Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: alliec97 on January 06, 2016, 02:25:52 PM
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Okay so my baby, Chloe, is an older chin, and is also a rescue. I know she is around 8 or 9, and she is my very first chin. I took her o get her out of a bad situation and fell in love! I have had her for about a year, and i let her out at night to play. Never had any really trouble. Here for the past couple of days she will not come out though. She will come to the door like she is going to come out, and then never does. I don't know what is wrong. Any advice?
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I'm very sorry you're chinchilla doesn't seem to be feeling well.
Usually my advice is that if a behavior is out of the ordinary and persistent it may be due to a health problem and it may be best to have a vet exam and rule out a physiological cause. Considering her advanced age and past history of neglect (which I'm assuming you mean) I would think the chances of something going wrong are pretty high.
If you take her out of the cage does she otherwise behave normally? Could there be something about the environment that is changed? How has her food and water consumption been compared to a year ago? Typically noticeable decrease in food consumption indicates illness or pain. If she is acting noticeably depressed you may want to do an exam right away. If you go that route you'll want to draw the line ahead of time at how far you are going to want to take treatment and testing and explore your options. Make sure to find a vet that specializes in exotics and has experience with chinchillas if you can.
Chinchillas normally live about 10 years. A chinchilla with good breeding and excellent care can sometimes live upwards of 15.
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Hey
Had anything changed in the room where you keep her? Are her poops OK and is she eating? Have she had any routine changes?
One of my chins can be a bit weird any coming out every now and again but within as v few days he is back to good normal self.
Natalie x
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Actually we got a new puppy on Christmas! I know that her previous owner would put her in a small kennel out on the back porch for her dust bath where there dog could get to her. That could possibly be stressing her a little. Butthe puppy is never in my room when i let hrr out or given access to her. Could this possibly be the cause you think? But besides not coming out of her cage she is fine. Everythin else has been normal and she plays in her cage. But do to her past she does not let me handle her a whole lot. She has a lot of trust issues because her owner would force her out of her cage and pass her around for little kids to hold. So i try not to force the handling issue. She is sweet and will sit on me when she is out though!
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If her eating, pooping, and weight are good, chances are there's nothing serious. The behavioral change would be concerning if everything else was equal but having a new dog is a big deal to a chinchilla. She can hear it and probably smell it on the carpet.
Chinchillas can be extremely territorial about their cages. It is wise to handle territorial chins outside of the cage. It can actually help to force them out of the cage when they start acting aggressive but considering she is so old I'd be very gentle about that. Chances are you will have to at some point.
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Okay then I am not going to stress about it. And sh has never been aggressive, and will let me pet her in her cage. She just is not a big fan of being held. It is difficult to catch her, in or out, of the cage. Once I do catch er she is fine though! Thank you for the advice!
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I'm with grey rodent I think the puppy had unsettled her. Hopefully given time she will get used to his scent and be happy coming out on her own.
Good luck and she's not that old one of mine is 13 and going strong!
Xx