Chinchilla with swollen finger

[Trufflechinny]

Hi all, my chinchilla has a swollen finger on his right paw and he is favouring this paw by holding it up when he rests. I'm not sure how or when he got injured but I'm guessing he could have gotten it caught/sprained as I couldnt see any open wounds or cuts on this finger. He's still using the paw to hold his chew toys or to wipe his nose although he does not seem to have as good a grip as usual. I also catch him licking/grooming this finger sometimes. I've heard that chins sometimes self amputate if its hurting them and im really worried that he might just nip it off. Aside from this, he is eating drinking pooping fine and is still active.

From what i'm reading so far it seems like a swollen finger tends to heal pretty well on it's own for chins and we dont want to bring him to the vet if its not necessary so as to not cause undue stress, but it's been a few days and the swelling hasnt seemed to gone down too much. I was able to get some pictures of the swollen finger - any experienced chinparents out there that has had a similar injury like this? How long does it usually take for an injury like that to heal and is veterinary intervention recommended?

Thank you!

 

[GimliAndLegolas]

I'm sorry, but that first picture looks almost exactly like what is happening with my chinchilla right now. Did you ever find out what was wrong for this? We have a vet appointment on Monday but am worried about the wait.