Diet and Care for Baby Chinchillas

Hi, just thought I'd post a little bit of what I know here. Others feel free to add on if it's been tried and tested. But pls bear in mind that these are personal opinions and not some golden rules you should follow totally. Always think, read and consider carefully if this is ok and healthy for your chins. Thanks.

Umm, okie, for baby chins. They need alot of calcium, nutrients and an unlimited supply of food for their first 3 months. Of course the most important thing is they need their mum's milk, but it's possible to foster a baby chin who is an orphan or who has been rejected by mum. But that will be a bit different from this topic. I'll be talking about what things to feed your baby chin, when it's with mama chin.

Firstly, to promote more milk from mama chin, pls feed her diluted cranberry juice. 50% juice to 50% lukewarm water. You can do this when she is just about to give birth, or starting from 1 week before. It's probably better to give her everyday, starting from 1 week before. Just give it to her in a normal water bottle. Some chins may not like the taste, but most do. Pls buy the cranberry juice that is organic and natural, not the type that is remade from concentrate.

Make sure that your baby chin is getting enough milk from mama. He should suckle very often. For me, I see the baby suckling under mama very often throughout the day. Even when she is lying down, he'll be drinking. That's good. Baby chins may not drink milk for very long periods of time, they do it only in a jiffy. But they do it all day often. You can increase its nutrients intake by feeding supplemental milk, but not all babies will like it. Buy some pet milk powder and make it according to instructions, but do remember that they won't drink alot of it if they don't like it. And pls don't force the baby chin to drink, as it can choke on the milk and this is very serious.

Unlimited pellets and hay should be given to both mama and baby chins. The baby will learn from its mum what to eat and how, very quickly, so it's good to teach it to eat adult food early. But pls do not wean your baby chinchilla earlier just because of that. I actually like to leave mama and baby together for a full 3 months, and then separate them if the baby is male. If it's a female, I'll leave them together even longer. Some breeders wean at 8 to 10 weeks old, but they are confident the baby is healthy, so they can do that. If you're unsure, then don't wean the baby before 12 weeks.

Vitamin C and nutrients can be given to the baby and mama at this stage, just to help them more. The baby is still growing and mama is still recovering from the pregnancy. Oxbow's apple vit c and papaya tablets are helpful here. If you want to give fresh fruit, try a little bit of apple or pineapple. But pls don't give large slices, just a small slice will suffice. Nutri-cal can be fed to mama chin, but I personally don't feed it to the baby chin at this stage yet. I'm not sure if others have experience with this.

Oh yes, not forgetting, mama chin and baby chin should be fed lots of alfalfa hay. In fact, I personally would feed 100% alfalfa hay with just a little bit of timothy hay mixed in. Because the calcium and protein requirement for mama and baby are quite high right now. When mama chin is confirmed pregnant, feeding her alfalfa hay often is very good also, as she needs the calcium to give her baby strong bones.

Other ways to feed calcium is to give a calcium block or a cuttlefish bone (pls remove all metal and wire fittings from it). My chins prefer the cuttlefish bone, but their ultimate favourite is the superpet critter cones. I actually prefer feeding that (although it's a bit expensive in my opinion), but they really do eat all the calcium in it, so it's worth it. 2 chins can finish 1 whole cone in less than 1 week, for me. But I feed this to growing chins, baby chins and mama chins only. The full-grown adult also get the cone, but not all the time. Only once every 2 months or so. Cos I don't want to give them too much calcium after they are full-grown. It can lead to bladder stone.

During baby's one to 3 months, I actually don't feed treats that are rich. 1 raisin is fine 3x a week, but I don't feed it daily. Plus I don't feed any nuts or rich, starchy treats. I hope I didn't miss out anything, cos I'm writing this from memory.