Mating chinchillas at home. Chinchilla World is an association of chinchilla lovers. Aggressive behavior of a female with cubs

24.10.2019

To create a pair of chinchillas, the most optimal age for a female is 6 months, the male may be a little older at the age of 7 months. For a couple, a large cage will be needed, since chinchillas are very mobile and they need a lot of room to move, this will allow them to move a lot and, as a result, will be healthier.

The existing couple, as a rule, will not hesitate to reproduce. In order for the offspring to be healthy, it is impossible to allow the exhaustion of parents or vice versa obesity.

That chinchillas are preparing to become parents can be known by knowing the "biological" rhythm of the female. The readiness of the female for mating takes place in certain cycles. They repeat with a period of usually 30-50 days, and such a cycle lasts up to a week. However, it is necessary to take into account the climatic conditions and the season, the cycles may vary slightly. For example, from November to May, this is a period of especially increased sexual desire, while the maximum will be January-February. During this period, mating will be most successful.

If you notice an excessive activity of the couple, and at the time when they usually sleep cuddled up to each other, the opposite pattern is observed, then it is obvious that they are preparing to mate. The male jumps around the cage with a loud snort, the female loses her appetite during such periods, she simply scatters food.

You can hardly observe the mating process itself, so you can make sure that the female is pregnant by external signs or by increasing her weight. Pregnancy proceeds about 110 days. In the weeks leading up to the end of pregnancy, females need to be given more attention. Raise and weigh as little as possible. At such times, females are very shy, so you need to try to provide them with peace. In this case, the females are transferred to enhanced nutrition. The chinchilla feed should include the whole variety of products, milk, succulent feed, in addition to this, the female needs a lot of vitamin. Two weeks before the birth, it is recommended to remove the bathing suit from the cage.

At this time, the female becomes somewhat aggressive towards her partner, although before that they were on the best of terms. And at the first signs of aggression, they must be seated, or the cage should be divided by a partition. Then the female will calm down and be able to give birth in a calm environment.

With the approach of childbirth, the female becomes lethargic, activity decreases. She stops eating, treats all kinds of noise with particular concern. In this case, the chinchilla's nest is covered with a dark cloth, you must be careful and careful.

Childbirth in chinchillas takes place most often in the morning, during the morning round it is necessary to inspect the cage where the puppies were expected to appear, it is important as early as possible, as they may need help. Immediately before giving birth, the female's loop increases and swells, droplets of sweat appear on the nose, and before the appearance of the puppies, a dark liquid is released by the animal. Childbirth lasts from several minutes to several hours. The chinchilla recovers very quickly, having eaten the afterbirth, it switches all attention to its cubs.

If you are sure that the female is pregnant and you do not want her to become pregnant immediately after giving birth, then before giving birth, the male must be removed and returned to the female a couple of weeks after giving birth, when the puppies are already a little stronger, and the female will lose her hunting. The cage with the male should be placed as far as possible from the female, preferably in another room, otherwise both will go crazy, and the female in the hunt can crush the puppies. When the male returns to the family, it may be necessary to repeat the acquaintance procedure. Mating after childbirth does not always mean 100% pregnancy, but the female does not rage.

Recently, instead of traditional hamsters, rabbits, dogs and cats, chinchilla is gaining more and more popularity, the breeding of which is of interest to a very large audience.

Long-tailed settled in our apartments chinchilla. As a pet, she is very comfortable, unpretentious and quickly gets used to communicating with a person. Chinchillas are also bred on special farms to obtain expensive fur. Their fur is very soft, thick and pleasant to the touch, therefore, unfortunately, these animals are often used specifically for the fur business.

But now we will talk about breeding chinchillas as pets. Before you decide to bring this cute rodent into your home, and even more so to start breeding chinchillas, you need to learn something about the features of their behavior, care and maintenance.

In principle, caring for these animals is not difficult, almost the same as for other small rodents - rabbits, hamsters, etc. But, cage for chinchilla should be very spacious and necessarily multi-tiered, you can make a showcase-aviary for your pet. Animals do not like heat - they often die from heat stroke, they do not tolerate drafts, noise, high humidity. They are prone to stress, so if your house is very noisy or there are other animals, then you should not start a chinchilla.

