What one chin can do to another<GRAPHIC pics>

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RDZCRanch

RDZCRanch

RavenousDeadlyZombieChins
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
2,884
Location
California
First off...Stace...feel free to use these pictures if you want.

I put together and repaired/paired about 18 to 20 chinchillas yesterday. The majority of them are still getting along and doing great together. They are having cuddle fests and grooming and love on each other.

Two of the pairs I put together did not work out. One ended with a bunch of fur pulling and they're separated now to keep from any lasting injury.

I paired up two males in a cage that doesn't have a female's scent or any reason for them to fight. They chased each other for a minute or two last night then resorted to grooming and cuddling. I sat in the room with all these new pairings of chins for a good 5 hours yesterday just in a panic and worrying if anything went wrong. Everyone was fine though and I checked three times before I went to bed...all was quiet and all the chins were cuddling. I got up this morning and checked on ALL the pairs...everyone was still cuddling and doing well together.

I checked about three hours ago and found that the male/male pair I had put together ended up fighting. The older male ripped into the younger male and just left him in a horrible mess. Spooky is doing well though and is not showing any signs of shock. In fact, when I took him out to clean his wounds he thought it meant playtime in the bathroom and he kept trying to jump away so he could nibble on things and investigate. I'm posting this not because I want to horrify anyone but to let people know about the dangers of pairing chinchillas. This boy is lucky that this happened with me...I have so much wound experience with animals that he will recover fully with no long term health issues. Also, since I've done this so many times over the years...I was able to clean him up and medicate him without hurting him or making him cry. I can only imagine what would happen if this were something an inexperienced owner would have to deal with. Hopefully SEEING the wounds that can be caused will make people think twice before throwing chin A into breeding with chin B. This isn't wounds from breeding...but I've found this wound pattern on all too many females. The MOST common wounds are on the head from between the ears to just between the eyes. BE CAREFUL!

Higher view...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_0929.jpg

close up on some of the wounds...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_0933.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_0935.jpg

and now after I cut away all the fur that would interfere with healing...he was blu koted. He now looks like a Skunk and was given a couple raisins to keep him from going shocky. He thinks I was spoiling him and now he won't stop begging for more raisins...such a good sport!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_0937.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_0940.jpg
 
Scary scary stuff you just never know what will happen. Scarier still sometimes despite injuries they are perfectly fine and sometimes they die from injuries that were much much more mild. I have a male here missing (permently) a spot on the top of his head between the eyes where a female ripped him right to the skull.
 
Oh gosh, I gave you bad luck, Tab :(

Not to steal your thread, but I thought Essence got beat up pretty bad yesterday, but looks like your babies got the worst of it. Pretty much near the same spot though. Hopefully they'll all pull through just fine.
 
Tab and I thought it'd be a good idea to add pictures of what happened to my girl yesterday also, just for reference and to help those who are unprepared. I had just put her in breeding the night before in a run setting. Male and her were cuddling at 2am when I last checked on them and my grandfather woke me up at 9am yesterday morning to a bloodbath. He as hysterical. Luckily I've dealt with a few wounds now that I was comfortable with cleaning it. Poor girl was in shock and went into seizures for about an hour. I offered a raisin, but she wasn't interested. I kept her warm until she snapped out of it. Luckily I got her back on track and gave her some metacam for the pain. Fixed her up with blu-kote and she's acting more like herself today.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u146/threewingedfury/DSC_0387.jpg

The photo looks like the male almost took her eye out, but luckily, it's not harmed from what I can tell because she responds to stimuli from that eye. He went straight for the head, and there were severe wounds that took a while to stop bleeding. Luckily my grandfather caught it before he killed her.
 
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Ugh guys, I'm sorry to see that :( glad they are doing well.

Had a pink white nearly scalped last year, thought I was going to loose her because of the wounds and the fact she wouldn't eat..but thankfully she bounced back with force feedings.
 
Awwww, not Spooky. He's such a lovely guy. Isn't he the one that yells at you? Fingers crossed he makes a full and quick recovery.
 
Good Lord! I could only look at the first photo and Tiffs first photo.I am always shocked to read these stories. However the information is quite valuable. Just sorry you two and others have had these experiences.
One wonders what sets them off. I've often given it alot of thought. Is it territory? Personality conflicts ect. I'm lucky to have been blessed with no serious fights.
I had a bonded pair of girls that had to be seperated a few years back. Only thing I can think of for this pair was one had been very stressed as a kit. I actually paid money for two pet store kits. I had been in the store earlier during the "day" and found a larger kit in a cage of a dozen or so chasing a smaller kit. All the others had hidden in a drain tile. ( yeah I rolled my eyes too) And one hammock above loaded with little tiny kits hiding. Was like a fight club. I did tell the owner the cage was too small and other suggestions. So after talking to the husband, I went back and bought them. This pet store was later closed down for too many complaints.
A year later the small kit that had been beat turned on the other kit I had bought at the same time. I had to sell off the aggressor. She had only chased and pulled hair and there was alot of vocal aggitation and teeth chatter.
The chin that remained went into depression and I bought her a kit. They love each other. But I am aware to this day that the kit lets her be the alpha.
My chin room has a string of personalities. And are very territorial about their homes. If a chin gets loose and is near other cages I have fire works with a few. I can only think in the wild they have a territory range that perhaps they would defend to death. Just a theory.
But I have no explination for cage mate beatings. I wish the best for both of you and your injured chins. I know I'd be crying like crazy.
 
