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Hi all, my guy Dex is almost 8 years old now and as of late last night he is just sitting somewhere in the cage and looks like he's moping.  He does this a fair amount, but in the past when I call him or entice him with treats/dust bath he responds and comes up to the cage door.  But last night, he would barely respond to me calling him or giving him a dust bath and his ears are slightly back (normal color ears though).  I am pretty worried and would like some advice on what to do for him, because we do not have any exotic vets in this new area and I'm wondering if taking him to a GP small animal vet would just cause more stress for him without providing any answers.

Only thing I'm thinking is that there is a bit more hay in the cage than usual, so maybe he doesn't like this new batch of Timothy Hay?  I need to figure something out today because he hasn't acted like this in years.  Thank you.

I recommend trying to find a store that sells food for livestock. Usually they will sell bailed hay. You'll probably have to buy a lot more hay than you'll want and end up and throwing most of it out but it's inexpensive. For about the same price as what you pay at a pet store for a small quantity you can get a medium sized bail and you'll be able to tell if it's fresh.

I usually buy a 50lb compressed bail and it lasts for months for two chins. As long as the hay is still green it's good. I store the hay in laundry bags (because they are breathable).

Hey guys, the Timothy Hay I've been getting on amazon has been very dried out/brown and very thin stalks.  I need to get a new box for my guy because he has no interest in this batch, and I don't want to use amazon since their quality of hay has gone down.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Thanks!

That's an interesting problem. Although I don't know exactly what's going on. If you're using a heat pump it is normal for it to smell strongly once it is run for the first time of the year. Because the unit is no longer blowing when it's turned off its fan cannot mask other noises that your pet would normally hear. This would make your pet uneasy until it gets used to the new noises it can hear. Chinchillas can make sounds that are inaudible to us. The same bobbing of the head you see when it makes audible calls can also be seen when it makes inaudible calls.

Running a fan in the room is probably your best solution. If it really is a problem with something burning or smoking in the unit it could be dangerous. If your unit is working properly the smell should dissipate after a couple hours of running. You could put your pet in another apartment while the unit is being tested.

Hey GrayRodent, I was hoping to get some advice on what the best course of action will be for some upcoming apartment maintenance.  Here's some background:

Last night, I turned my heat on in my new apt for the first time, and it was blowing out this strange smelling odor (sort of like a burning plastic smell).  I called maintenance and they are coming out in a couple of days to repair it.  I shut it off for the time being, but shortly after my little guy started to do his alarm call.  But this time, the alarm call was very loud (louder than usual) and he seemed really scared (shaking, kept running away if I tried to comfort him, etc.).  I even tried to give him a dust bath (his favorite treat), but he wanted nothing to do with it.

I almost took him to the ER because I feared he had some type of respiratory issue, because he was bobbing his head forward every 10 seconds, though there was no nasal discharge or open mouth breathing seen.  I explained the situation to the vet, and she said that it was most likely just a stress-induced episode from either the heater smell or some external noise.  I monitored him all night and he is doing much better now (more social, took a bath, finally ate food, etc.).

The thing I'm worried about is maintenance coming to repair my heater (specifically the strange smell).  When they come, they will be turning the heat back on, and while I'm not 100% sure this was the cause of my little guy's alarm call, I am worried it will happen again.  I have pondered 2 options:
1) I could either transfer him to his carry cage and place him in my car with the AC on while maintenance works on the heat (but this might take a couple of hours, so I am unsure how good of an idea this is).
2) I can keep him in his cage, and place a fan facing away from his cage to try and blow as much of the smell away from his cage as possible.

If you have any suggestions as to the best way to approach this maintenance issue, I would greatly appreciate it.  Thank you for the help!

Try another new bag of hay and see what happens. If there is something wrong with the hay it is possible the chinchilla won't eat it. Smell it and if it seems off or is causing a change in fecal texture it is wise to stop feeding it. It could instead be a matter of texture. Older hay is typically dryer and a chinchilla may prefer that given a choice.

Hey guys, Dex just got a new shipment of Timothy Hay, so I threw out the old stuff.  He is eating the new hay when I put a handful in his hay feeder, though seems to want to eat some of the older hay that I use as a base layer in his cage.  I've never encountered this before, so wanted to get ahead of it in case he continues to prefer the older hay.

PS I thought that maybe I was packing the hay into the hay feeder too tightly, but this was not the case.  As of now he probably eats about 60% new hay, 40% old hay (in addition to his Oxbow pellets, but I am mostly concerned with the hay right now).

Thank you as always!

The Wuhan virus is one of numerous kinds of coronaviruses, including those that make up the common cold. I don't think it's possible to stop viruses like this from actually spreading so I suspect most people will eventually end up with it like the other kinds of coronaviruses that afflict humanity each year.

The COVID-19 epidemic has been politicized beyond belief as if government can somehow determine the success or failure of containing something that I very much doubt is containable any more than the seasonal flu. Flu has proven to be much more deadly this year. As more statistical data is gathered on those who have the virus who are not hospitalized with it, I think it becomes apparent it the symptoms and mortality rates are more in line with severe seasonal flu than the end-of-the-world like the media is hyping it up to be.

Those hospitalized with the flu have similar experiences to those hospitalized with COVID-19. (The 19th documented coronavirus)

In order for a virus to infect cells, its protein structure (proteins are assembled based on genes) must be chemically compatible with protein structure the cell wall of the host in order to penetrate the cell and infect it. Since humans and animals are not genetically similar it is unlikely that are both hosts are compatible with the same virus. Sometimes there are overlaps though.

Much more is known about SARS, another novel coronavirus that was documented in 2014, is similar in many ways to the Wuhan coronavirus and has been studied for years. Comparisons were made with proteins responsible for penetrating the hosts's cells between SARS and COVID-19. It turns out swine, cats, ferrets, and primates could be susceptible to infection. I think there is good evidence that cats can catch SARS and develop symptoms.

Rodents are not a good match, are considered to be resistant, and therefore are not being used for laboratory models in the study of COVID-19. So to answer your question, it appears that chinchillas cannot become infected with COVID-19.

There has been some concern about dogs. There was a PCR test done on a dog in Hong Kong where the virus showed up on the test as a weak match. Its owner tested positive for the virus which is why the dog was tested. It is still possible the dog's test was botched with contamination of virus particles from the owner. PCR tests use samples taken from the inside of the nose. Consider that the test showed only a weak match, the owner was in regular close contact with the dog, and the dog never showed any symptoms. I am skeptical the dog actually caught the virus. Nothing was said if there were antibodies found but I think that would be much more conclusive.

Even if animals do get the virus they won't necessarily be able to transmit it to humans as even more factors must be present for actual communication of a virus.

You can read more on this here:

https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/2020/02/articles/animals/cats/covid-2-and-potential-animal-hosts/

and here:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4329-cats-can-catch-sars-and-pass-it-on/

Just curious.  I don't have it but I wanted to know of what to do in case this virus keeps spreading.  Thanks for the info!

I'm so glad you ended up with a pet that you like. Sounds like you have a pretty well socialized animal too. One of my chinchillas likes to be rubbed on the back and head while the other prefers chin scratches. You should get her used to both and she'll eventually want both.