Advice for possiblw fur chewing?

[gizmo871]

I have owned Gizmo for 7 years now and he has been with us since he was 4 months. He has always been a happy chin. For his first 4 years I had him in a room with me but now he has his own room which is quiet and he also when supervised has the run of the room and often the stairs and hallway. On nights when we can, we also have him in the lounge with us. Although there are some evenings he is always given a bath but doesn't have a run. He seems fine within himself but recently I have noticed he has chewed the fur near the top of his back legs. It looks like a bad hair cut. I did recently change his cage round and have spent tonight hanging back his tube, and moved his shelves back round. I am hoping it was just a reaction to change and he will stop. He has had a run tonight whilst I was putting everything back and he was bright eyed his ears were up and he had his bath and a treat. He has never chewed his fur before and I feel guilty that I may have caused him stress when I was trying to giving him different toys to explore. Any advice?

 

[mgonya]

I would cut his bath back to 3 times per week. His skin might be getting dried out.

 

[carmen holt]

same happened to mine I gave him a dust bath every day I cut back to twice a week his hair on his front legs grew back nicely

 

[Newt]

Some chins chew due to stress, some due to boredom, and some simply because they can! It's kinda like the human habit of biting fingernails.
Once they start, sometimes they never stop.

But don't feel bad, there's no way of knowing why he started, and it may not have been from stress. By giving him toys and attention you are doing all you can. My Rosey chews her fur quite a lot (she started when my old chin Poppy got sick)....she looks kinda funny, but I love her all the same!!

 

[Jazicat]

You could also put a radio or tv in the room with him for to listen to or watch. My chinchillas seem calmer when it's not totally still and quiet.