If you are reading this article, then you are interested in chinchilla, breeding it, perhaps, will also be tempting for you. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the color mutations of animals. After all, chinchillas are not only gray (the so-called standard) - there are many different colors: violet, beige, wilson's white, black velvet and others.

A pair for breeding, of course, is better to buy not at the "bird market" and not from a private trader, but from professional breeders. For example, in our nursery you can choose and buy chinchilla any color and age. We will advise you on all issues of their breeding and maintenance, you can get veterinary assistance and all kinds of support from us at the first stages of breeding chinchillas.

We take full responsibility for each animal purchased from our cattery. Therefore, you can be sure that they will be healthy, fully comply with generally recognized standards and bring high-quality offspring.

If you are interested in a chinchilla, breeding it at home, then contact our chinchilla nursery. Our experts are happy to share their experience.

Chinchillas are not very fertile. In a year, a chinchilla can bring offspring up to three times. But, in order not to exhaust and not tire her, it is better to limit herself to two litters. Chinchilla pregnancy lasts from 105 to 115 days. You can determine that the female is pregnant by changing her weight. On average, it increases by 50-60 grams. During this period, she is very timid, restless and easily stressed. The number of puppies in litters ranges from one to four, but more often there are two.

Animals 8-10 years old bring offspring. Puppies are born already pubescent, with open eyes. At the age of one hour, they can already move independently.

The younger generation of animals is developing quite quickly. At the age of 6-7 months, females can go to mating, but it is better to let them go to mating from 8 months of age. The male should be a little older, 9-10 months old. It should be noted that the first time the females are reluctant to mate, but subsequent times they do it with pleasure.

If the female does not cover the first time, do not worry, after about 40 days she will cover again. A sign that the female has come to hunt is her restless behavior: the female can scatter food around the cage, and also show aggression, she can eat poorly for several days. It is better to let the male into her cage, after removing the female from there for 20 minutes, so that the male gets comfortable and takes over the territory, otherwise the female will drive him out. If the female is covered, you will find a paraffin plug in her cage - a cylindrical object about 1.5 cm in size in white, but you may not find it, since the female can either scoop it out of the cage with her paws, or she will simply get lost in the shavings. Starting from this moment, you can count 105 - 120 until the cubs are born. Their number is 1-3. less often - 4 pieces.

A pregnant female needs special additional nutrition. The diet may remain the same, but vitamin supplements and a little variety in food will be good for her. Having noticed the first signs of approaching childbirth, it is necessary to transplant the male. At this time, it is very useful for a restless female to give sugar syrup.

By the age of 2 months, puppies can be placed away from their mother in a separate cage, first all together for a week so that they don’t get bored, or maybe more, but by 4 months of age, everyone should be seated in a separate cage. After lambing, the female is not allowed to swim in the sand for 10 days to avoid infection. As for the male, he should not be removed immediately after lambing, he is usually a caring father, and besides, the female is covered again during the first week. After 10 days, the male should be transferred to another cage or the passage closed so that the cubs do not begin to lick out of the cage.

chinchillas at home Breeding chinchillas is laborious, but extremely exciting and rewarding. You don't have to be a professional to get started on this delicate undertaking. The main thing here is to have patience, sincere love for your pets and, of course, the necessary information.

One of the fundamental points on which the breeding of chinchillas is based. is the correct pairing. Both animals must be of good pedigree, have signs of health and physical endurance. It is best to select a pair of animals of the same color, so often future parents are chosen from the same pedigree. At the same time, they should not be close relatives - kinship is considered unsatisfactory already up to the third generation. It is also worth paying attention to the age of the animals. An interesting fact is that females covered with mature males produce better offspring than females covered with young males. So in order to get good offspring, young animals still need to be properly “endured”.

Understanding that your "couple" is preparing for breeding is quite simple. Firstly, knowledge of the biological rhythms of the female contributes to this. Having reached maturity, the chinchilla becomes capable of reproduction every 40-41 days for 2-7 days. At this time, the behavior of the animals changes: they sleep less and eat less. The male begins his "courtship" of the female. chases her all over the cage, making a characteristic "snort". It is most often not possible to fix the moment of mating, but it can be assumed by several subjective signs. Moreover, the fact that a female is pregnant will not hide even from an amateur breeder: when weighing an animal, it immediately becomes clear where the “extra” grams come from.

