Sprained foot? Please help this new owner!

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Phoeblie

Phoeblie

Active member
Joined
May 6, 2017
Messages
36
Location
Connecticut, USA
Hi all,

It's my first time posting here so please let me know if I'm doing anything wrong.

Anyways, I have 3 chins, Nike(1.5 years old, male), Mama(4 years old, female), and Oliver(1.5 years old, female). A lady gave them to me off craigslist about 2 months ago. They were fed the supplement pellets(Charlie Chinchilla brand thing from PetCo) and treats(the yogi drops) before, but when I got them, I switched them to rabbit pellets, timothy hay, and fruit like apples/pears once a week. (Rabbit pellets since it's cheaper and they're the same thing as chin pellets, just cut differently.)

We put the 3 chinnies playtime in a separated area in our basement. Usually they stay in the area but yesterday Nike got out and we had to chase him to get him back in.

After playtime, I noticed lots of loud odd squeaking from the cage. It was Nike, hiding in his house. I removed the house to check on him but he didn't budge much. I (very gently) pushed him around to see what was the matter, and he gingerly and lethargically crawled to another corner of the cage. His left leg seemed to be limping, but he could put his weight on both legs and even stood up. He didn't eat any hay or pellets, but he gladly ate 2 cubes of pear.

Today at about 24 hours after yesterday's playtime, I saw him sitting on the rim of his pellet bowl, eating pellets and picking out the best ones, like usual. He looked much better and his ears were perky like Mama and Olivers. I put him out in the playground for a bit and he was definitely more active. Walking, climbing, and occasionally jumping. His limp looked much less visible but you could see that he was being careful.

The leg itself looks fine and nothing looks swollen or out of place. So I'm wondering if it's a sprained foot or leg, and if it is, would it heal itself? Is there anything I do to help him feel better? Or could it just be overuse/exhaustion on his leg.

Please let me know. Thanks!
 
First of all, chins should not be given fruits, or veggies, nuts, seeds, animal products (eggs, dairy, hide, bone, etc). All of that will make them sick (either right away, or cause long term health issues), they are not designed to eat that stuff. Fruit for example is way too high is sugars and can cause diabetes, obesity, as well as liver and kidney failure over time. Most foods already has sugar in it, so you are just adding even more when giving sugary treats. The average life span of a chin fed a high sugar diet is about 5-10 years, where as one fed a healthy diet is about 15-20 or more. There are some rabbits foods that are ok for chins, but not all are, rabbit food is make with a rabbit in mind not a chinchilla and they do have slightly different dietary needs, some things that are ok for a rabbit are not ok for a chin. If you could let us know what kind you are feeding we can make sure it's one that is ok.

Chins are very good at hiding pain (and illness), so if he is limping he is probably really hurting. I would get him checked over by a vet, he may need some pain meds. You should also restrict his running and jumping around so it can heal as well.

One other thing, are all the chins caged together? if so is the male neutered? If not you could be looking at possibly two pregnant females. They also should not be having playtime together either, mating takes literally a split second. They can also mate through the bars if caged less then 6" from each other.
 
I know about the fruits and sugar stuff. Most of the time it's my sister and my mom feeding them the fruits, but I don't think they fully grasp the idea that they are dangerous to chins(Since us humans eat fruits all the time, and I know that my mom had dogs that ate scraps besides dog food). I'm trying to wean them off from feeding them fruits.

The pellets I'm giving them are Health Diet Rabbit Food. I compared the ingredient list and they are near identical, especially the main ingredients.

Yes,all the chins live in a cage, but they've been together before I got them. I'm not sure if the Nike is neutered. I know that he and Oliver or Mama had tried to mate before, but that was before I got them. The previous owner said that they had "given up" on mating.

I don't know if there is a regular mating season for chins, like some wild animals have... but they were fine during the switch over from winter to spring.

I'm trying to find a good vet, but I don't know who do go to. Do you know what I should be aware of when looking?

Thanks for the reply :)
 
chins can mate at any time. There is a good chance you girl is already pregnant. Assuming you actually have males and females. Many ppl mistake these so its good to double check. If youd like to get a picture of them ppl here can help sex them correctly. You lift the chin by the base of the tail to check/take picture. Holding another way can often lead to mistakes do to the way parts can rest.
This is kinda a big deal to know. If you by chance had two males and a girl you could eventually see the two males fighting over her, or even killing. If you male and female then you will have kits coming which is a big undertaking because they require even more special treatment and preparation then grown chins. So please check this.

Not all rabbit foods are safe for chins. Iv honestly never heard of 'Health Diet Rabbit Food'. I can say that rabbit foods like ManaPro Select Series are safe to use.

Good vets are hard to come by it seems. There are a lot of bad ones out there; or ones that just dont really have chinchilla knowledge. Or ones that figure its classified as a rodent so there needs are the same as all other rodents. Which is very wrong.

