Annie Finally had Babies!

I should've made this blog sooner, now I have to play catch up. Anyway, as soon as I put Wolke with Annie, I began tracking Annie's weight so I could see when she would be close to giving birth. By Christmas, she had gained a bit of weight. Naturally, this was exciting, but something unique about chinchillas is that their gestation period is 111-128 days long! Though I knew this, I had a very difficult time being patient, but I have to say it was worth the wait. Four weeks ago, Annie gave birth to the three cutest chinchilla kits! Another quirky thing about chinchillas is that they are precocial, which means that their babies come out fully furred and with their eyes open. I've got a friend who refuses to call them babies because of this, instead he calls them minis. Babies or minis, whatever you call them, they are adorable! There are two girls and one boy. Nutmeg is the lightest, with a tail exactly like Wolke's. Ebony is the darkest (hence her name). Ash is very similar to Annie, but a little bit lighter. For the first few weeks, Nutmeg and Ebony were steadily gaining weight, but Ash was having a hard time keeping up with them. He wasn't gaining enough and I was getting worried. I found some supplements for chinchilla babies, so I could help Annie feed Ash (and the others if needed). Then everything seemed to have been going well, until... I got Annie out and was rubbing her belly when I noticed that she had some bald spots and a really swollen area around one of her nipples. After looking at her belly and doing some research, I realized she might have mastitis (nipple infection). I immediately called the vet and got an appointment. I wasn't about to take any chances with Annie, better safe than sorry. The vet confirmed that Annie had mastitis and gave me some medicine for her. I gave her the medicine, as the vet instructed and it wasn't long before I had another problem. The kits weren't gaining at all! I would guess that the medicine depleted Annie's milk supply somehow, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I used one of the supplements I found and the kits began gaining again. I am no longer worried about Ash. He is almost tied with Nutmeg as the biggest kit. However, I am starting to get worried about Ebony. She is currently the smallest and isn't gaining a whole lot. I think Annie has started to get her milk back because the kits are gaining widely different amounts though I am feeding them the same amount. Unfortunately, I don't think she has gained enough to feed all of her kits without my help. Despite all our trials so far, the kits are doing fine and Annie is healthy again. The only problem now is Wolke is lonely.