Pregnancy in chinchillas lasts about 105-110 days. During this period, it is necessary to provide the female with enhanced nutrition, enriched with vitamins and minerals, varied and high-calorie. Before giving birth, the animal should be kept calm and given maximum attention. You should also not pick it up and weigh it. During this period, females become shy and most prone to stress. Strong excitement can cause premature birth, stillbirth of puppies or their non-viability.

Childbirth, as a rule, proceeds very quickly in chinchillas: a few minutes are enough. But it happens that it takes several hours before puppies are born. The female quickly recovers from childbirth and immediately begins caring for the offspring, and you find yourself the owner of a whole "chinchilla" family, which, no doubt, is very exciting and pleasant.

Breeding chinchillas at home is a fairly promising type of business, as the animals themselves, their fur, are in constant demand. You can sell the skins of these animals at fur auctions or at auctions on the Internet, sending skins by mail. The approximate cost of the skin of one chinchilla is 50 dollars, and the finished product from it costs about ten thousand dollars. The fur of these animals is valued due to its unusually delicate texture and beauty. Despite the relatively high cost, chinchilla fur products are very popular all over the world.

Chinchilla breeding

You can breed chinchillas in your own home, you just need to allocate a small room for the cages. If you do not have your own home, you can breed them even in a small apartment. Chinchillas are herbivores and are unpretentious in food. Hay and mixed fodder can be used as feed, the price for them is low. For one year, one individual will need only five kilograms of hay and ten kilograms of feed. To place the cage, you need only 2 square meters, which can accommodate a high, multi-tiered cage for 20 adult females, from which you can get about 100 cubs.

There are two ways to grow chinchillas:

to obtain expensive fur;

for breeding individuals.

Both directions are quite promising, as the demand for breeding animals is at a high level, and chinchilla fur is one of the most expensive in the world. The fur of these animals has a huge price due to its low weight, for example, a fur coat made of skins weighs only 2 kilograms.

You won’t have to make any special efforts to keep chinchillas, since they are not whimsical at all. These animals do not shed, do not have sebaceous and sweat glands, so there is no smell from them. Chinchillas practically do not litter in the cage, so you do not need to wash the cage daily, as after other rodents. They are completely non-aggressive, easily walk on hands, do not bite. They also do not have to cut their claws, as they gnaw them on their own. For the proper maintenance of chinchillas, the following conditions must be observed:

1. In the room where the cage with chinchillas is located, a temperature regime of 16 to 25 ° C must be observed so that they do not freeze like these heat-loving animals.

2. There should be no drafts in the room, the animals can get sick.

3. You can not take out a cage with chinchillas in the sun, you need to put it in the shade.

4. At the bottom of the cage you need to pour pine sawdust and change them about once a week.

5. The cage must always have clean water in sufficient quantity for all individuals.

6. You need to feed the animals only with dry hay and compound feed in the evenings, once a day.

7. Once a week, you need to feed chinchillas with apples and vitamin supplements.

With the right content, chinchillas live 17 years at home, and in nature for about 35 years. In order for the animals to live as long as possible, they need to pay attention and monitor their condition. Anyone can start their own chinchilla breeding business, even without experience and large capital. All it takes is desire and hard work.

Show phone

Address: Moscow

Breeding chinchillas, both at home and creating a farm, is a new line of business in Russia. Pretty profitable rodent profitability even from the household from 300% to 700%. The animal has the most valuable fur, is not whimsical, has no smell. Any person who has an hour of free time a day can engage in chinchilla breeding! For 10 sq.m. contains 100 animals. One person serves up to 500 animals.

On our farm you can always buy an animal of any age and color that you like.

In cooperation with our farm, create your own business that has no competition and have a sales guarantee! Become a representative in your region!

Sources: www.milleniumchinchillas.ru, webfermer.narod.ru, vetonet.ru, biznesideikin.ru, moskva.gde.ru

The chinchilla has recently become a very popular pet, often the owners of exotic rodents want to get offspring from a wonderful rodent. Breeding chinchillas at home for beginner chinchilla breeders is an interesting, but quite serious task that requires patience and increased care of the owner. If the rules for breeding animals are not followed, an attempt to mate can end in a fight and even death of pets. Therefore, before meeting animals, it is necessary to study the physiological characteristics and subtleties of the behavior of furry animals.

