Chinchilla Limp

[Paul_ToMy_Linda]

Hi! I recently got a new chinchilla, the other one ended up hurting him worse than I thought, they were immediately separated at sign of distress, but now when he walks he is letting the back side of his body drag. I took him to the vet this morning, he got pain medication and an X-ray, no broken bones or anything, so they sent me home, said he most be sore or something. He doesn't balk at me touching him, and he is eating and drinking, he was even chewing on some wood in his little hide, but I am just so worried about him! I can't help but be extremely anxious. He had the X-ray and everything but he just wasn't as active as he was when I first got him a week ago. I realize these medications aren't to "heal" him, they are simply to help with pain, but it hurts me to see him in pain, does anyone have experience with a chin that "sprained" or bruised themselves or something and started acting so weird? I just don't want anything bad to happen to him. Thank you

(video below is from yesterday with how he was walking, he actually does look better today when comparing it to yesterdays look)

 

[Jawramik]

You did the right thing by taking him to the vet. If they didn't see anything concerning on the x-rays, it may just be something like a sprain or some soft tissue damage that just needs time to heal. I'd advise continuing with his pain meds per your vet's instructions and just keep an eye on him. You may also want to consider removing some of his shelving and/or placing it lower in his cage, just to ensure he doesn't aggravate the injury by jumping or falling. You'll also want to make sure he has easy access to his food and water without having to jump or climb. Do what you can to keep him relatively quiet while he heals.

In th video, it also looks like he has some mats in his fur? At some point you'll want to comb those out. I seem to recall that there has been some posts on here in the past about how to deal with hair mats, I'll see if I can find them and link to them.

 

[Jawramik]

Here's a thread that talks about removing hair mats: General Grooming and Knots