About 3 or 4 months ago or so, Rio, my chinchilla, had a little fur biting problem that caused him a pretty good loss of fur on his back half. It wasn't to the skin or anything, just made him look like he got a bad haircut. His fur has barely grown back any since then, so I was wondering if anyone knows perhaps why or a method to help this problem? Rio is a little over a year and a half old. Thanks!
Chinchilla Fur Problem
- Thread starter hayden748
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There isn't much you can do. Your chin is a fur chewer and he will most likely continue to be one. You can try a couple things, but they rarely work. You can try keeping his cage in a quiet, stress free area. You can try rotating toys in and out to keep him interested in chewing on them instead of himself.
Sadly, once they start they tend not to stop. It's genetic and then it becomes habitual. There are chins who may stress chew and once the stress is removed they stop, but it's not very often. It's not very attractive, but it doesn't make him less loveable.
Sadly, once they start they tend not to stop. It's genetic and then it becomes habitual. There are chins who may stress chew and once the stress is removed they stop, but it's not very often. It's not very attractive, but it doesn't make him less loveable.
arf2184
Well-known member
If he has stopped chewing (though like Tunes said, once they start, they don't usually stop) the fur will grow back on its own. It will take longer to grow back than say if he had slipped fur because it has to shed out naturally which takes some time. (Slipped fur grows back pretty quickly.) To speed things up you could theoretically force him to slip the fur by grabbing a small bit of it and just holding on, though I would not recommend it for a large area. And more than likely he is still chewing so he'd just give himself another bad haircut as it grows back.
Chins that chew tend to be more easily stressed animals, but other than that, like Tunes said, its just cosmetic and doesn't make him any less loveable. Just enjoy him for the unique critter that he is and tell your friends he does his own haircut.
Chins that chew tend to be more easily stressed animals, but other than that, like Tunes said, its just cosmetic and doesn't make him any less loveable. Just enjoy him for the unique critter that he is and tell your friends he does his own haircut.
