One of my chinchillas, Hershey, has been losing quite a bit of weight lately and I am concerned. I have taken him to the vet and was told that nothing was wrong and to just “keep an eye on him”. The vet examined his teeth but said nothing was out of the ordinary.
He is seven years old and down to about 550 grams. He used to be my chubbiest chin at almost 800 grams.
He used to be housed with three other males for about six years until the oldest chinchilla passed away about a year ago. Could he be losing weight due to losing his friend? He is still housed with his two remaining cage mates. I haven’t noticed any fighting over food or other aggression and they have all been together for most of their lives.
He also doesn’t seem to have any drool or pawing at the mouth that would indicate something wrong with his teeth. He is given a diet of Mazuri chinchilla pellets, timothy hay, and bottled water, provided fresh daily with the occasional treat.
How can I increase his weight? I have heard about people using Oxbow Critical Care, Is that a good product?
Also, I don’t know if this is relevant or not, but he has also been getting hair rings quite often lately. In the nearly 10 years and 7 chinchillas I have owned, (all whom were male), I have never had a problem with hair rings until recently with Hershey. Could there be anything else wrong?
Any advice or suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you.
He is seven years old and down to about 550 grams. He used to be my chubbiest chin at almost 800 grams.
He used to be housed with three other males for about six years until the oldest chinchilla passed away about a year ago. Could he be losing weight due to losing his friend? He is still housed with his two remaining cage mates. I haven’t noticed any fighting over food or other aggression and they have all been together for most of their lives.
He also doesn’t seem to have any drool or pawing at the mouth that would indicate something wrong with his teeth. He is given a diet of Mazuri chinchilla pellets, timothy hay, and bottled water, provided fresh daily with the occasional treat.
How can I increase his weight? I have heard about people using Oxbow Critical Care, Is that a good product?
Also, I don’t know if this is relevant or not, but he has also been getting hair rings quite often lately. In the nearly 10 years and 7 chinchillas I have owned, (all whom were male), I have never had a problem with hair rings until recently with Hershey. Could there be anything else wrong?
Any advice or suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you.
