Chinchilla breeding

Question
Hi there.  I have a standard grey male chin of about 8 months old and recently acquired a beautiful 3-month-old white female.  1. When will she come on heat for the first time?  2. How often will I have to cage them separately to prevent indiscriminate breeding, and for how long each time?  3. Once she has birthed a litter of kits will I have time to get the dad out of the cage, i.e. the next morning, or is there a chance she may already be pregnant again in such a short time?  4. How long do the male & female have to be kept separate after the birth to prevent back-to-back pregnancies?  5. Won't the female then become aggressive when the male is reintroduced to her & the kits?  6. How is bonding made possible between mom, dad & kits if they are to be separated?  And lastly, 7. If a back-to-back pregnancy has been successfully prevented, how long until the next oestrus & possible pregnancy?  I am sorry for the barrage of questions but I am at my wits' end as I have searched site after site with no success.  This information is important & I feel that it should be more widely available as I don't want to breed my chins irresponsibly, & neither should other people.  Thank you so much for your time :-)

Answer
1)9 MONTHS is the usual time for males and females to be ready to breed. Females go into heat monthly and the male waits for her signal to mate.You will know when mating has occurred if not by sound, by the presence of fur and a "plug" that will be in the cage from the female.

2)Females are pregnant for 105-115 days and the male needs to be removed just before this time. Roughly a week ahead of time. Females can breed within 24hs of having kits and it is best to not allow more than 3 litters per year. Keeping them separated until you wish to breed. Breeding is best done in the winter and spring.

3)As suggested before, removing the dad before birth is best. Keeping them separated until it is time for breeding with guarantee no new litters. Separating the male kits by 10 weeks of age and monitored for the next 2 weeks.

4)Again you want the male out of the cage before birth, then not allowed back in until you are ready to mate. Mating should not be back to back but giving her at least 2-3 months to rest. Some breeders do mate back to back but I do not recommend this.

5)Once two Chin's bond they will not have a problem no matter the time that passes to be put back together. As long as you leave it to just the two and dont do a colony of Chin's. Then you run into risk of territory issues.

6)Bonding between mom and dad is dont when mating and will not change. Bonding between kits and mom is automatic when giving birth and caring for them. The bond with dad and kits are usually not established because you dont want to inter breed and chances are you are breeding not to keep.

7)Females can become pregnant or ready to mate 24 hrs after giving birth. Monthly they go into heat, but it takes them 10 weeks to care for this kits. Recommendation is only breeding twice a year, giving her 3 months for pregnancy, 2 months to nurture, and 1 month to rest without kits or dad.

Thanks so much for asking and feel free to ask any more questions you may have. The sites below may help further. Oh as suggestion you will want to remove the placenta's from the cage to prevent the Chin mother from eating them. Although natural for most rodent's it is actually not that healthy for them as they can get digestive block from eating too much. Average litter is 2 but sometimes you get lucky and can have more. :)


http://www.cheekychinchillas.com/breeding.html

http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/preg.shtml

http://www.chinchillafacts.net/breeding_chinchillas/breeding_chinchillas.html

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5uNPtHrahA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5uNPtHrahA

Images of a female plug:
http://www.huggablepets.com/huggablepets/0204preg.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/vtec_kt/Heatplug.jpg