Date of Birth:   12-1999

Mother: (White Mosaic)
Father:  (Heterozygous Ebony)

History:  Originated from Diane Quintana, she is located in CA.

Babies:

Zoltan - Silver Mosaic Violet Carrier Male - birth wt 51 gms
Zolle - Silver Mosaic Violet Carrier Male - birth wt 53 gms

Date Died:  6-10-2004

Cause of Death:  We thought that Angerboda had a respiratory infection.  I got her to the vet as early as I could, which was less than 12 hours after I found out that there was a problem.  She was acting fine until about 45 minutes before she got to the vet.  That's when she started acting like she had an ear infection.  Her head started tilting and she was knocked off balance.  We were sure that it was just a simple infection affecting her ear.  She was given antibiotics and some ear drops and we thought that it would clear up in a week or so.

The next day Angerboda started bleeding from her nose.  That was really strange because it wasn't bleeding from the outside, but from deep in her nose.   I'm not sure exactly what caused that because normally upper respiratory problems are not accompanied with bloody noses.  She was totally off balance and struggling to walk despite the ear drops and antibiotics.  I couldn't get her to eat or drink and she was completely out of it.  This was strange because her lungs were completely clear.  Upper respiratory issues are very serious, but they normally don't cause this much distress in an animal this quickly.

After talking to a few veterinarians and a couple of ranchers and breeders I was convinced that Angerboda didn't die of respiratory problems.  At least the main cause of the problem was not the normal upper respiratory infection.  Her problems seemed to be something like cancer or maybe an abcess.  She died so quickly and her symptoms worsened very rapidly so I am concluding that there was something very specifically wrong with her.  A tumor in the sinuses would explain the drainage in her nose and the blood as well as what appeared to be a ear infection.  There are a few theories that I have for what could have caused her cancer.  If you are interested, please email me - I don't want to post on the internet what I think happened.

Aside from the symptoms and theories as to what caused them, I really miss Angerboda.  She was a very good mother chinchilla and she was very patient with her mate.  Her personality was great as she was so tolerant and sweet to people.  It hurts so much that she had to leave me.  Her two boys are still here.  I see so much of her in them.  Her youngest is a little reflection of her - he's so playful, gentle and sweet.