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

Q & A / Chinchilla is acting very strange the last 12 hours

« on: October 15, 2023, 09:17:22 AM »

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.

2

Q & A / Question about reliable Timothy Hay

« on: November 28, 2020, 06:01:12 PM »

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!

3

Q & A / Advice for upcoming apartment maintenance on a faulty heater (strange smell)

« on: October 31, 2020, 11:20:43 AM »

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!

4

Q & A / Chinchilla prefers older hay?

« on: May 03, 2020, 02:52:59 PM »

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!

5

Q & A / Can chinchillas get coronavirus?

« on: March 12, 2020, 04:04:50 PM »

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!

6

Q & A / Anxious chinchillas and traveling

« on: February 16, 2020, 11:03:03 AM »

Hi guys, I had one more question.  Normally, my little guy has been good with traveling (I have 2 houses I travel between ~6-8 times/year), but this past time he seemed very anxious and was trying to bite the wiring of the cage.  I was worried that he might chip a tooth because he was biting the wiring fairly hard.

I know that you are not supposed to travel with chinchillas, but Dex has been very good with it the past few years and has never had any issues.  The night before traveling, I perform a "fire drill," which basically means I'll put him in his carrier cage for 15 minutes so he can acclimate to the carrier cage and understand that traveling will happen tomorrow.  But I am unsure why he did not do as well this past time, for there wasn't a significant amount of time between traveling trips.  Thanks for the input.

7

Q & A / Chinchilla's long alarm call

« on: February 02, 2020, 01:13:17 PM »

Hey guys, Dex has been doing his alarm call off and on for upward of 10-15 minutes now.  I've never had his alarm calls go this long before, so I wanted to make sure he's okay.

I am 100% positive this call is his alarm call, instead of an injury call or fear call.

8

Q & A / Discolorations in chinchilla's right ear

« on: January 11, 2020, 05:52:32 PM »

Hey guys, I wanted to ask if anyone knew what is happening to my little guy's right ear.  He has a couple of discolored bumps, and lives alone in the cage so it is not from a fight or anything of that nature.  I read up that severe changes in temperature can also cause this, but the temperature has been pretty consistent the last week or so.  I have pictures of his ear, but cannot upload them since the maximum file size is 600kb and each picture is 3.4 MB.

More info to make sure he's okay: this past week I got influenza and partially quarantined myself away from him (no interaction except for food/water/baths and washed hands thoroughly, but he was also in the same room with me so I would spray Lysol constantly to disinfect the area).  He seems healthy and full of energy, but I'm unsure where these marks on his right ear came from.  Thank you!

9

Q & A / Did my chinchilla...finish?

« on: October 28, 2019, 04:41:14 PM »

Hey guys, long time no see.  My chinchilla, Dex, is an unneutered 5 year old male, so naturally he has some humping tendencies.  Usually after a while of me pushing him off, he'll lift his hind legs to pull out his tool, but tonight when he pulled it out his whole body was visibly shaking/vibrating a couple of times.  Then when it was out, I noticed it had a couple of lumps/spherical bulges in his shaft.  He then proceeded to clean it in his mouth, as he does, and then went to lay down.  I'm assuming that he "took care of himself," but I wanted to post this question in case this is something more serious that I need to get him checked for.

This is a weird question to ask about, but I appreciate any and all input.

10

Q & A / Chinchilla doesn't want to play outside of his cage

« on: November 25, 2018, 09:45:48 PM »

Hey guys, over the past few weeks I have noticed my chinnie hasn't had any interest in running around outside of his cage.  I have a playpen that he is allowed to stay in the confines of, and have not changed any of his daily routine.  He is showing signs of lethargy in his cage, though still gives me a warm greeting when I pet him. 

He was at the vet about a month ago and I was informed he is perfectly healthy, he is 4 years old and about 500 grams.  No weight change, diet change, etc.  Thank you for your advice!

11

Q & A / Discoloration in Chinchilla's Ear

« on: August 28, 2018, 08:47:57 AM »

Hey guys, I noticed my little guy has begun showing a slight discoloration on both the inside and outside of his ears.  I am unsure if this is something mild or something I should take him to the vet for, so any input would be greatly appreciated!

Note: I have pictures of the ears that I wanted to include for reference, though I cannot attach them for it would make the post too large.  Could I email you these pictures to get your opinion on the matter?  Thank you!

-Bill

12

Q & A / Chinchilla waking up later than usual

« on: October 26, 2017, 08:07:00 PM »

Hey guys!  I have noticed my little guy Dex is beginning to wake up later and later each day.  He used to be awake and roaming around his cage around 8:00 pm (never later than 9pm), though now he waits until 11-11:30pm to stretch, groom, and roam around his cage ready for playtime.  I will be beginning my career soon and will have to wake up at 5am every day, so I was curious if anyone had any suggestions to encourage my little buddy to wake up earlier so he can still get his out-of-cage playtime 4x a week.

He will be 3 years old in December 2017 and is fully grown, so I am not quite sure why he is waking up so late now.

Thanks again for all your help!

13

Q & A / Playpen choice for my little guy

« on: August 21, 2017, 07:07:25 PM »

Hello fellow Chinnie-lovers,

I was looking into getting my chinchilla a playpen to contain his roaming space around my apartment.  I have been looking at a few options and have stumbled upon these two (links below).

https://www.amazon.com/Ware-Manufacturing-Canvas-8-Panel-Playpen/dp/B000OX8AG4/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1503362806&sr=1-1&keywords=chinchilla+play+pen

https://www.amazon.com/Small-Animal-Pet-Playpen-Exercise/dp/B0002DHXEQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1503362806&sr=1-2&keywords=chinchilla+play+pen

My main requirements are:
1) It prevents my little guy from jumping out of it (he is almost 3 years old -- fully grown and can jump quite high)
2) It gives him the largest amount of roaming space without breaking the bank
3) It obviously a small enough spacing between bars to prevent him from squeezing through (though not too small where he might get caught and scared)

The 1st link seems to be the better option, though the reviews mention this is a wobbly cage.  I will be inside of the cage with him, so this is not a huge issue, though I would like to give my little guy a larger roaming area if possible.  If you could provide links to your top suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.  Thank you for your help!

Regards,


Bill

14

Q & A / Is this product safe for my chinchilla?

« on: February 28, 2017, 10:59:47 AM »

Hi all,

I recently purchased a new house for my chinnie and wanted to make sure it is safe (for it uses a soft blanket-like material), since I have heard that some materials can attribute to fur rings.  Below is the link to the house I purchased off of Amazon.  Thank you!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019VC539A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

15

Q & A / Blanket for Chinchillas?

« on: October 10, 2016, 09:51:29 AM »

Hey guys, now that the weather is getting colder I have noticed that my place is not well insulated.  I know that chinchillas prefer to be 55-70 degrees Fahrenheit, though whenever my room starts to get colder than that (it truly is not well insulated), I was wondering if I could place something cozy in my chinnie's cage in case he gets cold at all.  I think I've heard that certain types of material can be dangerous to chinchillas (I believe because they assist in developing hair rings), so I was curious if anyone would be able to recommend a nice, cozy material for my little guy to snuggle up with.  Thanks again!