That is exactly what Orson's wounds looked like, only he was a black velvet, so I didn't know the actual extent of it until I tried to move a bit of fur and noticed it wasn't attached to anything. :tissue:
I wonder if Orson had been with either of you, if he would have survived. He was in shock when I found him, labored breathing, just letting me do whatever to him, not even trying to move.
:cry3:
I'm sorry for your chins that got beat up, but I'm really glad they pulled through for you
 
Brittany_Lynn said:
I wonder if Orson had been with either of you, if he would have survived. He was in shock when I found him, labored breathing, just letting me do whatever to him, not even trying to move.
Click to expand...

When a chin goes into shock it is EXTREMELY hard to pull them out of it. If the chin has a will to live, pulling them through can be easy but if they don't want to fight, nothing can be done for them. Out of about 15 chins that I've had go into shock here over the years...I've saved probably 6 of them. If they aren't in shock, I've saved 100% of them. Don't beat yourself up about Orson...the best you could do for him once you found him was to hold him and keep him warm until he passed, which I am sure you did.;)
 
wow.......i hope i never have to experience that.

just for knowledge sake andt just in case I ever need to know....what exactly happens when they go in shock? or what are the sign or symptoms.

tif said her chin snapped out of it and tab, you said you were able to save them. what exactly did you guys do to help them get thru this??
 
mishellyshel said:
wow.......i hope i never have to experience that.

just for knowledge sake andt just in case I ever need to know....what exactly happens when they go in shock? or what are the sign or symptoms.

tif said her chin snapped out of it and tab, you said you were able to save them. what exactly did you guys do to help them get thru this??
Click to expand...

When they go into shock, the body temperature drops and the chinchilla becomes extremely lethargic. Sometimes they'll have seizures, especially if the shock is from some kind of physical trauma. The best thing to get them out of shock is to bring up their blood sugar. If I see the beginnings of shock I will give them a raisin. If they are too far gone to eat a raisin on their own they get put on a heating bad and giving IV fluids. Usually the combination of warmth and hydration will get them back enough that they can take a raisin and start perking up.

I'm don't remember what Tiff did...she told me in chat but I've been foggy the last few days so I can't remember! Hopefully she will be on soon to share her success story!;)
 
I have only one chin, and would love to have another one as a cage mate. But horror stories like these always remind me of why I only have one chin. Tink came to me from a lady who had several chins, and Tink had to be seperated because she did not get along with other chins. I could be selfish, and think of my needs first and get another chin and see how they do together, or I can think of her first, and keep her as a single chin, and safe from anything like this happening to her. I think it is great that these stories and pics are posted to remind all of us to be responsible chin owners.

I hope your babies heal quickly!
 
I gave fluids (warm) sub-q and kept her warm in a heated towel from the microwave. I couldn't get her to eat a raisin at that time, so at first I thought I had lost her. Her seizures did continue for quite some time, but she just popped out of it all of a sudden.

I don't really recommend giving fluids if you have no experience doing so. I have lost a lot of animals to shock in the past and this is my first one I've been able to bring out of it. I've taken some of my chins to the vet who were in shock and they could never bring them out of it either, so I decided to do this on my own this time and see if I could get her back, and luckily it worked. Doesn't mean that it'll happen again, we just both got lucky.
 
RDZCRanch said:
When a chin goes into shock it is EXTREMELY hard to pull them out of it. If the chin has a will to live, pulling them through can be easy but if they don't want to fight, nothing can be done for them. Out of about 15 chins that I've had go into shock here over the years...I've saved probably 6 of them. If they aren't in shock, I've saved 100% of them. Don't beat yourself up about Orson...the best you could do for him once you found him was to hold him and keep him warm until he passed, which I am sure you did.;)
Click to expand...

Thank you for that, and after reading the description of shock and what to do, I think the only thing that could have saved Orson was if I had woken up sooner; he was totally lethargic, and drooling a lot (poor baby :'[ ). He wouldn't take a raisin--which I offered him just out of that "this-is-your-favorite-thing-in-the-world-and-I-feel-terrible-here-have-a-bunch-of-them" instinct that happens if my animals are sick. I *am* thankful I was with him, I'm sure it was a comfort to him.

Gosh I'm like Debbie Downer every time I post! If you read this and start feeling sad, don't, because I am not, and Orson is in a happy place now :)
 
I am so sorry that you had to experience that. It is amazing how dangerous these creatures can be to one another.. I hope recovery goes smoothly! I'm glad these chinchillas have someone so experienced to make sure that it does go smoothly!

Best of luck and lots of love,
Rach
 
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