Chinchilla not eating

Hey guys my 5 y/o chinchilla hasn't been eating much for 3-4 days. He doesn't touch his pellets or hay. I fed him three whole wheat Cheerios and a bit of rolled oats because he usually loves those but he didn't seem that excited and wouldn't take more than that. He's drinking a little bit of water but not too much. He is less active than normal but still runs a bit on the wheel and approaches me when I come to the cage. He's been posing less frequently obviously due to not eating as much. Physically nothing looks different from the usual. And other than the things I've described nothing else is different; his breathing seems fine, he doesn't seem in pain (or he's not bee very vocal about it), and there's no fur loss or anything. I may be taking him to the vet tomorrow but I've never done that before because he's never really had any issues. If anyone has any suggestions on what may be wrong or what I could try that would be great. Also, if anyone knows of good exotic vets in the York region area in Ontario, Canada (Richmond hill, Markham, Newmarket, Aurora, etc.) please let me know! Thank you.

Not eating could be anything from a tooth issue to a blockage. They are really good at hiding issues, so once you notice something is off it's likely gotten pretty bad. I would get the chinchilla to the vet today if possible, once a chin stops eating for 24 hours the gut starts to die. Chinchilla's digestive tracts are designed to always be working, which is why they are always pooping. If eating stops, the gut has nothing to work with and shuts down, which causes the gut bacteria to die off, meaning the chin can no longer digest anything. If that happens it doesn't matter how much food you push in, the chin will die because it can't digest it. If it's not already too late and the gut is still working a little, if the chin is pooping it's still working, I would not wait until it's stopped completely to do something.

I took him to the vet today who said that he had an ulcer. A physical look over his teeth showed that nothing was wrong but she didn’t recommend giving him general anaesthesia and doing an X-ray today. She gave him a fluid injection to hydrate him as well as an antibiotic. She then gave me critical care and the antibiotic to take home to feed him. However, she said that if things don’t start to get better in two days then he would be in incredible danger and there would not be much hope or much left to do. I’m really worried, are all the steps I’m taking right?

Also does anyone have suggestions on how to feed chinchillas using a syringe. He doesn’t seem comfortable when I try is there a way to trick him into it or make him feel more comfortable?

An ulcer where? In his mouth? Do they have any idea what caused it? Unfortunately without x-rays you can't see the molars very will even with a scope or the roots at all.

Well anyways, it sounds like that could probably be your issue right there. If eating is painful they wont want to eat. One thing I've heard is that some antibiotic can make them loose there appetite too, so appetite stimulates are normally given too, along with probiotics to help replenish the good bacteria, since antibiotics kill all bacteria not just the bad.

A lot of people burrito wrap the chin, a small towel or blanket work well, with just the head sticking out. However not all chins like that, and will fight even when restrained, so you can try just offering it to him without holding him, or even offer it on a spoon. If he wont eat on his own though you will have to force feed him unfortunately. Burrito wrap him and squeeze small amounts at a time into his mouth, toward his cheek just behind his front teeth. He isn't going to be happy about it, but better to have him angry with you then to starve to death.

Some other things you can try to make the CC more tasty if he doesn't seem to like the taste of it is a very small amount of plain canned pumpkin (not pie filling), or see if they have flavored at the vet. I know you are in Canada, so Fuzzie Kingdom stuff is going to be pricey, but Essentials for Life seems to go over very well with chins too that don't like CC. If nothing else if you scroll down about 2/3 on that page it has a lot of tips and info on hand feeding towards the bottom.