Your Chipmunk Vet-Prep Sheet
Hayfold a warm home for small-pet folk · hayfold.com Chipmunk — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find an exotic-mammal vet — before you need one
- Search the AEMV find-a-vet directory (the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians), or, in the UK, the RCVS Find-a-Vet tool — or search “exotic / small-mammal vet near me”.
- Call ahead and ask the key question: “Do you see small / exotic mammals?” Not every vet does. Ask the exam fee while you’re on the phone, so the cost is one less panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- Discharge around the nose, or difficulty breathing — possible respiratory infection
- Wetness around the mouth — possible overgrown teeth (only a vet should correct these)
- Reduced appetite, lethargy, a dull coat, or weight loss
- Sudden behaviour changes, or changes in droppings (fewer/smaller, or stopping)
- Signs of aspergillosis, ringworm or parasites
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm — small mammals chill and dehydrate fast, and cold makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own bedding/carrier with some familiar food.
- For rabbits and guinea pigs, keep offering their normal hay, greens and water — a gut that stops is an emergency.
- Bring a fresh dropping or urine sample if you can.
- Keep it calm and quiet.
⛔ Don’t
- Don’t give any human or OTC medicines — some common antibiotics are fatal to rabbits and guinea pigs.
- Don’t withhold food from a rabbit or guinea pig.
- Don’t let it get cold.
- Don’t handle it more than necessary.
🎒 What to bring
- A fresh dropping or urine sample, if you can collect one.
- Photos and a short video of the behaviour or symptom — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- A note of eating, drinking and toileting over the last day.
- The animal in a secure, warm carrier.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Enclosure
- A large, secure enclosure ideally the size of a large aviary — tall enough for you to walk into without crouching. The floor must be solid (never wire mesh, which damages feet) and covered with substrate deep enough to dig in. Fill it with vertical climbing space (branches and ropes of untreated, non-toxic wood), foraging opportunities, and nest boxes/hiding places (hollow logs, pipes). They chew and dig, so check regularly for damage and escape routes.
- Companionship
- Species-dependent and best managed carefully. Siberian chipmunks may be kept in a compatible pair or group — a neutered male–female pair, one male with up to three females, or all-female groups can work — but adult males will usually fight, and any chipmunk may be aggressive to others. Give each animal its own nest box or hiding place plus a spare. (Some other chipmunk species must always live alone.)
- Temperature
- Chipmunks don’t truly hibernate but can enter a hibernation-like “torpor” over winter; warm household temperatures and light usually prevent it. If one does “hibernate,” leave it be (unless you suspect illness) but keep food, water and nesting available, as it wakes to feed. Keep indoor chipmunks away from direct sun, radiators and heat sources; protect outdoor ones from draughts and give extra nesting in cold weather.
- Substrate
- A solid floor covered with dust-free, non-toxic wood shavings or shredded paper, deep enough to dig; nest boxes filled with shredded paper or dust-free hay. Never use wire-mesh flooring.
- Enrichment
- Plenty of climbing (branches and ropes), space to forage, and hiding places — with enough toys and resources for every animal so they don’t compete. They’re highly prone to stress and boredom, which can cause repetitive behaviour, and are sensitive to ultrasound, so keep them away from TVs, screens, vacuum cleaners and running water.
- Diet
- A full, varied diet: cereals (oats, wheat, barley, corn, millet) making up around half; unsalted seeds and nuts (e.g. pine nuts); small amounts of washed, chopped fresh fruit and vegetables (apple, pear, banana, carrot, sweet potato); and untreated seeding grasses/weeds (chickweed, shepherd’s purse). Remove stones from peaches/plums (poisonous). A seed-based rodent mix isn’t suitable, though rat/mouse pellets can be given. Chipmunks hoard food (essential to their wellbeing) — check the store daily and remove perishables, and never change the diet suddenly. Fresh water from a stainless-steel-spout bottle, checked twice daily.
- Supplements
- A clean cuttlefish bone for calcium and to wear the teeth down. No other routine supplement is recommended; only ever give vet-prescribed medicines (human or other-animal medicines can be dangerous).
⚕️ Small mammals are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so any change in eating, droppings, drinking or behaviour is urgent — in rabbits and guinea pigs, not eating or passing no droppings for 12–24 hours can be a life-threatening emergency (gut stasis). They also chill and dehydrate quickly, so keep it warm. Tell the vet about your diet and any remedies you’ve used, and ask for exotic-mammal-safe medicines and doses — several antibiotics that are routine in other pets are dangerous to rabbits and guinea pigs.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see small / exotic mammals? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?