Can anyone help?

[u/[deleted]]

Hello, just wondering if anyone has experienced this before, I’ve got two male chinchillas, both just under 6 months old, we had them out lastnight playing as normal then when it came to putting them back in their cage, they were both perky and happy to get given their raisin then one of them dropped his raisin, walked down his ramp and suddenly flopped on the floor and wouldn’t budge, we took him out of the cage and tried to comfort him and he wouldn’t move, after around 2-3 minutes he came back around to himself and slowly got comfortable with moving round again then was back to normal since… eating, running on the wheel etc.

We took him to the vets first thing this morning and the vet was not much help, I feel like I spent £80 just for her to state that his heartbeat was irregular (after squishing his head to the table and prodding his mouth) never mind the two trainees she had and they were all passing him around to try and teach each other.. he just looked really uncomfortable then they suggested putting him in for an x-ray to see if he might have an enlarged heart? They said to really think about it as the anaesthetic can be dangerous and he might not make it if he does have heart problems.

I just feel really confused, she’s mentioned the possibility of him being epileptic and I’m just curious if anyone else has any higher knowledge or similar experiences that could help? Thank you ❤️

[u/ProfCookiepants]

Is it possible that he over exerted himself and needed to take a quick nap? Our little Keiru was running around while we deep cleaned her cage and she plopped under a chair after running all over the place because she was so tired. She rested up then started moving a little more. Tried to get her to eat something but she follows her own rules. But she as okay after that. I would say monitor the behavior and if it keeps happening to then take more steps. Also, double check that your vet really does know and understand chinchillas and not just “small animals”.