Baby chin bumbed her face hard

[Ziora]

We just brought her home Sat., but she seems to be comfortable and we let her out to play. The chin (her name is Myrna) got nervous and wanted back in her cage, so she took a flying leap from my leg into the bars of her cage, hitting her face. She ran to a corner and started rubbing her head on the floor and rubbing her feet over her face, shaking her head as if she was tying to shake off the pain.

I checked her over, checked her teeth and everything seems to be intact. I fed her a treat from her supplement and she handled it fine. I thought maybe she was also too hot, so put a few freezer packs wrapped in fleece and a casserole dish with ice and fleece on top of the lid so she could cool off if that's the case.

I have seen videos of how hard they can play, so I'm probably just being overly nervous. My bf told me to leave her in her cage for another week and not even try to take her back out because we were stressing her out. He's probably right. I feel like a jerk.

Is it ok to leave her in her cage for a few weeks and wait until she shows signs of wanting to socialize?

 

[Laurie]

First of all you're not a jerk, you're just an anxious chinchilla owner. Everyone wants to play with and socialize with their chins. They do play hard and they can overheat while playing. And while they are small creatures they are often more hardy than we think. Keep an eye on her make sure she isn't showing any signs of head trauma--which would be walking funny, stumbling or falling a lot. It is okay to take her from the cage, just make sure you have a good hold on her getting her both out and back into the cage so it doesn't happen again. If you don't want to take her out for a few days, make sure you spend lots of time with her while she's in the cage to socialize with her. Sit by the cage and talk to her and when she comes to you by the bars give her scritches. The more time you spend with her both in and out of the cage, the more social with you she'll be.

 

[alli713]

If she's acting scared when out, then you may want to wait a bit longer before letting her have free range in a room. Just let her get used to you by putting your hand in her cage and talking to her.

One question I have, is when you say treat, what is it? Chins younger than 6 months shouldn't be having treats depending on what it is

 

[Ziora]

Thank you for the reassurance. It's very interesting to watch her navigate the room. I changed things around to chin proof things so I think she was confused. They seem to have very good memories and she was jumping to things that were no longer soft with pillows to block off places.

The treat is a supplement I got from the breeder. It's a mixture of things, including sunflower seeds. I say treat because it's something different from her pellets.

I just checked on her and she is fine, but it was worrisome.

 

[Essentia]

Interesting that you got it from a breeder and it contains sunflower seeds. Chins shouldn't have any type of seeds. They are too high in fat.

Like Alli said, chins under 6 months shouldn't have any type of treats. Good quality pellets, timothy hay, and water is all they need. For a "treat" you can give her chin safe prepared twigs to chew on. They look at it like a treat, yet it's totally safe. I also have handed a pellet to a chin and they automatically thought of it as a treat just because I was handing it to them.

After 6 months they can have a few treats. Rosehips, an unfrosted mini wheat, a regular cheerio, or a piece of a hay cookie (many of us make them on here) are the most common.

 

[Ziora]

I didn't realize that about sunflower seeds. I will take them out of the supplement and may actually toss the bag of "supplement" out altogether and get rose hips. I'm really bugged about something with this breeder. When I went to look at the mom, she didn't want to pick her up and said she had an attitude and that she got her as a rescue. Why would a breeder who is supposed to strive to improve the breed, breed a rescue chin? By then it was too late because my daughter had already picked the chin out and we were getting ready to go. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Maybe she knew the history of that chin, but I'll never know if there might be some genetic issues.

 

[PetProductsByNature]

I'm glad your baby's okay. Being a new chin owner myself, I know what you mean about how everything can seem scary. It was an "Ahaw momemt" for me when you said they seem to have a memory of where things are...I had never thought of it like that...me, I just thought they like to prove to themselves how much they can do...hahahaaa...daring little devils
Like Crysta said, no treats (yes, that means rosehips) allowed for 6 months. Even a piece of hay is a treat if YOU hand it to her.
My best to you and Myrna. (relax and enjoy...they're a bundle of fun)

 

[Sandi]

I didn't realize that about sunflower seeds. I will take them out of the supplement and may actually toss the bag of "supplement" out altogether and get rose hips. I'm really bugged about something with this breeder. When I went to look at the mom, she didn't want to pick her up and said she had an attitude and that she got her as a rescue. Why would a breeder who is supposed to strive to improve the breed, breed a rescue chin? By then it was too late because my daughter had already picked the chin out and we were getting ready to go. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Maybe she knew the history of that chin, but I'll never know if there might be some genetic issues.

I would say toss all of the supplement out now. If it already had sunflower seeds in it who knows what other bad stuff for chins is in there. Glad to hear your baby is ok now.

 

[Brittany]

It is okay to take her from the cage, just make sure you have a good hold on her getting her both out and back into the cage so it doesn't happen again.

If you haven't tried this already use one hand to hold the base of the tail, as close to the butt as possible. Use the other hand to support the rest of her body.

Additionally you're right, in my experience chins usually look before they leap because they've memorized where everything is in their surroundings. Whenever you change something major try placing her directly on or near the new thing so that she can investigate and realize that it has changed. I just got 2 WONDERFUL squiggle bridges from Alli713!!:thumbsup: Lily spent a good 10 minutes crawling over every inch of the top level of her cage just getting used to them.

 

[Ziora]

It is C. Kessler supplement. I can't find any info on it, but will not be feeding anything else for a few months.

 

[Claire D]

If she bashed her face hard then I would keep an eye on her teeth - it is worth checking her incisors every couple of days to make sure she has not fractured one or broken it off. Sometimes this can happen - a 1/2 mini shredded wheat is a good way to check their incisors - you will see her teeth when she takes bites from it.

 

[aashly23]

I got my Mia from a breeder on here in Kentucky. I don't think she is actually a member because I haven't seen anything on here from her since I got Mia. Anyway she gave me a bag of "treats". It had almonds and sunflower seeds and raisins. But the breeder I got Max from gave me some oxbow food and hay pellets. I'm glad I was a member here and knew not to give her the nuts.

Interesting that you got it from a breeder and it contains sunflower seeds. Chins shouldn't have any type of seeds. They are too high in fat.

Like Alli said, chins under 6 months shouldn't have any type of treats. Good quality pellets, timothy hay, and water is all they need. For a "treat" you can give her chin safe prepared twigs to chew on. They look at it like a treat, yet it's totally safe. I also have handed a pellet to a chin and they automatically thought of it as a treat just because I was handing it to them.

After 6 months they can have a few treats. Rosehips, an unfrosted mini wheat, a regular cheerio, or a piece of a hay cookie (many of us make them on here) are the most common.

 

[Ziora]

Thanks a lot for the kind responses. We put some steps by her cage door earlier so she could come out and play if she wanted and she hopped in and out of her cage many times. It's funny to watch because she climbs up to a shelf level with where the pillow used to be and looks down, then jumps out and looks in where she had just been sitting. Maybe she's trying to understand why she cannot be sitting up that high from the other side of the bars.

Checked her teeth and they are fine. I'll keep an eye on them. She's eating and drinking and pooping.

 

[Laurie]

Good to hear Mryna is feeling good today! You sound better today too and that's good! Remember not everyone is perfect--we come hear to learn how to be better chin parents--and that's exactly what you did!

 

[Pablo's Mama]

Also make sure not to hold her too long. Chins get antsy.