Hi there, new owner of 2 chinchillas, had them just over 4 weeks now.
I have just noticed Holmes, the bigger of our 2 chins, has developed a small patch of dry, almost flaky skin underneath his penis. It doesn't circle around it, rather it starts at the base of his penis and extends to just above his anus, and its width goes out to nearly where his fur begins to grow.
It's roughly rectangular shaped, and has a solid crease line where it folds slightly in the middle. The rest of his skin underneath there is fine.
He has a dust bath every 2-3 days, eats a mixture of Timothy Hay with a little Alfafa Timothy Hay mixed in, good quality Selective Chinchilla pellets and his treats (one type a day, given sparingly) are either organic oats, or bits of raisin. I haven't noticed him grooming himself too much, nor does it seem to bother him. I was examining him as best I could, he shed a lot and he wasn't happy about it, but the moments he was calm I got a really good look and it didn't hurt him when I touched it, and didn't react at all when I did touch it.
His brother Watson is fine I think, I saw underneath when I was playing with him yesterday, thought I can't currently examine him as he recently got extremely frightened and won't move (it wasn't anything too bad, but it got me upset and I'm concerned so I'll be posting in the behavior bit for some help about that, if any one can help with that too)
Is this anything to be concerned about, or anything I can do to help? Should I bathe them less regularly, such as making it every 3 days? They are both 7 months old, active and otherwise healthy.
I have just noticed Holmes, the bigger of our 2 chins, has developed a small patch of dry, almost flaky skin underneath his penis. It doesn't circle around it, rather it starts at the base of his penis and extends to just above his anus, and its width goes out to nearly where his fur begins to grow.
It's roughly rectangular shaped, and has a solid crease line where it folds slightly in the middle. The rest of his skin underneath there is fine.
He has a dust bath every 2-3 days, eats a mixture of Timothy Hay with a little Alfafa Timothy Hay mixed in, good quality Selective Chinchilla pellets and his treats (one type a day, given sparingly) are either organic oats, or bits of raisin. I haven't noticed him grooming himself too much, nor does it seem to bother him. I was examining him as best I could, he shed a lot and he wasn't happy about it, but the moments he was calm I got a really good look and it didn't hurt him when I touched it, and didn't react at all when I did touch it.
His brother Watson is fine I think, I saw underneath when I was playing with him yesterday, thought I can't currently examine him as he recently got extremely frightened and won't move (it wasn't anything too bad, but it got me upset and I'm concerned so I'll be posting in the behavior bit for some help about that, if any one can help with that too)
Is this anything to be concerned about, or anything I can do to help? Should I bathe them less regularly, such as making it every 3 days? They are both 7 months old, active and otherwise healthy.
