Chinchilla Eye Infections, Discharge & Problems
Chinchillas, no doubt are adorable creatures. They have dark, beautiful eyes which are a perfect complement for their big ears. All things being equal, chinchillas are known to have good vision. Nonetheless, they sometimes have relatively serious eye challenges which will warrant them visiting a vet. If you have a chinchilla as a pet already or are making plans on getting one, one thing you can do to ensure that you are not surprised by any chinchilla eye infection is to get used to the eye infections that a chinchilla might be affected with. This way, when your chinchilla shows any symptoms of a possible eye defect, you will be better prepared to handle it.
Chinchilla Eye Infection
Exposure to high amounts of fungal spores, bacteria, and any form of irritation can infect the eyes of your chinchilla. This can affect just one eye or both eyes of your chinchilla. As soon as you notice any form of bacterial or fungal infection in your chinchilla’s eyes, the first thing you should do is treat it with either an antifungal or antibacterial medication. Some of the symptoms of an eye infection are redness, the loss of hair around its eyes, swelling, and discharge. After administering an antifungal or antibacterial medication, if you do not notice the level of improvement you desire, you should go on and take your chinchilla to a vet.
Corneal Ulcers in Chinchillas
There are lots of things that can irritate the eyes of chinchillas. Most common are hair, hay, and dust. When these irritations occur, the cornea of the eyes of your chinchilla might get affected. When this happens, your chinchilla can be said to be affected by a corneal ulcer. This can exhibit symptoms such as redness or cloudiness in the eyes. Your chinchilla can react to the pain caused by this ulcer in various ways. It could lose appetite or keep its eyes consistently closed.
This eye infection can get worse if left untreated. Due to this, if you notice your chinchilla with any symptoms of corneal ulcer, you should take it to see your vet.
Chinchilla Tumors
Your chinchilla might have a tumor behind its eyes. When this occurs, it might cause swelling in its eyes. This swelling is painful and will make your chinchilla very uncomfortable. Just like other eye infections which a chinchilla can be affected with, if your chinchilla has a growth behind its eyes, take it to a vet. Your vet will most likely make use of an x-ray to fathom what the cause of the swelling is. If an x-ray does not show the much-needed result, an MRI scan might be used to get a detailed image of your chinchilla’s skull.
Overgrown Chinchilla Teeth
Although this is not so common, once in a long while, a part of your chinchilla’s front teeth which is regarded as its roots can dig into the nasal-lacrimal duct. This occurrence can hurt your chinchilla’s eyes.
When this occurs, a simple way to be sure of what the cause of tears in your chinchilla’s eyes is to make use of fluorescein eye stain. Once done, try to take notice of if it comes out through the nose of your chinchilla. If there is an issue with your chinchilla’s nasal-lacrimal duct, there will be no fluid from its nose.
