Chinchillas - Common Diseases

What are some of the common diseases of pet chinchillas?

Common conditions of pet chinchillas include bite wounds, respiratory diseases, dental disease, bloat/gut stasis and heat stroke..

What are the signs of these diseases?

Bite wounds are common in chinchillas that are housed with other chinchillas. If untreated abscesses may develop. Bites from other pets, e.g. dogs and cats are often fatal due to the mechanical trauma and the bacteria that are implanted by the teeth. Bites from cats and dogs constitute an emergency..

Respiratory diseases are often seen in pet chinchillas. The respiratory problem can easily become pneumonia. Conditions such as overcrowding, poor ventilation, and high humidity may predispose to pneumonia. Common signs include lack of appetite, lethargy, difficulty breathing, nasal discharge, and swollen lymph nodes..

As is true with many rodents, overgrown teeth are common in chinchillas. The teeth of chinchillas grow continuously throughout life. The main problem relates to overgrowth of the molars(back teeth); overgrowth of the incisors (front teeth) is usually a reflection of the state of the molars. Signs of overgrown teeth include drooling (slobbering) weight loss and/or a depressed appetite. Overgrown incisors are easily noticed upon inspection of the mouth and usually indicate deeper problems with the molars. It is often difficult to tell if the molars are overgrown. Anaesthesia is needed to allow a thorough evaluation of the mouth. However, radiographs (x-rays) will normally be needed to properly identify this problem, especially as most of the clinical signs relate to root disease rather than crown overgrowth. Once established, dental disease carries a poor outlook. Overlong molars may be trimmed but root disease will require long courses of painkillers. Abscesses can easily result from molar disease - the outlook for these is very poor indeed and they will often require extensive and repeated surgery.

Bloat is the result of gut stasis (where food stops moving through the gut) - it may represent gas filling of either the stomach or large intestine, or both. Signs may come on acutely even though the underlying cause (often pain) may be chronic. It should be regarded as an emergency - with fluids, gut motility agents, antibiotics and analgesics (pain killers) needed urgently. Radiographs (xrays) will be needed to distinguish bloat from a gut foreign body.

High dietary fibre levels may help protect against bloat - especially as fibre will also help reduce the incidence of dental disease.

Heat stroke, a common problem in many rodents, also occurs in chinchillas. Being normal inhabitants of the Andes Mountains, they are very comfortable at temperatures of 2-7°C (35-45°F). Although they can cope well at normal room temperature, temperatures above 27°C (80°F), especially if high humidity is also present, can easily lead to fatal heat stroke. Signs of heat stroke are similar to those seen in any pet with this problem and include panting, high body temperature, open-mouth breathing, and recumbency (lying down) with reluctance to move..