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[luvmychinchins]

Hi, My chin is three years old and he doesn't chew on his toys . His brother chews on everything. I  have to take him to the vet every other month to get his teeth trimmed :do:. Is there anything I can do for him???

[Jo Ann]

Hi,

    Chewing is normal/natural for all chinchillas ... the only reason I can think of that he will not chew would be that there might be something wrong with his teeth or a tooth ... making it to painful to chew. 
     On a temporary basis, something stuck between the teeth or between a tooth and the gum, or an infection, but on a long term basis, that's completely different.
     He could have malocclusion, a split tooth, a bone spur, sharp edges left when the teeth are trimmed ... something is keeping it to painful for him to chew, would be my only guess.
     Has your vet x-rayed your chin's teeth?  It may be well worth it to possibly find out the cause of the problem.
     Malocclusion is not only the over growth of the part of the teeth you can see, but often overgrowth of the roots of the teeth.  They can rap around the jawbone, entangle the base of the chin's tong, and even grow into the brain and kill it.
    Do you give your chins loose hay or hay cubes?  Chewing these help with a chin's teeth. The fresh hay is good, and with the chin that does not chew it's toys, is really needed.  The cube hay makes them chew more to get the same amount of hay, but it is hard and harder to chew, he may not want them until the problem is corrected.
    Do they have a lava stone in the cage at all times?  This is a must ... the lava stone provides the chin a safe way to gently grind it's teeth.
    Popsicle sticks are good for chins to chew and are easily handled by the chin.  You can take a raisin, cut it open and rub it all over the Popsicle stick ... they usually love this! 
    Even a small amount of clean fresh dust bath dust is often chewed by the chins to help smooth their teeth.  Sprinkling about 1/8 of a teaspoon over their food once a week will help in severe cases.  You will hear them doing what sounds like grinding their teeth, but they will be smoothing them down. 
     Getting the teeth trimmed is treating the symptom, but if the cause can be treated, that would be even better.   

   
Jo Ann

[Jenova]

I know I'm not an expert, but have you tried using natural things like a branch from an apple tree (or another tree that is fine for chins). I think that they like to eat the bark and then chew on the wood, so that might encourage him. Like I said I'm not an expert, just trying to help. 

[Jo Ann]

Good idea, Jenova!    I totally forgot about the apple tree branches ... they do seem to love them!
  Just make sure the tree has never been sprayed and there are no bugs or mold on the branch before you give it to him.

 
Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

If he is getting a trim every other month at such a young age I would think he has a genetic defect for malocclusion. His mouth hurts so he can't chew.
How long has the trimming been going on?
After the first year he should be able to go several months between trims.Sometimes it can take up to 2 years to get control of such a defect.
Mine like the small animal mineral chew blocks, they also have calcium in them.
You will need to up his Vit'c intake, and the best I've found was recommended by Betti Cogswell, calcium ascorbate powder, yes it's Vit.C. You can add it to the water bottle.Cranberry juice is good of he'll drink it.
It helps the gums heal from infection and firms them up so they can hold the teeth better.
Very important to a chin getting trims.
Get as much calcium as you can into him, either Tums, calcium chews, or anything else he will eat.
Yes keep trying him with everything you think he may chew, even a solid cardboard tube may get him started, then work him up to harder things.
Timothy hay is the best for wearing down those back teeth, so if he's eating his hay that's a good sign.
How is his food intake?
How are hos droppings?
You can tell a lot about what goes in by what come out.
The poor little guy.
I have one here now that has been getting trims 6 years, he's about 12 years old now.
It can be done, but you will have to decide if your chin can tolerate this kind of life.
It's not easy nor any fun for either of you I know.
Give him a chinny kiss from me will you, I know what he's going through, and you.

[FluffBall]

should a healthy chin have cranberry juice offered to him as well and mine won't chew tums is there a fav. flavor?

[Joyce]

As far as the Tums go........Some of them like them and some don't.  I have a set of beige twins that need extra calcium daily for a deficiency.  One of them LOVES getting her 1/4 piece of Tums daily!!!  The other one runs as fast as she can to get away from it!!!  I have even offered every flavor   
They both like those calcium critter cones though. 

[FluffBall]

any one know about the cranberry juice and also I have been on an orange binge well clementines actually cause they are easy to peel and none of that white gunk is left on them well any way I went to play with my chins this morning after I ate one and they were licking my fingers and cleaning the white stuff that got under my thimb nail from peeling them can they have oranges?

