Help! He won't stop barking!!

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monarch

The Chinchilla Maid...
Joined
Nov 13, 2010
Messages
133
Location
Anaheim, CA
I'm not sure if I should be posting this in the emergency thread, but since I'm not sure I'll put it here to be safe.

My chin has begun to bark, non stop! He never barked once before, and then all of a sudden now he is constantly barking every minute or so.

I'm so worried because the only possible change I can think of is my boyfriend picked him up a little more brusquely than I would have preferred earlier.

Can barking be a sign of pain? What if we hurt his lungs somehow?

I'm anxious!!
 
I -think- I can hear some sort of wheezing from him come periodically, but I don't know if it's my mind making this up. He's still a skittish chin and doesn't like to get picked up and I don't want to scare him and grab him. Could a rib be broken?????????
 
I just picked him up from the base of the tail and inspected him in my arms. He doesn't flinch when I rub my hands over his belly, and he doesn't bark.

But as soon as I leave him be and sit still for a minute he starts barking in one or two minute intervals, three short barks. Bark....bark-bark.

If I wasn't so concerned I'd be a tad bit aggravated! Is he ok??
 
No, barking is not generally a sign of pain. Chinchillas are prey animals- if they are hurt, they will keep quiet and hide, not draw attention to themselves. Something probably just scared him, or still is scaring him. It could be a sound you can't hear, or it could be you since you said your boyfriend picked him up roughly. I took in a rescue that literally barked all hours of the day. Some days he would bark every 5 minutes for hours non stop. Try leaving him alone for awhile and see if he calms down.
 
Thank you so much!! Now I can go to sleep. I was laying in bed and I kept hearing him bark from the other room, and I couldn't go back to bed thinking he may be hurt!

I don't really know what he could be afraid of. I'm just going to leave him be and hope he figures out his issues, lol.

I really hope he's ok though :(
 
I own a lot of noisy barkers. Some of them bark during the day and some at night. Some just bark all the time. I swear they bark just to hear themselves!

One time I locked myself out of the house and the chin room window wasn't locked so I tore out the screen and popped the window out and jumped in the chin room. Well I scared the heck out of the chins and they barked for 3 hours.
 
lol! three hours! Sounds like quite the cacaphony!

I was mostly concerned because he has never barked once since I've had him (I'm guesstimating ~2 months now). The only sounds he makes is kacking when I try petting his backside. He also is seeming to bark most when I'm not in the room, or if I've been sitting still for a while.

The irony in all this is I remember reading about barking on this forum a few days ago and thinking to myself how I wish Fidget would bark a little or make noises more often so I could smile at how cute that is. Be careful what you wish for!
 
when I got my first chinchilla he was really skittish. after about a week or so at my house he went through adjustment but would start barking like crazy at god knows what. It is very likely your chinchilla heard something outside like an animal that you did not
 
Blitz wasn't as vocal in the beginning, but after months of living with me and getting used to his new environment he became much more critical of his space. Generally Blitz will randomly start meeping for what seems to be no apparent reason. I'll usually lower the volume on the tv or tell him he needs to put up with the smell of the mexican dinner from the Kitchen, and usually that's that.
 
I totally understand-my first barker caught us totally off gaurd...we were new and he was only our 2nd acquisition and we hadn't had ever heard our first gal bark-and he did not stop for a week! Luckily he settled down...but then we moved his cage to a new room and bam! off for 3 days again... picky little booger. No pun intended.
 
I own a lot of noisy barkers. Some of them bark during the day and some at night. Some just bark all the time. I swear they bark just to hear themselves!

One time I locked myself out of the house and the chin room window wasn't locked so I tore out the screen and popped the window out and jumped in the chin room. Well I scared the heck out of the chins and they barked for 3 hours.
I TOTALLY DID THIS. But my chinchilla gave me the weirdest look, as if her mind was completely blown.
 
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