My girlfriend and I have had our chinchilla since the beginning of october, we bought her and her cage from someone moving out of the country. She so far has been a great pet that we love.
Recently we were out of town for a couple of weeks and had a pet sitter come by and watch the pets. Well, we get back and he did a terrible job. The pets seemed ok and we started getting them back up to normal, however our chinchilla seems to be off still.
When we got home her ears looked dry. At the base of her ears was a red color. It didnt seem to bug her or anything, so we passed it off as too many dust baths while we were gone. That was monday we got back. Today, friday, she woke us up because she was running around her cage making a ton of noise. I know thats not uncommon for chinchillas, however she has never acted in this way before.
We we came near the cage she seemed to be scared of us and hid in her igloo and started to make chirping noises. It was odd, every time she chirped, it was always in sets of two. One loud high pitched chirp, then a quieter low pitched chirp. She made these noises for about 20 or 30 minutes then stopped. Now the only noises she is making is when we approach her, she barks at us.
She is still hiding, and seems to have no interest in coming out. Usually she loves to be rubbed under her chin, and is not afraid of us. She does not seem to enjoy being picked up, so we do not try often, however we do give her a lot of attention. At this point, we are not really sure what is wrong with her. We have not dropped her (although I suppose the pet sitter could have, however we told him not to take her out).
We found a vet, however when we called to ask questions and set up an appointment, they acted like we were crazy, so we are trying to avoid that option for now. Should this continue we wont have much choice however.
Thanks for any replys and opinions
