Not sure what spooked her?

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hitchhikingbeetles

New member
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
Messages
3
Hi!

Still relatively new chin owner just looking for anyone who might have any answers before I freak out and take her to the vet.

I don't know if this can be explained with "she's in heat" or not. I tend to want to think something spooked her but I watch her like a hawk during play time and otherwise the only visitor to my room occasionally is a sleepy old dog who doesn't even know she exists and that my chin has been pretty used to.

A couple days ago my normally very excited to play chinchilla stopped wanting to come out of the cage. If it's bath day she'll come out for a quick bath and then run back to the cage but even still she looks at the bath like she's wary of going in it. When she comes out she sniffs a bit too and twitches her tail back and forth very sharply & I'd say irritably.

I don't think she's afraid of me. We're pretty chummy and she's always excited to see me. But all she wants to do is get me to come over to the cage so she can perch her front paws on my shoulder from the safety of the cage and groom me a bit, but mostly stay alert for something that's bugging her I guess that I don't see, and get pats and comforts.

She's even become strange about shreddies. When I give them to her now she thinks about it for a long time before taking it and once taking it she puts it in her mouth and dances around and looks around like she wants to eat it but she's too nervous to or something.

I'm starting to think she's seen a ghost. But more than that I'm worried if I should be thinking about a vet visit or not. She's eating pellets fine, drinking water etc.

Anyone have any idea what could be up with her all of a sudden? She has never ever ever skipped out on playtime before.
 
Has anything changed? Any new sounds? Maybe the heat kicking in or pipes rattling? Those can sound like monsters in the walls. Or any new animals in the area? Any loud noises, emergency vehicles, construction, etc? Any new smells? New body sprays, lotions, etc, or air sprays, candles, etc anywhere in the house?

The not eating the treat does seem a bit off, you say she eats pellets ok, but what about her hay? Sometimes a sign of tooth issue is not wanting to eat hay or anything that requires a lot of chewing. Pellets just get crushed, but hay needs to be ground up with the molars.
 
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