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[Snickerdoodlesmom]

I gave Snickerdoodle some new toys and treats today. When I gave him a rosehip, he squealed, seemingly in discomfort. I cannot describe the sound, but he stretched out his body and started hitting his mouth, seeming to try to get rid of something. Now he's acting weird. Can someone please help? Fast?

[GrayRodent]

Although I've never experienced this it seems like everything is pointing to a tooth problem. Rosehips are soft and should not have caused this. Perhaps the soft material pressed on something that was already there and caused this reaction. Is it possible there is a fragment of something small and hard that may have got caught in his teeth and caused an abscess? Perhaps there was an earlier injury from something else.

If it's allergic (or poisoning of some kind) I would expect there to be swelling and irritation of the lips, mouth, and front paws that have come into contact with it. If this happens again I recommend you take him to the vet make sure you let the vet know everything you gave him.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

The rosehip was very hard and dry.
As for the weird outcry, has this happened to anyone else?

[GrayRodent]

I know that chinchillas sometimes cry when they are in pain and when they paw at the mouth that is often a sign something is wrong in there. Since you say the rosehip was hard it could have got poked in the mouth. Because it acted strangely afterwards I have to wonder if maybe it poked on something like an abscess or perhaps a particle got caught between two misaligned teeth. You can smell its breath to see if it smells infected. Sometimes infection smells like rotten meat.

The best thing to do is watch for changes. If it were my chin I'd try to feed it something soft like a raisin and see if it still paws at its mouth and acts like it's in pain. If it won't eat a raisin chances are it won't eat normal food. Or if your chin is like mine sometimes he'll eat an alfalfa pellet from my hand. I do know of a case where a chinchilla got severely cut chewing on a piece of steel spring wire that was holding a water bottle on a cage and it did cry for a moment. It stopped eating too. Chins that have tooth problems often go off of their hay and will crumble their pelleted diet. There is usually pawing at the mouth as well as they are eating.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

No, he's eating... I think. At least he's eating his poop the way chins are supposed to. He doesn't seem to be in any pain.