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[8gh0st8]

Hello,

I'm really confused and worried about the changes I've seen in my chinchilla, Chewy, over the past few weeks.  A quick history on him: Chewy is 14 or 15 and has never shown any signs of illness in the past.  He's been playful, affectionate, and always eager for more attention and treats.  He gets premium chinchilla food, always fresh water, has an exercise wheel in an already large cage (5 levels), gets a dust bath usually twice but at least once a week, and is taken out to exercise around the apartment every day.

This is how he behaves now:

1.  He rarely comes out of the his plastic hut he has in his cage, except to eat, drink, and use the bathroom.
2.  Whenever anyone comes near him, even if I'm just walking past in the hallway, he starts barking angrily.  He even barks at the cats when they saunter past his cage.
3.  If I try and take him out of his cage for exercise, or try and tempt him out of his hut with a treat, he tries to urinate on me and bite me.
4.  He doesn't seem to care about attention or treats anymore.  He won't even budge from his hut when I shake his treats bag.

I've read that chinchillas are creatures of habit, and I can say for absolute certain, nothing about his environment or routine has changed.  Not the food, not the attention, not the daily activities that go on around him...nothing.  I work with elderly patients at my place of business, and the only thing I can think of that mirrors his symptoms is dementia, which experience on a daily basis in the patients.  He's become increasingly irritable and aggressive, likes his comfortable spot or the place he feels safest, and doesn't like to leave his cage. 

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions that could shed some light on his radical change in behavior, I'd be most appreciative!

[dianah]

has he lost any weight? has anything changed in his environment?

[8gh0st8]

No changes in his weight, no changes to his diet, no changes in his environment.  No recent changes, either.  The last drastic change was he moved from my aunt's house to my apartment, but that was at least 2 or 3 years ago. 

[dianah]

hmmmm! that's puzzling. if there was something wrong, you'd expect a change in weight. he's eating and drinking as normal - is his poo ok? could it be because it's warm? could there be a new noise that doesn't sound like much to humans?

[dianah]

just a thought - have you checked for hair rings?

[8gh0st8]

The temperature has risen quite a bit here in NW Pennsylvania, but it's not like this is the first summer where it's been unbearably hot.  That aside, we keep 2 air conditioners running almost all day, so it's pretty cool here in the apartment.  With the increased humidity though, I'm careful about making sure he gets enough dust baths so his fur won't get clumpy.  My first thought when he started acting irritable was there was some sort of massive clump of fur I had missed.  I did find a few patches of hair mats, but they were pretty small, and nothing he hasn't dealt with between grooming.  Certainly not enough to prompt this orneriness. 

His poo is just fine: same consistency it's always been.  He still eats regularly, and drinks plenty of fresh water. 

There are no new sounds in the environment that I'm aware of...then again, I don't have ears the size of satellite dishes compared to the size of my body.  I've ran through all the things in the immediate surroundings of his cage, and can't see any changes that would cause this mood change. 

[dianah]

i would say, given it's been going on for a while and there's nothing obvious, i would take him to the vet and have him checked over. they may have some ideas! even though his weight is stable etc, it would be a good idea to have such radical change in behaviour investigated.

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

Hi there,
It's been my experience that when a chin has a behavioral change like this, they are trying to tell us something. Usually it's a medical thing, but from what you've said it doesn't appear like its tooth related or anything like sepsis. Kidney problems can make a chin to feel awful, but since food and water intake are normal, that doesn't seem like the problem either. You can smell his breath: if it smells like pee(i.e. ammonia like),that can indicate kidney issues.
You didn't say if you had checked for a hair ring - if not, definitely do. That's a major possibility for chin discomfort, and can cause a chin to become "bitey".
That said, I've had(and still have 4) quite a few elderly chins, and this could be age related. Maybe a small stroke? It's hard to say. Perhaps he's gotten to a certain age where the heat does affect him more? Keep watching closely. If you have a great chinnie vet, you might consider getting him checked out. My vet has been a great problem solver for me, but not all vets are as skilled with chins.
Lori