Under natural habitat conditions, the mating season for exotic rodents begins in the spring and can last until autumn, so chinchilla breeders also try to breed chinchillas from March to November.

Reproduction of chinchillas at home should be carried out with enhanced balanced feeding and a microclimate that is comfortable for the animals, an increase in the air temperature in the room above +20 degrees and dry air, malnutrition or rodent diseases have an extremely negative effect on the cultivation of chinchillas.

Puberty in chinchillas

Puberty of chinchillas occurs at 6-8 months for females and at 7-9 months for males.

Sexual maturity in females can occur at 3-4 months, and males can cover the female by the age of 5 months. Early mating of a chinchilla causes a weakening of the body of the female, the pathology of pregnancy and childbirth. Therefore, healthy animals with a body weight of at least 500 g are selected for mating at the age of 7-9 months for females and from 6 months for males. Although chinchillas are ready to breed at 6-8 months of age, veterinarians do not recommend covering females until they are one year old. Pregnancy up to 12 months causes a halt in the growth of the skeleton and muscle mass of the female, this negatively affects the general condition of the fluffy animal and its offspring.

Without harm to their own health, females can bring 2 broods annually. A week before giving birth, it is recommended to transplant the male for six months so that the chinchilla can recover from a long pregnancy and feeding babies. The male is able to fertilize the female a day after giving birth, which can result in the death of newborns and pathological pregnancy of the female.

Mating chinchillas in the wild

For successful breeding of chinchillas at home, beginners need to know how chinchillas breed in nature. Chinchillas live in numerous flocks in which matriarchy reigns. It is females who behave aggressively towards males, hissing, biting and shooting urine. Unusual rodents zealously guard their territory; the appearance of any stranger on their possessions is perceived by fluffy animals quite belligerently. Therefore, mating chinchillas at home sometimes ends in fights or the death of pets.

Chinchillas can be aggressive when sitting down.

Sometimes chinchillas do not breed because the animals do not develop relationships when changing a partner and following the processes of acquaintance and planting in animals.

If a couple is picked up, then chinchillas breed 2-3 times a year, live a peaceful family all their lives, kiss, play and sleep together. In natural habitat, a flock of unusual rodents consists of married couples, males and females help each other to gently grow chinchillas and actively protect their homes from strangers. In nature, a male chinchilla can live with one female and simultaneously fertilize other females. This feature of American rodents is used in polygamous breeding, when one male fertilizes 4 females.

If a couple gets close, then they live together all their lives

Mating relatives of chinchillas is highly discouraged in order to avoid getting a weak litter, aggravated by congenital developmental anomalies.

How to select and prepare chinchillas for mating

Breeding and keeping chinchillas is based on the competent selection of a pair, the correct observance of the processes of acquaintance and planting, the creation of optimal conditions for a pregnant and lactating female, as well as newborn offspring.

To obtain healthy viable chinchillas, healthy, active, well-fed individuals obtained from dairy females are allowed, with a body weight of at least 500 g, a calm, friendly character, with thick and uniform fur, and the absence of acute and chronic diseases.

Breeding chinchillas with hereditary diseases, addictions, quarrelsome nature and anatomical abnormalities is highly discouraged.

Partner Acquisition

Breeding at home begins with the purchase of a partner and a monthly quarantine of a new tenant. An animal can be contagious or get sick due to stress after a change of scenery, so quarantine measures are essential.

After a month of quarantine, the acquaintance stage begins, in order to successfully bring the female and male together, it is necessary to carefully monitor the behavior of animals in this period. Depending on the establishment of relations, chinchillas can get acquainted from a week to a month. The owners of fluffy animals are highly discouraged from rushing and starting to sit down until the unusual rodents get used to each other. At this stage, it is necessary to accustom an exotic rodent to someone else's smell of a partner. Otherwise, at the first meeting there will be a bloody battle for their rightful territory.

Acquaintance of partners

For acquaintance, you can place two small cages with chinchillas next to each other so that they can see and smell someone else's without harming each other. The disadvantage of this method may be the wetting of the male's hair from the shots with the urine of the female. The cages must be placed at such a distance that the animals can see and smell, but not have the opportunity to bite off the fingers, mustache or nose of the partner through the gaps between the bars.

