Plastic bag chewed, likely eaten

[Brian123]

So, I've had my first incident involving plastic

It's been two weeks since getting my two 1 year old female chinchillas, and everything has been great. I researched online, books, and here to give them the best setup and safe food/treats. Then I make a stupid mistake of placing the snack ziplock bag on top of the FN-182 cage and forgetting it

I discovered the top of the bag, the part with the thicker zip lock part, chewed away. The slider knob was still there, which is how I discovered it when it came off opening the bag. I didn't see any pieces of it in the cage.
I usually just place it there temporarily, often when letting them out, and then only placed on an extra piece of fleece to block it (ones that come to cover the FN ramps). Well, I forgot to take it down Friday night. Stupid of me to even do it.

To retrace the events:

I left Saturday morning early to a state fair while they were sleeping. I made sure they had water, food and hay, can't recall if I touched the snack bag at that point. I got back around 3pm, they were still sleeping, so I left them alone. Then at 7pm, left to go to the county fair. Arrived home around 12am, which is when I discovered the bag.

So it may have happened through Friday night, but more likely between 7pm to 12am Saturday night.

Behavior observations:

At Saturday 12am:

Everything is peachy. They had been eating, drinking, still snacking on hay, and even took treats happily. They seemed normal. Question was, who done it, white mosaic or beige, or both. Well, the white mosaic had been resting on the ledge within reach, normally doesn't rest there. Later, my girlfriend notice she was standing on that ledge reaching for the top of the cage, as if trying to find the bag. So safe to say, it was her. She also tries to chew on the plastic dust bath that I need to replace, so some chewing history.

Sunday Morning:

Things seem normal, decent food eaten. Poo pellets abound. Just still a bit active. So I let them out to observe and watch for new poo. I got the beige out for the first time using the dust bath trick. She hopped around with energy, few bounces off walls. Got her self stuck in the bathtub where I found plenty of large poo within no time. They were slightly soft if I squish it, but not mooshy, hard and dry. But honestly, I never picked up fresh poo.

The white chin finally came out and seemed to be more reserved than past playtime. Could be that it was morning and that the beige was also out at the same time influencing her. The moment she tried to come out from under the cage, the beige came back and she went back under. Once I put the beige away, she seemed to explore more finally. I cleared the beige's poo to watch for some from the white chin, but in the past, she never did much outside.

To be sure, cleaned up the top cage and closed it off from the bottom. I placed her in it, which she immediately started searching for a way down. Jumping all the ledges, running fast in circles, so pretty active. Within minutes there were some decent sized poo everywhere. Hers were usually shorter than the beige. Same consistency as the beige. They are also still transitioning to oxbow that's mixed with their old diet.

Saturday Morning Play Time Conclusion:

The both dropped good poo pellets 12 hours from the discovery of the bag, which was probably chewed hours before that. With results from both, I let the white go back to the bottom. They both happily still took treats. When the beige chin was put back in the cage, she drank a ton of water.


Here's a picture of the bag, chewed part is about 3.75" long:


Here's the poo I collected from the play time.


Left is from the white chin, who is the biggest suspect. Again, that poo is 12 hours after discovering the bag, still eating treats and some hay. Still curious and acting normal.

Right is from the beige chin mostly found in and around the tub she had trouble with during play time, since I knew it was from her. She again drank plenty of water after that playtime and checked out hay.

Next 12 hours

From what I can looked up after searching online, the first 24 hours are when trouble may appear. It's easily been 14 hours from when the bag was chewed. So I'll keep an eye on them for the next 10-12 hours, to see if they eat, drink, take treats, and repeat what I did to be sure both are pooing.

Though, at this point, I hope their behavior and poo is a good sign they are okay. If anything starts to go wrong with one, I'll be sure to take that chin to the vet at the earliest.

Still, I'm so sad I let that happen to them

 

[tunes]

Don't beat yourself up. It happens to the best of us. If they are pooping and acting normally, then the are most likely fine.

 

[Brian123]

Thanks for the reply, it's encouraging.

The rest of the day things went fine. They got plenty of sleep after keeping them up this morning. Right now, they are still acting normal 24hrs after discovering the bag.

The beige chin is pretty shy in the cage, being only two weeks, but now a little more outgoing. I've seen her on and off at the food dish, still chewing on the things. Here she is with a chew stick she decided to just keep in her mouth and stare out for a while in a marble tray:


The white mosaic is happily exploring the cage right now, top to bottom. Using the chinspin heavily. When I opened the cage to give chew toys, she quickly came to the bottom and to the door. Had to close it. She then put her hands on the bottom door, stared out, and it looked like her tail suddenly wagged back and forth twice. She's now chewing on a hanging toy:


Tomorrow, I'll check how they are doing in the morning. They haven't been active much yet too see a drastic change in poo. But both are running around the cage faster and effortlessly than ever. Wasn't able to isolate them to check poo at the moment.

 

[Sovay]

Keep an eye and make sure they are pooing normally. One of the first signs my chin is sick is that he won't take his favorite treat, or he'll reluctantly take it and eat it slowly. That is the change in behavior I look for.

