Decrease in stress help please...

[Tillygizmo]

I have a few questions for you fellow chin lovers/parents. We were suddenly informed by our family that we had to leave our apartment because they were getting evicted. They kept this a secret until the very end when it was too late for us to prepare correctly. Anyhow, we are now at my partners families house where we will stay for a few months until we find something permanent. The chins are obviously quite upset by the move. We kept everything in the layout of the cage as close as possible to how it was (even the half dirty fleece for an extra day). They are in the basement where it is cool all the time and they aren't used to being away from me so much, as I ALWAYS keep them in my line of sight in my room. They also will be getting used to hearing footsteps above them. I want to help them transition better and decrease stress as I have already noticed a shrink in poo size.

What can I do/feed them and how much/many times a day should i do this to help them feel better. : /

 

[Shawn Fitzsimmons]

Here's what I would do;
I would try to play mellow music, something along the lines of opera or beethoven.
Also, you can try offering small treats(cheerios, shredded weat, pinch of slow making oats), when they start getting upset, and as for the small poo's decrease their food by just a little bit and give them a lot of fresh hay, and you can try non flavored pedialite in their water(Put 5 cc's) and see if that helps.

Just try and make them as comfortable as possible, and if you can give them chews or chin approved toys to take their mind off of the new surrounding.

Good luck, and tell me how it goes!

 

[NOLA Chins]

To help with the poos and stress, I use Bene-bac gel, 1cc 2xday, with our incoming chins who are stressed by new surroundings.

Watch their weight and how much they eat and drink. It wouldn't hurt to be ready with Critical Care to boost them for a few days. I would avoid pedialite, treats, etc that are not a normal part of their diet.

Basements can be quite humid in some places while still being cool. If this is the case get a dehumidifier going.

Spend what time you can with them.

Good luck.

 

[alli713]

I wouldn't decrease their pellets, their poop is small, not runny. So feed food and hay as normal. If the poop gets runny, then pull pellets and feed hay.

They are probably just stressed from the move, not necessarily the fact of living in the basement. Mine live in our basement and do just fine.

I agree with the music, to have some background noise. Also, make sure that they have lights on down there so they have the normal amount of daylight/night.

If it's a humid basement get a dehumidifier.

 

[Tillygizmo]

Thanks so much! As for...

Here's what I would do;
I would try to play mellow music, something along the lines of opera or beethoven.

Should I leave the music day and night?


And for all parties... fresh hay is helpful for small poos and pellets for runny poo? I guess im confused.

 

[Quinley]

I am so sorry to hear about this awful situation. It sounds to me that the people who evicted you have no sensitivity to the needs to chins. :zipped1:

You need to know that stress for chins is deadly. During this very delicate transition period (3 to 4 weeks), you MUST make sure that the basement is BONE DRY. I have seen too many cases in my practice where stressed chins have developed FATAL pnuemonia being in damp basements. That it is cool is not enough.

The music helps very much and should be played for at least 7 -10 days so the chins have a sense of comfort their new surroundings will be constant and not yanked from them as they were so cruelly in your original post. The volume needs to be medium level to hide the walking noises. The walking noises above them will only STRESS THEM OUT MORE if you do not play the music at a correct level.

It makes me SO angry that people who do not have their lives together like the people who evicted you (and they are your family???) care so little about the impact on chins and other sensitive creatures.

Be sure to apply a full body massage to the chins 3 times a day so they can release tension. It is important too that they are exposed to sunlight twice a day for 90 minutes each or set up a Grenadier garden lamp with a timer to simulate natural surroundings.

I agree with the dietary suggestions above and the way you know that the situation is improving is by weighing the poo each day to make sure they are producing approximately 4-5 grams of soft stool with each movement.

Also, what are you and your partner doing to de-stress yourselves under these difficult circumstances? It sounds like you have your hands filled and chins pick up quickly on their owners' moods. You mention they are not in your line of sight. Have you considered sleeping near them for the first few nights to at least assure yourself and calm yourself? We all know how relaxing chins are.:kiss::kiss:

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I work with chins a lot at the practice and have seen this kind of thing before.:kiss:

Q.

 

[alli713]

No, giving only hay for loose poos helps clear them up because of all the fiber and plant matter in the hay.

With only having small poos, taking away the feed isn't going to help with that.

I've taken in new chins and they've had small poos with the stress of the move and I've never taken away their pellets. There's no need.

If you wanted, you could get some probiotic just to help boost their gut bacteria back up from potentially getting out of whack during the move.

 

[Sandi]

Yes, I agree with Alli713! I got a new cage for my boys plus their water bottle messed up somehow and noticed that they hadn't drank any water for 24 hours. Their poos got significantly smaller, so I gave both of them Lifeline every day for 4 days in a row and they are now back to normal. I never took their pellets or hay away.

 

[tunes]

I leave the radio play all the time, and after a day or so, they should be fine. I try to keep up some noise just in case there might be the odd chin that spazzes with a thunderstorm or high winds.

I (and many others) drive with chins for 3 or 4 day events. They sit in their carriers, or in a little show cage in a room full of total strangers and many, many chinchillas, in the back of a car, 16 hours each way, spend night after night in hotels, then leave me to travel even further to other places. If chins can survive THAT, they should certainly be able to survive a move to a basement and some footsteps overhead. You don't have to handle them like they are spun glass, because they aren't.

