Questions on a new male.

[Mandy]

Hello,
I purchased my first mosaic male today. (Milo)

I'm a little worried about his eye.
I noticed he was squinting it a tad today. If a bit of shavings/dander/etc got in his eye from the cage he was in, would it flush? I've never had to deal with an eye injury or irritation. Could I use eye drops to flush it? (I'm asking as I think I've seen this posted elsewhere)

Another thing was him having the sniffs. I hear him sneeze every now and then. (more than normal for a chin)
He did have a bit of crust on his nose when we got him, but I'm thinking it may be that he was in a dusty environment. It washed off, and hasn't come back. This is similar to what happened to my gerbil when her bedding gave off too much dander.

No clicking or abnormal sounds so far.
He acts normal. Curious and ready to jump all over me.

One more thing, but about his coat.

I'm no color expert. White colors have me stumped.
This guy has something like ticking on his fur tips. It's pretty neat. Will this fade as he grows? Milo is 4 months. (so the papers the store got said)
He's got a darker tail base, black tiny dot on is head, and his bum area and head is a shadow-like grey. His hair gets a metallic look when it hits light.

 

[Brittany]

He looks like a gorgeous mosaic. His color may or may not change as he grows. You can use regular, plain, artificial tears to flush his eye. I do 1-2 drops every 4 hours. I would watch him closely because the crustiness may or may not be related to an eye infection or URI. If it was my chin, and I heard the sneezing accompanied by the nose gunk, I'd be taking him to the vet to get checked out. Hope he's ok and that he adjusts well.

 

[Mandy]

I'm going to flush his eye today. I don't see him squinting it anymore, but he did sneeze again.
I still don't see any dis-charge coming out, but I probably am going to just call the vet.
Poor little dude. 1 night in a new place, and may have to go to another.
He's friendly though, so I don't think he minds.

Considering he may have something going on, would a heating pad be a good idea? Set like you would with a kit? (under the cage on low)

 

[chinchillalover0927]

I think that is very dangerous to use a heating pad for a chin that age.... But u might want to wait for someone else to chime in.

 

[Brittany]

Considering he may have something going on, would a heating pad be a good idea? Set like you would with a kit? (under the cage on low)

Can't help you with that one, hopefully someone else will see this and respond. Or you could discuss it with your vet.

As far as the drops go, I've used them when treating a severe eye infection. Every 2 hours I was alternating between medicated drops (I was given gentamycin, but I believe terramycin is more commonly used.) and the artificial tears.

I also use the artificial tears on occassion when I see some gunk developing. It usually clears up with 1 or 2 applications, if not I'd be going to the vet to get it checked out. After her eye infection cleared up, the above mentioned chin needed her eye to be flushed every time she dusted for the rest of her life.

 

[Mandy]

I saw his eye looks a little wet again this morning.
I'm not going to flush it today, just bring him in to the vet.
We're bringing our dog to a really good vet for a check up.. I never thought to ask if they see chinchillas too.
If they don't, I'm just going to make an appt with the exotic vet I would normally.