Is 'seizure' when frightened normal in chipmunks?

[SquirrelRefuge]

I have never had chipmunks come in before so I dont know what is normal or not. I have three Least Chipmunks that are about 9 weeks old that I have had since they were 3 weeks of age. The have been sucessfully weaned off of Fox Valley formula onto a variety of fruits, veggies, seeds, nuts, and grains and I am adjusting to ensure the correct calcium ratio.

Other than being nearly impossible to 'wild up' (apparently chipmunks are too friendly for their own good), every thing seemed on track for release until yesterday when I was spraying the enclosure next to the chipmunks. I accidentally made a loud noise and one of the chipmunks fell over with its feet streight out and appeared to be having a seizure. Its respiration rate fell to the point that I thought maybe I frightened the poor thing to death.

I stopped what I was doing as soon as i saw this and reached in and collected the chipmunk. She laid there for another minute and then jumped up as good as new. I have noticed that the chipmunks become frozen when frightened before but have never seen this type of thing and now I am concerned about releasing this little girl.

I did some research on the internet and found some vague reference to 'Fear bradycardia' in some animals including chipmunks.

Can anyone tell me if this is normal behavior or should I be concerned? It doesnt seem to be a particularly adaptive way to deal with fear and I am concerned that this one will become dinner quite readily when released.

[Jackie in Tampa]

:dono
if chippie had a FV diet, I would guess it wouldn't be a seizure from low calcium..:thinking
but I have no idea on chippie behavior...
hoping someone with knowledge/experience comes on soon.


:peace With MBD, grey sqs do become seizure prone with any sudden or loud action.

I would immediately give/rub karo, molasses etc orally/on gums, if I saw this...but I would give sugar boost to anything that displayed described activity.:dono

[pappy1264]

I don't have much chippie experience, but since they have been on a good diet, I would suspect this is a normal behaviour in a young chippie from the sounds of it. I am sure other chippie experienced people will be on soon. I will pm a couple of people and see if they have any ideas.

[equine623]

Audiogenic seizures, that is seizures caused by fear/panic/shock due to sudden loud noises, is well documented in many rodent species. If there are no other health issues, and you can clearly connect it to the noise, then I would suspect that's what it was.


Jill, CVT

[Marci]

Interesting. I never heard of that before but I guess it is possible. I have never seen that behavior with my siberians nor have I read about it on the UK siberian chipmunk board.

Marci

[WolfDancer024]

I bred and raised Mongolian Gerbils for quite some time and some, not many, would develop a startle reaction know as a "fit" which was basically a small seizure. The animals would be startled by a loud noise and then "freeze" while twitching ears and body. This usually only happend in the young pups and they would eventually grow out of it, but some would maintain the "fit" behavior into adulthood. They always recovered just fine after suffering a "fit", but were never allowed to breed and were strictly pets as it was thought to be a genetic trait passed on to their young.

[Chipmunk_lover]

Hi,

My outside Chipmunks when frightened usually run up high and alarm call if its a predator or sometimes if they hear or see something else that frightens them, they spook really easily. Almost every morning they start alarm calling and i look out and theres nothing there. Or like you say sometimes they freeze and they can do this for quite sometime but with mine all Siberian's they usually head to their nestbox house high up and all poke their heads out to see if the danger has passed. I've never seen seizure activity but one Chipmunk i had early on, apparently just died of fright but he was extremely nervous he froze everytime i went near the cage. One day when he got particularly scared he just sat and shivered and then not long after had passed away. It would seem to me your Chipmunk's seizure was due to a fright not a calcium issue since the baby was on Fox Valley and is getting a good diet.

Hopefully thats all it was and she will be ok to release :)