I think I let my chinchilla play a little too long, overheating.

[PinayTohDoh]

It was about 68 degrees upstairs (I checked the thermometer) when I took him to the bathroom. It was 20 minutes (I only intended on 10-15 minutes) but when I brought him downstairs (it's much cooler downstairs) after 5 minutes of looking at him because he was just sitting there, I saw his ears were a bit red. I opened up the sliding door (right by his cage, sunlight cannot get in because we have a greenbelt that blocks the sunlight, but it's night time anyways) and I opened up the window downstairs to make it even colder.

Did I let him play for too long which caused him to overheat? He's doing better now, I'm glad. He's cooling down.

Please let me know.
He is only 5 months old and probably too young to be let out of the cage but he was so bored because tomorrow I am getting him some toys, otherwise he doesn't have much toys. So, I figured a little out of cage time would be fine and he loved it but maybe it was a bad idea.

 

[ChinnyMom]

red ears do say that he was too warm.

do you have an air conditioner in his room? this is essential for having chins, as a majority of places get much too warm in the summer to go without one. if your home ever gets warmer than 70 inside, you do need an air conditioner.

generally people here on the forum advise no playtime for chins under 6 months old. if this was your chin's first ever playtime, he may have overdone it and that is why he's too warm. your bathroom also was most likely warmer than the room his cage is in.

what you can do, for future if you see he's too warm, is keep a frozen water bottle handy, and wrap it in fleece. put this in the cage for him to snuggle against. just to note, this is not an alternative to air conditioning, but an emergency type thing if the a/c is out or temperatures are exceeding what the a/c can effectively cool. having a cool granite or ceramic tile in the cage helps too, for him to lay on.