Greenwood Chinchillas
Emergency
Cooling Techniques
If your chinchilla is slow to respond, immobile or laboured breathing, or suffering from diarrhoea then contact a vet BY PHONE immediately - in many cases moving the animal will only stress it further so try and get a home visit or telephone advice.
The following techniques can be used to help to cool your chinchilla down rapidly - but be warned cooling them down TOO fast can cause shock and further problems! Should your animal need these treatments then always ensure that you do get it to a vet for a check up as soon as possible afterwards.
If your chinchilla is inactive due to the heat and lying down on its side and not moving a lot it is necessary to get it up on its feet and moving about again. Where possible get it to drink, offer an ice cube or piece of frozen fruit.
Move the chin into a small carry cage and place in front of an open freezer, if you have a large chest freezer you may place the animal in the cage down into the freezer for a few minutes.
Chins lose heat through there feet and ears so keep a close eye on your chinchilla at all times when they are like this, DO NOT close the doors on freezers when animals are in them.
When you remove the chin in carrying cage from the front of/inside the freezer place it inside an open box in to the base of which you have placed bags of frozen vegetables, frozen tiles or anything else to reduce the temperature. Place the box in the coolest area of your home - often this may be in cupboards.
Leave the animal to rest, place a piece of frozen fruit or raisins in the cage and ensure there is a fresh water supply. This will encourage eating and drinking as it does awaken and recover more.
This "cool box" can also be used if transport to the vets is required.
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in EXTREME cases you can immerse the animal, all put its head, into warm water - NOT COLD! This will lower the animals body temperature, do not use cold water as this could cause the animal to go into shock. Start off with hand warm water to place the chin in, then slowly add cold water to SLOWLY bring down the temperature - this could take some time if the chin is very hot.
Dry the chin off using a towel and a hair dryer on a cool setting once this is complete - do not leave the animal to dry on its own - this can cause a chill even on hot days as the fur is so thick and can trap water close to the body.