a safe way to mark chipmunk for indentification

[dawn]

Hi does anyone know of a safe way to mark a chipmunk. have dilutes one male one female who were my original pair. have kept one baby girl from second litter back with the parents but my problems will start when need to remove babies from avairy in spring. the male will be easy to see as he is quite larger than the females. the female mom has a scar on her nose. but the baby girl has no identifiable marks, could I use some food colouring to give her a small spot on her back, as food colouring isnt poisonous or do you think that the others will pick on her? They are all in an outdoor avairy 12ft X 6ft. have learnt through experience that I need to remove the younsters from the male as soon as they can look after themselves because he dosen't like any more males in his space.  Any ideas would be a great help. Thanks.

[Martyn]

Hi,
 in my opinion food colouring is not a good idea, as it can cause problems,
   Martyn
     www.cheekychipmunksse.webs.com

[pinkpill]

i have always used food colouring and have never had a problem with it. i just dab a small spot on them with a cotton bud.

[Doghouse135]

I tried using food colouring on mine.  Tried to drop it through the bars of the cage but as soon as it hit his back, he shot off round the cage splashing green food colouring as he went.

The end result was that I got green food colouring all over my dining room wall (which didn't come off and hubby was not very happy as he'd only just decorated !!!), and the green splodge on the chippie only lasted a couple of weeks before he'd groomed it all out 

Not quite sure what link you've put on Martyn as I can't see it 

[pinkpill]

ooops!  no u defo need to dab it on as food colouring stains everything for good except ur chippie which u av to keep re-applying 

[Martyn]

Hi All,
  Why do you all feel the need to mark your chipmunks i dont no, What happen to the old way of sexing your chipmunks, its quite simple you turn your chipmunk over on to it back and if the anus is close to the next hole then its a girl (female) and if there is about a 10 to 12 mm gap or it has a dallywacker then its a boy (male),LOL,
 Hope this is of some help.
        Martyn
           www.cheekychipmunksse.webs.com

[Nate]

When I was breeding chipmunks I could see a use for being able to easily tell one young chipmunk from another. Only through spending lots of time with them could I tell by behaviour and looks, which one was which.

Martyn, can you tell us what the problems were with marking with a dab of food colouring? 

[pinkpill]

sometimes tho martin when u've got about 8 little white ones (that look exactly the same) running around and ur trying to catch them to sell or check it's a lot easier than trial n error 

[Martyn]

Hi all,
 The wife and i did a lot of research on food colouring and found out that food colouring has a lot of E- numbers, and some food colouring contains artificial dies, which are linked to hyperactive behaviors, which are yellow5, yellow6, red40 ,red3 ,blue1 ,blue2 ,green3 ,orange B,   Food colouring also contains canthaxanthin which affects the eye sight, this was the quote that we found by ( Dr Wendell O. Belfield, D.V.M. - "Their pets may have diarrhoea, increased flatulence, a dull hair coat, intermittent vomiting or prolonged scratching. These are common symptoms associated with food colouring.") you also have to rember that if you have more than 1 chipmunk in a cage/avairy that 1 chipmunk can lick it off the other, my advice is dont use it, and if you no your chipmunks that well you should get to no who is who, as all chipmunks have there owen marking and characteristics,
    hope this is of help,
         Martyn
           www.cheekychipmunksse.webs.com   

[pinkpill]

i know MY chipmunks, its only the babies i colour just before i sell them so i know whether i'm catching a boy or girl, also they use food colouring in films n tv when they colour animals wholly, and did you know, just for fun that in the wizard of oz all the white horses were completely covered in different flavoured jello, which has many different food colourings in them, and they repeatedly licked it off and then the re-applied it many times and this was considered very safe 

[Doghouse135]

I can tell my dilutes apart when they sit together cos one is slightly larger than the other but apart from that they are absolutely identical.  Both males, both white and both with the same playful habits 

I only did it the once and it was more traumatic for me than them  . 

Roll on Spring when I tend to see them out playing together more 

[Nate]

Thanks Martyn for a great detailed reply, this should allow all owners to make a considered decision if they need to mark their chippies. 

pinkpill I have this image in my head of chipmunks rolling around in jelly 

[pitkin03]

i can't tell my female dilutes apart at all, the only time i could was when one of the females had a mark on her nose, looked like she had pushed it through the mesh and had a ridge, but it went after a couple of weeks and we were back to not knowing which is which lol.
Its not something i would do as i have no real need to do it, but what about leg rings like they use on pigeons obviously smaller, but would that work or would it just be a major hassle to get one on?

[pinkpill]

i'm sure my chippies would love rollin around in a bowl of jelly nate

[Sarah-Jane]

I always mark mine with food colouring on the back and never had a problem with it ! So it's up to you if u want to or not. Helps me identify in breeding season! X