Chinchilla finger missing - bone exposed

[Aavistaen]

My first chinchilla, Pants, was playing in his room with his cagemate Moose tonight. My other chilla, Altair, was in his own cage, which is on a stand elevated ~3ft off the ground, with no available way to be reached. I left the room for a few minutes and came back to find that Pants was bleeding and, upon closer inspection, had had his middle finger bitten clean off. I'm not sure how he accessed Altair's cage, but through some chin ninja magic, he managed it and now I'm incredibly worried about his finger. I immediately applied Blu-Kote to his whole hand, and he has no other visible injuries. He had already stopped bleeding by the time I came back (probably 5-10 minutes). He is acting mostly fine - when I initially put him back in his cage with Moose, he immediately went into his "pouting corner" (where he usually goes when he's mad at me, usually for daring to come into the room and NOT give him a treat) and immediately laid down on his side and closed his eyes. Pants is an incredibly active, curious chinchilla - in all our time together I have NEVER caught him laying down or closing his eyes, he always wakes up and is at the bars of the cage well before I make it into the room.

This isn't my first chin finger injury (Pants and Altair used to be cagemates, but when I brought Moose home, they suddenly turned against each other - Pants lost the tip of a finger and a good amount of fur in that altercation) but it is the first in which the injury has left the bone exposed. I've read probably a dozen threads in this very forum covering chin finger injuries - overwhelmingly the result is that they heal very well on their own; however, I did read a thread on another site in which it was recommended by one person that any injury leaving a bone exposed be treated immediately by a vet, as exposed bone can quickly lead to infection.

I've never had to take my chins to the vet before - they are very healthy and happy overall - I know this will put me into debt so as much as I love them, I am very hesitant to take them to an exotic vet for an injury that 90% of folks say will heal just fine. That one person however made me very, very scared, and now I am still up at 6am, researching 24/7 emergency exotic vets. I'd like to go to bed but I can't stop jumping up at every creak and groan of the house to check on poor Pants. He is up at the top level of his cage now, cuddling with Moose in their normal bedtime position. I know that chinchillas are very good at hiding pain and serious injuries so - can anyone here tell me if they've had a similar experience, and what their course of actions were for their poor injured chilla?

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Dragonflye]

I am always cautious about injuries that could become infected. I would be trying to get an appointment with a vet today. Chins do hide pain very well, I would imagine pain meds could be helpful as well as antibiotics.

What type of bedding are you using? I would switch to fleece while the injury is healing.

 

[tunes]

Having a bone exposed is not the same as having a toe bitten clear off. A toe bitten off will almost always heal fine. Having a bone exposed is painful and will likely end up infected. Every time your chin bumps that bone, it's going to send pain shooting up it's arm. You can't just leave a bone dangling. The vet will most likely have to anesthetize your chin and either clip it off and sew the skin down over it or, if it's short enough, sew the skin over it without clipping it off. Either way, your chin needs to see a vet.

 

[Claire D]

I echo Peggy's post. Exposed bone needs veterinary attention every time. Infection is a real risk.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

[melbur10]

My sage had this exact thing happen... Pain meds and antibiotics would be the way to go. As for suture over the finger, that's up to the vet. My sage had bone exposed but we let her heal with antibiotics and metacam on her own. Cage needs to be kept very clean... I wiped sages cage down and gave her clean fleece daily... The finger went a bit red and swollen (metacam helped with that) and then the skin seemed to go back for a day or two and then it started creeping forward and covered over the bone tip.... In sages case my vet chose to leave the finger alone. But I would say antibiotics and pain meds are a must ... Bone infections are nasty!!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Get the chin to a vet. At the very least, he is in pain and it could get infected. It needs to be taken care of properly.

 

[Shooper]

My Smokey had a similar accident where the bone was exposed and he had to get stitches and wear an E-collar until it healed.

 

[brinfe]

Same thing happened to my chin years ago he started chewing on his finger though...took him to vet got fingers amputated and he wore an E-collar.

Keep an keen eye on your chin. Blue-Kote it up and would probably be best to take him to a vet. Chins are the best at hiding pain.

 

[Aavistaen]

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies everyone! Based on your advice I took Pants to the vet, we just got back a minute ago. I wasn't able to get an appointment til today (this vet is the only one that treats exotics for 40 or 50 miles around), but we've been keeping a close eye on him for swelling or redness. The vet said that it was healing well and the bone was already dead enough that it didn't need to be closed up or tended to at all - I think the term he used was "professional negligence." He suggested neosporin (and then keeping Pants distracted for long enough for it to soak in without being licked off) and told us that in about a week he should be using it like normal again.

Not a horribly expensive trip and for my first visit to the vet I was very happy with the doctor's professionalism and kindness towards my chin! Pants was a tough little man and him and his cagemate Moose are napping happily now

Thanks again for all your help all, I appreciate it a ton!