My chinchilla is making an unsual noise ( i know mating and distress calls) this is diffirent

I have a male and a female chinchilla I am notbut I believe my male is the one making the noise. He only makes it about once or twice a day for about the last week. I am never looking at him at the time unfortunately, I'm worried he may have hurt his foot and is wining when he jumps down levels. I tried inspecting his foot and could see nothing injured. The noise is very different than his usual chirps and grunts. It is like a whine or a squeal, reminded me of a toy being stepped on and changing pitch as it slowly releases air. the first time I heard it I though my female might be giving birth or something it was so distressing sounding. There has been nothing around to stress him more than usual . Please if you have any ideas let me know.
Thank you
Amber

[ireneo]

Any whine or squeal in an animal usually means distress. Sometimes fear (not likely since he's at home) or sudden pain. He may have an injury in a rib or the pelvic area. An x-ray would show any fractures.

I thought it might be respiratory but you should hear that more often, especially if you hold him close and listen to his chest. The changing pitch made me think of lungs but it should be more than twice a day.

It's been a week now, perhaps you should have a vet look at him. Soft tissue injuries tend to resolve pretty well in that period of time so I'm worried about a small fracture some where.