Chin's one ear is red and floppy

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Cait2040

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Nov 29, 2010
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My boyfriend and I brought home a chin about a week ago from a family who could no longer care for it. We did research online and learned as much as we could about them as soon as we brought her home. Her behavior has seemed completely normal, except for the expected jitters, but over time it seems that she has been getting more and more used to us.

Over the last two days, we have noticed that her right ear will become red, and flop down. When we first noticed this we went online and found out that it was due to overheating (only one have BOTH ears become this way). Usually when this happens it is when we are cooking dinner, and we figured since we were using the stove or oven, that we should move her across the kitchen, and this has seemed to work, as her ear would quickly go back up.

Here is all the information regarding her situation right now:
We keep her in the kitchen
There is a small baseboard heater in the room, that since the day we brought her home has been the same temperature ( there is no way of telling the exact since the only settings are hig, med, or low and we always keep it on high)
There is also a window right above the heater ( which is why we keep it on high, incase of drafts)
Since we have brought her home we have been weening her onto new food since her previous owners fed her rabbit food, which isn't the best for their diet.
She usually doesn't eat her regular food TOO often, but always chows down on her hay.
We also changed her bedding once we brought her home to the same bedding we use for our ferret. It is "CareFresh"

Today, we let her run around the living room in her ball for a little while, then let her run around a little bit free from the ball. After we put her back in her cage, she seemed antsy to get back out, and was very hyper. About two hours later we looked over and noticed what looked like her chewing yet she hadn't eaten anything. She turned her head and we noticed that the right ear was down again. I went to her cage and felt her right ear which was very warm and the left ear was cool. I was again worried about overheating so I turned off the heater ( which is the only heat source in the room). I also noticed that she was eating alot more than normal. She kept going back and forth from her hay to her regular food. I then put a glass dish into the freezer and placed it in her cage. She sat in it for a minute and her ear seemed to perk back up, but shortly after it went back down. I will continue to monitor her throughout the night, and if it doesn't improve I will contact a specialist in the morning. I am just worried, and probably over-reacting since nothing online says anything about just one ear reacting to overheating. Any input on this would be great. I have included some pictures.
 

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It sounds to me like she overheated. Ears that are hot and red are a sign of that.

First piece of advice- DITCH THE BALL. We call them death balls here for a reason. Chinchillas need to stay cool and dry, and a ball provides neither. They are running in their own pee and poop and they get very hot very quickly. Overheating a chinchilla can kill it very quickly. It is like running with the heat on in a fur coat- not comfortable at all.
The care fresh has been known to cause intestinal blockages. Most recommend kiln dried pine or even fleece liners.
 
Huh, that is weird. Could it be that she was overheating but because her right ear is closer to her body that is got hotter, and thus redder? That's a guess but maybe something is wrong with her ear. Although, if she did have an infection you'd think that it would be red all the time but who knows. Maybe her ear was injured or something and just naturally lays weird like that. Do you notice her ear flat when it's not red or just in general at all?

The fact that her ear got red when you were cooking and after she was running in the ball points to overheating. Like it was said, the balls are not recommended (someone here covered half of one with fleece and made a swing out of an old one actually it wasn't too shabby). Maybe you should consider turning the heater to medium regularly. Hope you figure it out or it gets better somehow.
 
It'd be a good idea to get a thermometer for that room if you can also. With the heater being in that room it can get hot quick.
 
I've never delt with this but my first guesses would be like GorillaJTA suggested would be overheating; chinchillas only need to be in a room that is about 65 degrees or atleast that's what I keep my room at. If you don't have a thermometer get a cheapo one from walmart or something, something that is small and accurate that you can keep above their cage or near it.

The second thing I would come to think of is an infection, although human and chinchilla anatomy's are different when a human gets a ear infection it is generally red, possibly swollen and hot; atleast in my body they do.

I second on getting rid of the ball, they're not healthy for the chinchilla at all; it doesn't matter how cute they are in it. Put it this way, how would you enjoy running in a giant plastic ball with low ventilation in a fur coat and no where to go to the bathroom but where you stand? Gross.
 
It's kind of hard to tell from the pics what color she is. If she is a beige chin they tend to have pink ears especially when sleeping. It doesn't necessarily mean they are overheated--when any of my beiges is sleeping they always have pink or red ears. Once they wake up and move around a bit they are no longer red.

But yes as you can't tell the temp of the room she is kept in you need to get a thermometer in that room. Chins don't do well at all in high and humid temps. I try never to let my room get above 72 degrees--most often it's kept between 60 and 70 degrees.

As Jeremy (gorilla) said the death ball is not a good thing for the chin to hang around in. If you'd like your chin to have playtime the bathroom or a closed off hallway is best. If you can 100% chin proof a room in the house you have that's another option. By chin proof that means nothing they can crawl under and get into and no cords or plugs they can chew on.
 
It is important to keep a close watch on the temperature of the room...That being said sometimes when chinchillas are snuggled up sleeping they will have thier ears pressed tight against them and warm and red. So it is not always the cause for alarm.

But if it is happening when you use the stove or she is in the ball then she very well may be getting too warm. Like others said ditch the ball....
 
I have chins cuddle together and they have this problem all the time. What happens is that the ear gets bunched up and it turns red because there's not a lot of air flow. When the ears get warm like that they tend to just flop over. Beiges show it so much more than the other mutations.

I agree...get rid of the ball. :) The chins don't really like them that much...they like to get out and explore for playtime. Overheating and getting out of the stupid ball are both risks that I don't like...and they come out of the ball with all their poopies stuck in their fur. I haven't used them at all for maybe 11 years or more at this point. I remember them getting dirty and full of poop even when I was right there to supervise.
 
Thank you all so much for the input. A short while after posting this she fell asleep and while she was asleep the ear returned to normal. I have been watching her closely all day and it seems to be staying normal. I definitely will not put her in the ball anymore. I really didn't like it anyway because as someone pointed out, she's just running around in her own poop and she just runs into things and I'm afraid of that injuring her. I will most definitely get a thermometer for the kitchen. The main reason we keep her in there is so she doesn't become lonely since we spend 98% of our time in the living room, and we wanted her to become used to us. Again, thank you all and I look forward to posting more on here about my new lil buddy ^_^
 
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