THE STORY OF HOPE
A few years ago I was due to go for a long weekend break. The morning before departure I awoke with a feeling that something was wrong. I immediatly went out to check my sheds. How glad I am I trusted my instinct. There at the end was a poor little newbie, nose poking out of the cage, very cold and rejected by her first time mother. I gently took her indoors to warm her and feed her.
After trying numerous times throughout the day to get the mother to accept her, I had no choice but to bring her back indoors,feed her and then tuck her up in a showcage with a hot water bottle, (I now have heatpads and a heated hospital cage for this) a sweater and cuddly soft toy to act as mum. However, what to do about the weekend holiday?
No choice really! Next morning car loaded up with bags and provisions and at the front on the floor near the heater was the baby chinchilla in her cage. After numerous stops at the service stations for hot water, stops every half hour to feed the baby chinchilla and of course ourselves,we finally arrived at our destination.
During the holiday break I had to come back every half hour to feed the kit and also gave feeding through the night every hour. After we came back from the holiday, I decided this little one was going to make it and named her Hope.
Hope is still with me today, has had many babies herself and is a wonderful mother to her kits and has fostered quite a few kits as well when she perhaps had just one or two young kits. Fostering is great if a first time mum has triplets or quads. Most laid back nursing females I have do accept a foster kit, feed it and look after it like it's own. I cannot vouch for any of your nursing females fostering. My chins are all laid back happy chins and it's natural for them to foster. In the wild chinchillas are herd animals.
The moral of the story? never give up hope with newbie chinchillas, it is WELL worth the effort to try to save them.I have pics of Hope, some of her kits and also hope's mother. see below
Thank you for reading her story.
Hope has now also fostered many kits who have been neglected by their mothers
Read the update of Hope now retired from breeding
I dont agree with having chinchillas being used as breeding machines and like all my other chins who have been retired to good homes, Hope is now retired and living in the house with us. Read about her latest foster kit she was helping me to raise. I had to feed the kits but Hope did all the face washing and training of sandbath etc.