Hello, I hope someone can help. I currently have 4 chinchillas - one male and three females (a mother and two offspring). The females are housed in a two-tier stacked cage with each tier measuring 2x2x3 that can be separated by a bared partition - the remaining 80% of the floor space is solid.
The mother and one of the offspring are very "clicky" indeed, and have been pretty much since the girls were born (I've had them since they were 8 weeks old,) whilst the other sibling is much more independent and seems to be quite content to be alone in her thoughts as it were.
A couple of nights ago I had a lot of trouble sleeping and went downstairs to watch a movie. I checked in on the girls and noticed that one of the siblings was hunched in a corner and appeared to be in a lot of discomfort. I took her to the vet the following day and we discovered that she had a pretty nasty wound on her inner thigh/groin, for which she was prescribed suitable antibiotics and painkillers - She has a further check up appointment on Monday evening.
At first we assumed that she must have injured herself in the cage, though I can't for the life of me figure out how - there certainly isn't any sign of blood on any of the fixtures. I then started to consider the possibility that she may have been attacked by one of the other females. Having said that, it seems like a very peculiar place to have been bitten and I can't see any blood at all on any of the other girls' muzzles - so it may be a red herring.
As aforementioned, the other two girls get on very well, and I've never witnessed any fighting between the three. I'll hear occasional grumblings and grouchy squeaks as one of the girls disturbs another whilst they are asleep but certainly no physical signs of fights such as missing fur or any other injuries.
I'm currently keeping the injured girl in the top tier of the set-up with very little substrate as to avoid getting the wound dirty and also so that I can observe as to whether any stomach issues develop due to the medication. The other two girls are being housed as normal in the lower tier and seem to be getting on fine. I've noticed the mother reaching through the bars of the partition a couple of times, to which the injured girl didn't take too kindly and would let out an annoyed squeak (I am unsure whether this is benign contact or a form of aggression) but so far everyone seems to be OK for the most part - the injured girl is healing nicely and is already moving around much, much better.
I'll try re-introducing once the vet has given the all clear but, for arguments sake, if it did transpire to be an inflicted wound rather than an accident, and the cages needed to be partitioned off permanently, would a single 2x2x3 tier be suitable for two VERY chummy females or would I need to invest in another cage altogether for the injured girl? I would worry about separating the injured female entirely as I would hate for her to get lonely. The male is housed alone but his cage is only 6 inches or so away from the one the females share - they often all communicate through the cage bars. There isn't room for a third cage in that part of the house so I would need to house the injured female in another location away from the other three.
Sorry for the rambling, it's been a long week and I am very tired.
All the best,
-Dan.
The mother and one of the offspring are very "clicky" indeed, and have been pretty much since the girls were born (I've had them since they were 8 weeks old,) whilst the other sibling is much more independent and seems to be quite content to be alone in her thoughts as it were.
A couple of nights ago I had a lot of trouble sleeping and went downstairs to watch a movie. I checked in on the girls and noticed that one of the siblings was hunched in a corner and appeared to be in a lot of discomfort. I took her to the vet the following day and we discovered that she had a pretty nasty wound on her inner thigh/groin, for which she was prescribed suitable antibiotics and painkillers - She has a further check up appointment on Monday evening.
At first we assumed that she must have injured herself in the cage, though I can't for the life of me figure out how - there certainly isn't any sign of blood on any of the fixtures. I then started to consider the possibility that she may have been attacked by one of the other females. Having said that, it seems like a very peculiar place to have been bitten and I can't see any blood at all on any of the other girls' muzzles - so it may be a red herring.
As aforementioned, the other two girls get on very well, and I've never witnessed any fighting between the three. I'll hear occasional grumblings and grouchy squeaks as one of the girls disturbs another whilst they are asleep but certainly no physical signs of fights such as missing fur or any other injuries.
I'm currently keeping the injured girl in the top tier of the set-up with very little substrate as to avoid getting the wound dirty and also so that I can observe as to whether any stomach issues develop due to the medication. The other two girls are being housed as normal in the lower tier and seem to be getting on fine. I've noticed the mother reaching through the bars of the partition a couple of times, to which the injured girl didn't take too kindly and would let out an annoyed squeak (I am unsure whether this is benign contact or a form of aggression) but so far everyone seems to be OK for the most part - the injured girl is healing nicely and is already moving around much, much better.
I'll try re-introducing once the vet has given the all clear but, for arguments sake, if it did transpire to be an inflicted wound rather than an accident, and the cages needed to be partitioned off permanently, would a single 2x2x3 tier be suitable for two VERY chummy females or would I need to invest in another cage altogether for the injured girl? I would worry about separating the injured female entirely as I would hate for her to get lonely. The male is housed alone but his cage is only 6 inches or so away from the one the females share - they often all communicate through the cage bars. There isn't room for a third cage in that part of the house so I would need to house the injured female in another location away from the other three.
Sorry for the rambling, it's been a long week and I am very tired.
All the best,
-Dan.
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