New Chin owner with a few concerns/questions.

I've owned my first Chin for just over a month now, after a long time spent researching, planning and purchasing all the necessary parts, toys and food.

I bought him from a pets at home store, since there were no adoption centres anywhere near me that had any, not any reputable breeders less than an hours drive away (I didn't want to stress him out with a long drive) I didn't ask his age in all the excitement, which I regret now, but he appears fully grown to me at least.

Like everywhere stated, nothing can truly prepare you for owning a Chinny. My Little boy has given me so many heart attacks and panic stricken minutes in a month, from squashing himself flat and scaling the back of his cage, to leaping from the top level of his cage (onto my head)

Still, certain things concern me with his behaviour and such.

Firstly, he often sits resting only on one of his front paws, the other pulled close in to his body. At first I thought he had broken it, but he appeared to be able to hop about normally on it, and he seems to alternate quite a lot, so its clearly not a break (I also reach in and gently move the little paw about and he doesn't pull away or make any signs of distress) I was curious if this was a common sight. Do a lot of Chin's do this? Is it for a particular reason or just quirky?

I'm struggling to measure how much hay he's eating, since once he's skimmed the top off of the hay racks (I have two, one on each level of his cage) he tends to leave them alone. He's also got a lot of hay in his best box, and a little in his hammock and hive house thing he likes to sleep in, which does get eaten a bit, and he never seems that interested in it too much (He eats it at his own pace)
I assume this is normal?

His pellets are typically normal sized, hard dry and usually dark brown to black in colour. There is always a small amount of tiny little ones and a few longer ones too. They're always massively outnumbered by the tidal wave of normal looking pellets, and it's always been the case since I got him, with no visible change, even after I weaned him off the Pets at Home pellets in favour of a better brand. I assume this is just normal for him? since nothing else appears of out of sorts.

The last big thing I have a worry with is his eyes, or rather the area around his eyes. Since I've had him, I've noticed he will scratch near and around his eye, and he's missing a bit of fur, not lots, but a noticeable patch near his eye. His eyes never look inflamed or different, and he still winks at me to say Hello. I was worried he had some kind of eye infection, but I haven't noticed any change besides occasional little bits of fur missing near his eye in an almost diamond shaped patch and sometimes a little bit of hay in the corner of his eye that he gets out on his own. Is this a common occurrence?

I appreciate any help, information and advice offered. I adore my Little guy, and we're bonding really well, I want to make sure he has the best life I can give him.

Holding one front paw or the other up when siting is normal, I kind of think of it like someone having a hand in their pocket. They bear most of their weight on their back legs, so the front ones are more used for stability, so they don't really need both on the ground. They even sometime rest with both paw against their body. So long as he is using it normally for getting around and not favoring one or the other he is fine.

Chins eat roughly a small handful worth a day (and about 2 tb of pellets), so long as you do see him eating it, and he has it available at all times he's probably getting enough. They generally don't eat hay once it's on the ground, it gets peed on. It sound like you may have hay in too many places in the cage actually, you don't want them sleeping on hay it can poke them in their eyes and get in their ears. Having hay everywhere can also make them more picky of it, since it's everywhere they pick and choose more which pieces to eat.

I assume by pellets you mean poop, so yes that sounds normal. The size and shape will vary slightly through the day depending on if he just woke up, or just had a drink, etc. So long as they aren't all small and round or something.

Without seeing the eyes my guess is he got some hay or dust in it and teared a bit. Wetness, like from tears, will cause the fur to clump making it look weird and can cause the fur to fall out. As I mentioned, remove the hay from the sleeping area, that is probably the problem right there. If that doesn't solve the problem you could try posting a pic on here, or just get him checked out at the vet.

Amethyst said:

Holding one front paw or the other up when siting is normal, I kind of think of it like someone having a hand in their pocket.

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That's such a wonderful way of putting it!

Cerberus, I had that worry too that one of them had something going on with a front paw because he was holding it in like that -- but both my chins do it quite frequently when they're feeling sleepy, or are up on their hind legs listening out for things. Definitely seems like common chin behavior.

I also was worried when I saw smaller poos during the first couple of months with the chins (so you're not alone). But when they're not running around a lot, and are lazing around/napping, the poos seem to be smaller in size. I read in a veterinary textbook that they poo the most between 3 and 6 AM, and consume cecotropes the most between 8AM and 2PM. From my (limited!) experience, it seems like the big poos are most common during these hours, or when they're up and running around the cage and their digestive system is really going. Otherwise, they tend to be smaller but are nothing to worry about.

Agreed. Chins definitely do the paw thing quite often. It's just a posture thing.

Getting hay cubes instead with a holder for that may help you tell better how much hay he is eating.

With the eyes, if it gets worse then take him to a vet. Check what kind of shavings you have or maybe change the type of hay and see if it gets better.

Finding an exotic vet: http://aemv.org/index.php/members/vet-locator

Hello again. Thanks for all the helpful advice.

As a note, I use fleece liners, not bedding/shavings. After the nightmare of looking after Guinea Pigs and having to clean them out, I thought fleece liners may be a more appropriate solution, especially for the cage I'd picked. (Bedding would be everywhere)

I've removed the hay from his sleeping spots.

I'm wondering if Chinchilla's lose a little of the fur around the eyes as they develop. As initially I could barely see any skin (like the outline, for want of a better word) when I first got him, and recently I've begun to notice it more. He's a Beige chinny, so his skin is pink anyway, and he looks essentially like any 'healthy' Beige Chinny I can find a picture of.

There's no evidence of irritation (proper redness) or wetness/weeping from his eyes. They're clear and normal as far as I can tell.

Not that I want to brush off the possibility of there being something wrong (I've been checking it often, to the degree that he's gotten grumpy with me)

I'm unsure of his age, as I said initially, so I'm just wondering if this is a natural part of maturation. He's sort of developed sort of tufty eyebrow bits now, above his eyes too, which weren't there initially. Which looks more like pictures I've compared him to.

Thanks for any help/opinions rendered.

not sure if this will help at all. But here are some pics of my beige's.

Hello, that is a good help. His eyes do look very similar to your fluffballs. Although beneath one or sometimes both, he often has them a bit fluffed/roughed up. Sometimes this is just from him sitting with his face pressed against the cage (usually when it's only one side). He does this quite often, usually when he comes to say Hi before I go to work.

He looks a bit smaller than your Chinnies, so I think he might have some growing to do.

I'll try and take a suitable picture or two to show what he looks like. It's difficult with the lighting in the room, and his lack of interest in sitting still, Heh.

Hello, thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

I've got my guy booked into the vets this coming Saturday. So we'll see what they say then.

The overall irritation seems to have calmed down, although now I've noticed a white splodge in his left eye, but it's only visible when he's looking far enough left. You can't see it if he's looking straight at you from the front for example, so I'm wondering what it is exactly.

I've also noticed a small patch of dry skin on his nose. It's tiny at the moment, and there's no fur loss that I can see. I'm checking it daily though, and ensuring I don't over dust him, so it's not making things worse.