Fur Imperfections, breathing and is he even a guy?

[shubbles]

My chinchilla has had these fur things sticking out of his fur, one out of his head, makes him look like a unicorn, if you could imagine it, one by his but, tiny but looks the same, and has a little puff of fur coming out of his left side of his stomach. i dont know if it got stuck on something, because he couldnt have chewed his forehead, or some kinda fungus or ringworm. also oncce he had another horn but i pulled it out gently, there seems to be a knot and after i gave him a hair ring check, which im pretty sure hes a guy, but ill talk about that later, he had this huge puff of fur 1 0r 2 inches long coming out of his hip and then it just popped off. what could he have? next eccespecially after playtime you can see his body move from the heavy breathing, is this normal, it usually calms down, or does he have something wrong? also when i gave him a hair ring check, his manbits only extended an inch i thought it was supposed to be 2 inches, his teestes also hang down, is that normal? and one more thing, sometimes in the night he just sits there. is that bad?

As you might have noticed im new to the forum and i havent really posted anything about my chinchilla yet, so im sorry for all the questions, thanks though

 

[peachydays]

Welcome to the forum, shubbles.

What you are describing sounds like fur slips and/or priming. This is normal, and nothing to be worried about.

As far as the heavy breathing after playtime, I would say that is normal too. Just think about how humans get out of breath after they exercise. You do want to make sure that the room he is playing in is cool enough though, since for a chinchilla they are essentially running around in the equivalent of a thick heavy winter coat. If you would be too hot in the playtime room after running around in it in a winter coat, then your chin would be too. Just a frame of reference.

Hair ring checks: Sometimes it can take a few tries to get the penis fully extended. Are you doing the check by yourself? It might be easier if you have someoe else hold him and you do the check. I have also heard of people using a little bit of KY Jelly to lubricate things and make it a bit easier, although I have not tried this myself. I would not worry about his testicles hanging down. My chinchilla Ralph's testicles hung down all the time.

I would also not worry about your chinny just sitting there sometimes during the night. Chins need to rest sometimes too, especially during the night when they are generally most active.

Hope this helps.

ETA - I noticed the title of the thread contains the phrase "is he even a guy"....if you post some clear pictures of his "private" bits, we'll be able to confirm for you whether he is definitely a he

 

[Laurie]

It sounds like he is priming, the tufts of hair sticking, which, yes this is normal. Give him more baths and see if this will help. If you see testes or manbits he is a male. Females do not have testes. They breathe very heavily after playtime and will usually lay on their side and rest. Due to the heavy exertion of playtime I would not recommend it for extended periods as they can overheat. They also don't need playtime everyday especially if they have a wheel in their cage.

 

[shubbles]

thankyou for all the responses and in a timely matter, i thought something was wrong butnow i have nothing to worry about. but when i gave him a hair ring check i could see where the penis met the belly so i thought it was fully extended.

 

[alpayton]

Please watch this video of a hair ring check (http://www.spoiledchins.net/hairring.htm) and how it should be performed. I fear that what you're calling the "penis" is truly just the cone, and even females have those.

 

[ann1]

If you arent sure he's a he then what do you think you were checking while looking for the hair ring?
When chinnies prime they loose fur and get new fur. Also when they are stressed they will loose hair. Its a defence mechanism in the wild, to get away from pray

 

[shubbles]

i kind of said the wrong thing, i knew he was a guy by 1. the breeder said he was, and 2. his testicles hung down i dont really know why i asked "if he was a guy or not", after i typed it i realized i made no sense. sorry. now that i think about it i realize that he is definetely a guy, and if you saw a pic youd say so also, ill try to post a pic and ive seen that video you mentioned, but if i tried to pull out his manbits anymore it would hurt im i also saw nothing, ill try it again soon.

 

[shubbles]

i hope the breeder wasnt wrong :hmm:, although she was reputable, but ill still post pics

 

[ann1]

Well if your pushing down on his cone and something is popping out then that would be his "junk" or manbits as you call them. Also their privates are not all going to be the same exact size......just like in any other species.
Im not sure exactly what your trying to find out but they do not always have fur rings on them, just sometimes. Especially with breeding males.

 

[shubbles]

Ok FINALLY i got some decent pics. These are my first try using photobucket or any photo website. SO here we go.

Now that i look at it he looks like a guy just need to be 100%

And another one...

Hopefully that worked!

 

[shubbles]

Ok One more try.

Here he is is he a guy or not?

The second one.

Crossing my fingers

 

[shubbles]

Im sorry everyone.. this is making me angry

If anyone could help me on posting pics, preferrably step by step, but anything is fine that would be great!

 

[lauralynne]

Here's the picture you were trying to post.

 

[shubbles]

So did it work?

 

[AZChins]

It's a boy, it looks pretty normal to me.

 

[lauralynne]

So did it work?

No - I had to copy the section from your link to get to the picture, then saved it and posted it. LOL. But, you do have a boy.

 

[shubbles]

thanks for the responses and helping me post the pic. can you tell me how to post a picture please.

 

[Bethany]

When you hold your mouse over the picture click the IMG code I always right click it and copy it, because some times if you are posting multiple pic it will post the same one.

 

[shubbles]

what code im using photobucket, does anyone have experience with it. i need specific directions on the website.

 

[shubbles]

ok i read a thread, but it seems like i have been doing it right one more try and then ill be done until future help.

OH YAH I THINK IT WORKED im gonna give myself a hand :clap1: