Chinchilla scratching/biting

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atravellersp

Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2018
Messages
15
Location
Upstate NY
Hi all,

I recently posted how I'm a new Chin owner and our whole story - but not sure the post has even gone live yet, but realized I forgot to ask one important question. I've noticed that our little Dash is doing a fair amount of scratching (at least more than I believe normal Chins do - seen videos where no scratching for over 10 min) and biting in areas where scratching. Dash came from a pet store - but one that only houses exotics, bunnies, gerbils, lizards, etc...not cats or dogs. I've read that it is very hard for Chins to get fleas or mites but not impossible.

We have been doing dust baths every couple of days - but only had him a little over a week and bc he was a Christmas present probably went his first week out of the store with no dust bath. I'd say its safe to say he's only had two in the past two weeks, but the store said one a week is fine. I've since read you should do anything from every day to every two days - so there seems to be a wide range of opinion.

My question is: Since he is from a pet store not a breeder, should we bring him into our vet (already found one that treats exotics that we know and trust) and have him checked for mites, fleas and/or any other infections, even though I know that will be stressful to him (we only have the cardboard carrier at this point) OR increase the dust baths to every day for a week and see what happens? Because it is winter here and crazy cold the heat is running a lot. Keeping him in a cooler room with the heat vent closed, but don't know if the scratching is bc of not enough baths or the reverse, dry skin. Or the less common fleas/mites.

Would love any advice or thoughts people can offer?

Also, we bought one of those Kaytee woodland getaway houses for his hidey house and he loves it - sleeps on top of it but seems to be chewing it to pieces. Is this normal? I'm worried if he keeps chewing the top it will become less stable. Is there a better hidey house to get?

I truly appreciate any and all advice - I'm super new at this (always just had cats) but even though we've only had him a short while we consider little Dash a member of the family and want to be sure he's happy and healthy. Thank you.
 
Itchy skin is most commonly caused by dry skin, in which case you want to give less baths not more. The amount of baths varies so widely because it depends on where you live and how humid the place is. If it's very dry, like you said with the heat on it will dry out the air, you want to give less baths, maybe only once a week. If you live in a very humid area, where the humidity is above 50% you want to give more baths, sometimes up to once a day. The dust bath absorbs the extra oils on the fur, so it has a drying effect. You can tell if a chin really needs a bath if it's fur is getting oily. Where I live it's very dry in the winter and I have a wood stove as primary heating (which dries out the air even more), so my guys only get a bath about once a week. In the summer they normally only get one a couple times a week.

Since the chin did come from a pet store it's not a bad idea to get him checked out at the vet to make sure the itchiness is just dry skin and not something more serious. Also if he scratches too much he can end up breaking the skin which could allow infection in. Fleas and mites are not common, but they can get them on the face and feet, or anywhere that the fur is not as thick, like if a fur slip has happened. They can also get a fungal infection called ringworm, though once again that is normally on the face, but can happen elsewhere if they get wet.

It's perfectly normal for the chin to chew up his house. You will need to replace the house from time to time when it starts becoming too chewed up to be safe. The woodland house is the same one I have, and I just keep an eye on it and test it by pushing on it to make sure it's still stable. There are vendors on here that make houses too that look like are made of thicker wood. Like these http://www.simplychintastic.com/housing.html or for more beautiful work these http://twilightchinchillastoysandmore.weebly.com/chinchillas.html for examples.
 
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