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 Starting a chinchilla family
requires forethought and
planning. Adult chinchillas' are a bit fussy about their
breeding environment, therefore they must feel secure in their
surroundings. A quite
area with a minimum of traffic affords an idea spot. Natural
predators, such as rats and other animals, such as dogs and cat,
should not have access to the breeding rooms.
Litters range from one to six kits, with two being
the average. A separate cage is needed for weaning. If you intend to
keep the young, each will require its own cage. If you did not buy a
heating pad or low wattage bulb before, one is essential now. The
warmth comforts the expectant mother and prevents litter mortalities
by protecting the young from exposure to the cold. The first born
may die without the added heat if the mother cannot attend to it
while giving birth to the rest of the litter. The extra heat also
helps to dry the mammary gland infections.
Nested Boxes
When the breeding room is not centrally heated, professional
ranchers construct nest boxes that attach onto the mother's cage.
The mother and kits exit and enter through a hole cut in the wire.
The wooden nest box is not large, but it is roomy enough to provide
a cozy area for the mother and her young. A heat source is placed
beneath a false bottom provides warmth.
Choosing a Mate
After you confirm the sex of your chinchilla, consider its age and
experience. Chinchillas are best bred around eight months of age. At
this age they are sexually mature, playful, and less likely to fight
than older animals. Do not breed an older, experienced chinchilla to
a younger one that has never been mated before. The result could be
fatal. An experienced male is primarily concerned with mating and
may become impatient with a young female's playfulness that he will
bite her severely. An experienced female may so aggressively reject
and frighten a male. It is best to begin your chinchilla breeding
with two young and inexperienced animals.
Male Chins:
Female Chins:
Introducing the Pair
Your chosen pair must be properly introduced. Chinchillas need time
to get acquainted before they are housed together. Once comfortable,
the couple can share the same cage during and after breeding.
Monitor their reactions carefully. You must be prepared to separate
the animals if one violently rejects the other.
We have witness a great deal of "squabling" and rough housing but
haven't had any rejections or violent reactions at the Lazy B ...
YET! Keep a pair of
leather or garden gloves close by to protect your hands if you must
intervene. You could also trap one of the animals in a overturned
oatmeal container and remove it from the cage. The male will
probably spend the first few moments investigating his new
surroundings before he acknowledges the female. The female, though,
is totally concerned with the intruder in her home. As the male
turns his attention to her, some roughhousing can be expected. The
pair will chase each other around the cage and may nibble one
another's fur and ears. The rough and tumble antics are natural.
Unless blood is drawn or one panics and attacks the other, do not
separate the chinchillas. Fur will really begin to fly at this time.
The female may also express her disfavor by retreating to a corner,
rising on her haunches, and shooting urine at the male. If she does
this, she is readying for a fight; remove the male at once. Don't
let a bad first encounter discourage you. Usually the chinchillas
simply need a bit more time side by side and that should lessen the friction and make them more receptive when they
are reintroduced. It is rare for a chinchilla to adamantly refuse a
mate.
Mating
After acceptance, mating occurs. The female becomes restless,
alerting the male that she is physically ready to breed. The
heat is repeated about every 28-34 days. Some females may
discharge a small, white waxy material, referred to as an "estrous"
or "heat" plug, from the vagina. The males senses the change in the
female and courts her. Although a female is physically able to mate,
she may be less than eager to do so. Remove any "hideouts" in the
cage to prevent her retreat. After a slight scuffle, the male is
usually successful. If he becomes too rough, remove him for a few
hours until the female is ready to accept him. When she is, they may
mate several times. Just because you haven't observed the coupling
does not mean that mating has not occurred. The event may be quite
brief or it may have taken place at night. After mating, the male
may make a short hiccupping sound. Another wax-like substance, the
copulatory plug, may be found on the cage floor the next day.
The male may remain with the female until the kits are born. He
helps with the delivery by drying and warming the young.
Preparing for the Litter
The litter will be born 111 days, give or take a day or two, after
conception. Provide the female with extra hay and feed to
accommodate her increased nutritional requirements. Some authorities
suggest giving her commercial supplements to ensure a balanced diet.
A homemade mix of equal parts rolled oats, powdered milk, wheat
germ, and baby cereal is fortifying. About midway through the term,
the female may have a loss of appetite and drop some weight. There
is no cause for alarm unless other signs of disease are present.
This is a particularly stressful time for the chinchilla, so provide
a relaxing environment and do not handle her at all. Any strain or
handling may injure the fetuses and cause the female to abort them.
Therefore, resist the urge to check the mother's growing tummy and
certainly don't remove her from her familiar surroundings.
