Hello everyone, me and my long-term girlfriend have recently bought 2 chinchillas and have been very happy with them. I'll give a little background and if anyone can advise us we would be greatly appreciative.
We bought them from a pet shop, Pets At Home in Britain, as there were no breeders in my area. They are 7 months old, 2 male chinchillas from the same litter, and are very different but both very lovable.
The biggest one is Holmes and is a lighter grey colour, and the slightly darker grey one is Watson (he's a little smaller in comparison). Holmes is very confident and daring, and requires no prompting or coercion, after just 5 days of being brought home, he was completely comfortable being handled, even initiating with jumping up onto my shoulder when he wanted to come out. This was completely surprising to me as we were prepared to spend weeks and months building up trust and a bond with them. He hates being in his cage to be honest, which is rather cute, he practically leaps out of it whenever he gets the chance and loves coming out, jumping everywhere and running around. He does take risky jumps which we try to control, but even after a fall, nothing shakes his confidence.
Watson as yet won't willing come out of the cage, but we know it can take a long time so we're not worried. When I give them a treat, I hold it a little further away each time from the cage opening and he comes out onto my hand, but will jump straight back in at the slightest noise.
They don't fight, they sleep together, share food and toys well, and after 2 weeks of having them, they are already very friendly and settling in well.
I hope I'm not too presumptuous, but I think they are getting comfortable
However I am a little concerned for Watson recently, as we had been making a little progress each day but it's grinded to a halt and he seems a little ill. I first noticed it 2 days ago when he didn't want to bathe. I always hold the dust bath outside the cage door, so not to stress him by picking him up or forcing him, and he's never had a problem before.
This time he wouldn't come down from a shelf, and seemed a little sluggish. I waited a while, and left and came back to try several times, I sat as normal and nothing would bring him down, even offering a little treat first. Eventually he did, when he saw Holmes jumping in again, but then he would just sit by the opening, he wouldn't take the slight step out the cage to bathe.
Yesterday the same happened, Watson seemed sleepy, a bit sluggish and unwilling to move around much. He would still jump up a level, and he was eating still. I decided to pick him up and check him over as I thought something was wrong/he might be injured, but he seemed fine and I placed him in the dust bath which he seemed to enjoy, used normally albeit a little more stiff movement (scared I think, he seems to hate being out of the cage), and I put him back.
Today is the same problem, but I noticed his poo has changed. It has become thinner, strand-like, darker and harder. I instantly thought he might be dehydrated (we always make sure the room is the right temperature however) so brought the water bottle to him and he drank loads. stopped to eat, drank more, and then ate a little more.
We use good quality hay and pellets, and treats are a little bit of oats but not regularly. Every 2-3 days they have half a raisin each throughout the evening cut up into small bits.
I really hope he's ok, anyone with some advice I would be eternally grateful, we are making sure to keep an eye on him. If this is normal, or stress I didn't see building up because it's still new... I don't know. I only hope I can do my best for him. Holmes is completely fine, I know no two pets are the same but they eat the same things and it wasn't until 2 days ago Watson started acting strangely.
We bought them from a pet shop, Pets At Home in Britain, as there were no breeders in my area. They are 7 months old, 2 male chinchillas from the same litter, and are very different but both very lovable.
The biggest one is Holmes and is a lighter grey colour, and the slightly darker grey one is Watson (he's a little smaller in comparison). Holmes is very confident and daring, and requires no prompting or coercion, after just 5 days of being brought home, he was completely comfortable being handled, even initiating with jumping up onto my shoulder when he wanted to come out. This was completely surprising to me as we were prepared to spend weeks and months building up trust and a bond with them. He hates being in his cage to be honest, which is rather cute, he practically leaps out of it whenever he gets the chance and loves coming out, jumping everywhere and running around. He does take risky jumps which we try to control, but even after a fall, nothing shakes his confidence.
Watson as yet won't willing come out of the cage, but we know it can take a long time so we're not worried. When I give them a treat, I hold it a little further away each time from the cage opening and he comes out onto my hand, but will jump straight back in at the slightest noise.
They don't fight, they sleep together, share food and toys well, and after 2 weeks of having them, they are already very friendly and settling in well.
I hope I'm not too presumptuous, but I think they are getting comfortable
However I am a little concerned for Watson recently, as we had been making a little progress each day but it's grinded to a halt and he seems a little ill. I first noticed it 2 days ago when he didn't want to bathe. I always hold the dust bath outside the cage door, so not to stress him by picking him up or forcing him, and he's never had a problem before.
This time he wouldn't come down from a shelf, and seemed a little sluggish. I waited a while, and left and came back to try several times, I sat as normal and nothing would bring him down, even offering a little treat first. Eventually he did, when he saw Holmes jumping in again, but then he would just sit by the opening, he wouldn't take the slight step out the cage to bathe.
Yesterday the same happened, Watson seemed sleepy, a bit sluggish and unwilling to move around much. He would still jump up a level, and he was eating still. I decided to pick him up and check him over as I thought something was wrong/he might be injured, but he seemed fine and I placed him in the dust bath which he seemed to enjoy, used normally albeit a little more stiff movement (scared I think, he seems to hate being out of the cage), and I put him back.
Today is the same problem, but I noticed his poo has changed. It has become thinner, strand-like, darker and harder. I instantly thought he might be dehydrated (we always make sure the room is the right temperature however) so brought the water bottle to him and he drank loads. stopped to eat, drank more, and then ate a little more.
We use good quality hay and pellets, and treats are a little bit of oats but not regularly. Every 2-3 days they have half a raisin each throughout the evening cut up into small bits.
I really hope he's ok, anyone with some advice I would be eternally grateful, we are making sure to keep an eye on him. If this is normal, or stress I didn't see building up because it's still new... I don't know. I only hope I can do my best for him. Holmes is completely fine, I know no two pets are the same but they eat the same things and it wasn't until 2 days ago Watson started acting strangely.
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