Is my chin ok? and question about bedding

[TaylorHorton]

I recently started watching after my girlfriends chinchillas. she wasn't able to give them the attention they needed so they are now staying with me.

she hadn't been able to take them out for play time in the last couple of weeks, and a couple nights ago, the night after I first took them, I took the chins into the play pen for play time.

Everything seemed fine and they were running around and bouncing, but then all of a sudden one of the chins just stopped moving. I would touch it gently and it would acknowledge me, but not move. The chins don't let me hold them just yet, but this chin wouldn't move and I was actually able to pick it up, without any fight from the chin. It just laid flat in my hand not moving. Her eyes were slightly open, and she was breathing, but I was scared to say the least.

I brought her back to the cage, put her in and ran downstairs as fast as I could to grab the chinchiller incase she was too warm (my room is never over 70 degrees). I put the chiller in the cage and the chin just laid there, no movement and wouldn't even budge when I touched her.

A couple minutes later if I touched her she'd open her eyes and move around, then lay down again. 10 minutes later she was back to running around the cage and eating her food!

Do you think maybe, due to the fact that the chin hadn't had play time in a while, that she actually just tuckered herself out to the point of exhaustion? It has happened once more after that, but the last two nights I've kept an eye on her during play time and this hasn't happened since. She seems to be perfectly healthy, she's eating and drinking, sleeping all day and playing all night.

Any thoughts on this? Also, how important is it to have bedding in the bottom of the cage? I have the ferret nation 182 and at the moment have bedding only on the bottom level, but I was thinking of just putting down fleece instead. If it matters, they are potty trained. I'd like to hear opinions on this!

Thanks everyone

 

[e.murphy518]

I'm not sure about your chin not moving, that sounds terrifying! Hopefully someone chimes in on that. I can say though, I have two ferret nations and I only use bedding in the litter pans. For me fleece liners is much easier to clean, they don't chew on it, and it looks better

 

[NiftyKat]

It sounds like your chin could of possibly had a seizure .... I'm not sure what to do about that in chins, but I think several members on here do have great experience in that area and hopefully they'll have something to say.

 

[TaylorHorton]

e.murphy518, thanks for the reply, I actually went out and bought the proper fleece today and cut it perfectly and it is now in the cage. I agree it looks much better. I'll just have tog get used to having pink in my room


NiftyKat, I did some research on chinchillas and having seizures. I didn't see any activity that looked like a seziure taking place, but I possibly could have been looking away while that happened. I guess this can occur from a drop in blood sugar levels, but the good news is that once it happens and ends, it shouldn't happen again.

it was defintely scary for me, but it hasn't happened again since. Last night they were out in my room playing and running around for longer than they have so far, and they were perfectly fine when I put them back in the cage. I kept my eye on them though, and they behaved like healthy chinchillas

hopefully this little event won't happen again!

 

[Cuddlebug]

Your chin either had a seizure or overheated. I would drop the temperature to 65 degrees before playtime. Imagine running around in a heavy fur coat in 70 degree weather. 70 is fine for times of low activity, it can be problematic fi the chinchilla is running around like they like to do.

If lowering the temperature does not help and the episodes continue, I would see a vet since it could be seizures.

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

re: bedding. My whole cage is fleeced and my boys love it. Sometimes they decide not to use their pee dish, but since I wash all their liners and covers once a week it's never been a problem. Just make sure that your chins aren't fleece chewers (some are)

 

[TaylorHorton]

Thank you for the replies everyone. I am going to start making sure that I lower the temperature before they play like cuddlebug suggested. Of course whenever bebe stops moving for even just a couple of seconds now I got worried, but the last 3 play times she has been fine and it hasn't happened since. I'll continue to be paranoid though because I don't want to miss anything. All seems good for now though!

Oh, do chins ever sleep with their eyes open?

 

[Godofgods]

i cant say for sure, one way or the other. But it does sound like maybe a seizure or something. One time when my oldest guy was out, he suddenly stopped moving. He despises being picked up, put offered absolutely no resistance when i did. It scared the **** outa me. I called a friend to take me to the vet right then. The vet found a heart murmur on his right side i think.

Since my guy is no longer living with his girl, he gets seriously worked up. If he sees her he starts going crazy and having seizures. Not to mention the murmur. So i have to make sure he can never see her again

 

[e.murphy518]

glad you got the fleece! I really hope nothing else happens and you have a healthy, happy chin! I can tell you my chins definitely used to sleep with their eyes open a little bit, not all the way though, it creeped me out at first haha i bet it has something to do with them being prey animals because after they had lived with me for a while they stopped doing it. My newest two still do though

 

[Cuddlebug]

Chinchillas can sleep with their eyes wide open, if they choose to do so. They are prey animals and sleeping with their eyes open gives them a better chance of getting away.