When your nightmare comes true.

[courtyyryan]

well, sunday night Horton finds a wire, how he reached it to bite it is beyond me. BUT he ended up biting it in half, causing the wire to explode (bang, and bright light) followed by the smell of burning hair.

poor little horton had burnt whiskers, burnt mouth, black teeth, and he was just scared. I pick him up and check out his mouth. everything looked OKAY. As the night went on he stopped eating, stopped drinking, and eventually stopped moving around his cage. The only thing he would do is rub his face in his dust.

First thing monday morning he is still exactly where i left him sunday night. I reach in and pick him up and he just snuggles against me. no desire to do anything, poor baby. and his poor little face was all swollen.

So I called several different vets and eventually found one that does chinchillas, they had me bring him in immediately.

We go in and Horton does NOT like the vet. he doesnt want the vet to touch him. He barks through the whole examination. They put him on antibiotics for a week twice a day (and if i thought he didnt like the vet he REALLY doesn't like his meds)

Three days later my baby has his spunk and curiosity back. he's eating and drinking and chewing on his toys, his little face is no longer swollen.

While at the vet Horton got a regular checkup too. he weighs the perfect amount.. which is a bit scary because he was very skinny when we got him 6 months ago but now the vet says he is healthy. im such a proud mumma for having a healthy little boy.

What a terrible feeling it was having him hurt, I was so scared to lose him! it's only been six months and hes such a huge part of our lives. How do people live without chins? almost losing mine really opened my eyes to the huge role he plays in our lives, hes just like a child.

 

[Shooper]

I hope your story reminds other of how important it is to chin-proof ANY room they go in. I know accidents happen...I'm so glad he is ok now!! I love happy endings!

 

[JaneNJoeyChin]

That is so scary! I'm so, so glad Horton is healing!

 

[ticklechin]

Are you going to cage him now or are you still going to let him free roam? Chins no matter how safe you think a area is will get hurt, every single one.

 

[EMSChins]

well, sunday night Horton finds a wire, how he reached it to bite it is beyond me. BUT he ended up biting it in half, causing the wire to explode (bang, and bright light) followed by the smell of burning hair.

poor little horton had burnt whiskers, burnt mouth, black teeth, and he was just scared. I pick him up and check out his mouth. everything looked OKAY. As the night went on he stopped eating, stopped drinking, and eventually stopped moving around his cage. The only thing he would do is rub his face in his dust.

First thing monday morning he is still exactly where i left him sunday night. I reach in and pick him up and he just snuggles against me. no desire to do anything, poor baby. and his poor little face was all swollen.

So I called several different vets and eventually found one that does chinchillas, they had me bring him in immediately.

We go in and Horton does NOT like the vet. he doesnt want the vet to touch him. He barks through the whole examination. They put him on antibiotics for a week twice a day (and if i thought he didnt like the vet he REALLY doesn't like his meds)

Three days later my baby has his spunk and curiosity back. he's eating and drinking and chewing on his toys, his little face is no longer swollen.

While at the vet Horton got a regular checkup too. he weighs the perfect amount.. which is a bit scary because he was very skinny when we got him 6 months ago but now the vet says he is healthy. im such a proud mumma for having a healthy little boy.

What a terrible feeling it was having him hurt, I was so scared to lose him! it's only been six months and hes such a huge part of our lives. How do people live without chins? almost losing mine really opened my eyes to the huge role he plays in our lives, hes just like a child.

From another thread, I thought you said you had him free roaming in a chin proof room? If there are wires at all, it is not chin proof. Any electrical burn is life threatening. There is damage that cannot be assessed. I would watch him very closely for a very long period of time and not let him free roam any longer.

