About Jedediah Expertise I can answer questions about exotic rodents (among others jirds, mice species, chinchillas, degus): how to keep them, what to feed them, how to make toys ect.
I cannot answer questions on breeding or medical questions. If your animal appears to be sick, you need to see a rodent vet as soon as possible, don`t waste time asking me.
Experience I keep, have kept or am planning to keep a number of exotic rodents and I am constantly doing research on many species to keep informed.
Question have an 8yr old cjinchills who had bad podiodermatitis and was treated with metacam,baytril,metocloprimide.meds made her very ill but she seems to have recovered from it. however she has always had ongoing problems with her stomach, where you will here it pop then she will preceed with a squack and stretch out her body. the vets dont seem to know whats causing it. her weight always fluctuates immensley and she fequently has a distended stomach with pockets of gas. she has had an ultrasound ahd her kidneys stomach and pancreas appear normal on it. but over the last couple of weeks her faeces became really soft and mucusey. she then started to kick herself and squack and jump when she passed faeces. she is now on septrin which she has been on before due to her ongoing stomach problems and metacam. however this am i noticed she was lying stretched out on her side. when i roused her she seemed really sleepy and off balance. this continued on and off for the next couple of hours.she is sleeping sitting upright now, but it appeared she was uncomfortable earler, could this be related to her licking herself underneath. i had her at the vets on friday and mentioned that she seems uncomfortable. and if she has problems eith her stomach should she really be on metacam?.
melanie
Answer Dear Melanie,
thank you for your question.
Unfortunately, I cannot help you because I don't have any medical training and I I'm just not qualified to answer medical questions. You might want to get another vet's opinion. Is your vet knowledgeable about chinchillas? Maybe people at a chinchilla forum can recommend a vet to you: http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums/
http://forums.exotichobbyist.com/forum.php?catid=42
It might be a good idea to give her some Bird Bene Bac, you can get it frmo the vet, it's just beneficial bacteria that will help the gut flora to grow again, many medical treatments destroy it or at least weaken it. That will probably not solve the problem, but it won't do any harm and might help at least a bit.
I'm sorry that I cannot be of more help to you
Jennifer