Chinchillas need time to get to know each other

It has a good effect, to which the powdered feces of a female are added and vice versa. You can take turns bathing the animals in the same sand bath immediately before placing a row of cages with emotional animals.

Swimming together helps the animals to make friends

Sometimes chinchillas change cages, when they are in a foreign territory, rodents get used to the smell of a neighbor without causing damage to each other. An aggressive hungry partner can be placed directly in an aviary with a calm individual, someone else's smell, hunger and confined space make the fighter calm down and get used to the smell of a neighbor.

Joint walks

When fluffy rodents begin to react calmly to each other, it is recommended to arrange a joint walk for a couple in an unfamiliar territory for animals under the close supervision of the owner. In order to breed chinchillas at home, it is necessary to study and apply all methods of acquaintance, carefully controlling the situation.

Most often, chinchillas have tender true love for life, if the acquaintance stage is maintained correctly, you can proceed to planting animals. Successfully breed chinchillas with a calm temperament over the age of a year, provided that the female is slightly older than the male.

Video: breeding chinchillas at home

Planting chinchillas

The owner should always be nearby at the initial stage of planting. Friendly and gentle to each other, rodents, when placed in one cage, can arrange a serious fight. In such battles, the male most often suffers, the female beats and bites the scruff and lower back of the male, the consequences of aggression turn into large purulent wounds.

How to plant chinchillas

When planting the owner of exotic rodents, it is recommended to follow some rules:

immediately before planting, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the cage where chinchillas will be mated, the cage must be at least 1 m in height and 0.75 m in width;
the cage should be freed as much as possible from shelves, ladders and accessories in order to avoid injury during a possible fight, it is advisable to install a labyrinth - a box with several exits through which the male can escape with the aggressive behavior of the female;
before planting, the female must be bathed for a long time in the sand with male feces, the male is placed in an uncleaned female enclosure to soak in the smell of the female's urine;
it is desirable to launch the male first into your cage, at the end they send the female;
within 3-4 hours from the moment of planting, the owner must always be nearby. In the event of a fierce battle, it is necessary to immediately seat the animals and provide urgent veterinary care to the victim;
it is recommended to put a sufficient amount of coarse hay on the floor of the cage. Both chinchillas will be interested in eating and sorting out grass, which will distract partners from a showdown;

Eating hay distracts from fights

until the end of the day, it is necessary to control relations in the enclosure, an imaginary truce can instantly turn into a bloody fight. Males try to care for the female even in the absence of estrus, which can provoke even a calm female to a violent display of aggression;
it is advisable to install a large bath for bathing in the aviary, joint sand procedures soothe and bring partners very close;
even in a long-term pair, fights may arise at any time, which should not be left without the attention of the owner;
a successfully placed couple begins to bathe, eat and sleep together, kiss and play, causing tenderness of the owners;
a pair of heavily planted with the addition of vitamin supplements, fresh fruits and berries, dried hay and herbs;
the owner needs to be patient, sometimes planting lasts for months, even with peaceful coexistence, chinchillas do not want to have offspring;
in rare cases, it is not possible to transplant the selected individuals, then it is necessary to replace one partner with another individual in compliance with all the terms and rules of quarantine, acquaintance and introduction.

Chinchillas in heat

You can mate exotic rodents only during estrus in a female chinchilla, which is repeated every 30 to 45 days. The frequency of this phase of the sexual process depends on the individual characteristics of the female, the minimum cycles consist of 20 days, with the maximum cycle, estrus is repeated after 60 days. The sexual cycle of a female chinchilla consists of three stages, which can be determined by the behavior of partners towards each other.

The stage of excitation of the sexual cycle

Duration 1-3 days, consists of sexual arousal, estrus, estrus and ovulation. The female's loop opens, the male is actively interested in the female, the female accepts courtship, and the animals mate. Ovulation occurs 12-24 hours after estrus, the outcome of this stage will be conception with successful mating or the inhibition stage.

Deceleration stage

The female's loop closes, the female shows indifference to the male, in this period it is necessary to diagnose the female's pregnancy by weighing and detecting vaginal plugs in the form of white paraffin flagella 2-3 cm in size. In the absence of conception, the balancing stage begins.

