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Glad that all is well ref teeth. Try reducing the amount of baths to either one per week or two very short ones per week and see if this makes any difference. What examinations/tests has your chinchilla undergone ref this eye issue?

Thanks for the reply.
All is 100% good. X-rays on the dentals are normal.  Dust bath three times per week. I buy dust from a very reputable supplier.
The exotic vet says he is in excellent condition. Weight is normal. Poop and Pee is normal. But we are all baffled by the eye. Cage is really clean. I have two. So in total I have three healthy eyes and one sick one. Thus unlikely to be a spreading fungus or such.

I should add that this issue seems to get better when it is playtime. He loves the baths. He gets very excited and bounces all over the place, and the eye seems almost normal. But then when things quiet down the eye goes droopy again.

Hi,
In the first instance, has your chinchilla been x-rayed to rule out any dental issues? Is your chinchilla eating, drinking, pooping and peeing normally? Is your chinchilla readily eating hay? What type of bathing dust are you using and how frequently are you offering the bath?

Hi there. My first post, and already asking for advice.
My Chinchilla's one eye got some sort of infection a while back. The eye is a bit puffy, sometimes a bit wet, and often just partially open, with the hair around the eye not as smooth as it should be (which from reading other posts, are typical symptoms of eye problems).

I did treatment for ringworm which seemed to help a little, but there was no indication of ringworm presence. I  did x-rays of teeth - no abnormalities. I went for bacteria testing, and there was indications of potentially harmful bacteria.

These results are controlled and checked by an exotic animal vet, dental specialist and eye specialist. They are also a bit in the dark, and say that Chinchillas are uncommon (which is the case in my country), so there is limited historical data on file.

I have done two courses of different antibiotics, which did not work. I am now on the third one. This time I have seen great improvement in the eye. But every time he baths, the eye goes bad again and the hair around it seems wet again. I am positive about this antibiotic since it is the best recovery I have seen.

1. Could the dust be the reason the eye gets irritated?
2. Could the dust really have such adverse effect on the antibiotic to the point where it almost stops its function?
3. If this is the case, should I potentially stop his baths for a while (and long can he go without a bath).

I look forward to some input and ideas.
Thank you in advance
Renier

That's very unusual. Chinchillas are normally self regulating as long their diet is good. Can you describe what kind of pellets they are getting? Also has your overweight chin had a recent vet exam? How long have you had them? How old are they? Can pregnancy be ruled out? Some health conditions can cause things like water retention.
It is very unwise to restrict food for chinchillas. They need a constant flow of nutrients through their bowels to prevent problems like stasis.

We have 2 female chinnies.
We feed them good quality pellets and hay.
One of the chinnies got unexplained gut stasis last year, it was quite scary and we were lucky to catch it early but thankfully she's made a full recovery. She is still a little underweight compared to how she used to be, but every month she's putting on a little more weight so we aren't too concerned. Other than that shes very healthy and well. The other chinny has ballooned in weight - possibly because her sister was too unwell to compete with food?
 
Because they share a cage and we still want the other chinny to gain weight we can't really restrict the foods.

We're going to try and give her more exercise - but other than that is there anything else we can do to to help her lose weight?

Please keep us updated. Einstein has found a place in my heart for sure.

I'm glad your chinchilla lives mainly in the cage. I know some owners let them live outside of the cage and they encounter this problem so I think that eliminates that as a problem.

As far as your pet goes I recommend training your pet to be handled and restrained. You can do this in short sessions of 15 to 20 seconds, then return your pet to the cage. (Always remember to release your chinchilla at floor level for safety reasons) Do this 5-6 times a day every day and your chinchilla will become more tolerant of being handled. I've done this with a very wild chinchilla and this method works well.

It went from wanting to bite to actually wanting to be handled but it was a process over for 4-5 weeks. Your goal is to desensitize your pet to being handled since its natural tendency is to flee at all costs. And you might get bit at first so make sure your hold is under the chin. Keep the other hold at the base of the tail. You can hold with one hand there if you feel you need to get control in a hurry to keep your pet safe from falling or getting loose. A chinchilla cannot bite you if you do that but it is stressful for the chinchilla. These are split-second kind of things and it make take a few tries to get used to how your chinchilla responds to you. I expect it will be a learning experience for you as well.

At first it will be stressful so you want to have a lot of though the cage interaction where you're not trying to do that. As long as normal experiences with you far outweigh the stressful ones you will be fine.

The biggest issue with playtime is catching the animal. Chasing and catching is always stressful. Right now I have one chinchilla that always gives chase but I've discovered there is a pattern with him. I use a cardboard tube to chase him out from under spaces. I've learned he usually takes a particular path and at the end he lets me pick him up. The thing is he will get picked up if he wants it or not and and that is pattern he has learned.

Thank you for your reply, but could you be more specific? Bilbo does live mainly in his cage, which is well sized and stocked with toys. And I come through several times a day and interact with him through the cage. I have been trying to train him to be handled, but playtime sparked a sudden attitude change and I don’t know how to proceed. Also, what do you mean about him getting away with aggressive behavior? Are you suggesting I force him to allow me to handle him when he retreats? That seems like a good way to lose his trust and get bitten.

We went in for another trimming and it set us back a few weeks in terms of eating hay, pellets, or getting off the pain medicines. 

We're almost off all the pain medicine right now and he is eating some hay and a few pellets the last week.  I need to try to wean him off the critical care again.  I'm still feeding him breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He's eating some on his own overnight right now but not every night. 

So, it's basically the same old story which, on the bright side, is good because he's alive and seems to be acting normal.  I am less optimistic that he will ever go back to his normal eating habits but you never know.