Fur Chewing

[alli713]

I don't think it's the hay. Just don't give him another dust bath for a while and see if he stops itching so much.
It seems like something is irritating him and the dust is the first thing I would think might be the culprit. If it's not better in a couple days then it might be something else.

I don't know that I've heard of a chin be itchy because of allergies, I've just heard of runny eyes with allergies. And I don't think allergies are all that common from what I've read.

 

[Stackie]

I may have missed it, what kind of dust are you using?

 

[HaleyGoBoom]

I order blue cloud from camphorchins.com, I'm not sure what she used before but it was from a mom n pop kind of pet store she uses that I have yet to visit.

I'll wait a week before giving him a dust bath then I'll see what happens.

 

[CerLynn]

I don't know whether or not it's related to the shorter spots of fur you're seeing, but he definitely just seems to be itchy. Our boys itch like that sometimes, but never for such a length of time. I agree with the previous suggestions - cut down on the baths and hopefully he won't be quite so itchy.

 

[HaleyGoBoom]

Well, tonight I came home to find him with a handful of his hair, chewing it like hay. v_v I'm not sure if this is hair that has fallen out and he's picked it up (not sure why it would have fallen out though)

Maybe he's chewing because of dry skin?

 

[Tanya]

Dry skin can be caused by too many dust baths, dry indoor air and vitamin deficiency. You already got great advice to increase the time between dust baths.
Do you put dust bath in the cage? If yes, it's better to offer it during play times outside of the cage, as some dust will get on the fleece liner and he will be rolling.
It's better not to reuse dust many times as bacteria may grow. You can put less but change more often and wash the container.
Is environmental temperature ok?
Also,vitamin A deficiency causes dry skin in herbivores. What pellets do you feed and what hay? Are they fresh ( vitamin A degrades quickly).
Notable differences between Alfalfa and Timothy hay are in the level of protein, calcium and vitamin A . Alfalfa is rich in vitamin A. Timothy is a lower nutrient dense forage with low content of vitamin A.
So, you can try adding some alfalfa hay in your chin diet and see if itching improves.
Make sure that your chin eats not only pellets, but hays too. This is what Oxbow consulting nutritionist says about pellets: " Chinchilla Deluxe pellets are not designed to be the sole diet for chinchillas, but rather supplemental to long fiber hays.** Hays do not contain any vitamin A per se - rather, they contain precursors in the form of carotenoids that can be transformed to active vitamin A (the means by which herbivores generally obtain this essential nutrient)."*
Good luck!

 

[alli713]

I don't know that I would suggest adding alfalfa hay. Too much alfalfa can also cause too much calcium, which leads to stones. And the fact that she was giving him cuttle bone already would only add to the calcium intake.

I've never heard of bacteria growing in dust? I mean, obviously dump the dust if it's been peed in, but I've heard of many people just sifting out the poop and reusing the dust until the finer particles are used up and then dumping it for new. This is the first time I've heard of bacteria being an issue in the dust?

 

[HaleyGoBoom]

I don't know that I would suggest adding alfalfa hay. Too much alfalfa can also cause too much calcium, which leads to stones. And the fact that she was giving him cuttle bone already would only add to the calcium intake.

I've never heard of bacteria growing in dust? I mean, obviously dump the dust if it's been peed in, but I've heard of many people just sifting out the poop and reusing the dust until the finer particles are used up and then dumping it for new. This is the first time I've heard of bacteria being an issue in the dust?

He had a cuttlebone in his cage for about an hour at the longest before I removed it, that shouldn't have caused him any problems should it have?

 

[searchand_dstry]

To me he doesn't *look* fur chewed in the video. Just looks itchy! Don't worry about the rolling on the fleece... my chinchillas roll on their liners, in their hammocks, and on towels in the bathroom. Pretty much anywhere they like the surface texture, they will roll.

Obviously, decrease dust baths, which has already been said. His fur looks good, not greasy.. so go for once a week & increase if he looks greasy to maybe twice a week. Around here my house get really dry in the winter & my chinchillas will get a dust bath once every two weeks. They get itchy if they get them more. I'll see them constantly scratching and grooming themselves.

The only thing I haven't seen suggested is priming. When my chinchillas prime they look like CRAP. The first year Smush primed he looks like he was chewing fur! I posted on the old board and asked everyone & sure enough it was priming. Was gone once the hair fell out. However, idk if chins prime in CA since it's such a constant temperature? Maybe someone will know. Just a thought though!

Do you have a regular camera? Maybe you can get a good picture (since it's hard to tell from the video) of the areas you're worried about.

 

[HaleyGoBoom]

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss345/KingstonIsACutie/DSCN0716.jpg

http://i590.photobucket.com/albums/ss345/KingstonIsACutie/DSCN0738.jpg

those are the areas I'm concerned about, tried to get them a good quality but he's fast!