with it’s own mother - this surrogate mother will often clean up the kit and keep it warm rather than it spending 2 hours in a carry cage with a heat mat and towel to snuggle into. I have a big, soppy female who is acting as surrogate at present and she is not the least bit bothered by having 2 different kits in with her (one kit every 2 hours). Not every female will act as a surrogate but those that do generally take great care of their charges and it is wonderful to see them gently cleaning and snuggling into a little kit. All I can do now is keep rotating the kits and hope the mother’s milk flows in sufficient quantity and quality to allow them to thrive.