As mentioned above, watch the pee and poop, watch the intake, give them some acidophilus and let them settle in. You know the drill.

 

[alli713]

Be sure to apply a full body massage to the chins 3 times a day so they can release tension.

...

I agree with the dietary suggestions above and the way you know that the situation is improving is by weighing the poo each day to make sure they are producing approximately 4-5 grams of soft stool with each movement.

Are you for real?

I'm sure taking the chin out of the cage for a full body massage will stress them out more than leaving them alone. And weigh their poop? Who's going to mess through the bedding and hay to gather chin poop?

I hope you're joking. Chins aren't going to just randomly keel over and die by a change of environment. Sure, they're more fragile than some animals, but they don't need to live in a bubble to survive..

 

[AZChins]

I've never weighed the poopies before either.:hmm:

That's a little weird to me. Normally I can eyeball it and see if there's enough dropping production for a chin in the cage bottom.

I don't know about the massage...I give the chins lots of scritches because they demand it when I am in their rooms.

 

[Becky]

Quinley,

You are WAY overreacting. Chins are moved all the time and do just fine. They are not stressed nearly as easily as some people think.

I had a pair of chins that lived at school with me for years (as in an elementary school) and they thrived. They loved the changes as kids came and went.

I would change nothing about their diet. That is likely to stress them more than everything else. Keep an eye on things and see what happens. A dehumidifier is a must, if they are in a typical basement.

 

[Quinley]

Yes, folks, the advice is for real.:impatient: I know tillygizmo takes the business of chin wellbeing as seriously as I do. Otherwise, she would not be asking the detailed questions she does and spend as much time worrying about them. We love our chins. These are FRAGILE creatures that need almost as much nurturing and gentle care as a human. They CANNOT be left alone in a cold dank dark basement with people making a lot of noise above them. :banghead:The socialization that comes about with interaction, music and touch makes a HUGE difference in their overall well being and temprament. Just like a human. Tillygizmo is, as many of you are too, already examining chin poo for form and consistency. From a clinical perspective, doing a scientific weight check of stools is a simple matter that takes all the guess work out of visual checks. I would like to hear from tillygizmo her views on all of this. :hmm:In reading her posts, my feeling is that she is a veterinarian herself who knows the practice.

Q

 

[tunes]

Quinley - They are not anywhere near the same as a human child and the comparison is ridiculous. Did Tillygizmo keep her chins in an insulated bubble in her apartment where no sounds were ever allowed to filter in for fear they would have a heart attack and die? Foot steps overhead are hardly aftershocks from an earthquake. Maybe it would be a bigger deal if the family decides to throw down and do a bit of breakdancing immediately over the chins head, but footsteps just aren't something to get all in a tizzy over.

Weighing poop? Daily massage? Who does that? Nobody I've ever met.

Do not make the mistake of saying that I, or anybody else on this forum, do not take the care of their chinchillas seriously. You have no clue what I've done for my chins or how far I've gone to do it. Just because we don't make silly suggestions does not mean we don't care. It means we know our animals better, apparently, than you do.

 

[Becky]

Quinley, are you a vet? I was told that you are a tech.

I've had chins for 13 years and I see more in a day than a vet (or vet tech) sees in a lifetime. We DO know what we are talking about, believe it or not.

 

[menagerie]

Quinley, I'd love to know what your qualifications are. You mentioned a practice, does this mean you are a veterinarian? How many years of experience do you have working with chinchillas?

I would like to hear from tillygizmo her views on all of this. :hmm:In reading her posts, my feeling is that she is a veterinarian herself who knows the practice.

I'm not dissing tillygizmo here, but what in any of her posts makes you assume she is a veterinarian?

 

[Ash]

Plenty of members on here keep their chins in rooms that are under another floor. Last time I checked, their chins were still alive, despite the footsteps overhead. PLenty of chins have also been taken home and immediately put into these rooms. They're still alive.


Tilly, your chins will be fine. They just need a few days to adjust.

 

[Quinley]

I have been a Veterinarian Assistant for 7 years at a practice that advocates holistic treatment of animals. The vet I work with in particular specializes in exotic animals so I have seen a LOT of chins, hedgies, ferrets, etc. over the years. I also volunteer part-time at a local animal shelter and I have seen WAY TOO MANY examples of abuse and neglect. :hair:

So please forgive me if sometimes I seem like I get up on my soapbox. It drives my partner crazy! :impatient: I am only sharing what I personally do with my fur babies and this is IN NO WAY criticizing other people. Like with our children, we all have different parenting styles so of course we all treat our chins differently too. I enjoy singing to my chins every evening during play time because they LOVE music and some of my friends think I am crazy but who cares. As long as my chins are happy, I am happy too. :thumbsup:

 

[Shawn Fitzsimmons]

Just leave the music on all day, when they are asleep or away, it will calm there nerves, and help them get used to people's voices.

Or leave the tv on!
.

 

[Tillygizmo]

I didnt mean to start any problems. sorry guys... thanks though everyone for all of your good intentions. How long will they be okay without a dehumidifier? I am going to search for one tomorrow and order one online tomorrow if I do not find one. Will they be alright if I cannot get one until a shipped one would arrrive?