Almost everyone has left a plastic bag in a chinny-reachable place at least once. I can say from experience mine have chewed a ziploc bag and lived to tell the tale.

 

[Brian123]

If anything, they seem to be a little bit more at home lately. Making more use of the cage, being just over two weeks. It's also hard to tell if poo is normal since they are about half and half oxbow and the breeders original food pellets.

Overall though, acting normal, loving their chew stuff that arrived yesterday from Ronda. They both played outside together for near an hour. Food is still being eaten.

Though, I'm going to return or toss that commonly known plastic dust bath house. The white one likes to chew on it when out playing. Usually I stop her and she's only done some scratches to it, but last night in an instant she had took a bite out of it as if it were butter.

I won't panic, just gotta keep stay calm and pay attention to any changes. I mean, it seems all the chins at pet stores should be dead with the amount of plastic I've witnessed them eat over time. But no more chances, nothing plastic. Before I leave their cage, I double check nothing is within reach or can fall over.

The only risks I'm left with is cardboard used to protect wood in the bathroom. They sure like to do anything they can to freak us out and worry us

 

[becky12883]

Is everyone still doing okay? I'm pretty sure this is a scare we have all dealt with. Hopefully your babies are doing okay.

 

[Jazicat]

This just happened to me too. We have a new kitten that in the night moved a plastic bag too close to Jackie's cage. After two days of worry he's fine but it's kind of scary.

 

[Brian123]

I've kept an eye on them. They are still drinking water, eating and dropping poo. It's tough to gauge their behavior as it's constantly changing during the volatile bonding stage. It can be confusing if it was something I did or if they are not doing well.

For example. When I got home for lunch yesterday, my roommate and girlfriend were demoing music with portable speakers in my bedroom, and they left the french doors open to the bathroom with the Chinchillas. The music was loud and sharp, very random and noisy, not soothing. I checked on the Chinchillas and they were suddenly very skittish and scattered the moment I tried to get to them, not normal. They must of been very annoyed by the sound, and hopefully didn't associated it with me for walking in there

Later that day, I received replacement Bass metal pans. I changed them out carefully. They were not startled, but probably confused and feared what just went on. As when I tried to give a new treat to the white mosaic immediately after, she suddenly barked several noises, then a 2nd time. So I left her alone. The beige was fine. That's the first time in near 3 weeks she ever made that noise, just cute sounds and teeth chattering. They both seemed skittish still since the loud music incident.

By the end of the night, they were a little more calm. The white mosaic finally took notice to me a couple times at the bars and was up and down the cage, plus running on the wheel again, so that's good. This morning I could hear her eating hay.

Head Tilting Question:
Also, how often do they tilt their heads normally? Sometimes I see the white mosaic's head tilted when resting or after coming to a stop, but fine when eating, moving or if you have her attention, no balance issues. The beige does it now and then too. And the head tilt changes sides, so it seems random. So I doubt they have an infection on one side or anything, but is it normal to see them do it now and then, they can always stay straight when they want.

 

[becky12883]

I have a deaf chin that has a head tilt, it is from chronic ear infections before he came to me. His head is almost constantly tilted, when he's moving, eating, sitting, drinking, running, popcorning, etc. If it's just once in a while when they look at you it's probably just them being curious and checking you out. It sounds like things are going good otherwise. The music probably did freak them out a little, if they are used to complete silence all day. They'll get over it.

 

[Jazicat]

I agree with Becky about the head tilt. All of my boys do it. Do you have a radio or tv that you could have on for when you are not home? I find that strange noises and music are harder to deal with when animals don't have ambient noise. Maybe this would help if your room mates play loud music again.

I also want to say I admire the work you are doing with your girls and really enjoy hearing your updates.

 

[Brian123]

Thanks everyone, I'm feeling better already. It's crazy how the first two weeks were bliss, then one thing goes wrong and I realize how many other things can too and be serious

Here's what I take from this. If there's anything you are doing around your chins that in the back of your mind you know can be risky, stop right there and don't take the chance. It's worth the extra effort to not be blind sighted with how fragile these little guys are and how quickly something simple can become an emergency.

 

[Brian123]

This just happened to me too. We have a new kitten that in the night moved a plastic bag too close to Jackie's cage. After two days of worry he's fine but it's kind of scary.

Yes, very scary. I mean, I've seen how chinchillas survive with uninformed owners and poor conditions at pet stores, eating plastic all the time. I'm usually never worried too much with the pet stores, since after all, they are still alive after being there so long. Yet, one tiny piece of plastic eaten by your own chin and it's nightmares for days. So it caught me off guard when it came to worry about my little guys.

 

[Jazicat]

It's always scarier when it's your baby. All of my boys are between almost four and five but they are still my precious guys. We are going to have to do more redecorating for our new kitten because he's a wild one.

 

[Olallie]

I was told by a vet once when my chin chewed up a plastic grocery bag that unlimited hay for a few days is the best. It acts like "sweeper". Glad to say over the years and a couple plastic things later everyone is still alive and happy.