Cuddlebug
Well-known member
A recent post concerning how hot is too hot reminded me of 2 recent rescues that came in to us. We received 2 females that came with a bunch of junk food, bad treats, plastic and the dreaded exercise ball. As always, I gave the girls some time to calm down after the excitement of a new home and went through the supplies that came with them, throwing the junk in my no-no box (chin room trash bin). I had left the ball on top of a an empty cage for the time being since it did not fit in the box.
Now to the girls. I was told that the standard gray did not like being picked up or held but the beige was OK with it. No problem. I needed to give them a quick once over to see if they had any problems that weren't mentioned and to check their genders so I reached in and picked up the beige. She immediately went totally nuts, screaming and biting like she was being tortured. I calmed her down and gave her her a good look see and then put her back. Next, I went to pick up the gray. She behaved in the exact same manner the second I touched her but a little more extreme than the beige and then went limp in my hands. She was conscious, just limp. I finished her check and then put her back in her cage. She immedately bounded around the cage like a normal chin.
Later that night, my son and I were with the chinchillas doing our daily chin work. We were standing in front of the cage containing the little gray girl. She was looking through the wire into the next cage at another female when she decided to stand up and spray the other girl. The other female grunted and walked away which appeared to infuriate the gray girl (Dru). Dru began jumping around on her hind legs and spraying wildly in all directions. After about 15 seconds of this, she collapsed to her side and began having violent seizures, flopping around the cage. I reached in and picked her up to keep her from injuring herself and the seizures stopped immediately, leaving me with a very limp but awake and aware chin. When I put her in her cage, she was a little unsteady and went to a corner to lie down. After that, anytime anything changed, some one talked to her, or something touched her, the poor girl would go into seizures that would stop when I picked her up. Each time Dru went limp in my hands. Every seizure resulted in a loss of motor function that kept getting worse. After several seizures that evening, the poor thing could not stand up and her head control was poor. She passed that later night.
The other chinchilla still freaks out, but is getting better. When she (Dina) goes nuts, she exhibits some degree of neurological problems which include balance issues and uncontrolled movements of her legs. She also seems hypersensitive to touch and very klutzy.
My son and I were discussing the girls a couple of days after Dru's passing trying to figure out what could have caused 2 chins from the same home but different origins to be like that. At the time I was getting something off of a cage nearby when I stood up to look straight at the exercise ball the girls came with. My first reaction was "Oh, my God! Those poor girls!" I talked to my vet about the girls and the ball and he believes that these two were allowed to overheat in that stupid death trap. I agree with him.
So for all of you who think that the balls are safe or that temps over 75 degrees are ok because the chin did not die - read this again and think about it.
Now to the girls. I was told that the standard gray did not like being picked up or held but the beige was OK with it. No problem. I needed to give them a quick once over to see if they had any problems that weren't mentioned and to check their genders so I reached in and picked up the beige. She immediately went totally nuts, screaming and biting like she was being tortured. I calmed her down and gave her her a good look see and then put her back. Next, I went to pick up the gray. She behaved in the exact same manner the second I touched her but a little more extreme than the beige and then went limp in my hands. She was conscious, just limp. I finished her check and then put her back in her cage. She immedately bounded around the cage like a normal chin.
Later that night, my son and I were with the chinchillas doing our daily chin work. We were standing in front of the cage containing the little gray girl. She was looking through the wire into the next cage at another female when she decided to stand up and spray the other girl. The other female grunted and walked away which appeared to infuriate the gray girl (Dru). Dru began jumping around on her hind legs and spraying wildly in all directions. After about 15 seconds of this, she collapsed to her side and began having violent seizures, flopping around the cage. I reached in and picked her up to keep her from injuring herself and the seizures stopped immediately, leaving me with a very limp but awake and aware chin. When I put her in her cage, she was a little unsteady and went to a corner to lie down. After that, anytime anything changed, some one talked to her, or something touched her, the poor girl would go into seizures that would stop when I picked her up. Each time Dru went limp in my hands. Every seizure resulted in a loss of motor function that kept getting worse. After several seizures that evening, the poor thing could not stand up and her head control was poor. She passed that later night.
The other chinchilla still freaks out, but is getting better. When she (Dina) goes nuts, she exhibits some degree of neurological problems which include balance issues and uncontrolled movements of her legs. She also seems hypersensitive to touch and very klutzy.
My son and I were discussing the girls a couple of days after Dru's passing trying to figure out what could have caused 2 chins from the same home but different origins to be like that. At the time I was getting something off of a cage nearby when I stood up to look straight at the exercise ball the girls came with. My first reaction was "Oh, my God! Those poor girls!" I talked to my vet about the girls and the ball and he believes that these two were allowed to overheat in that stupid death trap. I agree with him.
So for all of you who think that the balls are safe or that temps over 75 degrees are ok because the chin did not die - read this again and think about it.
