Bubbling and Shaking while sleeping?

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chillichinchin

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Hi

Im a new chin owner, and not sure if this should be posted here or in another forum. Feel free to move it, but i rather err on the side of caution and post here first.

I was just playing with my chinchilla and put her away and noticed in the last hour that shes sitting in her house making very faint bubble type sounds, with a twitching nose and her body seems to shake.

I have a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ChHqGk0rF4

Can anyone confirm if their chinchilla or if they have seen other chinchillas make the same sound or act the same?

If this is bad, i will bring her straight into the vet tomorrow

Any insight appreciated thanks
 
How old is she? If she's really young, it sounds like baby squeaks, but the jerking concerns me, plus the flopping onto her side when you are right there.

How long did you have her out for run time? What was the temperature in the room where she ran? Was she exposed to any type of chemical in the room (any carpet cleaners, rug sprinkles, etc.)?

If you give her a dust bath, will she roll? If you hand her a pellet, an old fashioned oat, or a bite sized nonsugared shredded wheat, will she eat it?
 
I've never heard them make that sound. Is she a baby. It kind of sounds like a baby noise. Also i couldn't tell if she was shaking or not but if she is bubbling from the mouth and shaking i would think seizure. It needs to be adressed if it is.
 
She was born January 27 2009, so give or take shes about 4.5 months old now

Yah the jerking is what caught my eye too, i used to have a guinea pig that did something similar, and she didnt end up in a nice place....

Is that not natural for a chin to flop onto her side?

We usually have her out for about an hour to 1.5 hours a night, today before she made that sound about only 20 mins.

Temp in the room is about 20 celsius or so, her ears arent any redder then usual which i think is one indicator of heat stroke.

No chemicals in the room, no cologne, febreeze no nothing at all.

Yup her appietite is as vorocious as usual, handed her a small piece of rose hip and an oxbow treat and she went at it like no tomorrow in my hand.

Just gave her a dust bath when i read your posting and she went nuts in it as usual.

Well, she wasnt "bubbling" from the mouth per say, she was making bubbling SOUNDS from her mouth, but not actual bubbles coming out.

She wasnt shaking a whole lot, if you look at the video i posted that was pretty much it. She did that for about 30 mins to an hour after i put her back, had her for about 4 weeks and she hasnt done that before. Bubbling a bit but the shaking sorta threw me off a bit
 
I hope she is doing well, I wish I could help tell you what exactly she is doing.
Chinchillas do flop on there side but usually when you come around they sit up like "oh, hey".
 
I would cut her play time way back. Start with half an hour every other day. An hour and a half is great, but even for an adult who isn't used to it that's quite a bit, and she's just a young chin.

Let her build up slowly. After you do the half hour for a couple weeks, then up it to 45 minutes. Hopefully what she had was not a seizure, but you have to be really careful to watch for that. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) sometimes happens after a prolonged period of run time, especially if a chin is not used to it and can result in a seizure. If this happens again or gets worse, you should check in with a vet to be sure everything is okay.
 
I'd say make sure she's drinking enough water too. The video you showed definately looked to me like a chin in stress. Follow tunes advice and check poos and make sure she keeps eating etc. Try not to worry ok..
 
I couldn't see her very well in the video. It could be a mild seizure, it could just be her being a wiggly chinnie. As for the noise, I have several that talk constantly like that. She could just be a talkative chinchilla and she's still a baby so it could have some to do with that. :) I don't know if this would be a cause to worry, but definitely keep a close eye on her and watch how she flops over when she's doesn't notice you are watching her. :)
 
It looks like she is in pain. Could it be bloat? I would give her some baby gas drops and rub her tummy just in case. A vet visit is in order I believe, that just does not sound right to me.
 
Definately keep an eye on her. If she does it again, take her to the vet. As tunes mentioned hypoglycemia can sometimes happen after heavy exercise. I would (just until you can get to a vet) try a 1/2 or even a 1/4 of a piece of a craisen if it happens again just to see if the sugar perks her up.
Also them flopping on their side like that isn't un-common after heavy exercise but definately not the shakes.
The noise could have still been baby noises (i have a few who have done that at that age) or she could just be a talker.
Good luck with her. I hope she is o.k.
 
I know it is a bit late but I have just seen this thread and watched the video.

The chin in the video is "crying" i.e. she is vocally expressing distress. She is feeling unwell and does not know what to do with herself.
From watching the video several times it appears that she is overheated, (red ears, flopping on to her side) over-exerted (same physical symptoms) and is tying desperately to make herself feel better - she is (in chinchilla terms) trying to pant and is making contact noises in the process. The noises could also warn of an impending fit (I have experienced this with a chin).

Young chins can overexert themselves very easily, leading to fitting, hypoglycaemia, and collapse. Heat just makes it all 10 times worse.

One of the biggest problem with chinchillas is that they do not know when to stop - that's true of exercise and junk food. It's lovely seeing a chin exploring and being inquisitive but sometimes we have to step in and cut short the playtime. I do not recommend young chins are exercised for more than 10 minutes at a time to begin with - careful observation and stopping them from overdoing it are essential. Once they are tolerating 10 minutes then I increase the out of cage time by 5 minutes each week, until they are out for between 40 minutes to an hour. Some chins can be out for longer but they tend to be the ones who simply "potter" about and do not overdo it.
I also do not allow my chins any out of cage time if the temperature is 20 degrees C.

Just for a couple of examples: I had one chin who was bred somewhere else and he could only be out for 5 minutes at a time or he would overexert himself so much he would begin to "cry" like in the video and then he'd have a massive fit. He just ran around at full speed until he collapsed - I never trusted him out for more than 5 minutes because if I increased the time by even a few minutes he would overexert himself.
Another chin I had could be out with me all night because he just mooched about like a little old man. "Over exertion" was definitely not in his vocabulary. :heart:

Chillichinchin, I do hope your chin has fully recovered and that is was a one-off event.
 
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