Chewing electrical wire

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B.Cygni

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I'm not sure if this goes in emergencies or not, so please move it if it doesn't!

I was checking one of my chins- just doing a general look-over- then closed the cage doors,and went back to doing some things in the kitchen.

My roommate popped into the bedroom to find the chinchilla out- and not just out, but having chewed on her (plugged in at the time) phone charger. We think I might not have shut the door completely, so she just pushed it open herself.

Now, neither of us give a hoot about the charger itself; chargers aren't living creatures, and we can get another. We're both more concerned about the effects any plastic she may have ingested will have on her digestive tract.

At the moment she looks... well, completely normal, and still pooping, but I imagine it might take a little bit.

Please advise!
 
Stackie lost a chin from burns due to chewing an electrical cord. Check her mouth for redness or sores. Keep a very close eye on her eating, drinking, poop and pee.
 
Yes, she chewed on it, there's chunks missing, and she got to the cord itself- it was a very, very thin cord, mind you- the flexi thinny ones.

She seems completely fine- she's nomming her way through grass right now, and she seems none the worse for wear- but that doesn't really convince me.

This is, coincidentally, the only cord in the room, and wouldn't have been present if we'd been letting her out ourselves. :(
 
addictedtochins said:
Stackie lost a chin from burns due to chewing an electrical cord. Check her mouth for redness or sores. Keep a very close eye on her eating, drinking, poop and pee.
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did she lose it from the problems with chewing on things, or the electrical shock?
 
Just keep an eye on her poops, she should be fine as long as she didn't eat large amounts of the cord. That is very scary. I left my Bryson alone for a little while and had a fan going in my room. The only plug was behind his cage so I pulled is cage back a little. I guess it wasn't far enough because I came back home to find my fan was off, and the cord had been chewed in half! Guess he reached out and grabbed it, he was fine, but I about had a heart attack!
 
My little girl reached out and pulled the cord of a little mini vacume in through her cage and all my B/f heard was a little squeek. she got shocked but she was fine no sores or anything. you should be fine since it was just a little wire. the wire she chewed on was 3 times as big as a cell phone cord.
 
He didn't die from the burns..in fact, he had very minimal burns, which is why we weren't exactly sure what had happened until I inspected the room he got out in on my hands and knees. The burns weren't detected until after I found the chewed cord.

B.Cygni said:
did she lose it from the problems with chewing on things, or the electrical shock?
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We're not sure, but the vet and I think both. He had an impaction showed by x-rays; what we presumed to be partially caused by the plastic coating he ingested by chewing the wire, and also caused by the shock from the wire, since it pretty much zapped his little body and caused him to become dehydrated.

The shock itself actually messed up and threw off his whole system, and kept him from eating.
 
Okay, we've done a complete look over of the little girl, and it does look like there's some blood on one of her front paws- whether this is from her adventures with the electrical wire, or from pissing off her enemy chinchilla in the opposite corner who really hates her, it is unknown.

I don't have any styptic powder, would flour be the next best thing?

EDIT: incidentally, she hasn't stopped eating
 
Though I would add, electrocution signs to watch for are lethargy, decrease in appetite, difficulty walking...that's pretty much the only things Neeko exhibited.
 
She's not lethargic, that's for sure- she did a room runaround about 4 times when we tried to burrito her to get a look at the wound- light, like a very very shallow graze, but a little blood- and she's eating- no difficulty walking or running.
 
I wouldn't be too worried if she's active and eating, then. I'm not sure how they would act right after a shock. I didn't find Neeko until morning, and I'm not sure how long he had been out of his cage. There was a 3-4 time gap in between the last time I saw him in his cage and found him out.

I would keep a pretty close eye on her though, and make sure none of those symptoms develop.

If the scratch is minimal, I wouldn't be too worried about it either. If you wanted to, just as a precaution, you could dab some Blu-Kote on it. Other than that, I wouldn't fuss over it too much.
 
I don't have any blu-kote, either- I'm not even sure what it is, to be honest. :( Flour is a bad idea, then?

Keeping your thoughts about dehydration in mind, I just dropper-fed her some water. I'll keep doing that for an hour or so, just in case. It is a very small dropper. :)
 
Nah, unless it is really bleeding, don't worry about it. Just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get swollen/irritated looking over the next few days.

Edit: Try wiping it with a damp towel with antibacterial soap.
 
addictedtochins said:
You really must separate those 2 chins, they could easily fight to the death!
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......they are seperated. XD They're in separate cages, across the room from each other! They used to be best friends. :(

I have a feeling the other one might have given her a little warning nip on the paw while they poked noses at each other while she was out. :(
 
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Wiped her paw with a damp cloth (no soap, I figured she'd lick it (she did) and I didn't want her licking any soap I didn't trust and making the situation worse...), and she started holding it up, loathe to use it.

I have a feeling that's just because it's wet, though. :)

Anything else, guys? *worrying*
 
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