Strange manner of chinchilla

[Julien]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post in the community so I would like to introduce myself. My name is Julien and my wonderful girlfriend introduced me to the chinchillas kingdom. We currently have two chinchillas, an almost two-year old female and a three month old male.

Our female is having strange manners, but this is not related to the coming of the new chinchilla, she was doing this before he came into our place. Take note they live in separate cages.

She puts her head over the corner where she pees and she seems to cough or sneeze. I think this is pretty weird and would like to know if somebody have already experienced this or have something I should be aware of.

Thank you.

[chinclub]

That does sound strange.  Does she make the noise only once?  How often does she do it?

[Julien]

She's been doing this for a long time. I can't remember when she started but she should have done this at least 25+ times since I live with her. She doesn't make only one noise too. She might stay in the corner for 1-3 minutes and make noises every 3-5 seconds.. It's scaring me a bit. If try to caress her when she is doing this, she seems angry and don't want me to caress her. She's usually very friendly and likes to be touch.

Thank you.

[cusunfireguy]

That's a real brain twister.  Just wondering if this is just a "tick" she has or if this is "heat" thing.  I mean, she will go into heat whether or not there is a male around.  Mine does not want to be touched when she's in heat and will even bite if I push the issue.

Is it a whimper noise, a bark, or a whine?  This is a real tough one.  Does she act normal otherwise?

Steven

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Good one. Is it a sneeze or a barkinig sound?
They make all kinds of noices.
Is she wheezy, having any kind of respitory sounds?