Is my new chinchilla blind?

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zombiezeatbrain

zombiezeatbrain

Philosophically inclined?
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
155
Location
Eugene, OR
Today I took my sister to get a 7 year old male pink-white chinchilla from someone who had an ad on craigslist claiming that if someone did not pick him up then they were going to take him to the pound. The people gave the chinchilla to us free along with a free cage and all supplies they owned. (I am an experienced chinch owner) so the cage is rather spacious, but I've found his behavior to be strange- and rather disturbing. He walks around his cage on hind legs, back and forth, back and forth. continually. then he goes up to the second level and does the same thing. When I tried to pick him up after he had been inside his cage all day, he made strange squealing noises that I had never heard coming from my or any other chinchilla. I left both cage doors open and he remained in his cage pacing back and forth on hind legs. However, he came out when I held the ball that the previous owners gave us to his cage. My conclusion is that the only time they would let him out of his cage would be in the ball (aka death ball) that they gave us with his other supplies. He walks around on hind legs continuously and runs into everything. He does not know when my hand is in the cage or not because he doesn't respond to it at all, and he is guided along walls of the room he is in. When he rests he stuffs his nose into the corner of his cage and falls asleep. I am just very worried he may have severe spinal damage due to the ball and that he is blind (which really isn't something to be concerned about because I can't change that) but is there anything I can to do help him walk regularly on all fours again other than just stop using the ball completely? And is there any way to know for sure if he's actually blind?
 
I have a blind boy, and he acts like any other chin. He finds his way around the cage perfectly fine, even when I rearrange the cage (which isn't often out of respect for him). The only difference between him and my other chins is that he spends most of his time in his tube, and dislikes being pet, even after me having had him for 3, almost 4 years. His eyes are also cloudy, rather than clear, like a normal chins.

I agree with Sanja, he needs to be seen by a vet to see if there is something else wrong.
 
It sounds more like he was never paid attention to and he has developed behavioral issues and bad habits because of it. If he had spinal damage, I would be more concerned that he couldn't walk at all, not that he's standing on his hind legs. I have had chins who do that, walk around on their hind legs when they are in their cage, but when I let them out to run they would go down to all fours and act like a normal chin. In this boys case, it just may be that he only ever got out in the ball and developed the habit of standing up to get it to move. I would think with time and patience, and lots of free roaming time in an enclosed area, that he would begin to act more chin-like in this regard.

As far as whether he is blind or not, have you looked into his eyes? Do they appear to be milky or cloudy, as with a cataract? When you say he doesn't see your hand, if you put it quickly in front of him with him looking at you, as though to strike, does he recoil from you? If he doesn't it's possible he is blind. What color are his eyes? If they are pink, it's possible he has diminished visual capacity, much like in rats who have pink eyes.

The squeaking is probably normal. Some chins just do that when you pick them up. Remember that every chin is different personality wise, and just because your chins (who are used to being handled I'm sure) don't do it, doesn't mean it's abnormal for this one to do it.

As always, watch peeing, pooping, drinking, and eating. It may just be that he's stressed in a new home and needs a little while to settle in, but as long as he's doing all the normal chin stuff PPDE (my new abbreviation!), then you're headed in the right direction.
 
Pooping peeing drinking eating? Though the destroying one is good too. Maybe should add that to the abbreviation
 
i have a blind girl. The first week she pretty much stayed on the bottom, then once she figured out where everything was she moved like anyother chin. She definatly knows the there is a hand in front of her, or when the doors to the cage open. Could it be possible that he is both blind and deaf? just throwing it out there, Ive never heard of it but I suppose anything is possible. I would get a vet visit just to be safe with this one.

The running into things is a little more disturbing that the walking on hind legs, my blind girl never ran into things, she figured it out, like I said, and since has had no trouble.
 
Even if he was blind, wouldn't his whiskers help keep him from running into things? I'm basing this off of other animal knowledge, but isn't that what their very long whiskers are for- distance judgement? I know that that's also how they determine dominance, but sure that's not ALL they are for.
I'm not super knowledgeable, but it does sound like a behavioral issue- like he wasn't really given playtime or much TLC and was more of an entertainment vessel that got boring to the previous owners. Poor thing. You did a lovely service taking him in and I will send good karma your way.
 
After spending a lot of time with him today (almost all day) I'm happy to say he's already made progress in the way he walks. But regarding the question up there about what his eyes look like, they are red (as all pink-whites have), and I haven't noticed any clouding in them at all really. The only other color I notice in them are a very thin light blue outlining on the outer rim of his eye, but it doesn't look cloudy or strange at all, in my opinion it looks like it's supposed to be there. I was browsing some youtube videos earlier today and found a few videos of chins who make the exact same noise when their owner goes to touch or pick them up in their cage, so that's comforting. Also, the fact that he was hopping on his hind legs in general wasn't really all that concerning to me, it's that he would stand up and extend his spine so far backwards that he would end up falling down the other way because of how far he arched it, and he would do this in a constant notion in a small corner of his cage, just looking up as if there was something there. But I actually did come to realize today that he is either EXTREMELY hard of hearing, or he is deaf altogether. I know how chinchillas respond to noise, he won't respond to any minimal noises at all, and he'll respond to maybe 1 out of every 10 loud noises made (if by coincidence I don't know). When he's let out, he will run around like any other chinch, he just runs along the perimeter of the room and no where else. He just follows the walls as if they guide him. I thrusted my hand at him in a very fast notion to test his sight, that my own chinchilla would run from had I done it to him, and he didn't respond at all. It's evident that this chinch has some issues, but I'm more than willing to try and help him. Is it possible to give enough time to a chinch that he won't be so afraid of being picked up or being pet at this age? Will the elimination of the ball altogether slowly stop his habit of hyperextending his back? We really do love him, he's the sweetest thing, I just hope he'll become more comfortable with my sister and I.
 
It may take a while for your chin to settle & go back to 'normal' behaviour patterns. What he is displaying currently is a repetitive stress type behaviour (or Abnormal Behaviour Pattern) which he has learned in response to stress in his previous home environment - it's going to take time to unlearn all that.

If he is going right up in his cage & is flipping on the top shelf I would be tempted to cover the roof of the cage with a board or some cloth so that he is less exposed - chins are prey animals & sometimes having a large expanse of exposed sky above them is frightening & can trigger stress behaviours - you can also put some toys to disrupt his pacing patterns in the cage - for example, attach a hammock where he walks or a tube or some hanging wooden toys to distract him - if you break his repetitive patterns it can work wonders.

Patience & gentle persistence are the keys to dealing with ABPs - it can take time but when the chin calms down & starts relaxing then all that patience has paid off.

Good luck & please do keep us posted.
 
I just read your thread about your blind chinchilla. How is he doing now? I'm curious if he displays the same behaviours as my blind girl. When she first came to my home, she would bury her nose in the corner too. I think it was stress. Over the period of about 10 months, she began to come more out of her shell. She always runs the perimeter of a room, checks out where everything is, then begins to run a little faster. She doesn't always react in time when her whiskers touch something and she does run into things, so we try not to move anything in her play area once she's checked it all out. Including ourselves. My girl has dark eyes with no apparent cloudiness. Are you noticing about the same thing with your guy?
 
Ticklechin, I was just thinking about that! I thought the OP had sold this chinchilla, wasn't sure it was the same one!
 
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