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Arata Acka

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
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Ok so I have a chinchilla named Rolly. Yesterday he was acting very odd with his back arced and was standing up high off the ground. That night we gave him a rose hip, less then 30 minutes later he had a seizure and his whole body went very stiff and tensed. After it was over he starting to mess his himself a lot and I noticed his penis was very red. I didn't think it would cause a seizure but I did a hair ring check just in case. He didn't have one but the tip was very red. So I don't know if it's from him messing with it or not but it is definitely bothering him. Also I was thinking that he has very bright urine so I'm wondering if it's a urinary tract infection. We're giving him something to raise his immune system and fight back against infection. I'm just starting out breeding and this is the first time I've had an illness in my herd. If anyone knows what he might have please please please tell me so I can help him!
 
Take him to the vet. If it's an infection he will need antibiotics. What are you using as an immunity booster? Is it herbal?
 
I agree with Crysta if you are starting out breeding you need to get him to a vet to make sure if he has something it's not contagious to your other chins. A urinary tract infection or kidney stones can not be fixed by home remedies and a vet must be seen.
 
When you state he was messing, do you mean he was cleaning his penis after the arching of the back? I have seen my males do that move to release the penis from the sheath for cleaning.
 
Yes it's a natural antibiotic called echinacea. I was hoping I wouldn't have to take him to the vet because he and his mate are very easily stressed. With Rolly not feeling well his mate is losing fur (and just so I don't get any bad remarks this is her personality to get stress easily. They are in a cool room with a AC so it's dry) so the last thing I want to do is take him away from her. If it is a urinary track infection it's not contagious so that's why she's still with him and she's helping him calm down.

That would make since but he's keeping his back arched and standing high like the area is sensitive so he doesn't want to touch the ground. Also he's continuousness messing with it and when I checked there wasn't anything there to clean off :/
 
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he needs a vet, and most likely antibiotics. the short term stress of them being separated will be much better than the bigger problem of him getting really sick and potentially dying.

echinacea is not going to cut it as an antibiotic, and he needs real drugs to get over this.

maybe load them both up into the carrier to go to the vet? that way they wouldn't have to be separated.
 
You can use echinacea with a regular antibiotic. Whether you are continuing with the echinacea or not he still needs to see a vet. Self vetting isn't a good idea, especially when you are unfamiliar with what the actual problem is. He could have a kidney/bladder stone, a URI, or another issue. While echinacea will help boost his immune system, it won't cure a stone or other similar issue.
 
I hope some breeders can pipe in here and save this chin from a vet visit since no one is listening to me.
 
i am no breeder, but a chin that has seizures shouldn't be bred. It's not a trait you want to pass on.

The possible infection needs a chin savy vet.
 
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ticklechin said:
I hope some breeders can pipe in here and save this chin from a vet visit since no one is listening to me.
Click to expand...

I did hear you Dawn, but the fact that he continues to "mess" with it, and that it is red & inflamed is what is triggering my attention and my recommendation for a vet visit.
 
I think Dawn may be right. It could have been him "cleaning" himself. Cleaning is a euphemism for him pleasuring himself there. Sometimes they act like that, somewhat like involuntary spasms. If he was messing with himself, it could be that he was just really getting into doing it and the seizure was really just spasms of his own happiness.

I feel so dirty now...

Just wanted to add that he may have been mating with his female quite a bit and maybe he's a bit sore, as well. How good of a fur ring check did you do? Sometimes they get small fur rings wayyy up on the penis and you have to pull it out fully to make sure that you get all the fur.

I don't know. It doesn't sound like an infection to me. If he's in breeding and actually mating with his female, the redness could be from repeated use (ick). Or, he could just be excited and the redness can be from that. Sometimes a male will mate with a female several times over a couple of days.
 
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More than one of my single males do that move when the female is in heat, they do it repeatedly during the day and yes, afterward the tip is red and swollen.
 
To Azchins: that's a very interesting post and I suppose that could be possible and to be honest I REALLY hope so and it's nothing bad. As far has the hair ring check, (now I'm going to start sounding a little dirty) I went as far as in seeing where the sheath is connected to the penis so I know I had it all the way out and it was clean. Also I notice today that something else is bothering him, he's cleaning himself (I mean face and body) a lot more then normal and is rolling around and rubbing his face on the shelf of his cage that we always put his dust bath like there is something on him what he wants off. I don't know what it's about but maybe someone else does.

