Health

If you keep your chipmunks in a clean environment and feed them with a healthy balanced diet, you should not have any problems with regards to their health. As with any creature, poor living conditions and a poor diet will stress your Chipmunk, which may lead to a serious illness.

My advice is to keep your chipmunk cage/enclosure as clean as possible by cleaning it out on a regular basis. You may find your chipmunk will use a certain part of the cage as a latrine, this part of the cage must be cleaned more often than the rest, otherwise insects may be attracted which can carry disease.

Unfortunately an outdoor enclosure will attract more insects and small rodents than an indoor cage, therefore it is advisable to have wire mesh small enough to keep mice and other small rodents away, otherwise you may find your chipmunk suffering from salmonella, Tyzers disease or protozoan disease from rodent / bird droppings.

There are other health issues that must be taken into account, such as cuts and wounds, constipation, diarrhea, teeth problems, cheek pouch's, skin problems and heatstroke. I shall try to give a little information on each health issue.

Cuts and wounds:- I have found while keeping a colony of chipmunks, cuts and wounds are a common occurrence. These are normally caused by the chipmunk catching itself on sharp edges, while jumping and climbing around or when fighting during mating season. Most of these types of wounds are only minor cuts, which can be treated by bathing the wound once a day with a mild antiseptic solution and then letting nature do its natural healing work. On a number of occasions deep wounds can occur which, if left un-attended can spread or become infected. A visit to the vet will be necessary which can cause a lot of stress to the chipmunk, so gentle handling and care must be taken. You may also need to keep your injured chipmunk isolated from the others until the wound has healed, a small separate hospital cage is ideal for this situation.

Constipation:- I have not come across any of my chipmunks having this problem, but on occasions young chipmunks can suffer from this when weaning off their mothers milk. To prevent this from happening, make sure there are plenty of water sources for the babies to find and provide plenty of fresh fruit at this early stage. Constipation can also occur when unsuitable bedding is used such as cotton wool, this should not be used and replaced with natural materials, such as soft meadow hay. If you do find the abdomen of your chipmunk becoming swollen, you should provide extra fruit to remedy the problem, if the condition has not changed within 24-36 hours, then a visit to the vet maybe required.

Diarrhea:- A chipmunk can have loose droppings if it has been eating too many fresh fruit or vega tables, especially citrus fruit or green vega tables. This problem can be remedied by withholding the fresh fruit and vega tables and adding corn flour or arrowroot to the dried food. If the Chipmunk continues to have loose droppings it may have diarrhea. Diarrhea can be caused by an infection and can cause the chipmunk to dehydrate very rapidly which, in turn, can cause death. If you find traces of blood in the loose droppings or the diarrhea continues, a visit to the vet is required immediately.

Teeth problems:- If your chipmunk is not provided with correct hard foods or materials for gnawing, it is possible for their teeth to overgrow. The reason for this is because most rodents teeth grow constantly throughout their life, if this wasn't the case their teeth would not last very long due to all the nibbling and gnawing when cracking open nuts etc.

Other problems that may arise is one of the incisor teeth at the front of the mouth can sometimes be damaged due to a fall or being involved in a fight. It is possible to fix this problem by trimming back the overgrown tooth slightly over a number of months until both front teeth are the same length. Ideally this should be done by a vet, as this can stress your chipmunk and you may also damage the jaw if the process is not completed correctly.

Cheek pouches:- A chipmunk's cheek pouch is very delicate and can be easily damaged by sharp objects being place into the mouth. If the inside of the cheek pouch is scratched or cut, possible infection may arise. Abscesses in the mouth will cause swelling, which maybe mistaken for hoarded food. Discharges from a ruptured abscess maybe swallowed and your chipmunk may choke or inhale the fluid which may cause even more problems such as poisoning from the toxins.

If you do find your chipmunk has a swollen mouth, a visit to the vet is required and the abscess will be cut open from the outside and left to drain and the area will be bathed and dressed with antibiotics two or three times a day.

Skin problems:- A healthy chipmunk housed in a clean environment will usually not have any skin problems, but your chipmunk if housed outdoors can pick up flees and lice from passing wild animals such as rats and mice. Mange, which is a skin infection, can also be contracted from wild rodents or even an infected house pet. Mange is caused my microscopic mites, which bury into the skin which can cause irritation and can be very sore and uncomfortable for your chipmunk. Mange can also be contracted by infected bedding.

Other problems such as Ringworm (fungal infection) can also be contracted by infected bedding (usually damp musty hay) or from other infected animals. This type of infection can cause hair loss in patches with dry, flaky areas. If you are worried your chipmunk has similar conditions, seek medical advise from your local vet.

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