 

[ticklechin]

Free range left alone.

courtyyryan
Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Monmouth, ME
Age: 24
Posts: 17
Chinchillas: 1



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuddlebug
You should never leave him for any length of time totally unsupervised. Chinchillas are pros at finding trouble. t is a matter of safety. You could come home to an injured or dead chinchilla.

yet we do it all the time, and have never come home to him getting in any trouble. he just hangs out in the middle of the floor looking around. I've learned that no chinchillas are the same. I read things online and he ends up being polar opposite. what is right for you and your chin may not be right for me and mine.

respect my decision. I know my chin, I know his behavoirs, I know what I can and cant do with him.

 

[Stackie]

I hope this is a lesson about free roaming. I'm glad your chin is ok but he could have very easily died. I have lost a chin to electrocution. He was caged but the cage door was faulty and he managed to get out one night. He chewed a wire in half and ended up dying a few days later despite several vet visits and sleepless nights for me trying to nurse him back to health.

 

[mercynursie]

Electrical burns are the worst burns in terms of "not looking all that bad". When a human or animal suffers electrical burn the skin area that you can see might be relatively small just to look at it, but the horrible burn lies underneath in the muscles,tissues and nerves that the electricity flows through is the problem.It can take days/weeks for all of the tissue damage and necrosis to become visible to the eye and by then things are pretty much too far gone(kidney damage esp with burns) for a recovery.Please take your baby to a knowledgeable exotic chinchilla vet and have him checked out. I have seen people who suffered electrical burns the size of a quarter on their skin progress to having a gaping melon size crater after the burn Dr does the first debridement following the track of the burn.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Let me tell you about Stacie's Neeko.

I referred to him as "My favorite chin that doesn't belong to me" when i would tell stories about him to my friends. I loved him even though I knew him only through the forum. He was beloved by many of us on this forum and we ALL grieved for a very long time. Who knew a chin could die from the trauma of the electric shock???

Now that we do, there is no reason a chin should ever be out without supervision. Generally, the bathroom is the easiest room to play in. Remove hair dryers, electric toothbrushes and any other cords and put the toilet lid down and stay in there with them to play.

Stacie, I'm so sorry that you had to relive the pain of thinking about Neeko. I personally am crying right now. Hugs to you...

 

[Claire D]

Please tell us you're reconsidering your very staunch position on leaving your chinchilla alone to free roam?

As I said in the original thread:

I sincerely hope you never have cause to regret your choice to leave him unsupervised but I suspect that one day you will.
I also suspect that, when that day comes, your chinchilla will be the one who suffers - because he is a rodent & you have absolutely no idea what he gets up to while you are not watching him.

Chinchillas can hurt themselves in a padded cell let alone a house filled with possibilities & no-one to help them if they get into trouble.

You didn't want to listen then - will you listen now that your chinchilla has come to harm?

He needs to be supervised at all times when he is out of his cage.

 

[Stackie]

Thank you Lynn. I still think about my Neeko all the time.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

:kiss:

 

[Zoaea]

Hmmm this is why I hate the argument of "nothing bad has happened yet". Hope he keeps healing well, burns take a minimum of 14 days to heal, longer with complications, so he isn't out of the woods until then. Also, watch how much he eats/drinks very closely as pain and antibiotics can cause them to not eat enough.

 

[courtyyryan]

He is healed and back to his normal crazy self. As far as have i changed my view about allowing him to free roam? absolutely not. I have changed my mind about how careless I was with wires. To me it's really quality of life. Horton is not happy in his cage. I wouldn't want to live in a cage and I don't expect him to. I know that I almost lost my little love because I was careless but that is no reason to punish him. He will continue to free roam, actually hes passed out on my shoulder right now, but there is not a wire he can come in contact with.

 

[kvatore]

I am really sorry to hear you continue to feel this way. I hope he does not get injured again from your decision to have him free roam.

 

[chinsNdobermans]

I'm sorry, I missed the original thread, but this chinchilla is left to free roam unsupervised all the time?

No wonder he managed to chew a cord - you're just lucky it hasn't happened before! Any room with cords is a potential danger even if you're in the room with them. I just can't imagine choosing to continue a behavior that has already resulted in an injury to your pet.

I'm glad he seems to be doing better... I hope he continues to do so...