To ticklechin: I am listening to you greatly! I've have bad existence with vets so I'm weary of them so that's why I'm hesitant about taking him to a vet. You are one of the few people that is helping me so thank you so much! And that would be funny though, all this worrying over him and it's just him wearing himself out and/ or getting to 'happy' . But if that is the case I still feel bad for him, ouch.

To you both: if this is from over excitement is there anything I can do? Or should I just let him do his thing and do nothing?

To AZChins: Although he didn't look 'happy' when he had the seizure. He looked freaked out and scared after it was over :( it also looked scary when it happened. His lips were back so his teeth were completely bared, he was stretched out has far as he could go and his tail was straight and stiff as an arrow.
 
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UMMM, since this is a family forum we can't get graphic but what you saw was most likely the "release" after the "cleaning" hence the posture. I would watch food and water intake, watch the weight, watch for wimpering when urinating, look for lethargy, hiding or sleeping somewhere odd, things like that that are out of the ordinary besides this event and the messing. You are the one who is there, if you are getting a hinky feeling about the chin then take him to the vet since we are only looking at your posts and are not there to actually see the disposition of the chin.

Look this thread over, pain symptoms in chins.



http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?p=210384#post210384
 
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To ticklechin: thank you so much for that link!! I've already booked marked it for later use (but I hope I wont have to use it again) as far as Rolly none of those things are applying to him. The only thing that I did wonder about was the food intake, he does appear to be eating and drinking less. And about the sleeping more or whatever that can't apply to him because he's always been a very laid back and lazy chin (although he's not moving around as much as normal). Also he's still sleeping in his favorite with his girl. We are going to weigh him tonight. As I had said, thank you so much for helping me!!!!!
 
Also, just as an FYI, you need to have a vet you trust on hand anyway if you are breeding. I understand that this may not have warranted a vet visit, but you specifically said you weary of them. If this is the case you need to find a vet NOW that you trust before you start having kits. What will you do if you have a female that needs a C-Section, a chin that has a URI, a broken limb, etc? These are things that pet owners need to think about (short of the C-Section), but even more so people who are breeding.
 
Definitely, she needs to have a vet just in case something happens in the future.

Arata Acka - that posture sounds just like what a lot males do. Every now and then one will do it and scare me a bit with how they hold their bodies. It just looks weird. Watch him closely like Dawn said...watch to see if he's having problems going to the bathroom.
 
To Essentia: I made this post because I needed help to figure out what is wrong with Rolly and I didn't want to hear the 'take to vet' thing so don't put me down thinking I'm a bad owner, I said I'm weary of them because I've paying thousands at 2 separate places and the animals dead and I end up with a outrages bill I can barely pay and a dead animal and when I'd bring my dog to other vets for a simple check up she'd always ending up sick. So I'll say again, I made this post to ask for help not to defend myself. You do your thing your way and I'll do mine. Oh and FYI, my cousins are always taken to the hospital and are always sick, the last time I've been to the hospital was the day I was born and that's it and I'm never truly sick. And do you know why that is? It's because of herbs and that's what we're doing for Rolly and he's already getting better. Now I'm not completely putting vets and hospitals down because I do understand that herbs can't do everything but they can do a lot. And another thing, I do have a vet about 8 minutes from my house so don't just assume.

To everyone else: I apologize for my outburst and any typos that I may have made. I deeply love all of my chinchillas so when someone says something like that it really hurts me. Essentia and a few others are putting me down and it really hurts, with Rolly being sick it's heartbreaking to me because he's the 3rd chinchilla I've ever had so just the thought of loosing him makes me want to cry. So I just want to say thanking to ticklechin, AZChins and the others that are helping me, I can not express my gratitude to you all enough. Thank you.
 
To AZChins: ok I will, he's a lot better today but his face seems to be bothing him now. He's constantly cleaning and rubbing his face and he was keeping his eyes closed. I took him out to look at his face, eyes, teeth and around the month (he rubs there the most), and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I also looked at his penis and it wasn't red any more and I haven't seen him messing with it. He's still up really high with he's awake though, but when he's asleep he's laying down like normal (or sleeping on top of Eve (his mate))
 
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