Birth
A few days before the litter is due, the mother may lose her
appetite, drink more water, and have soft droppings. She may be less
active, lying around and stretching more. A dust bath is
not
given at this time, since she may contract a vaginal infection.
Birth typically occurs during the early morning hours. Although she
usually requires no assistance, you should be available in case of
an emergency. She may have a difficult delivery or she may need help
caring for the newborn. Make sure the cage remains warm. During
labor, the chinchilla is obviously uncomfortable. She may stretch
up, perspire, and cry audibly. The fluid in the sac surrounding the
kits is released and the contractions are visible. The babies should
appear in two or three hours. The mother gently pulls a kit out with
her teeth, removes the sac from the kit, then cleans and dries the
baby's fur. When the afterbirth arrives, the birth process is over.
The mother normally eats the afterbirth (for hormones to produce
milk), but some breeders prefer to remove it. If labor last over
four hours, or if the contractions stop before the kits arrive, call
the vet immediately. Should the mother be unable to care for the
firstborn while more kits are emerging, and the father makes no
attempt to warm them, the kit may become rigid from the cold. Remove
the baby from the cage and warm it slowly in your gently clasped
hands. Exhale short, easy breaths close to its mouth to encourage
respiration. You can also try submerging the kit in warm water up to
its neck. It may take up to 15 minutes until you see a response from
the kit, but keep up the effort. When the baby is able to stand, dry
it gently and return it to its mother.
Care of the Mother
The new mother will be understandable weak after giving birth. She
must eat well to properly care for her kits. If her appetite
declines or she does not produce enough milk for nursing, add some
apple vinegar to her drinking water. The vinegar sparks her appetite
and helps her to regain weight. Authorities recommend about half a
teaspoon per 250 ml. (about half a pint - one cup) of water. Change
the water daily and discontinue the vinegar when she is eating well.
The female needs time to be in top breeding condition again. Since
she can conceive shortly after birth, remove the male when all the
young have been delivered. Do not reintroduce him until the kits
have been weaned.
Rearing Newborns
Kits look for their first meal within one hour of birth. The mother
feeds them from a standing position, unlike cats and dogs, which lie
on their sides. If the young fight over the teats, check the mother
for bites and apply a mild ointment. If they continue fussing, ask
your vet to clip their teeth to protect the mother. Nursing is
difficult for a mother with swollen, inflamed teats. Apply camphor
oil to each nipple to restore the free flow of milk. A
well-nourished female should have no problem supplying up to three
kits with adequate milk. Since most litters consist of only two
young, lack of milk is usually not a problem. If there are more than
three young, select the strong kits and feed them from an
eyedropper. Leave the smaller kits to nurse with the mother. Prepare
a formula of one part milk powder, or sweetened condensed milk, with
two parts lukewarm spring water. Whole milk mixed equally with
spring water also works well. Do not boil the water and do not use
water from a tap. The chlorine in the tap water is toxic to the
kits. To hand-feed a kit, hold it upright and dab a little formula
on its lower lip. The baby may be confused and will need some time
to learn what is expected. Eventually , the kit licks its lip and
swallows the milk with a chewing motion. Never force the liquid into
the kit's mouth-the milk may enter the lungs and kill it. Kits eat
small amounts at each feeding and must be fed often. The first week
they must be fed every three or four hours. Gradually reduce the
feedings to three times a day. Stop the meal when the kit turns its
head from the dropper and licks its lips. A mere dropper or two is a
sufficient feeding. If you cannot be home for all the feedings, put
a small amount of formula in a bottle and hang it on the side of the
cage. Be sure it is within reach of the kits. Gradually introduce
solid food into the kits' diet.
Weaning
When the kits are six to eight weeks old, they must be separated
from their mother and placed in another cage. Keeping the kits
together at this time eases the stress of leaving their mother. If
the female still has milk, return the young to her once or twice a
day for a meal. Within two weeks, the kits should be content on
their own and each must be given its own cage. 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.
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 The
chinchilla's natural habitat is high in the Andes of Bolivia,
Peru, Chile, and Argentina. Classified as members of the order Rodentia,
chinchillas are small rodents related to squirrels,
guinea pigs, mice,
hamsters, and gerbils. Chinchillas are the
most expensive of all rodents in the world because their soft
fur is the most sought-after of all skins used in making
garments.
The two species of chinchillas, Chinchilla brevicaudata and
Chinchilla lanigera, are outwardly almost indistinguishable.
Both species have long hind limbs, short forelimbs, four toes,
and flexible digits. C. brevicaudata presents a stockier
appearance than C. lanigera. It has a thicker neck and shoulders,
shorter ears, and a flatter nose than C. lanigera. It is heavily
furred with light
gray hair often tinged with a yellowish hue.
