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[W12x]

I have a female chinchilla that will be 5 years old in Jan.

I was on an oversea trip recently and left my chin with a friend. I brought her cage and water bottle and everything to make the change as easy as possible, and I was away for about 4 weeks.

My chin's weight have been around 700-725g between August to November, and now she's down to 685-690g. So the weight drop was about an oz or so in the 4 weeks that I was away for. The weather have also changed significantly while I was away, from 70-80F down to 40F.

I just got her back on Thursday and other than the weight loss, it seems like she's acting normal, eating and drinking ok, and pooping normally.

I will continue to monitor her weight and behavior, but do you think the weight loss is ok for a chin with the environment change and weather change?

[GrayRodent]

I weigh my chinchilla every day. His normal fluctuation is usually 2 grams, which is at the error margin of my scale, although I've seen as much as 10 usually for no apparent reason. I think a good rule of thumb is +/- 15% fluctuation of average weight is a strong indicator of health problems. So if your chinchilla averaged 712g, and now weighs 25g less that is about 3.5% so the danger zone is around 100g. (Although personally I would take her to the vet if there is a 50g loss or noticeable change in fecal appearance).
You might see an additional initial decrease in weight and food intake for the next day or so as she will have to re-acclimate again.
As far as weather is concerned what matters most is room temperature. If it's fairly constant that should not be a problem. If the temperature at the cage was 70-8F and is now 40F that could explain the weight loss by itself.
I expect her weight will go up about to where it was over the next two weeks and suspect that it was a result in change of environment and stress.
Keep a close eye on her daily intake over the next 7 days and verify the food and hay looks and smells okay as well.
That is my non-expert opinion.

[W12x]

I weigh my chinchilla every day. His normal fluctuation is usually 2 grams, which is at the error margin of my scale, although I've seen as much as 10 usually for no apparent reason. I think a good rule of thumb is +/- 15% fluctuation of average weight is a strong indicator of health problems. So if your chinchilla averaged 712g, and now weighs 25g less that is about 3.5% so the danger zone is around 100g. (Although personally I would take her to the vet if there is a 50g loss or noticeable change in fecal appearance).
You might see an additional initial decrease in weight and food intake for the next day or so as she will have to re-acclimate again.
As far as weather is concerned what matters most is room temperature. If it's fairly constant that should not be a problem. If the temperature at the cage was 70-8F and is now 40F that could explain the weight loss by itself.
I expect her weight will go up about to where it was over the next two weeks and suspect that it was a result in change of environment and stress.
Keep a close eye on her daily intake over the next 7 days and verify the food and hay looks and smells okay as well.
That is my non-expert opinion.

Thank you very much for your input.

As far as the room temperature goes, I think my friend's place have been around 60-70F the whole time, although it may be a little higher or lower on a certain day. My chin did lose another 5-8 grams after I got her back, hitting as low as 682g after I made this thread, but when I weighed her 10 minutes ago, she's back to 688g.

One other recent change is her food, she's been on Oxbow Chin pellets and regular Timothy hay all these years, but I just bought some KMS 3rd Cut Timothy Hay before I left her with my friend, and now she's eating a little more hay and a little less pellets, which I suspect is another contributing factor of the weight loss, but regardless of hay or pellet, she is eating a lot and pooping a lot 

[GrayRodent]

Sounds good. The fact she is eating more hay is a very positive thing. It is better for her teeth. It sounds like the new hay is fresher. Timothy hay should all be the same across brands.
My own observations have been that a +/-8-10g change is somewhat unusual but not unprecedented in my chinchilla.

[W12x]

Sounds good. The fact she is eating more hay is a very positive thing. It is better for her teeth. It sounds like the new hay is fresher. Timothy hay should all be the same across brands.
My own observations have been that a +/-8-10g change is somewhat unusual but not unprecedented in my chinchilla.

She's been around 690-695g for the past few days and then down to 680-685g again today. At the same time, my two guinea pigs in the same room also lost a little bit of weight today.

I'm suspecting that today's weight loss in my chin and piggies is due to the relatively colder room temperature, as I was having some problem with my radiator heater today. The room temperature is not cold in the absolute term, but the change is noticeable to a human being, and I suspect the small animals are more sensitive than human.

[GrayRodent]

Another thing I just thought of is the hay can be partially responsible since it is less dense in calories than pelleted diet. If the hay is fresher and the animals are eating more of it they are consuming less pellets and therefore consume less calories.

[Jasonred79]

Iirc, animals try to maintain high body fat in cold weather, less in hot weather.