Chinchilla possibly hurt during play time

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amberr567

New member
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Messages
1
Hi!
I've had my little gizmo for about 7 months now. He is 9 months old.
I play with him almost every night and play time is always supervised.

Last night, he decided to jump on a shelf (which is typical) and try to jump from the shelf to his cat tree (which is not typical of him). He missed the jump and hit his jaw off the cat tree ledge. I was worried but he acted fine for the most part.
He was shaken up at first but then went back to normal of jumping off walls and everything.

Fast forward to play time today. For the most part, he was pretty normal today too, but he called it quits a little earlier than normal (which, this happens sometimes so it's OK). It was his dust bath day so I convinced him to come back out for a dust bath and we always have pet time during that. I scratch his neck, behind his ears and typically under his jaw. He loves under his jaw and always makes an "ah that feels so good" face, and he was doing that with one side of his face but not the other.
Red flag...
So i kept scratching the side and he nibbled me as if telling me to stop. This never happens (and it wasn't a bite).

I felt the jaw and his shoulder and all feels normal, he's eating as usual, and all-together, he's ok. It just seems like it might be sore since he hit it, I don't think it's a fracture or anything. I just don't know how much soreness can affect a chinchilla.

Do you think this calls for a vet visit or do you think I should just give him a rest day or two and see if it feels better and then decide?

Thanks in advance!
 
So long as he is still eating his pellets and hay ok and still chewing on toys I don't think a vet visit is needed. He likely just has a bruise and just needs to heal. Just keep an eye on him, if he stops eating, eating as much, is pawing at his mouth or drooling, or not chewing on things you'll need to get him check out at the vet.
 
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