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[christa]

Actually, here is a pic of Rodney when he was in the shelter.  He looks better now,  fatter, perkier and stands on his hind legs.  But the ears are spotted.   

[dianah]

oh he is gorgeous! i can't see that well from the picture but does he have spots on his nose as well?

mae's a beige too. everybody in this house is beige apart from fluffy who's grey chinchi was a pink white, hence the beige babies. all four of them

so glad he's doing better!

[christa]

Awwm  Thank you!  Would love to see yours, too!  Well,  his nose is sort of dark---and as I said,  he is looking MUCH better than that rescue shelter pic,  as he has gained weight,  fuller in the face,  and sits up with his ears pointing foreward now.  One thing,  I syringe fed him before,  and after taking a 3 ml syringe,  he took 3 more. (tl of 12 ml)--Yikes,   do you think that was too much?  Maybe I had better lighten up some....

[dianah]

12 ml is good i let mae take as much as she wanted when i was just feeding her rather than force feeding her (had to do that to start with). she usually stopped at 15 or 18 ml but sometimes she was super hungry and had a little bit more. she's only little as well, her lowest weight was 423g, she's now at 476g without any hand feeding (she's also missing a back leg.. not sure how much weight would that add) how often do you feed him?

i was just asking about nose because they do get the freckles on their noses and sometimes paws as well (the ear ones come first). i've just recently learnt that if that have a full set of freckles, they're probably at least 2 years old.

[christa]

Oh,  well 2 years old or even 4 would not be bad- ---just glad the vet did not think he was 12,  13 or older!  I forget what the weight was, but I know the vet said he gained, and wants to weigh him in a week---- Oh,  so little Mae takes a lot as well, just wanted to be sure.  He seemed to take it fast,  like I would push the syringe and he would gulp, reach for more.....You know,  I am trying not to get paranoid and watch too closely,  but last night he went poops like crazy,  lots of droppings,  firm but soft,  big size....Now I am not seeing any the past 2-3 hours---I do not want to begin fussing with Simethicone drops,  water,  etc.  as last time it seemed to make it worse,  which is how he wound up first at the emergency place for a day,  then at the Exotics hospital for 4 days....I am hoping if i just leave him alone all day,  things will be back on par---all day yesterday, last night he was super-----hmmmmm,  now i am worried that i fed him too fast...

[dianah]

he's hungry, that's good if he wants it, give it to him. it's good stuff. it's much better for him to want it than you having to force him. and the best way to keep the gut moving is with food!

i find that sometimes critical care causes soft droppings. i generally go by this rule: if they keep their shape but are soft when you squish them, keep an eye but leave it. if they are soft to the point where they stick together into a mass and stick to the chinchilla, call the vet.

given he's just suffered from stasis i would be very reluctant to give him anything that vet hasn't told me to, particularly anything to do with making poo harder!

you will also find - especially after stasis - that droppings are not exactly regular. keep an eye but don't panic. as long as he's pooing and the droppings are decent size and not small and dry, it should be ok.

[christa]

Oh, thanks so much!  Feel better already---must get back to work now, best if I do not become overly watchful at this point anyway.    and yes,  I will not add any gas drops or anything into the mix as he is on 3 different meds plus Critical Care.  Speak soon xx

[dianah]

oh it's easily done enjoy work xx

[dianah]

hey christa, how's little rodney doing?

[christa]

Just thinking of posting!  Thank you for asking:     Hope all is well with you,  Mae,  and all on your end.
He is doing very well:  Perkier, brighter,  starting to chew on his lava rocks and wooden house and toys. Runs like crazy on his big wheel.   Has been chewing the oat and timothy hay,  but do not know if he is actually ingesting it.  I have given him a small amount of yogurt,  and some acidophilius drops daily as I was concerned about him being 10 days on his antibiotics, plus metcam and cisapride.  The ONLY concern I have,  as he is in fact pooping quite well now,  is:  He seems to keep wanting/expecting the syringe of critical care.  I have cut back from 4 x p d to only 2,  and have thinned it down so that it is half water now.  Yet it concerns me that he is so hungry for it,  but not really eating the hay or pellets.  Will occassionaly nibble a Kale leaf or a piece of dried pineapple,  but he WAITS for the syringe!!!

[dianah]

hey christa, glad he's doing well

they are like that sometimes, they get very used to being hand fed and it's convenient, i'm guessing - no chewing and such. what i did was do less cc feedings but hand mae nuggets as an alternative to hand feeding. you obviously need to make sure he's eating enough but at the same time it's no good if he's not eating solids as his teeth will suffer. you could try putting some cc on a pellet and give him that maybe?

i wouldn't give him leaves or dried fruits just yet...

what happens if the syringe doesn't arrive? i was worried about mae being really dependent on hand feeding - she'd been on cc for about 3 months. i slowly reduced number of feedings over a week and a bit. then stopped feeding her cc altogether. but i 'handfeed' her nuggets and hay, just give it to her, she eats it, i give her another one.. she seems to enjoy it. sometimes she doesn't want any. sometimes she has quite a few.

news at our end!!! mae has worked out how to eat hay!!!!!! took four months. still!!!

[christa]

That is wonderful, that Mae is eating her hay now!    
The trouble with Rodney is,  if I hand feed him hay or pellets,  he just bites it, and drops the pieces out of his mouth (and I have tried dozens and dozens of times now) .....I am waiting for the BeaPhar pellets to arrive, and pray I will have better luck with them....He does chew on lava rocks and wooden hut, so that helps his teeth some.....Oh,  and i have in fact put the  cc on a spoon, a pellet,  so far no go  ......SO glad your "little monkey"  is doing so well!!!!

[dianah]

oh, he's a stubborn monkey! hmmm... it's great that he chews on stuff though! does he eat any of the wood? i'm just wondering if the chewing is helping his back teeth as well rather than just his incisors. mae's started to properly demolish the chews now but i still have to hold them for her  i guess it's easier for her with her missing leg. or maybe she's just lazy

not sure what to suggest for rodney. i would be tempted to slowly withdraw the critical care and then stop and see what happens. when i was handfeeding mae, she wasn't too keen on eating proper food. and she knew that mummy will bring syringe food. i was really worried about taking her off it because of the stasis but because she has teeth problems as well, i wanted her to eat solid food! it looks good so far, i don't want to jinx it but she had a dental in november and the vet thought she'd need another one in about two months/10 weeks time and she's chewing better than ever so we're hoping she won't need another dental.

how is he settling down? does he love his new home?

[christa]

Oh, thanks, YES, he seems very happy!    Just wanting that syringe 3 x a day, waiting for it, and I keep giving less and less and feel guilty!   Mae sounds like she is doing the right stuff,  so that is great!  Yes, he is chewing his wooden hut all the time,  and it is ODD:  I NEVER see him eat hay,  and yet the hay seems very diminished at the end of the day???

[dianah]

maybe try doing twice a day rather than giving less?

well, he must be eating it sometime! unless he's shipping it off to less fortunate chins! before mae figured out how to eat it, she would grab a piece, bit into it, throw it on the floor, do the same thing with a few then get frustrated and that would be it. so there'd be less hay in her bowl but it was definitely present on the floor