My chinchilla stopped drinking water from the beginning of this week. At the beginning, he also stopped eating pellets (he is not a big fan of pellets compared with hay anyway), but still ate a handful of hay per day, which is his normal amount. Now he starts to eat more pellets and still continues a handful of hay. His poops are a little smaller but are still many. I don't think he is peeing, as expected from not drinking water.
I have been trying to feed him water but he seems to hate water. I force him to use his normal bottle, he keeps turning away and only when I persevere, he would push the ball valve one or two times. I also feed him using syringe, he accepts it a little more but still does not like it. I try to feed him twice per day and 10 ml in total. But I would say only a portion really goes into his mouth.
I have tried another water bottle, no success. I also use filtered and distilled water, which does not make a difference neither. He used to drink quite a lot water and I'm really confused about him. The possible causes I can think of are:
1. I was switching cages between him and another male chinchilla for the first time. Maybe this is too stressed for him? But why water, not anything else?
2. This Sunday night I didn't wait until the distilled water cool until very cool (I was rushing to sleep, so stupid) and filled the bottle with lukewarm water. I thought the water temperature was acceptable based on my touch. But maybe this has burned his tongue? I feel this is more likely to be the reason.
3. There is a new scar right above his mouth. It is a red patch without blood. I don't know whether this is due to the other chinchilla or is an injure by himself when playing. But maybe this is related in an unknown way?
Again, I'm only postulating the reasons because I couldn't find much information about his behavior -- drinking and eating usually come together. Has anybody met this situation before? How can he hate water so much? What should I do?
I have been trying to feed him water but he seems to hate water. I force him to use his normal bottle, he keeps turning away and only when I persevere, he would push the ball valve one or two times. I also feed him using syringe, he accepts it a little more but still does not like it. I try to feed him twice per day and 10 ml in total. But I would say only a portion really goes into his mouth.
I have tried another water bottle, no success. I also use filtered and distilled water, which does not make a difference neither. He used to drink quite a lot water and I'm really confused about him. The possible causes I can think of are:
1. I was switching cages between him and another male chinchilla for the first time. Maybe this is too stressed for him? But why water, not anything else?
2. This Sunday night I didn't wait until the distilled water cool until very cool (I was rushing to sleep, so stupid) and filled the bottle with lukewarm water. I thought the water temperature was acceptable based on my touch. But maybe this has burned his tongue? I feel this is more likely to be the reason.
3. There is a new scar right above his mouth. It is a red patch without blood. I don't know whether this is due to the other chinchilla or is an injure by himself when playing. But maybe this is related in an unknown way?
Again, I'm only postulating the reasons because I couldn't find much information about his behavior -- drinking and eating usually come together. Has anybody met this situation before? How can he hate water so much? What should I do?
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