Hi there,
I'm looking for advice on how to deal with a possible hair ring please? About midnight last night our male chinchilla was out in the bedroom, and I noticed that he was behaving really weirdly, nibbling at his bits and making weird noises, and he looked uncomfortable and freaked out. I'd read enough about hair rings that I thought there might be something wrong, so I picked him up and tried to have a look, he was squirming a bit but I could see that something was wrong with his penis - it looked swollen and the head was poking out. I did my best to see if I could locate a hair ring and used a bit of petroleum jelly on my fingers to try and not enflame it any more, but I couldn't see anything. He was getting a bit distressed so I decided to put him back and see if he could sort himself out, but I kept an eye on him most of the night - he continued nibbling at himself and was still swollen but he calmed down a bit.
I checked on him again early this morning, and it looks like everything has gone back to normal, he's not poking out any more and he seems much more like himself, back to normal activity and doesn't seem uncomfortable. He still looks a bit wet down there however so I reckon he could be fussing at himself a little when I don't see. But considering he seemed so swollen last night, might there still be a hair ring in there somewhere? I just tried to check him out again and he was more calm but I'm worried I'm being too rough in trying to bring out his penis - does anyone have any advice for how to check him? I've been non stop reading all night and I watched some videos but I'm still not really sure how to actually tease it out to look?
Also as it seemed quite bad last night, and although he seems more normal now, should I consider taking him to the vet for a proper look? I would do this in a heartbeat however I don't want to put him through that stress if it's not necessary.
What do you think?
I'm looking for advice on how to deal with a possible hair ring please? About midnight last night our male chinchilla was out in the bedroom, and I noticed that he was behaving really weirdly, nibbling at his bits and making weird noises, and he looked uncomfortable and freaked out. I'd read enough about hair rings that I thought there might be something wrong, so I picked him up and tried to have a look, he was squirming a bit but I could see that something was wrong with his penis - it looked swollen and the head was poking out. I did my best to see if I could locate a hair ring and used a bit of petroleum jelly on my fingers to try and not enflame it any more, but I couldn't see anything. He was getting a bit distressed so I decided to put him back and see if he could sort himself out, but I kept an eye on him most of the night - he continued nibbling at himself and was still swollen but he calmed down a bit.
I checked on him again early this morning, and it looks like everything has gone back to normal, he's not poking out any more and he seems much more like himself, back to normal activity and doesn't seem uncomfortable. He still looks a bit wet down there however so I reckon he could be fussing at himself a little when I don't see. But considering he seemed so swollen last night, might there still be a hair ring in there somewhere? I just tried to check him out again and he was more calm but I'm worried I'm being too rough in trying to bring out his penis - does anyone have any advice for how to check him? I've been non stop reading all night and I watched some videos but I'm still not really sure how to actually tease it out to look?
Also as it seemed quite bad last night, and although he seems more normal now, should I consider taking him to the vet for a proper look? I would do this in a heartbeat however I don't want to put him through that stress if it's not necessary.
What do you think?
I spoke to the vets on the phone and they advised he go in that day to check him properly. The vet had a good look at him and couldn't see a fur ring (if there was one he must have successfully removed it himself). She examined him fully, checked his teeth and weight etc and found him totally healthy so thought that he might have just been feeling a bit tender, and even while we were there he perked up (if he was a little upset at being fussed over). She said it was the right thing to do to bring him in and give him a proper check though and showed me how to check him myself in the future. Very reassuring and he's much more like himself now. Thanks for the advice 
