Furby's Fur Is Odd.

[Anna]

I have a young chin, named Furby. And it seems like Furby's fur is really weird. I give him dust baths a couple times a week. His fur seems clumpy though. It's not stuck together but almost looks... kinda separated and greasy. He never gets wet except when he rubs up against his water bottle. And I dry him and give him a dust bath on the occasion that he does. How do I fix this? Also, do these guys get new coats of fur? Because on one of his hips, his fur is really short, and matted and almost like... downy.. it's weird. It almost looks like a bald spot, or a huge "dent" in his fur. I'm attaching some pictures, maybe you guys can help me?
Anna

The dent is on his hip, kinda. It looks like a weird downy patch.

 

[Ash]

The dent looks like fur chewing in the second pic, but not in the other two. Is the skin red and scaley looking under it? If so, it may be ringworm. If not, it could be a bad fur slip.

Chins shed, or prime, but it's not to the point they get bald spots. As far as his fur's quality, what kind of dust ar you using? A poor quality dust can lead to poor fur.

 

[Anna]

Fur biting, huh? His skin looks fine underneath the fur, how do you keep them from fur biting? I don't know at the moment, the brand the person at the store recommended. What would you suggest in terms of good dust?
Thanks!

 

[Ash]

Good dust is Blue Cloud, Blue Sparkle, and recently Sweet PDZ has come into the light as a fairly good dust replacement. Any of the three you can purchase through suppliers here on the forum, and Sweet PDZ you can purchase at most farm supply stores if you have any in your area, as it's actually a stall freshener.

As far as how to get chins to stop chewing? There really is no way. They'll stop when they want. I have a girl who chews her cagemates when she gets bored. It's just something some chins do. Some people have put stuff in the dust baths (I forget what exactly) to make the fur taste bad and discourage chewing, but I don't know how well that actually works.

 

[alli713]

Definitely looks like he's chewing his fur to me. Did he come from a rescue situation, and is he new to your home? Some chins chew due to stress, others just do it for no apparent reason.

If it's stress related he should stop once he settles in. If he just does it for no reason, then he'll likely keep chewing, or maybe stop for a bit and then restart.

I have one girl who chews due to stress, like if we move to a new home, she chews for a bit.

You just kind of learn to deal with their fur looking funky, it doesn't make them any less of a chin, just not as "pretty".

ETA: just relooked at the photos. Some parts almost look like his fur was pulled, was he ever in with another chin? The little bald spots look like what my chin's fur looks like after an intro. And the big spot kind of looks like either a fur slip growing back, or he's been chewing the fur there majorly.

 

[Brittney]

I would have to agree. I have a chewer and that's exactly what his looks like too. Bryson has chewed himself and made himself slip atleast once or twice. I'm guessing he bit himself on accident. Could be the reason there.

 

[Anna]

Thanks guys! does anyone know about stuff that makes their fur taste bad? is it safe for them? Alli, in response to you, no, I bought him when he was 3 months old from a local pet store. He doesn't seem stressed, he's really playful, loves people, really sweet and calm. I guess it's for no apparent reason, good thing it doesn't seem like something to worry about. : )

 

[Ash]

I honestly can't remember what it is, but I don't think I'd want to put much in their dustbath unless absolutely needed!

 

[threewingedfury]

I've heard of people using Desenex or Tinactin powder in the dust, but it's like a once a month kind of thing. I wouldn't add it to the dust unless you know it's fungus though. Not that it would hurt them if you did, but I just don't like adding things into the mix if they're not needed. Most likely it's fur chewing.