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Yeah, that's really the hard bit. This guy likes to thrash too--when we burritoed him for his meds he was fighting and trying to get out, then squealed and went still. We were suitably freaked and thought he might have broken something, but after we X-Rayed him we found he was intact--either he...

I guess our last one spoiled us--he'd just sit on his butt and grab the syringe and eat like a baby with his bottle. Our other chin will eat quite literally anything--he's the antithesis of picky. :rofl: We haven't tried burrito-ing outside of giving him some meds...we'll give this a shot!

ESL? Also, not familiar with Tanya...can you provide a link? :) We're forcefeeding as much as possible without actually shoving the syringe in his mouth and pushing the plunger--restraining him and bringing an mL to his mouth usually works with the other chins. It may be that he was too...

Yeah, we were mostly resorting to dyne as a last-resort weight gain thing. It's helped one of our other chins who was having weight issues, but I think DJ's problems are a bit more extensive. I'll definitely try the pellet thing though--sounds promising!

Some brands don't have glue. Forget offhand which, though. Worst case, if its just glue spots you can cut out those sections with scissors or an exacto-knife, but better if it was never on to begin with.

Picture is fuzzy, but those look like normal chin feet to me. Is there something in particular you're worried about?

Used to use the tube-stuffing method. Just reworking the cage and I might go with a KD pine box, either home-made or I'll order from simplyChintastic. They can chew and munch! Only problem I had with the tubes is that they'll either throw the tube down into the bottom level (where they'll...

Xrays are useful for seeing the condition of the gut, though, so it wasn't entirely a waste--you can see when its full of "stuff" and if there are gas pockets (the dark circles), which will help with a stasis or bloat diagnosis. An ultrasound would have been excessive, however.

Just sterilized the cage and rather than sand down the 20-odd square feet of shelving I just replaced it all (it was getting due for a refresh/replacement anyway). His cagemate was giardia-negative, so the environment was hopefully not that bad to begin with (and with new shelves should be good...

Where do you have the cage in reference to the vent? Across the room, 6+ feet away, etc?

The important thing to remember with making your cage is to plan it out, make sure you have the right tools, plan it again, and go slow when building. If you do it right, the chinnies will have no 'purchase' to start chewing on the inside (shelves are another matter!) and it will be very stable...

Preface: I live in south florida, so my temperature control needs are pretty simple: keep the AC functional and on. I've been wondering, though, how people who have to deal with actual "seasons" and "freezing temperatures" keep their chins in their happy temperature range. Obviously, right on...

You may want to consider a litter pan for the pee corner; it might help with absorbtion and encourage her to lay elsewhere!

Yes, the vet recommended sub-q and we have the equipment for it; just trying to figure out how to get him to calm down for the procedure. At the moment we're grasping the base of his tail while giving him something to nibble on and sticking his back; this has mixed results. Its also hard to get...

I've read the thread, I know we're nowhere near the end of treatment, however he doesn't seem anywhere near as bad as sparky was. He was pretty lethargic before the fluids and meds, so I'm taking it as a hopeful sign that he's responding well. We're still keeping a very close eye on him and...

Well, its been an interesting week. We've been feeding him critical care and simethicone for a few days, to no real improvement (no worse off either, and he gained ~8 grams). Today my wife took him into work, gassed him down and took an xray, which showed a belly full of...stuff. I then picked...

Three boys, one 5 years old at 740ish, one about to turn 6 and maxes out at 460, and a 4 year old who was 700ish before his recent issues.

Update: he's still losing weight (down to 497g) and we've noticed loud gurgling noises coming from his abdomen; from searches it sounds like he might be going into stasis. We're picking up simethicone tonight and getting him to a vet tomorrow.

Fair enough. First I'll need a positive test though--no sense worrying without cause! :) If he keeps losing weight I should be able to get him in for testing by Thursday.

We have some metal cages that they can crash in for a bit. If I bleach scrub, sand down, and scrub again while they're living in the metal cage do you think that will be enough? A bit preliminary, perhaps--but from what I've read so far it certainly sounds like a plausible cause. Guess I'll...