Matted Fur

[BlackSagePhoenix]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here on CnH. I am a new chinchilla owner. I adopted my chinny from a lady who frequents, and recommended, this website. Her name is Jennifer. She had rescued this little fellow and adopted him out to me. Everything seems to be going well. I have had him for 5 nights now and he seems well adapted to his new surroundings and is getting used to me. I do have a question, though. The fur on his back around his legs and above his tail are badly matted (from a long time of never having a dust bath). Jennifer brought this up to me and told me that I will be able to work them out with a comb. I do need some advice though. He is still shy and wont let me hold him still. I thought about waiting until he got used to me enough to groom him, but that may take a while, if ever. So, how should I go about doing this? He has let me hold him once, and it was for about 5 seconds before he scurried away. I dont want to stress him out. Should I give him a dust bath more than normal? I am not quite sure on how to begin.

 

[Siylvat]

first of, welcome to the forum!

Personally I would allow him time to settle in before taking a brush to him. Especially if you are new to handling chins. That way you both can get a little more comefortable. For now I would just offer him regular dust baths and get to know eachother better. The matts shouldn't be bothering him so much that the need to be out now.

Congrats on your chin, and just a heads up, everyone on here loves pictures!

 

[arf2184]

I'm not sure how big of matts we're talking about, but if its not too bad, I'd try just grabbing the matt with your fingers and see if he'll just slip the fur. Its a defense mechanism they have. Just hold the fur with two fingers and don't let go. He'll likely just leave you holding the fur while he takes off to have fun. Because of where it is, I'm betting it'll slip pretty easily. If we're talking about several small matts, you could just do one at a time over a period of several days. Chances are it won't even phase him.

If we're talking about one large matt, you may have to resort to carefully cutting it off with scissors. The fur will grow back much faster if he slips it though and you don't risk poking a squirming chin with a comb or scissors.

 

[BlackSagePhoenix]

Thank you for the welcomes.

He has a bunch of small mats. I worked with him last night and was able to pull out a few of the small ones. There are a couple of bigger ones that I held onto and he didn't seem able to release them. I am just afraid that I will hurt him and he will remember me as the bad guy. I heard they have very good memories.

 

[BlackSagePhoenix]

And here is a pic. You can kinda see some of the matts.

 

[starleomach]

If you want you can wait until he is more adjusted but the only way to get rid of mats is to pull them out. With thier fine fur it just doesn't comb out. I would just attack them a few at a time then leave him be a bit and some extra dust baths

 

[Rickman]

Yes, the matts will come out as stated above!
Couldn't help noticing the cage he's in - I had one apparently by the same manufacturer.
The clips that hold it together are plastic, apparently flavored, the way my guys chewed them up, almost causing the cage to collapse - I hard-wired it together!
Plastic can be deadly if swallowed - will not digest, and clog intestines if in quantity!
They then started on the ramps and shelves, which I replaced with KDP, and if fastened tightly with fender washers, adds strength to the cage!
If that cage is 30 inches deep, it's a real PIA to clean through the doors, unless you're on the small side with long arms - haha
You might want to remove those sides, too - inhibits airflow!
Just my experience with that brand!
Oh - welcome to the forum, too!! :thumbsup:

 

[BlackSagePhoenix]

Rickman, you may have been mistaking the cage he is in. My cage is the Ware 4-Level Indoor Hutch for rabbits, chins, and ferrets. It is made with some type of metal and it held on with bolts. It is a very sturdy cage and is about 18" deep. When I adopted him, the shelves were missing from the box so I had found some basic "Super Pet" plastic shelves that fit decent. Also, what you might have thought was siding is actually my bedroom walls. LOL. I know they are really shiny. But he is in a corner that has an "exhaust vent". I placed him there because he would probably get the best air flow there, being as the exhaust vent discretly sucks out the warm air that settles near the floor, allowing more cold air from the ceiling vents to cool the room. Does my theory seem like it might be effective? LOL. Its something I thought would be good, but let me know if it might not be.