Possible issue with Mr. B's Junk and a Fur question

[ChocolatPocky]

Lately I've noticed my Chin Mr. B hasn't been cleaning his privates at all (I used to see this occasionally and laugh). And normally he is pretty enthusiastic about making sweet love to his plush friend during play time, but for the past month or two he'll only mount/grasp the toy, but that's about it. Today when I was checking his feet for any pinkness/dryness, I noticed his penis tip was kind of wet looking. It wasn't hanging out, and the fur around it was not wet. Is something up or has he just sworn himself to celibacy?? I know it's most common for there to be a problem when they're checking their junk TOO often, what if they're not grooming it at all?

His eating/drinking/peeing/pooping habits are all normal.

I have not tried to completely examine his penis because I don't want to cause him unnecessary stress, and it sounds hard to do, and I'm sure he'd hate it haha (but if I have to I will check!)

Question about fur: How do you tell if they're just shedding or having some kind of health problem with the quality of their fur? I think he's just shedding but it's been a few weeks and his fur is still coming off in wisps on his back, it doesn't look smooth and nice like it normally does.

 

[Amethyst]

I don't remember if you ever said his age but it may just be he is getting older/more mature and doesn't have the urges as often as he did when he was younger (past a few years old). I don't always catch my guys grooming down there, they some times hide in their house to do it. Could the wetness simply be a little bit of pee? Does it still look wet now?

Shedding is little wisps of fur it can take a few weeks to fully shed and it's not uncommon for them to start another shedding cycle before the last one has finished. The only real things I can think of that would be a problem would be fur chewing, which looks like someone has taken scissors to his fur. Fungal infection like ring worm, which will cause the fur to fall out leaving a bald spot and cause itchy, red, flaky skin. You can try brushing him if you want if he will let you, most pet chins don't need brushing but some do depending on their fur. I normally recommend using a fine toothed comb, but recently I saw someone using what looked like a shedding blade (looked similar to this but they made it themselves), so long as you are careful it would probably work well. They said their chins enjoyed it since it has very tiny short teeth it doesn't pull on fur like a comb might it just grabs the loose hairs off the top it doesn't actually comb into the fur, which also means it doesn't do anything if for mats or tangles.

 

[ChocolatPocky]

I don't remember if you ever said his age but it may just be he is getting older/more mature and doesn't have the urges as often as he did when he was younger (past a few years old). I don't always catch my guys grooming down there, they some times hide in their house to do it. Could the wetness simply be a little bit of pee? Does it still look wet now?

Shedding is little wisps of fur it can take a few weeks to fully shed and it's not uncommon for them to start another shedding cycle before the last one has finished. The only real things I can think of that would be a problem would be fur chewing, which looks like someone has taken scissors to his fur. Fungal infection like ring worm, which will cause the fur to fall out leaving a bald spot and cause itchy, red, flaky skin. You can try brushing him if you want if he will let you, most pet chins don't need brushing but some do depending on their fur. I normally recommend using a fine toothed comb, but recently I saw someone using what looked like a shedding blade (looked similar to this but they made it themselves), so long as you are careful it would probably work well. They said their chins enjoyed it since it has very tiny short teeth it doesn't pull on fur like a comb might it just grabs the loose hairs off the top it doesn't actually comb into the fur, which also means it doesn't do anything if for mats or tangles.

I think he's about 3-4 years old, I adopted him Dec and the lady said he was 3. Okay! Good to know there is most likely not a problem! I'll check again to see if there's any wetness down there, it might have just been that time I was looking.

From what you described about the fur, it sounds like he is just shedding. He doesn't seem to mind when I try to pull the loose wisps out, so maybe I will try combing him. I switched him to Sherwood Pet food a month ago so I wonder if it has an affect on his fur? I read somewhere on this forum that feeding Chinchillas timothy only based pellets will affect the appearance of their fur. (Sherwood pellets are timothy and alfalfa based)

Thanks for the feedback Amethyst!

 

[Amethyst]

Well I know feeding them only hay, no pellets, can affect fur quality. Likely because hay isn't guaranteed to be balanced, it can vary from harvest to harvest and even from one end of the field to the other. Pellets contain all the nutrients a chin needs, so if the hay is lacking the pellets insure the chin is getting what they need.

Looking up the Sherwood pellets they are an alfalfa based pellet, timothy is the second ingredient meaning it's not the primary ingredient. Though it is lower protein then the Oxbow or Mazuri, so that might cause quality of the fur to change. Here is another member's explanation on chinchilla feed Food for thought on feed! it's long but might help explain some things on what to look at when looking at ingredients and how different nutrients in the food can affect their condition.