Chinchillas

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Tips and Tricks

My chinchillas tought me so many things over the last years I just have to share a few of them!

Infrared lamps

Some chinchillas seem to enjoy warmth tremendously. Kleines was like that, as you can see on the shots below. She looks terrible, but she only ruffles her coat and lies in the sun.

On these shots you can easily see how chinchillas manage to keep their body temperature. They use their ears to do that, their blood vessels widen to loose warmth. Kleines is sweating in the chinchilla way on these shots, but that doesn't keep her from sitting in the sun.
Chinchillas enjoy warmth very much when they're sick, but also when they're not. I use a simple infrared lamp - you can use it too, it's great if you have a cold. Half an hour usually is enough. Make sure they don't get too hot, they have to be able to get to a cooler spot everytime!

Scurvy

Chinchillas seem to be unable to produce vitamin C, like humans and guinea pigs too. Usually, that's no problem, vitamin C is abundant in fresh food. But some chins don't want fresh food - that's where the trouble starts. Then they can get scurvy.

Scurvy is a serious illness, the chinchillas get sore gums and may lose teeth. Eating hurts, leading to even less uptake of food and vitamins, the chinchillas might starve. Sometimes the skin is affected too, wound healing is diminished, the skin can become flaky. Because you look into a chinchilla mouth only when it's too late, you'll notice scurvy mostly when the chinchilla starts drooling. Drooling is a serious problem, it can be a symptom of scurvy, but also of malocclusion, which is maybe even worse a condition. If malocclusion can be ruled out (only a vet can do that, drooling is always a reason to see the vet!), it might be scurvy. Too bad vets often don't even know chinchillas can get scurvy...
How do we prevent and treat scurvy? You have to get a lot of vitanin C into that animal. Feeding things that are high in vitamin C (like parsley, apple) is great for prevention, but the trouble is chinchillas with scurvy often don't like these things - otherwise they would not be suffering from scurvy in the first place. For treatment and prevention in skittish chinchillas, we need more vitamin C in controllable doses.
I found out that at least Kleines liked apple a lot. She loved them. But a few pieces of apple a week don't cure scurvy. So I did a trick - I cut a small slit into the apple piece, held it open and put a little bit of pure vitamin C powder (from the drugstore) into the apple. 100mg a day are sufficient. Let the slit close, you're done. Kleines ate the apple piece with great appetite and the scurvy was gone after a few weeks of daily apple treatment. Her gums were bleeding for maybe two weeks (you could see that on the apple piece she had bitten into and dropped because it had hurt her gum), but with a lot of patience I managed to get a vitamin C stuffed piece of apple into her every day.
I still do that to prevent scurvy in Moppel and Rosalie, but a stuffed apple piece twice a week (and with not so much vitamin C in it) seems to suffice.

Controlling the Weight

You think you don't need that? Think again. Sick chinchillas lose weight quickly and you won't notice until it's too late. The fur is so thick you won't see them getting skinny, and you'll get used to the feel of a bony chinchilla that gets bonier every day - you won't notice.
That's why I started weighing them once a week. That's very easy, you don't have to catch them and force them onto a scale! I simply bought a small household digital scale with detachable bowl, it feels like a small flat stone for a chinchilla I imagine.
I put the scale into the cage on evenings, wait there with a goodie, and when someone jumps on it, I press "Tare", give away the treat and have all the time in the world to read the digits. They will jump on it, they love to jump on something flat and cool!

Meeting the Vet

Chinchillas, like every pet, know when it's vet time. Instead of chasing them and stressing them even more, simply put the box you need to carry them into the cage and trust on their curiosity. They love caves and most likely will climb inside.
After a few visits they know what a box means. But then simply try another trick: Pretend to catch them and wait until it hides inside something, a clay tube or something. Put one end of the tube into the box, shut the other tightly with your hand and you'll see, the chinchilla will eventually favour the box.

Giving Medicine

You'll need a towel and a helper. One of you wraps the chinchilla firmly vut gently into a towel so that only the head pokes out. The other one uses a syringe without a needle to slip the medicine through the gap after the front teeth. Work fast, but gently - soon, the chinchilla has found out how to use its tiny hands to wriggle itself free, and you don't want to hurt those little arms and fingers so be over with it before it gets free.
Have the medicine ready before you wrap the chinchilla into the towel, pretend not to be upset at all and work as quickly as you can manage. Tell yourself you have to do it and it's best if it's over quickly. Some chinchillas cry out loudly and heartbreakingly when they are held, so be prepared and don't show them you're impressed - they learn quickly and will use it against you no doubt! Hold the head with one hand and pull up the lip on the side you want to apply the syringe. Once you have found the gap between the teeth (the natural route for oral medicine), push down the plunger gently so the chinchilla has a chance to swallow the mess. You'll see if it gets really uncomfortable, then leave it alone for a minute and let it recover. As soon as you're finished, let go of the head so it won't aspirate the medicine. That works pretty well usually, and because you usually have to apply small amounts of medicine, you most likely won't run into problems.
It is very very important not to let your anxiety show. Chinchillas are social animals and sense it and get even more upset. Don't be discouraged by imploring looks, get it over with quickly and you all will be fine!

Diarrhoea

Diarrhoea can be a life-threatening condition that leads to starving very fast. So if you're in doubt, off to the vet immediately! But slight looseness, caused by a change of diet, too much green food or antibiotics can be treated easily. Just watch out, severe diarrhoea, fever and apathy are always a reason to see a vet right NOW.

Bird-bene-bac

This stuff consists of bacteria that are needed for the normal gut function. If our 'good' bacteria are killed, e.g. by antibiotics, that can lead to looseness and loss of weight. Harmful bacteria occupy the resources the good bacteria have left behind and cause severe diseases. Ths stuff can restart a healty darm flora. You get it at the vets and you can use the towel trick if your chinchilla doesn't like the taste.

Dry bread or toast

You sure won't need the towel trick for this one! It's easy and cheap, just let white bread dry until it's hard like a brick. Then give them a small piece, maybe 2 x 2 x 2 cm, and you're done. It dries them up quickly and they love it. It comes in handy when they suffer from looseness because of too much green stuff at a time or any change in diet.

A Word of Caution

I have to say it again - do these things only if you'Re sure the animal is basically healthy. Diarrhoea can be a symptom of a severe illness, and it can lead to death fast. So, if you're in doubt, do see a vet!