C
CiCi's Chinchillas
Guest
Until today, my closest experience with a possible fur chewed chinchilla was via pictures online. A local family asked me to take in and find homes for two young boy chins who they said they no longer had the time for. After I got them home today, I took them out to weigh them and look them over. Thats when I saw a bald spot on one of the boys' hip.
It is pretty much all the way down to the skin, so my first thought was a simple fur slip. They had a dog, small children, etc. so this could easily have happened. The strange thing is in some spots it is just shorter. So I thought I would post some pics up here and get a second opinion.
If it is fur chewing, it is probably environmental. Although very friendly, the woman admitted they weren't given much attention lately. They were being fed pet store chinchilla food (looks like rainbow colored alphabet soup) and no hay in sight. I think a change in diet is in order!
The only other possibility is itchiness due to dry skin. The bath house was kept in the cage and their fur seems very rough. But if this was the case, wouldn't he be doing it all over? And the other boy is fully-furry. They will be going to my exotics vet early next week so hopefully she too can give me some insight.
As always, any and all help is greatly appreciated!
-CiCi
It is pretty much all the way down to the skin, so my first thought was a simple fur slip. They had a dog, small children, etc. so this could easily have happened. The strange thing is in some spots it is just shorter. So I thought I would post some pics up here and get a second opinion.
If it is fur chewing, it is probably environmental. Although very friendly, the woman admitted they weren't given much attention lately. They were being fed pet store chinchilla food (looks like rainbow colored alphabet soup) and no hay in sight. I think a change in diet is in order!
The only other possibility is itchiness due to dry skin. The bath house was kept in the cage and their fur seems very rough. But if this was the case, wouldn't he be doing it all over? And the other boy is fully-furry. They will be going to my exotics vet early next week so hopefully she too can give me some insight.
As always, any and all help is greatly appreciated!
-CiCi