[Joyce]

Personally, I would never give my chinchillas oranges.  They get no fresh fruits or veggies.

As far as the cranberry juice 50% water/50% juice.  I always get the cranberry juice cocktail rather than the cranberry juice.  It doesn't have the extra additives like grape juices etc...
My pregnant chin & her hubby are getting cranberry juice now. I have never given it to my herd just for the heck of it!  But that would be hard to do with 25.  I have given cranberry juice to some of my sick chins as well as chins recovering from certain illness.  Good for chins who need to drink more fluids and/or need more calories and for chins who have UTI's.
Not sure about giving it all the time someone else may be able to answer that one.  Sorry.
 
Always remember to also give them a bottle of their regular water as well.

[Jo Ann]

Hi FluffBall,  Thanks for bringing the question up  ... I'll add a little more to it, also. 

To All Newcomers to chinchillas ...

     Please keep in mind the size of anything you give your chin, especially when it comes to treats.  Remember, he/she is little ... a raisin may look small to us, but comparing it to the chinchilla's size ... that raisin is as big if not bigger than a softball.
     A chin's system is not made to process or handle acid fruits.  NO oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits,  clementines, or tomatoes, please.
     Watery fruits and veggies (watermelon, lettuce, etc.) can cause diarrhea.
     Fruits grown with a pit in them (peaches) are poision to a chin.
     It's just like nuts ... nuts have oil in them naturally ... a chinchilla's digestive system can not process the oil and they eventually end-up with a fatty liver.  Many die from it.
     Meat is another one ... chins are strict vegetarians.  I had a very troubling e-mail a couple of years a go from a young lady who's parent's friends gave her chin a BBQ rib (because they could not resist that sweet little begging face)... it loved it ... smacked it's little lips in appreciation.  She knew they were vegetarians, so she wanted to know if it was OK this one time, or what she could do if it was not.  I had to explain to her ... prepair her ... her little one would not survive very long and there was nothing she could do for it.   It died early the following day ... he could not digest the meat ... it blocked his intestines and shut down his system.
      This is where I am a firm believer in posting the dos and don'ts for everyone to see ... just encase you are not there when other family members have guests over and you are not there to tell them the rules. 

 
Jo Ann[/i]

[Misskitz]

Jo Ann i was wondering is Tums are OK i heard from other people but didn't know, also what kind of fruit branch is OK?

[Jo Ann]

I got side-tracked again!

Yes, cranberry juice is good for all chinchillas.  
(1) It helps moms get their milk in faster ... the taste makes them want to drink more ...
(2) It helps with urine infections ... flushes the system ...
(3) All kinds of good stuff in it for them, but I would not use it as a constant ... to much of anything can be bad AND you do not want your chin to get to where it is not drinking it's water.  If this happens ... remove the cranberry juice for a week or so.  
 I mix it (Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice) 1/2 and 1/2 with water and put about 1/2 a bottle up at a time ... in addition to their regular water bottle.
CAUTION:  This is summer ... it can cause an ant invasion ... ants love it, too.

 
Jo Ann

[Jo Ann]

Hi MissKitz ... you caught me while still on line 

    This is what an orthopedic doctor (for humans) told me ... " Tums are nice as an antiacid" ... BUT ... "calcium needs to be in an acid environment to be processed properly and used by the body" ... I am going to assume that the same would go for a chinchilla's system.  I do not use Tums ... I use cuttle bones from the bird section of the pet store ... it's best (and more economical) to get the ones without the hanger ... the hanger has to be removed ... it's made of aluminum and chinchillas will eat aluminum (not good for the tummy).

 
Jo Ann

We had the answer to the tree question on another post ... I'll have to look it up to be sure ... I'll add it to this post when I found it.

[Joyce]

  I'd like to get a cuttlebone for Mia especially good for when she is nursing!  However, something still sticks in my head very strongly that was posted in the old forums. 
Someone said they had a chin or their friend had a chin that died from eating a cuttlebone.  A sliver came off and it got it stuck in it's throat and choked to death. :-[

So I have never been brave enough to make the plunge.  Even though I have heard good things about it from the BEST information sources!

[Misskitz]

Ok i didn't know about Tums I'm not going use them. But again what fruit branches ARE ok?