Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

1

Health / May or may not have a problem please read

« on: September 10, 2010, 05:46:07 PM »

I have two chinchillas named wittle and chiko. chiko is chubby and big while wittle is well little (compared to chiko) I dont know wich one has the weight problem because one could be to big or one could be to small but my real problem is ive just noticed tonight that wittle wouldnt come out of the cage for free run. Chiko dove out as normal but wittle just remained inside running all around the cage and standing at the front door as if he wanted to come out. He came out eventually and took a 3min dust bath then bolted back in the cage. I noticed that his ears are red and veiny wich i normally associate with being too hot and that his breathing was like it was labored. Every breath kinda "moved" his body but when he calmed down he was breathing fine. Its almost 8pm here wich means they should both be active and rdy to go but right now hes sleeping on his side in the tube and chiko is watching tv. If i touch or motion toward wittle he reacts accordingly and runs away or pushes my hand away but im just wondering if theres something wrong with him because i know they hide their sickness even until death.

P.S. his ears are flat and still a little red maybe he is overheated??

to those that read this wall of text thank you beforehand and i look forward to hearing some advice as to what could be wrong.

2

Q & A / i feel bad :(

« on: April 30, 2010, 11:00:06 PM »

Every night i let my chin Chiko out for free run and i can tell when he starts to overheat by looking at his ears if his veins are really red.
the other night when i put him back in his cage he laid on his side probably really hot and tired but he easily recovered but he then starts to beg to come out of the cage again.

when i let him out he rockets around the room and jumps on and off my bed so hes getting lots of exercise but i cant have him out all night.

i feel so bad to watch him grab the bars and look at me with those eyes that just say "please give me some more time outside"

we are looking to get him a cage mate to help occupy him at night when i sleep but is there a way i can get him to be a little more forgiving when i put him back in the cage? i feel like he dislikes me for ending his play time.

p.s. he has plenty of chew toys in the cage along with a tube to crawl through and a chin-chiller tile to sleep on.

any advice would be much appreciated

3

Q & A / From the ashes rises a new beginning (with a few concerns)

« on: April 23, 2010, 10:27:29 PM »

For those of you who may know i lost my dear chin Petey a couple days ago and so with much deliberation and some coaxing by my gf we have adopted another chinchilla named Chiko. Chiko is a 3 month old tan male and very new to his surroundings. What concerns me about him is that he is a compulsive jumper so far and im worried he might hurt himself jumping around the cage the way he does. I think he is just scared and he will settle down when he gets a little older but i hope hes not as skittish for his whole life. anyone know if this is the way a young chin would act to new surroundings?

4

Memorials / Goodbye Petey

« on: April 21, 2010, 02:15:46 PM »

I am a new chin owner and had Petey for only 2 weeks

everything was ok until i arrived home today and he wasent moving around just sitting in the middle of his cage doing nothing so i rushed him to the vet
it turns out he inhaled a piece of food through his tracea and his lungs filled up with fluid trying to get it out. about 4 min into the waiting he started to gasp and fall over in my arms...his heart had stopped right then and there. I had nightmares of him dieing in my arms and it came true. Petey was only 4 months old he was just a baby and i cant believe hes gone. My heart is broken and looking at his cage and toys and the house he slept in makes the pain even worse. i loved him very much and now i cant stand to think that every time i come home at night he wont be there sitting on his wooden block like always. ill never see him again

i love you petey very very much 

5

Q & A / New chin owner looking for advice.

« on: April 14, 2010, 08:24:18 AM »

Hello my girlfriend and I are the proud new owners of a 4 month old male chin named petey. we have had him for a week today

There are a few things I'm worried about... I don't see him eat the pellets i give him only on a few rare occasions but he loves hay and frequently dines on it. I also don't see much water consumption though i know he can work the sipper tube so i'm not to worried about that. I know he is nocturnal but so am i he must be eating and drinking way into the night after i go to sleep which is around 3 a.m.

Also im worried that he wont socialize with my girlfriend, he is warming up to me but thats because he lives with me but she doesn't come over very much because of family issues. Is there any way she can vastly help to create a bond between them?

Also i know its safe for him to be doing this but he eats his carefresh bedding all the time and it worries me.

I just took him to the vet because his eye was messed up due to foreign matter and he weighs out average and is completely healthy. Am i just being an overly worried parent?