Best way probably to find a vet is to look for recommendations on here. I think theres a thread on it in the vet thread, or the vet listings thread. Aside from that is kind of a catch 22. You need to learn all that you can and weed out the bad info. That way you can talk to the vets about your chin and make the determination of whether or not they know what they are talking about.
 
I wouldn't wean them off, I would just stop giving them junk food all together. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that brand of rabbit food, I've never heard of it and get nothing googling it. A couple brands I do know are good are Purina rabbit chow show and Manna pro. Are you comparing the ingredients to a good chinchilla food like Oxbow or Mazuri? or to Charlie chinchilla, which is a junky poor quality food? Also make sure you compare not just the ingredients but the nutritional values as well.

Since the previous owner tired to breed them I would say not neutered, and just because they never successfully mated in the past does not mean they wont. They are still all very young, chins don't going though puberty until 4-6 months old (though some can physically breed younger). I would separate them immediately and no more playtime together. Make sure the females are in a kit safe cage, bar spacing 1/2" or less, no wheel, low or no shelving, and count 120 days from the day you separate them to make sure no kits are born. I would also read up on kit care, and what could go wrong. Chinchilla breeding is really not for the faint of heart, and can be very expensive. The average cost for a c-section can easily be around $2,000 for example.
Chinchillas are pregnant for around 111 days, so you haven't had them long enough to know for sure they aren't pregnant, and as I said mating takes a split second. Most chins show little to no signs of being pregnant, so the easiest way to know for sure it to wait. They don't really have a mating season, they can breed any time of the year and females go into heat I think a couple time a month (once again not all are obvious). It's not uncommon for chins to not mate if conditions aren't right. Sometimes all it takes is changing where they are in a room, more or less light, different temp, different food, for them to decide it's good. So obviously a change to a new home, and better food could definitely cause them to think conditions are good for breeding.

I don't advise getting chins fixed, it's a dangerous and major surgery with no known health benefits and no guarantee that if he survives he will get along with the females after. It's also not uncommon to need round the clock care after neutering either. I was just asking since some people (and some shelters) do go through with it despite the risks and time needed for recovery.

As for vets, you need one that is experienced with exotic animals, and chinchillas in particular, not all vets will even treat chins, and even the ones that are willing to may have never see one in real life. I would also keep in mind that exotic vets are more expensive then for a cat or dog, so it's best to have a few hundred dollars (ideally a couple thousand) on hand, or a credit card for vet care. They don't need regular vet care, but when they do need to go it's not cheap.
 
Amethyst said:
I wouldn't wean them off, I would just stop giving them junk food all together. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that brand of rabbit food, I've never heard of it and get nothing googling it. A couple brands I do know are good are Purina rabbit chow show and Manna pro. Are you comparing the ingredients to a good chinchilla food like Oxbow or Mazuri? or to Charlie chinchilla, which is a junky poor quality food? Also make sure you compare not just the ingredients but the nutritional values as well.

Since the previous owner tired to breed them I would say not neutered, and just because they never successfully mated in the past does not mean they wont. They are still all very young, chins don't going though puberty until 4-6 months old (though some can physically breed younger). I would separate them immediately and no more playtime together. Make sure the females are in a kit safe cage, bar spacing 1/2" or less, no wheel, low or no shelving, and count 120 days from the day you separate them to make sure no kits are born. I would also read up on kit care, and what could go wrong. Chinchilla breeding is really not for the faint of heart, and can be very expensive. The average cost for a c-section can easily be around $2,000 for example.
Chinchillas are pregnant for around 111 days, so you haven't had them long enough to know for sure they aren't pregnant, and as I said mating takes a split second. Most chins show little to no signs of being pregnant, so the easiest way to know for sure it to wait. They don't really have a mating season, they can breed any time of the year and females go into heat I think a couple time a month (once again not all are obvious). It's not uncommon for chins to not mate if conditions aren't right. Sometimes all it takes is changing where they are in a room, more or less light, different temp, different food, for them to decide it's good. So obviously a change to a new home, and better food could definitely cause them to think conditions are good for breeding.

I don't advise getting chins fixed, it's a dangerous and major surgery with no known health benefits and no guarantee that if he survives he will get along with the females after. It's also not uncommon to need round the clock care after neutering either. I was just asking since some people (and some shelters) do go through with it despite the risks and time needed for recovery.

As for vets, you need one that is experienced with exotic animals, and chinchillas in particular, not all vets will even treat chins, and even the ones that are willing to may have never see one in real life. I would also keep in mind that exotic vets are more expensive then for a cat or dog, so it's best to have a few hundred dollars (ideally a couple thousand) on hand, or a credit card for vet care. They don't need regular vet care, but when they do need to go it's not cheap.
Click to expand...

No, the previous owner didn't intend to breed them. She said they had tried, but that's all I know.
 
I dont know about every rabbit rood from manapro, but these are some.
Tractor supply usually carries them if you need.


2801062

2424103

manna_pro_select_series_gro_rabbit_feed_18_50lbs.jpg

mp_rabbit_selectseries_product.jpg
 
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