Nose swiping!

[sydneytaylorr]

Hey guys! Kay so my chinchilla Mickey has been ruffling his fur a lot, and nose swiping a lot? and cleaning or chewing at his tummy a lot.. i'm not sure if he's just cleaning or if he's chewing. i can probably get a video of what's going on soon. but i just need to know if this is serious? i'm terrified because i love him dearly..

 

[tunes]

It could be completely normal. Chins groom themselves, and male chins go that extra mile. They also clean their penis to remove hair rings. If you notice that he's working at his genitalia a lot, he may have a hair ring he can't remove and you may need to step in and help out. If you do a quick search, you'll find several threads relating to hair ring checks.

If he acts as if he's in pain, is not acting like himself, not eating, etc., then you have cause for concern.

As far as swiping at his nose, chins do that normally as well. They may do one side or both, something I call the Fu Man Chu. If he's eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, and active - he's most likely fine.

Are you new to chins or have you had him for a while?

 

[sydneytaylorr]

He's being his complete self (but then again I've had him only for a week) but he's eating, chewing, drinking, pooping, and peeing. & I don't think he's in pain at all. & I just heard that when they swipe at their nose a lot it could be serious? and I'm fairly new to chins but I've researched them so much that it feels like I'm not new to them at all! & I'll check out the hair ring threads. Thank you for the response!