I need help

[clover and violet]

I have two new chinchillas I got two days ago from the Humane Society. Today I noticed that one of the chinchillas has a big bald spot on it's side. What do I need to do? Also the other chinchilla doesn't seem to want to take a dust bath. I am doing something wrong?

 

[Essentia]

On the chinchilla with the bald spot, is the area red or flaky? If so, it may be fungus. If it isn't and it looks like regular skin it could be just a large fur slip. When a chinchilla is grabbed, or scared, it can "slip" fur from it's body. It's a defense mechanism to escape from predators.

As for the dust bath, it may be that the chinchilla hasn't had many in its lifetime so it isn't very familiar with it yet. Are the two chinchillas housed together? If so, the second one may see the other dusting and get the hang of it. Until then you can manually dust him by taking some dust into your hand and rubbing it into his fur. It won't do as good of a job as he would himself, but it's better than nothing. Also, I would put the dust container in the cage and walk away. Sometimes with new chins, I have found that they don't like to be watched while dusting. Often times I can put the dust in there, walk away for about 15 min. and come back to a freshly dusted chinchilla.

 

[clover and violet]

Thank you

Thank you. This information was very helpful. I think our Chinchilla is just nervous because her skin looks fine, just bald. I will try the other for the dust bath.

 

[starleomach]

What kind of container are you using to dust? I have found if they are used to an open container ( I use dog bowls here) they do not seem to want to use a dust house for example right away.
As for the bald spot I agree if it isn't flakey and red it is likely a fur slip

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

My guess is that whoever was in charge of them at the humane society wasn't very experienced with chinchillas. They probably tried to pick it up wrong, and ended up with a giant clump of fur in their hand instead of a chinchilla, who is now left with a bald spot. In that case, It should start growing back in soon, just be careful when you're picking it up.

About the dust bath, I bought a chinchilla a while ago and the breeders looked pretty legit over the web, everything checked out. But when I actually drove down to get her, her conditions were terrible. She's a pretty chin, but her ears were all scaly. When I brought her home, she refused her dust bath for a long time. Eventually, I put her in with one of my other chins and when she saw what was going on, she decided to give it a try. She still hates it, but sometimes I can get lucky and she will jump in and roll around for a little bit.