broken beard

[takeshi1013]

Some of my chinchilla's beard is broken. I am wondering why? Is it because lack of some vitamin or sun?


Thanks in advance:dance3:

 

[tunes]

Chins don't have beards. Could you explain further?

 

[3CsMommy]

I think the word you might want is "whiskers", the individual hairs that stick out around their nose/mouth? (Humans and some animals like goats have "beards" but that's the word for a group of whiskers all together.)

Whiskers can break or pull out if they're stuck in something, but chins often chew off other chins whiskers if they're establishing which is the "top dog". They might also chew them off themselves if they're prone to barbering/"fur chewing".

 

[tunes]

Good catch 3Cs - Never would have occurred to me that whiskers and beard were the same thing.

 

[Isabella Whateva]

Haha, Tunes, I was in the same boat as you

 

[3CsMommy]

Thanks. I was confused for a minute too until I saw that Takeshi is Finnish. "Not quite, but close" mix ups happen ALL the time when you're working outside your mother tongue. (I tutored a lot of ESL students in college and help a few w/ English translation and stuff now on another forum, so I'm somewhat used to it.)

 

[takeshi1013]

oh, yes,whiskers! thanks for the word correction,

Until now now I haven't found her has any fur chewing problem, but she always grooming in her little "house" and turn around there, I am not sure does the whiskers broken by that?

 

[3CsMommy]

It's possible. If you can look closely at a whisker, check the tip. Are they frayed like the ends of material, or neat and even, like a clipped thread? If they're frayed, my guess would be that they're broken. If they're neat, they're probably nibbled.