Chinchilla Sneezed His Head Off For An Hour

[UnhappyRefrain]

Last night, my chin could not stop sneezing for close to an hour. He would sneeze several times in one minute and he has never done this before. He had a dust bath a few hours before and there was some dust still on the fleece which he kept revisiting and rubbing his face in. I didn't know what else to do, so I replaced the dusty fleece and that seemed to help greatly as his sneezing slowed down and then stopped. I was listening all night and only heard him sneeze a few times spaced out in a couple of hours. He hasn't sneezed once since I have woke up either.

Do you guy's think he just had too much dust or could he be sick? He's eating, playing and acting the same way. I don't know, it just really gave me a scare.

 

[Amethyst]

If the sneezing went away once you removed the dusty fleece then that was likely the cause. Chins can seal their nose while bathing, but they can't seal it forever and if they inhale dust it can make them sneeze just like anyone else. I would just keep an eye on him, make sure he is acting normal, but likely he just decided to snort some dust. I've had my guys do that too, there was dust on the cage bars so they go sniff it and then have a sneezing fit.

 

[UnhappyRefrain]

If the sneezing went away once you removed the dusty fleece then that was likely the cause. Chins can seal their nose while bathing, but they can't seal it forever and if they inhale dust it can make them sneeze just like anyone else. I would just keep an eye on him, make sure he is acting normal, but likely he just decided to snort some dust. I've had my guys do that too, there was dust on the cage bars so they go sniff it and then have a sneezing fit.

I am watching him like a hawk. If he starts up again (which seems unlikely) he will be going straight to the vet. Thank you.

 

[JamaisVu]

My boy used to always sneeze a few times after/during a dust bath.

I agree with Amethyst, as long as it is not a recurrent event I wouldn't think too much of it. If it starts again, definitely worth a visit to the vet, if only for your peace of mind.

 

[UnhappyRefrain]

My boy used to always sneeze a few times after/during a dust bath.

I agree with Amethyst, as long as it is not a recurrent event I wouldn't think too much of it. If it starts again, definitely worth a visit to the vet, if only for your peace of mind.

He hasn't done it since, so I hope we're in the clear!

 

[ChinsForLife]

My chinchilla Ruby was doing the same thing last night! She has sneezed some over the last few days but it greatly increased last night but other than that she was acting completely normal. Once i open the cage door, she runs up for me to pet her and is still eating like a horse, popcorning and just being herself. I removed the fleece from her cage because it did have some dust on it but she is still sneezing some. She hadn't even had a dust bath in 3 days as of last night though so it wasn't that. The pollen count is really high rn so idk if that's it or if its something else. I looked up pneumonia symptoms but she doesn't have any of the others. She's just sneezing!

 

[JohhnyBishop]

I think it's down to how fine dust you use. The composition of the dust I use is mainly the size of beach sand then I add some very fine one powder like to it. Mine don't sneeze at all. This way I let them bath more often but at the same time I don't want them to get super dry what very fine dust would cause.