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1

Health / I found blood...

« on: June 11, 2011, 04:20:00 PM »

Hi.  I don't post on here very often, but something curious happened with my chinchillas this afternoon and I figured I might get some advice from some experts.

I own two chinchillas; a grey female (Kilala), and a black female (Luna).  About an hour or so ago I looked into their cage and found blood on top of their hide-a-way.  It seemed dry, but I was very concerned, so I quickly checked both chins over.  Luna was completely clean, but when I checked Kilala I found blood between her tail and privates.  Upon closer inspection, I found that she didn't seem to have any cuts or wounds on her, just blood in her fur.  I used rubbing alcohol to get most of it out, and then soapy water, and I held her for a while to let her dry before letting her go about her business.  I watched her hop around and take a dust bath, and she seems to be acting completely fine.

I really can't for the life of me figure out where the blood came from.  It was a pretty significant amount too, enough to worry over.  I thought maybe the chinchillas had gotten into a fight and someone got hurt, but I can't find any injuries on either of them.

I have 3 cats, and I'm going to check them over to see if maybe the chinchillas bit them or something, though it's unlikely...

Has something like this ever happened to anyone else?  Chinchillas don't menstruate, do they?  They don't bleed, right?  I've owned chinchillas for 9 or so years now, and this has never happened before.  If someone could reply, I would greatly appreciate it!  I just don't know if this is something to be worried about or not...

Thanks!

2

General Chat / I'm wondering if she's lonely...

« on: February 14, 2010, 07:56:18 PM »

Hi!  I'm new to the board and I signed up mostly because this question has been bothering me for a long time and I wanted to talk to other chinchilla owners about it to see if they'd have a solution.  I know it's most likely been discussed before, but I wanted to explain my entire story first so that you would understand where I'm coming from.

In 2002 I adopted a female chinchilla whom I named Chichi.  I was thrilled to finally have a chin of my own to play with.  My science teacher that year had a few of them, and I would stay after school to play with them until I finally convinced my parents to buy me a chin of my own.  Just a few months later and Chi gave a birth to a little boy whom we named Zel.  We had no idea she was pregnant when we got her, and I think the reason she only had one baby was probably due to the fact that she was moved from the pet store to a new environment while she was pregnant.  We also handled her a lot and had no idea she was expecting, so I do believe her other babies may have died or never developed properly.

Either way, when Zel grew older we decided we wanted to try and breed him.  We adopted a little girl named Kilala, who sadly didn't get along with our boy.  She did, however, want to become friends with Chichi, but Chi had other ideas.  She would try and nip at Kilala whenever they came in contact.  After Kilala almost got bitten we decided to keep them separated as much as possible.

In 2006, both Chichi and Zel died, one month after the other.  The vets told us that the chinchilla book and pet store had been telling us to give our chins the wrong food.  It had said to give them a mixture of hamster and parrot food.  The vets told us it caused blockages in their systems which killed them...

Currently, we only have Kilala.  We do have other pets (4 cats), but no other chinchillas for her to play with.  She's a very sweet little girl, and she's always trying to communicate with my dad and me.  A few weeks ago when I let her out for a run, she found one of my cat toys, and I think she might have thought it was another chin, because she was making noises at it and sniffing it.  It broke my heart a little bit. 

My question is; do you think she's lonely?  Sometimes I get the feeling that she is.  I wonder if getting another chinchilla would make her happier, or if it's just better for her to be alone.  If I got another one, would I get a male or a female?  What do you guys think I should do?

Thanks in advance!