 

[Claire D]

I know full well I'm wasting my time but ......

As far as have i changed my view about allowing him to free roam? absolutely not. I have changed my mind about how careless I was with wires. To me it's really quality of life. Horton is not happy in his cage. I wouldn't want to live in a cage and I don't expect him to. I know that I almost lost my little love because I was careless but that is no reason to punish him. He will continue to free roam,

What a pity you view being a responsible chinchilla owner as somehow punishing Horton. The type of anthropomorphic crap that you've written makes me angry. How do you assess that he's 'not happy' in his cage?
He's not a small person, he's a rodent with rodent tendencies, habits, & responses - he does not understand danger in the same way we do. He doesn't want to be out of his cage because he's 'unhappy'. He wants to be out of his cage because it's a habit you've let him develop & he's going to continue to get himself into trouble while you continue to allow him out of cage time without supervision. Wires are not the only danger in a house environment.

It seems to me that you think Horton is unique amongst chinchillas, that he's not going to get himself into trouble again, & that the combined experiences of owners on this forum is irrelevant to your situation. Some of us have witnessed chinchillas getting themselves into trouble in chinchilla-proof rooms whilst being supervised. The difference is that when a chinchilla is being supervised & monitored the danger can be averted before any damage is done. You can't say that of Horton because you're not there to see it.

 

[Dreamlite]

I hope you change your mind and get him a good cage. NO chin is safe to be left loose without supervision. The is no fool proof way to make any room 100% safe. There just isn't. Do you really want to keep playing those odds? You are lucky he lived this time and god knows what troubles he can get into next? What has he chewed that you didn't notice yet? What holes has he found to get into walls or floors? You don't seem to take being a owner responsibly. Its your job so set safe limits and give proper food. Anything beyond that isn't needed and you are placing a huge leap of faith on your chin to 'learn'. They are rodents and they don't learn what's safe. Rethink what your are risking. Would you rather have him happy and die in a few months with the next accident or live a caged life and last 15 yrs or more?

 

[mknoblich1]

I agree with everything already said about free roaming. I watch my girls like a hawk when they're out because they still find a way to get into trouble. I hope that you really reconsider what your allowing him to do. My girls play every night and love being in their cages because that's where they feel the safest. Maybe if you got him a bigger cage or out more fun things in his cage you wouldn't feel like he hated it. And just to repeat what has already been said, how do you know he's not happy in his cage? My girls have never said a word to me about how they feel. If I had a talking chin I sure wouldn't allow him to injure himself.

 

[courtyyryan]

oh, I totally forgot he's a rodent! I mean all rodents should be caged all the time, never let free, never left to explore. It's like animals in a zoo right? Just because they have always been in a cage they should always stay in a cage.. even if you can SEE that they are miserable. he begs to come out, he visibly gets depressed about being in his cage. Also, he has a huge cage, with toys on every level.

How dare you people look down on me for the way that I choose to take care of MY chinchilla. He is happy, he is healthy, and I do everything in my power to make sure he is safe.

AND he is supervised when he is out of his cage, also, i have changed the rooms in which he is allowed to roam, to a cordless room.

who are you people to judge me? When I got Horton he was malnourished, not sociable, and just plain sad. He is happy and healthy now. the vet himself said that he is a beautiful HEALTHY chinchilla.

often you can tell what your chinchilla is feeling just by looking at them. I'm sorry that you don't know your chin well enough to know how he is feeling by his behaviors. even more i'm sorry that you look at your chinchilla as a "rodent", biologically yes, but for me he's a member of the family.

what I'm even more sorry for is that I will not visit this website again because when i was looking for support for something that has happened to MANY people, all i got was lectured by people who think their way of raising a chinchilla is THE way. there is no perfect way to raise a chinchilla, and if someone is taking care of their chin, bringing him to the vet, feeding him, giving him attention, and providing a good home, that person should not be looked down on regardless of your beliefs.

thank you to the very few people that put personal belief aside and just wished a speedy recovery.