C. lanigera has a sleeker look because of its narrower neck and
shoulders and somewhat more pointed face and elongated ears. The
fur is very silky, usually medium to dark gray with a bright
bluish cast. Only C. langera is commonly available.
Similar to other rodents such as beavers, hamsters, and guinea
pigs, chinchillas have two continuously growing incisor teeth in
the upper jaw and two in the lower jaw. They are nocturnal
animals, being active mostly at dusk and at night. During
daylight hours in the wild, they sleep in dark hiding places
such as holes and crevices. As the sun goes down they begin to
search for food.
What sets chinchillas apart from the rest of the rodents is
their fur. It is so silky, dense, light, and soft that it is
virtually unmatched by any other fur-bearing animal. Each hair
grows in an agouti pattern of three colored bands: the lower
zone (undercoat), the band, and the veil (clouding). Special
guard hairs protrude a few tenths of an inch (several
millimeters) beyond the undercoat of the fur and provide
elasticity to a mature pelt. The abdominal fur usually does not
have the agouti markings but instead is a solid patch of white
to light gray. Both species were originally brought to the
United States to be bred as fur producers. Since C. langeria
adapted better to captivity and reproduced better, C. brevicaudata was eventually dropped from most fur-farming
programs. Therefore, it is generally assumed that most of the
animals in the United States are C. lanigera descendants.
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South
American natives had been fashioning chinchilla fur into
warm, lightweight garments for hundreds of years. When
Spanish explorers arrived on the continent in the 1500's,
they collected the pelts for their return trips. The limited
amount of fur was soon used to trim royal robes and gowns.
Over the years, several attempts were made to bring
chinchillas down from the mountains to establish breeding
herds. Unfortunately, the animals never survived the trip.
Finally, one group did survive the descent and the first
chinchilla farm was established near San Antonio de los
Cobre, Argentina. The 36 animals died in captivity, though.
and the venture failed.
M.F. Chapman, a mining engineer from California, was  working
in Chile in 1918. A native entered Chapman's camp to sell a
chinchilla he had captured. Chapman purchased the animal as
a pet and took a real liking to it. Subsequently, he
envisioned raising a whole herd of chinchillas. Even though
Chapman knew of the previous unsuccessful attempts with
chinchillas, he was determined to establish his own herd. He
applied to the Chilean government for permission to capture
and transport several animals to the United States. By this
time, chinchillas were already close to extinction as a
result of excessive trapping.
Understandably, the Chilean government was reluctant to
grant trapping privileges, much less allow transport out of
the country. But Chapman persisted, and eventually the
government relented.
Chapman and a trapping party of 23 men traversed the
mountains to catch as many chinchillas as possible. The
population was so sparse that only 11 acceptable specimens
were captured in three years.
Chapman theorized that other trappers had failed to give the
chinchillas enough time to acclimate themselves to the
changing environment during the descent. Following his
theory, the 12,000 foot trip down the mountain was gradually
completed over a period of 12 months. The cages were cooled
with blocks of ice and shaded from direct sunlight. The slow
descent and painstaking care paid off, because all 11
chinchillas survived.
The animals were then boarded on a ship to complete their
journey to the United States. Due to Chapman's continued
caution, the chinchillas not only survived but multiplied!
One kit was born during the trip.
On his ranch in California, Chapman experimented with
housing and feeding. In the wild, chinchillas feed on seeds,
grasses, and yareta, a South American plant. On the trip
down the mountain Chapman gathered local vegetation to feed
the herd. Away from South America, he tried to duplicate the
diet as closely as possible. Initially the chinchillas had
some difficulty, but through experimentation Chapman
developed a sound feeding program and suitable living
quarters. As his animals thrived and multiplied, he offered
them for sale. Since they were so rare, one pair sold for
$3,200.
More chinchilla ranches developed throughout the United
States, and by the middle 1960's thousand of animals were
available. Eventually, some chinchillas found their way into
the pet market. Today more and more chinchillas are being
offered as pets, but most animals are still raised for their
fine pelts, especially in Europe.
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Our Employees
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This
is our little Chimmie Chonga Chinchilla! Chinchillas'
(Chinchilla lanigera) are native to high up in the Andes
mountains of South America.
They are rodents and as such are related to hamsters,
squirrels, rabbits and so on. In fact many people describe their
appearance as that of a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel. They were
hunted almost to extinction for their fur, but thankfully are now a
protected species in the wild, though still endangered due to habitat
destruction.
They are nocturnal
creatures who sleep most of the day and become more lively at night. They
feed primarily on seeds, grasses and vegetation found in their South
American habitat.
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