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[marchevie123]

please help! I got two chinchillas three days ago,the man told me the female was pregnant and that they had lived in the same cage for three years.when i went in the room i keep them in last nite the mother was gone,the door was shut and i couldnt find her in the room but i noticed a heating vent had the cover off.Im sure shes in there and i dont know what two do,i took a crow bar and have torn the covers off all my vents,should i turn off the heat, is there any way two get her out  im sick with worry,if any one can help please do,i have two get her out.

[kneesaa]

I would think you would want to turn the heat off. Try placing her favorite food in front of the vent. Hopfully some one else will have more to offer you. I'm sorry that I'm not more helpful. But good luck.

[marchevie123]

Thank you,all take any help i can get,I have every vent open and haven't seen her one time,I'm just hoping she comes out.

[kneesaa]

Do you live in your own home or a apartment? Cause you can go down into your basement and listen for your chin in the vents. At lest you might know where she is at.

[GrayRodent]

That's quite the nightmare. There's certainly a possibility she's not in the vent. You can you can use mirrors to look inside. Shine a bright flashlight down at the mirror as you are looking at it and you can see where the beam falls and direct it.
If that's not possible you may be able to rent a plumbing snake that has a camera in it if you can't see the interior of the ducts between the vents.

[mojito]

Oh no! How did she get through the cage? Always make sure the bars are close enough together, especially if she's going to have kits! You can get chicken wire to wrap around the cage to prevent any future escapes.

How far along is she? When babies first arrive the mother is going to want to keep them warm, this could be a reason why she's in there. Another reason could be just curiosity. Try shaking different types of food (like treats in a gladware container) or maybe making a sound by popping the can tops (like halfway so it doesn't open). If this doesn't work by tonight I would call someone to come out and help you. I really hope your chins are safe!

[marchevie123]

i have no basement so the vents are in concrete,to make matters worst we only had her for two days,I think she was close to delivering I've called some company's for help but no one really has any idea how To get her out.I'm so upset i cant think strait,and I'm worried shes had the babies in there.I have put a video camera in the vents and see no sign of her,I really don't know what to do now.

[mojito]

Have you been able to hear her at all in the vents? Is there anywhere else in the room she could be, maybe under a dresser or something? Look under everything in every room; maybe she left the vents and is somewhere around there; youll have to literally have your face to the floor! (I did when my chin escaped and hid under my desk).
Is there a vet you could possibly call? Im sure they have run into something like this with at least some type of animal.

If she's having the kits in there, she's still probably okay and so are the kits. Most chins have them late at night, but its really rare that you'd ever have to do anything to help her give birth; so no worries there.

[GrayRodent]

Were you able to get the camera in all areas of the ducts? Are there any places you could have missed inside the ducts? They should join at the central HVAC. Have you replaced all the vent covers after you examined the vents to make sure she doesn't get back in?

[GrayRodent]

It might me a long shot but you could also try looking in the HVAC unit. I'm not sure how it's set up over there. The ducts all go to a blower unit with a big fan. There is usually a replicable filter behind an access panel. Slide back the filter and look up in there. Also listen carefully for movement. Do not try to tear into this because it has high voltage wiring inside.

[Squirrel_Butt]

First and foremost remain calmLeave a bowl of food Near the vent. and try somehow to get a waterbottle hung up in the area for her. A pregnant chin will want water constantly.  She will have to come out sometime.  You might want to cut off power to avoid an electrical fire starting if she chews and wires.

[Marip]

please help! I got two chinchillas three days ago,the man told me the female was pregnant and that they had lived in the same cage for three years.when i went in the room i keep them in last nite the mother was gone,the door was shut and i couldnt find her in the room but i noticed a heating vent had the cover off.Im sure shes in there and i dont know what two do,i took a crow bar and have torn the covers off all my vents,should i turn off the heat, is there any way two get her out  im sick with worry,if any one can help please do,i have two get her out.

¨

she cant go to other parts of the house by the heating vent?have you looked everywere?didnt you have any signal of her?

[marchevie123]

Thank you all for your help,I used the mirrors and flashlight and cant see her at all,not only that but i don't hear her in the vents.I have looked every where else in the house and cant find her if she was hiding some where wouldn't i see her ruining around the house,maybe shes not in the vents but that the only thing i can think of.

[jmdebb]

oh i do hope you find her and she is safe

[GrayRodent]

I still recommend using a camera snake to look through the vent ducts all the way to the central heating unit. Make sure all the vent covers get replaced right after that. This should effectively eliminate that as a possible hiding place and make it so you can use your heater again.
A chinchilla can pretty much squeeze into any place that its skull can get through. It's rib cage is very flexible so don't discount looking in areas that may seem to too small at first as they can flatten themselves out. (They are like my pet rat that got loose inside my sofa) It can probably get under a door pretty easily if there's big enough gap.

So also look behind dressers and especially under the bases of furniture where you have decorative molding at the bottom. That can leave a nice void for it to hide. A mirror can help with that too using the same technique. Keep in mind that they can also climb and jump and be up high. Make sure all your toilet lids stay closed and that you have no standing water. Putting a water dish out might be a good thing, just make sure there's not enough in there to soak it if it gets into the bowl. I'm not sure if it can detect the water from a water bottle being out loose.

You might try doing a systematic search room by room where you can close the door to the room. Put a towel under the door to make sure it can't get back into the room before going to the next. See if you can get help with this as I'm sure it will not be easy. Also look for chew marks on the baseboards and. Chinchillas are notorious for chewing baseboards and electrical cords and just about everything. Try to be as organized as possible so nothing gets missed. And certainly try to figure out what allowed it to escape so if you do find it it won't happen again.

I really feel bad for you but it's just one of those things that comes with having pets!