what is the most common way for a chinchilla to die in captivity?
filed in Xde La on Nov.21, 2009
My chinchilla just died. A few days ago he was running around and he had a healthy appetite. I noticed he had a little blood on his genital area. I have no idea what happened. Please respond!
November 21st, 2009 on 11:14 am
It’s really hard to tell with chins, but some of the more common illnesses are, indeed, parasitic. However, lately it seems that malocclusion, heat stroke, bloat, and gut stasis run rampant due to over-treating, bad feed, inadequate environment, and/or bad breeding.
If he has blood around his genital area, he could have a urinary issue (possibly a stone that was unable to be passed) or he could have had a large hair ring around the shaft of his penis that he was unable to remove himself, causing strangulation to occur.
There’s really no true way to know for sure what happened without a necropsy, and even then, sometimes you just get a negative return.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
November 21st, 2009 on 11:14 am
Could be a number of things, intestinal parasites, urinary tract. Animals don’t show they are ill as an instinct, predators pick off the sick, elderly, and very young. Most chins i’ve fostered have died due to internal cancers or parasites, aswell as mass breeding, which wouldn’t be your case.
November 21st, 2009 on 11:14 am
My chinchilla died from urinary tract infection when he was still pretty young, a few days before he died I noticed a little blood in his cage but I figured he just got a cut jumping around like crazy. But he suddenly got very sick and died within two days. He stopped eating and was too sick to move. The vet told me that because chinchillas are prey animals, they don’t show any signs of sickness until it’s pretty much too late. It’s possible that happened to your chinchilla.