Hunched back

[Allyson]

I took in a 9 month old mosaic female (who I have named Loki) in from Craigslist on September 1st of this year and the girl I got her from had NO idea how to take care of a chinchilla... granted I am still learning, but she had Loki housed on cedar shavings, never gave her dust baths but gave her REAL baths with water instead, and was fed bad pellets. She had one of those hay houses/baskets for hay but that was it, and she was kept in a small cage, a size that seemed to be suited for hamsters.

I noticed Loki was very thin when I got her and had a hunched back, but showed no signs of sickness and she was overly curious during playtime like any chinchilla. Since then she has gained weight, but she still has that hunch in her back (as in, I can FEEL the hunch there, and not just when she sits sometimes). Loki is approx. 11 months now.

I did a little searching over the forums and read it could be malocclusion? How long does this take to develop? I have had her a little more than 2 months and like I said, she has gained some weight and not lost any. I think I also read in another post it can be caused due to poor diet at an early age which would definitely describe poor Loki's food, but was kind of hoping this could be clarified?

She is living with a roommate, she used to chew everything like her fleece to high heaven until she had one, and now she seems to have stopped. Should I remove Link from Loki??

Also, I was wondering if there are any other health issues that can/may cause this... thank you.

 

[alli713]

A hunched back can happen from poor nutrition. What type of feed are you using?

Seeing as Link is a male, I would be inclined to separate them. You say he's infertile, but unless he's neutered there's no way of proving that. Getting her pregnant in this state is the last thing Loki needs. It will also help you keep track of her eating and pooing.

 

[Allyson]

A hunched back can happen from poor nutrition. What type of feed are you using?

Seeing as Link is a male, I would be inclined to separate them. You say he's infertile, but unless he's neutered there's no way of proving that. Getting her pregnant in this state is the last thing Loki needs. It will also help you keep track of her eating and pooing.

I feed PANR and unlimited western timothy hay.

Chantel told me he was infertile (from her vet) because his mother tore his penis sheath off when he was a baby, and now his penis hangs/sticks out all the time. He can still possibly be fertile? :confused2:

 

[Spoof]

Hunchback is usually due to kidney or liver issues (internal distress). It can be relieved over time by proper feeding and care. The cases I've had have gone away after six months or so of good nutrition, though I did have one very old female that took about a year.

I did a little searching over the forums and read it could be malocclusion?

Haven't read that one yet, but not being able to eat correctly could also cause internal pain which causes them to hunch like that.

How long does this take to develop?

It can show up overnight.

Just keep on trooping, it'll right itself if everything else about her is normal and healthy. )

 

[addictedtochins]

Chantel told me he was infertile (from her vet) because his mother tore his penis sheath off when he was a baby, and now his penis hangs/sticks out all the time. He can still possibly be fertile? :confused2:

It seems to me he could still be fertile. I'm not trying to be gross, but I don't see how that would be any different than a man who has been circumcised.

 

[Riven]

The sheath doesn't make the sperm, the testicles do, and if he still has them, he's fertile.

There is nothing that I know of that says hunchback has to do with maloclussion, the only connection would be the link of poor nutrition and care leading to both.

Please separate them.

As for Loki, if she is eating and doing well, don't worry about it. Sometimes overtime with good nutrition hunchback can almost totally repair itself, but more often it will never completely go away. I have a girl here who has hunchback, she's gotten better in the last couple months here, but I doubt it will ever completely go away. More weight can make it appear less severe, but usually it is still there.

 

[Allyson]

Thank you for your advice everyone, I am at work right now but when I get home I will give them each a part/level of their FN142 and separate them. I feel kind of bad because Loki finally found someone she got a long with but now I have to split them up, but I know it's for the best. I will be able to look for a friend for Loki and Link in a month or so (when I can afford another FN142 + 2 more chins), I think they would probably do OK with a baby/young chin of the same sex, Loki just had a hard time getting along with my other females because Luna did not like her immediately, and Luna is somewhat of a fussy little girl and seems to only like Lexi and Lily.

 

[nicky]

Separate them for now, but if they get along really well maybe you should consider having him fixed? Then Link and Loki can live happily ever after together.

 

[starleomach]

It can sometimes take a long while to recover. I have a girl here who had bad delivery followed by infection that lost a ton of weight in a short time. She has been recovering for over a year. She is slowly getting better but still has a hunched back. It takes a lot longer to put it on thn take it off.

 

[Allyson]

Separate them for now, but if they get along really well maybe you should consider having him fixed? Then Link and Loki can live happily ever after together.

I have thought about this, but I'm always worried if something might go wrong during or after surgery. I know my vet neuters guinea pigs for roughly $250 but I have not asked her about chinchillas, because I did not think it was something I might need someday. Link and Loki had only been together for 3-ish weeks, and I know he is more attached to her than she is to him - they usually would not sleep together but rather her in the hidey house and him outside of it like he is her guard or something. I am still considering it though.

It can sometimes take a long while to recover. I have a girl here who had bad delivery followed by infection that lost a ton of weight in a short time. She has been recovering for over a year. She is slowly getting better but still has a hunched back. It takes a lot longer to put it on thn take it off.

As long as Loki is gaining weight I hope she will be OK... she is still pretty active at night, and I do not think the "hump" or hunched is hurting her... I felt her back again earlier and I may have been overreacting about the size of it, it does not really feel like much of a hump there, and I think she just sits in a way that makes it seem like there is an actual hump.

Her fur is kind of crappy due to her previous owner giving her water baths and not dust baths - she said she used to live with another chinchilla who would pee on her... I wonder what happened to the other poor chin And thankfully she did not develop an URI from the baths or cedar bedding.

 

[Spoof]

and I do not think the "hump" or hunched is hurting her... I felt her back again earlier and I may have been overreacting about the size of it, it does not really feel like much of a hump there, and I think she just sits in a way that makes it seem like there is an actual hump.

Right, her internal organs hurt, and in certain positions she is tightening her spine (causing the hump) to relieve the discomfort she is feeling. When it ceases to cause her discomfort she will quit doing it - hence the hump going away or becoming less noticeable.

 

[Ristarwen]

Poor Loki!

Correct me if I'm wrong, as I probably did have this set up in my mind incorrectly...
I though that a hunchback could be caused by improper nutrition in the form of a poor nutrient balance. This would result in poor match-up of frame and tissue growth, resulting in too large of a frame for the chins resources for body growth...
Or the poor nutrition results in incorrect frame formation?
Hmmm... My little Suki girl has a hunchback. As she's gained bit more weight, it's become less noticeable. However, I've also read that it will never really go away for good.

If you are planning on neutering Link, I would look around a bit more. The vet school up here neuters chins for only $90 and spays them for $170. The surgeries are done by an experienced vet, while a class observes.