please help!

[night_marish]

I'm new to forums...so I don't know exactly what I'm doing....I have a chinchilla that is just over 6 months old. Tonight my parents and I were sitting on their bed talking and my chinchilla Fidgit was running to back and forth to each of us. All of a sudden he started crawling on his side, and then started twitching and flopping back and forth, I picked him up and held him to my ear to check to and see if he had something caught in his throat and if he was still breathing....it looked like he was having a fit of some kind. He stopped twitching and is just like a rag doll. His little ears are all red, and he's breathing heavily...I don't know what happened....somebody please help me! email me at night_marish@hotmail.com 

-mary

[null]

It sounds like he had a seizure induced by heat. Is he OK now?

When he's out playing keep an eye on his ears, if they start to get real red that means he's starting to overheat. And some chins can litterally play themselves to death.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes is does eh! Null.
So is he OK?
It's pretty hot in some places now.
Maybe you have a cool basement you can let him run in over the summer.
Clay pots and ceramic tiles in the cage helps.
Most mine will move the shavings and sit in the steel pan when it's warm.
Do let us know how he is.

[null]

Sometimes heat doesn't even matter. One of my males had a heat seizure about a year ago and he was in a 65 degree room. He was running around on the floor playing for two hours non stop and just overheated himself. I held him up in front of the AC for a while  and put him back in his cage. He acted a little weird for a few minutes probably because he didn't know what the heck happened to him, but then he was back to running in his wheel. Scarred me to death though.

[Jo Ann]

Hi,

  Seizures are dangerous.  You might want to try to keep him a little calmer for a while and get him to a vet to get him checked out.
   
  When the ears first start turning dark pink or light red, he needs to be confined. Chinchillas do not perspire, so their bodies are not cooled the same way ours are.

   You might want to keep some ceramic tiles in the refrigerator for him to use when he appears hot (by looking at the ears).  Just place the cold tile in the bottom of the cage ... he should get on it or close to it to cool down.   

 
Jo Ann  [/i]

[chinclub]

Hi Mary,
Red, blood-shot ears do usually mean over-heating but chinchillas can have seizures for other reasons.  If your room wasn't over 75 degrees here is a website that might help you figure out another cause.  Its the California Chins website at: http://www.cachins.org/  Click on Health and then on Seizures.

[meganebe]

My chin, chichi has never gone through what yours has,

but she has had red ears, meaning she's overheated.

If your chin gets red ears, give her ice to chew on, stick her dust bath in the freezer for 15 minutes, or if you have a slab of granite in her cage for her to lay on, stick that in the freezer for 15 minutes. All these have helped my chin cool down.

Also, you may want to take yours to the vet,

 

[nemue]

My kira runs herself hot everyday.  She then will flop out on the cage for half an hour after to recover.  The worst it ever was was one of the first times she was out.  She was so excited adn nervous and curious that she didn't move for 10 mins. after.    I don't have much control over how much she runs, she lets me know when she's done.  But be sure the run time is always the same, new things can be exciting.  I put an ice pack wrapped in a towel near her for cool air when she's really hot.