Breeding and caring for Chinchillas

Breeding and caring for Chinchillas

Table of Contents:

PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
1 CHARACTERISTICS OF CHINCHILLAS
2 GENERAL CARE
How to Handle Chinchillas
The Breeding Room
Cages and Equipment
Nest Boxes
3 NUTRITION
Rabbit Pellets
Tidbits
Apple Vinegar
Feeding Times
Droppings as a Barometer of Health
Problem Droppings
Hay: the Main Diet Component
Chewing
Green Food
Change of Diet
All-Pellet Diets
Drinking Water  
4 THE DUST BATH
5 BREEDING ROOM CLEANLINESS
Daily Cleaning
Weekly Cleaning
Major Cleaning  
6 DISEASES AND FIRST AID
Constipation
Diarrhea
Hair Rings in Bucks
Karlsbad Salt and Poisoning
Fungus Infections
Disinfection
Inducing
Weight Loss  
7 FUR BITING
8 MATING CHINCHILLAS
What Animals to Start Out With
Sexing Chinchillas
How to Select Pairs
Dangers During Mating
Copulation
Removing the Buck  
9 BIRTH
Gestation
Birth
Problem Births  
10 REARING CHINS
Early Feeding
Feeding Weaned Young
Caging
Artificial Rearing
Litter Size  
11 MUTATIONS
White
Beige
Blacks  
12 SELECTIVE BREEDING
Quality Improvement
Linebreeding
The Fl Generation
Keeping a Stud Book
The F2 Generation
The F3 Generation
The F4 Generation