Balancing stage

Lasts until the next stage of excitation of the sexual cycle, the female's loop is closed, both partners are in a balanced relationship with each other.

Chinchillas are in heat at the age of 4-8 months. With early maturation, the first estrus can be observed in a 3-month-old female, with late maturation - after 12 months. It is highly not recommended to plant furry animals at the first estrus in a female. The body of the female needs to get stronger and prepare for the reproduction of offspring, so it is better to wait out the first estrus.

Chinchillas are in heat for 2-3 days. During this period, ovulation occurs in the body of the female, accompanied by the production of thick mucus to improve the advancement of spermatozoa and the final attachment of fertilized eggs to the uterine wall. The loop of the female opens only during estrus and childbirth, it is during these periods that the female can be covered by the male. The rest of the time, the female's genitals are closed to prevent external infections. The owner of a chinchilla needs to be able to determine the onset of the next estrus in a female in order to successfully plan the introduction of furry animals.

Signs of estrus in a female

Male behavior

The characteristic behavior of the male can suggest that the female is in heat: the animal is actively interested in and cares for the female, makes loud mating sounds, twitches its fluffy tail, bites the female's fur and often makes attempts to jump on the female for mating.

Inspection of the loop of the female

They swell and open, acquire a pink color, white discharge from the loop is observed, the female's nipples become long and red.

How chinchillas mate

Courtships to males can be observed during the day and at night, and mating acts occur most often at night. Evidence of mating that has occurred will be tufts of wool on the floor of the cage and the dried seminal fluid of the male in the form of a white tourniquet. The sexual intercourse lasts for several seconds, the male jumps on the female, bites the fur on his back with his teeth and the process of intercourse takes place. When conception occurs, a vaginal plug is formed in the body of the female, which protects the body of the pregnant female from the penetration of infection from the outside and prevents repeated mating.

Breeding chinchillas at home: how rodents mate and breed

5 (100%) 1 vote

Pair of chinchillas

We continue to tell you about the features of keeping and caring for chinchillas at home - read more about this. And, today, our topic, as we promised, will be the topic of breeding chinchillas at home.

What the owner of these pets needs to know, how to properly approach the issues of rodent breeding, and what surprises - pleasant and not so, you should be prepared for in the process of such breeding. Our today's publication will tell you about all this ...

Family for chinchilla

We already wrote in one of our first publications that chinchillas are very sociable animals, therefore, it is not surprising that it is not easy for them to live alone. Well, if you are still constantly busy at work with your own affairs, then your chinchilla can even start to get sick from longing. To prevent this from happening, get her a couple. True, in order for strong relationships to develop in this chinchilla family, and love breaks out, you need to know about the features of building relationships between such animals.

Features of building relationships between chinchillas

Primarily, among chinchillas reigns ... matriarchy. It is the female, not the male, who is the most important and most important in the family. Therefore, if you plan to introduce the animals, then place the young female with the male on his territory, and not vice versa. Since the female is unlikely to like the invasion of her square centimeters, and she can behave aggressively towards the male. If, nevertheless, the situation when the gentleman comes to visit the lady cannot be avoided, it is first worth introducing the rodents on neutral territory. This does not mean that you have to buy another cage - although it would be ideal. You can simply move the cage with the female to a new place, and place a temporary cage with the male next to it. And, although the walls of the cage will separate the animals from each other, they will still be able to exchange fluids and smells, therefore, when the time comes for them to get to know each other better, they will not react so warily to each other.

Leaving a planted female or male in a new cage, if the animals have not made friends, is not worth it. The struggle for their territory may turn out to be stronger than the instinct of reproduction, and the male or female will see only the enemy in the newly arrived rodent. And, this can result in both injury to the chinchilla and her death.

Physiological features of the organism of chinchillas

Well, after we have delved a little into the psychology of the relationship of these rodents, and learned how to introduce them correctly, it's time to answer the question of when to start expecting offspring from a female chinchilla and a male. So, Male chinchillas reach puberty by 7-9 months, while females "ripe" earlier, and already at 6-8 months they can mate. However, as you understand, reaching puberty does not mean that the body of rodents is physically strong and can endure such a load, especially for females, such as giving birth and feeding small cubs. That's why, it is better not to mate the animals before 1 year. The main thing is that the animals fully develop physically, then you will still have time to enjoy the long-awaited offspring. By the way, if the weight of the female chinchilla is less than 500 grams, it is not recommended for her to give birth yet.

