How to Take Care of Chinchilla Babies

Chinchillas are adorable, furry rodents that can make great small pets if you are looking for animals a little bit more unique than hamsters and guinea pigs. If you will have male and female chinchilla living in the same cage, be aware that your female chinchilla may become pregnant. Female chinchillas will usually give birth to between two and three babies, known as kits. If your adult female chinchilla is about to give birth, make sure to take the proper steps.

Things You'll Need

  • Extra cage
  • Pet food
  • Bedding
  • Microwave
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Decide if you will need a new cage. You want to make sure all of your pet chinchillas have enough space to romp and play. If you feel a few new editions to your chinchilla family may not fit comfortably in the size cage that you currently own, it may be time for an upgrade.

    • 2

      Remove any extra adult females from the cage. Unlike many pet rodents, the father chinchilla is no threat to the babies. Other females, however, may be aggressive to the new editions. It may be best to put the non-mother adult female in her own cage until the babies are a few weeks old.

    • 3

      Allow the mother chinchilla to feed her own babies for the first few weeks. The babies do not need any dry food yet; the mother's milk will be plenty to keep them healthy.

    • 4

      Avoid contact with the babies for the first week. Although chinchilla kits are cute and it can be tempting to pick them up, it can be important for them to bond with their mother during this time.

    • 5

      Start introducing dry food around week three. You can wet the babies' food a little bit to make the introduction easier. During this time it is OK for the babies to consume a combination of dry food and the mother chinchilla's milk.

    • 6

      Keep the babies warm. Some tiny chinchillas have trouble maintaining their body temperature during their first few weeks of life. Keep the cage out of drafty areas. Also, you can warm up a tiny bit of bedding so that the young can nuzzle in it like their own version of a heated blanket. A few seconds in the microwave should be enough to heat the bedding. Avoid overheating; you should be aiming for warm bedding, not hot bedding.