Good afternoon, all.
I adopted Gizmo less than 2 months ago I believe. Me and my husband adopted him from a shelter, and in the paperwork it said Gizmo weighed approx 485 grams, and on another sheet it said 500 grams. (I'm going to assume the 485 is most accurate out of the two.) In the paperwork, it also stated his age, so today gizmo is about 1 yr 4 mos old.
At the shelter, there was another chinchilla right beside him, and it was also male, and it look considerably bigger than Gizmo did/does. When me and my husband did the adoption interview for Gizmo, we brought up our concerns about how our little guy looked way smaller than that other chinchilla in the room. The adoption counselor said that she believes when Gizmo was a kit, his previous owner did not feed him alfalfa like he was supposed to, in order to make him grow, and therefor is as small as he is. Gizmo also came into the shelter with a hurt bloody leg, which had completely healed by the time we saw him.
A few days ago, my husband and I finally received the digital kitchen scale we ordered online, and it was a hassle to get Gizmo to stand perfectly on it. it kept saying he was in the 200s (which is very unlikely, he would be skin and bones), and finally settled on 470 grams. According to the paperwork, it said he weighed 485 grams, so I am very concerned. He ALWAYS pigs out on his food. and for the record:
We are feeding him Oxbow pellets, and Oxbow hay.
For treats, in our care, he has ONLY EVER GOTTEN rosehips, oats, and clovers. (though for the most part, rosehips; and his treat isn't daily).
We are first time chinchilla owners, and to me, other than being concerned about his weight, he looks completely healthy. He loves the both of us, and loves to be petted and will coo all night long while he gallivants on his wheel. But being that we've had him for 2 months, we have been trying to pick him up, all without any luck. One of the times he actually had a fur slip, and he was shrieking and twisting around so we let him go. And just recently, he had another one (although not nearly as much fur came out.) Only 2 fur slips have occurred to my knowledge. the rest of the times we'd try to pick him up, he'd bark and hop away. This last time, when he had the fur slip, he walked away like he was fine and came up to us again (he was out of his cage for his playtime).
I am really rather confused. Part of me wonders if Gizmo thinks trying to pick him up is a game, because of the way he acts. Only once did he act TRULY UPSET and had that huge fur slip, but the rest of the time he will just bark once and stay where he is and let me continue to pet him, or he will hop away and then seconds later come back up to me. He's actually barked from it, and then a couple seconds later started cooing multiple different instances. This little guy is confusing.
Is there anything wrong with his weight? should he be weighing more? I don't feel his ribs when i touch his belly, and he always pigs out on his food, but should I be trying to get him to gain weight?
****and yes there are a few plastic things in his cage, but we have kept a very close eye on him, and he has no interest in plastic as of yet.
I adopted Gizmo less than 2 months ago I believe. Me and my husband adopted him from a shelter, and in the paperwork it said Gizmo weighed approx 485 grams, and on another sheet it said 500 grams. (I'm going to assume the 485 is most accurate out of the two.) In the paperwork, it also stated his age, so today gizmo is about 1 yr 4 mos old.
At the shelter, there was another chinchilla right beside him, and it was also male, and it look considerably bigger than Gizmo did/does. When me and my husband did the adoption interview for Gizmo, we brought up our concerns about how our little guy looked way smaller than that other chinchilla in the room. The adoption counselor said that she believes when Gizmo was a kit, his previous owner did not feed him alfalfa like he was supposed to, in order to make him grow, and therefor is as small as he is. Gizmo also came into the shelter with a hurt bloody leg, which had completely healed by the time we saw him.
A few days ago, my husband and I finally received the digital kitchen scale we ordered online, and it was a hassle to get Gizmo to stand perfectly on it. it kept saying he was in the 200s (which is very unlikely, he would be skin and bones), and finally settled on 470 grams. According to the paperwork, it said he weighed 485 grams, so I am very concerned. He ALWAYS pigs out on his food. and for the record:
We are feeding him Oxbow pellets, and Oxbow hay.
For treats, in our care, he has ONLY EVER GOTTEN rosehips, oats, and clovers. (though for the most part, rosehips; and his treat isn't daily).
We are first time chinchilla owners, and to me, other than being concerned about his weight, he looks completely healthy. He loves the both of us, and loves to be petted and will coo all night long while he gallivants on his wheel. But being that we've had him for 2 months, we have been trying to pick him up, all without any luck. One of the times he actually had a fur slip, and he was shrieking and twisting around so we let him go. And just recently, he had another one (although not nearly as much fur came out.) Only 2 fur slips have occurred to my knowledge. the rest of the times we'd try to pick him up, he'd bark and hop away. This last time, when he had the fur slip, he walked away like he was fine and came up to us again (he was out of his cage for his playtime).
I am really rather confused. Part of me wonders if Gizmo thinks trying to pick him up is a game, because of the way he acts. Only once did he act TRULY UPSET and had that huge fur slip, but the rest of the time he will just bark once and stay where he is and let me continue to pet him, or he will hop away and then seconds later come back up to me. He's actually barked from it, and then a couple seconds later started cooing multiple different instances. This little guy is confusing.
Is there anything wrong with his weight? should he be weighing more? I don't feel his ribs when i touch his belly, and he always pigs out on his food, but should I be trying to get him to gain weight?
****and yes there are a few plastic things in his cage, but we have kept a very close eye on him, and he has no interest in plastic as of yet.
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