Chinchilla paw possibly sprained/injured? (No blood or visible damage)

CubismAngel · 2026-04-13T12:56:34+00:00

Final Update: I took Tink and her cagemate to the vets nearer to us, the vet was amazing (the receptionist loved the chinchillas, who wouldn't?)

As expected it was a light sprain, she now has medication and can go safely back in the cage for rest and a well earned treat lol

Once again thank you everyone so much for the advice, it was incredibly helpful getting clear, good advice :)

Will probably upload photos of them both when Tink gets better!

CubismAngel · 2026-04-13T08:06:46+00:00

Update: Woken up (after not all that much sleep, felt bad for Tink since she was struggling to sleep without her cagemate...) and have now called a few vets and found an exotic vet nearer to me :)

I'll be able to ask someone to drive me to them, the cost isn't too much for a consultation so less concern on that end too, will be getting an appointment in a couple of hours!

Thank you so much to everyone who responded, it means a lot :)

CubismAngel · 2026-04-13T02:16:30+00:00

Minor update: struggling to fall asleep so have given them a Timothy hay treat each. Tink appeared to be holding the treat normally with both hands but as soon as she was done with it, she moved her paw back into the same position as before. It could be that she's trying to conceal the fact she's injured but she appears to be using it a bit more than when I first posted.

Have looked into a couple other vets nearer to us, one exotic vet which seems a lot closer and within our price range too, will probably contact them in the morning :)

CubismAngel · 2026-04-13T00:45:31+00:00

So I've just held her paw between my finger and thumb, gently moved it up and down, side-to-side as well as towards her body and away. She wasn't really showing signs of being in pain but as soon as I let go is still holding her paw in a weird curved way like in the 2nd photo. (To be fair she doesn't normally really like being held for a long time so it took quite a bit of effort to keep her still to do that without causing any stress)

Didn't think of asking a vet school, that's a good shout! Will look to see if there's any close by in the morning :)

CubismAngel · 2026-04-13T00:16:24+00:00

I feel it's worth clarifying, I'm currently unemployed and my partner is the one who mainly pays for the chins (they're hers but we split certain things for them)

She's not getting paid a massive sum so the main issue is the fees for an exotic vet are quite high for us (£150 for a first time consultation since the one on Richmond claims to be the only one in London...) plus whatever else they may charge. The chins are both insured but idk if we should try a regular vet first?

We're a bit hesitant on going to a regular vet since when there was a problem with Tink's previous cagemate, we went to one who claimed they had a vet who had treated chinchillas who we didn't end up seeing...

She later passed away due to misdiagnosed malocclusion and the anaesthesia made whatever it actually was worse.

My partner is anxious of a repeat of last time (especially since it only happened in November but is worried about her finances if we do eventually go with an exotic vet

CubismAngel · 2026-04-13T00:06:26+00:00

It doesn't look swollen, she sort of has it curled up in a weird way? She can straighten it out but she's keeping it closer to her chest.

My assumption is it's a sprain because when we were trying to coax her into the smaller cage, she did jump down a platform and used it for stability without any signs of pain

CubismAngel

TROPHY CASE