As a rule, a pair of chinchillas can produce offspring several times a year. On average, a female brings 2-5 cubs at a time. However, it is still not worth mating rodents too often, since such constant stresses as pregnancy, childbirth, feeding chinchillas negatively affect the health of the chinchilla.

The sexual cycle in the female is 30-50 days, and the estrus itself can last from 2 to 4 days. In other words, every 40 days (on average) the female chinchilla is ready for mating within 2 to 4 days. By the way, it is not at all difficult to distinguish a female from a male. In the female, her genitals are located close to the anus, but the male has a gap between them and the anus, on which the testes are located, which are hidden under the peritoneum.

How to know if a female is ready to mate

In addition to the fact that chinchilla owners are advised to keep a calendar in which they will mark the start of the hunt and its approximate completion - in the future this will help to calculate the approximate date of birth of the offspring as accurately as possible, and the date of the start of the next hunt. Also, it will help you to know that the female is physically and psychologically ready for the mating process, her behavior. The chinchilla begins to behave more actively than before, may refuse food and even scatter it around the cage. The genital organs of the female increase in size and become pink.

Mating chinchillas

Chinchilla and her babies

Healthy and active chinchillas, over 1 year old, with a body weight of at least 500 grams, are allowed to mate. By the way, breeding can be carried out both monogamously - you get one male and one female, and polygamously - you need one male and several females.

As a rule, chinchillas, in view of the fact that they prefer to be nocturnal, the mating process is postponed at night. Therefore, to peep what happened and how, you are unlikely to succeed. And, you can guess that the rodents nevertheless found a common language by the presence of tufts of wool scattered throughout the crate, and a small flagellum, of a waxy consistency.

Oh, the same that pregnancy has come, after a week or two, the change in the weight of the female will tell you. So, during pregnancy every 2 weeks she will gain from 30 to 50 grams.

Chinchilla pregnancy

Pregnancy in a female lasts from 106 to 114 days. And, the ability to reproduce is preserved even at the age of 12-15 years. Later, mating the female is no longer recommended. Since the body of the rodent becomes less hardy, and the female can either die during childbirth, or she will give birth to non-viable offspring.

It is noteworthy that the process of pregnancy in a chinchilla does not interrupt the development of eggs, which, after the birth of offspring, mature faster. So, if you do not want the female to become pregnant again after the birth of small chinchillas - this is not very good for her body, since it has not yet had time to recover from childbirth, then it is better to seat your pair of chinchillas for a while.

On the 60th day from the start of pregnancy, the nipples of the female chinchilla begin to swell, and the stomach itself also increases in size.

How to care for a chinchilla during pregnancy

During pregnancy, chinchillas need to be looked after more carefully. This means that its nutrition must be complete and healthy, the cage must be clean, the rodent must be protected from drafts, bright light, cold, heat and stress. Also, to maintain the body of the expectant mother, it is recommended to give her special vitamins. They will support her body, and help her bear and give birth to healthy offspring. However, a veterinarian should still prescribe such vitamins. He will also recommend the dosage of such drugs and the frequency of their intake, because both a lack and an excess of vitamins can lead to disastrous consequences.

In the cage, the chinchilla should be clean and comfortable. It’s better not to bother your pet with your attention if she herself does not take the initiative.

10 days before the expected date of birth (you can calculate it thanks to your calendar), you will need to remove the container with sand from the chinchilla cage, and cover the nesting house with fresh bedding. If all this time the rodents were together, then it is better to resettle the male so that he does not distract and unnerve the female.

Chinchilla giving birth

According to the breeders of these rodents, Basically, labor activity in the female begins in the morning, from 6 to 8 in the morning. Moreover, the birth itself can last both a few minutes and drag on for several hours. If everything is in order with your pet and she is healthy, the chinchilla can cope with this task on its own. If you see that labor activity is delayed for an indefinite period of time, and the animal is exhausted, it is better to contact your veterinarian. Perhaps we are talking about the pathologies of the course of pregnancy, which you can read in more detail here.

