Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: Jenova on January 29, 2007, 01:07:59 AM
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Chech won't stop barking/squeaking. It's the warning sound I think and he's not responding to me opening the cage. He just won't stop. He's been doing it for about ten minutes now. All of a sudden with no reason I can see why he would have started.
Any help or advice would be appreciated. I don't know if he's hurt or in pain or if it's something else. He was fine earlier and as he's in the room I know he's not done anything to hurt himself. :'(
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Okay, a little update: I put the fan on for him and opened the windows and he's stopped. I'm just hoping that being hot is all it was.
What is the ideal temperature for chins?
Edit... not he's not stopped. I'm going to ring the vet if it carrys on. I'm really worried. :'(
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The idea temp is to add the temperature (in Fahrenheit) plus the humidity in the room and that should equal less than 150. Most people don't know the humidity so keeping it under 75 F is a safe bet.
Sometimes smells can upset a chinchilla. Have you had anyone over that smokes, burned something while cooking, anything like that?
Have you changed his schedual or done anything that would make him mad? Last week I was really sick (as was my whole family). I had a very high temperature and was coughing so bad that I was staying away from the chins. I didn't let Charlie out to play for two days and also didn't give him his daily treats. It was just his basic food and water that I could do from outside of the cage. On day three he got very upset with me. When I went to bed that night (his cage is beside my bed) he began that alarm sound and did it with every breath for over 30 mins. Finally my husband had to roll his cage into the living room so we could go to sleep. I fell asleep to his screaming in the other room. He was just so mad at having his schedule changed and he was throwing a temper tantrum to let me know it! :D
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Thank you for your advice. We were really worried. It might have been that we burned incense in the house and he could smell it. He wouldn't stop when I went to see him but as soon as my boyfriend went over he perked up a bit. Opening the windows would have cooled the room down and got rid of the smell. Either way he's a happy chinchilla now. :)
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Regarding the temperature...
Please make sure you are keeping things between 7º and 24º C with low humidity.
Keep in mind that fans do not work for chinchillas, as these only move the air but do not cool it. The fans might have helped pull in the cooler air from outside with the windows open, but they do not cool air when used alone.
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It's not just the temp either.
Some chins just go nutz, and after a life in a cage they can over do it.
The only time I ever had a chin keep it up like that, and even in my arms, was because of over exertion.
I've seen several case now, and in Newfoundland it's not the heat.
Big fat chins who get too long out of the cage can over do it.
If a chin is getting to many treats, sweets, in trying to burn it off they over do it.
You know yourself if your sitting at a hockey rink it's freezing, but play and your over heated.
Give a child candy and watch them climb the walls, chins are the same.
They can over heat in the cool if they are over doing it.
Don't give them as long a run, and give them a little shot of maple syrup or something after to get their sugars back up.
Dakota got so bad he had seizures, and went into shock. He went off his feed for a few days, and had 2 trims after.
That was months ago, and he's been fine.
I just don't let him run as long, nor chase a female in heat. He just couldn't take it being 950-1000 grams.