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Chipmunk:  Most frequent diseases.   Vet Dr. Tigre gives information and advice.

Chipmunks rarely fall ill if they are kept according to their       species. With adequate feeding and sufficient exercise the       animal can stay in good health for his whole life of       approximately 8 years.       If the chipmunk shows an increased need to sleep during the       day, has a shaggy pelage or does not want to eat, it is       recommendable to got to see the vet.       On the next table you will find a summary of the most       frequently occurring diseases and their causes of these little       rodents.

Disease	Causes	Symptoms	Visit veterinarian?
Skin diseases, partly transmissible to human beings	Acariasis, fungus, unknown causes, inflammations	Itching, hair loss, reddening of the skin, restlessness	Good hygenic conditions, best possible alimentation, consult vet
Affections of the airway	Cold, draught, infections	Weariness, lack of appetite, sneezing, nasal discharge, breath sounds	If kept outdoors in the fall and in the winter, protect from cold and draught, consult vet
Dental malpositions	Hereditary malposition defect	Difficulty in taking up feed, weariness, emaciation, feed refusal	Exclude animals with dental malpositions from breeding, teeth have to be shortened, go to see the vet
Inflations	Abrupt change of feed, too much green roughage and fruit	Profusely inflated abdomen, pain, weariness	No abrupt change of feed, starving for 24 hours, afterwards only hay and rusk, go to see the vet
Diarrhoea	Infections, disorder of the intestinal flora, stress, change of feed	Diarrhoea, inflated abdomen, weariness	No change of feed, best possible food, best possible keeping of the animal according to his species, starving for 24 hours, black tea and rusk, got to see the vet
Injuries	Various causes like e. g. getting caught in a door or elsewhere, electric shock, falling, bites, loss of tail	Depending on cause: Bleeding, fractures, loss of tail, skin injuries	Do not hold chipmunk by his tail! Watch out with free-range animals! Go to see the vet

Self-Medication

It is always very difficult to assess by oneself the seriousness of the situation in the case of little rodents. If they suffer from inflation and diarrhoea, they should not get any feed for 24 hours except from black tea and rusk. It is also possible to treat minor injuries at home without the assistance of a vet. If, however, symptoms like weariness, lack of appetite, shaggy pelage etc. occur, it is better to go to see the vet in good time.

Emergency situations

If the animals walk around in the apartment without being controlled, accidents can easily happen. So the consequences may be deadly if a chipmunk e. g. licks a bottle with cleaning agent. It is very important to take preventing measures in order to avoid lacerated wounds resulting from nails or sharp edges, bruising and fractures from being caught in a door or a window. Other emergency situations are drowning in deep water containers, death through wires, poisoning by plants, bites by visiting animals. Go to see the vet at once, if it is still possible.

When to consult the veterinarian?

Better too early than too late. Hopeless situations with chipmunks can occur as quickly as in two shakes of a bee's knee. Generally these robust animals fall ill very seldom, if, however, fate deals a blow the consequences can often be very serious.