As a rule, after giving birth, the female should have milk within 1-2 days. However, if you notice that small rodents squeak from hunger, or sit hunched over in the corner of the cage, and their tail is lowered (this is a kind of indicator of the mood and state of chinchillas) - carefully examine the newly-made mommy. If she does not have milk, you will have to take care of feeding the offspring. By the way, frequency of feeding chinchillas every 2-3 hours.

Mating and determining pregnancy

The duration of the sexual cycle in female chinchillas is 28-45 days, but there are also individuals who can have estrus once a year, according to some sources, from 1.5 to 4 months. For three days of incessant heat the vagina opens, the animals secrete a vaginal secret, after which successful mating of the female is possible. Females mature at 4-8 months, there are cases of rapid maturation, when the first estrus begins at 2.5-3 months, and sometimes later maturation, in this case the first estrus can occur after a year. But even if the female matured early, this does not mean that she can immediately mate with the male, the female must grow and get stronger before 8-10 months, and sometimes up to 12-16 months.

The onset of the mating time of the animals is accompanied by noticeable changes in their behavior. Chinchillas become more active, playful, even during the day. The male chases the female around the cage, snorts, wags his tail. At this time, the female can eat poorly and scatter food. On examination, in animals ready for mating, the external genitalia become more visible, swell and turn pink. In the male, the penis stands out more sharply, the testicles increase. In the female, almost near the anus, an open genital gap becomes clearly visible.

Mating most often occurs at night, during the period of greatest activity of chinchillas, and is very noisy. During mating, a so-called cork may come out of the female's vagina. Cork indicates . that there was definitely mating, but the cork does not guarantee pregnancy.

The duration of gestation in a chinchilla is on average 111 days (105-120 days), and therefore it is very difficult to diagnose pregnancy at an early stage.

The most reliable fact of covering a female and, as a result, a possible pregnancy in the early stages is the detection of a vaginal plug, the likelihood of conception increases if you find such plugs for several days in a row. But not all females get a cork. If you are lucky and you find a cork among sawdust or on a shelf, you can count down 105 days and get ready for the birth of babies at any moment.

Another reliable sign of the onset of pregnancy is the absence of regular estrus. But this is even more difficult to track, because. estrus is far from always and not all females are regular.

An experienced chinchilla breeder, starting from the 20th day of pregnancy, can feel the presence of fruits and their number. In no case do not try to examine the female yourself! With your inept and careless actions, you will only harm the pregnant woman and small chinchillas, injure them or provoke premature birth.

28 days before the birth, the babies begin to push in the belly of the expectant mother and these pushes can be seen firsthand. The closer the term of childbirth, the more intense the motor activity of the fetus becomes. The cessation of chaotic fetal movements is an unfavorable sign and requires immediate contact with the veterinarian.

The size of the belly of the female depends on the size and number of fetuses. If there is more than one fruit and if they are large, then you will certainly notice an increase in the abdomen. If the fetus is one, then the stomach may be visually invisible.

Be sure to regularly weigh your chinchillas (once a week is enough) so you can notice any changes in your pet's health and suspect a pregnancy.

During the first two months, the female slowly gains weight. During the last third of pregnancy, fetal development is very rapid and animals gain significant weight. But there are times when a female can hardly add during pregnancy, but this does not happen often. Actually before childbirth, weight gain may stop, or there is a slight weight loss.

Another sign of pregnancy is severe nipple swelling 8 weeks after mating.

A subjective method for determining pregnancy is the observation of changes in the behavior of the female. Either increased aggressiveness appears, or vice versa - tenderness. There is no exact pattern for these changes. But if you notice that the behavior has changed in any direction, this is also an additional symptom in favor of pregnancy.

In the second half of pregnancy, females prefer to sleep on their side or even on their backs.

During pregnancy, make sure that the female's diet is varied and contains enough vitamins and minerals. Give daily nettle leaves, wild rose, hawthorn, 3-4 tablets of calcium gluconate (preferably Calcium Di for puppies) per week, add a mixture of flakes to the diet of a pregnant and lactating female, some authors advise adding powdered milk for future female milk production.

Plakhtienko Maria and Krivtsova Katerina

Violet and Fufel