HELP! Weird behavior/limp/exhausted?

bkruahnndon · Jan 1, 2015

What is going on with Pedro? I let him out while I clean his cage and look over and he's kind of curled up in the corner (seen this before, jumps up when you go near). Got him back to his cage and this is what he looks like. Very limp, stupor and disoriented. He did stand up for a bit just now, and is laying down again.

Nothing is out of the norm as far as him getting into anything, it's 67 degrees at ground level, and he was out for his usual 45 minutes or so. He's been exhausted before, but never for this long or this limp.

Stackie · Jan 2, 2015

You need to get him to a vet ASAP. Lethargy to this degree is an emergency for chins and means something very big is wrong. Obviously we can't figure that out over a forum, so he needs to go to a vet who knows about chins for diagnostics and emergency treatment.

ticklechin · Jan 2, 2015

Was he running around like a fool when he was out? Could be a low blood sugar seizure, if he came out of it and is fine now, that could be what it was.

bkruahnndon · Jan 2, 2015

Thanks for the help. I was thinking it was something like a seizure, but we had never seen him do it for more than a few minutes. This one last night lasted about an hour. He laid on his stomach and flattened out, which made us very nervous just seeing him like that.

Are my photos showing up for anybody else? Another reason I posted photos was because I had a hard time finding photos/video of chinchillas having seizures/fit and it could be quite helpful for those of us less experienced. Let's make a database of visual conditions to help with the typed descriptions!

Today Pedro is very chipper and back to his normal, 'don't touch me' self

We also have Pablo, a beige, and he has never even come close to having a seizure. Are some chins just more prone to them?

bkruahnndon · Jan 3, 2015

Also, it crossed my mind after this happened, I'm thinking Pedro may be predisposed to insulin-type problems. We adopted (rescued) him from what I think were negligent owners. He's our first chin, and I did my research before looking for one. We found him on Craigslist nearby for $20, 3yr grey male. I arrived and his cage was large, but all wire and no toys/hiding places. The owner mentioned he loves to eat peanut butter off their fingers. They also gave me all the extra supplies - his 'food' was just the forage mix of sweets, no pellets, a very small amount of old hay, etc. I about had a stroke as she's telling me all of this!

We've had him for about 5 months now and immediately went to quality pellets and hay, lots of sticks and chew toys and a nice cage setup. We do about 1-2 dried sweet potato (the tiny cubes from the hay blend) pieces daily if we are training him, but that has stopped since his latest episode. Back to the basics.

Am I on the right thinking track?

ichigo · Feb 18, 2015

I hope you figured this out! The same thing happened to my chinchilla--limp, lethargic, and I thought he was dying. I took him to an emergency vet and they gave him a shot to hydrate him and didn't know what else to do. After some investigation, I found out my other chinchilla was chasing him to the point of exhaustion while I was at work. Now I keep them separate and have never had this problem again.

Cuddlebug · Feb 20, 2015

Instead of sweet potato cubes, use pieces of plain cheerios for training. Sweet potatoes have too much sugar in them. You may be right about sugar issues with him. I would cut down the amount of time he is out of the cage playing. He is obviously overexerting himself. This will help to prevent further issues. Begin by cutting the time in half. If he still has problems, cut it in half again. You need to find out what is the safe amount of time for him.