Tizoc- Fur rot, Ringworm, Injury, or Dry Skin?

[Osvaldo257]

I've done tons and tons of research over the past 17 hours trying to figure out what to do about my chinchilla. First off- i've had her for nearly 4 years and have never had a single problem with her AT ALL until last night.

I checked on her, gave her a dried piece of banana, and gave her a wonderfully good chin scratching around 4pm yesterday- she was perfectly fine. Later that night, around 11:30pm, I looked into her cage and saw a spot the size of a dime of hair COMPLETELY GONE from the top of her head. There are tiny cuts, raised red areas, or some kind of "owwie" along with complete SMOOTH hair loss.
I am not prone to panicking, so I calmly searched her cage for anything she could have hurt herself on- as i know some chinchillas release fur when injured. I found no fur, blood, jagged edge, or anything.

A few hours of looking around online later and I get the feeling she may have "Fur rot" (or ringworm), and look again- the skin is still very pink and smooth, a tiny bit of dry skin, but mainly where the fur was detached from her scalp. When i checked her feet afterward- i saw that she has tiny red callouses (as she usually does) but there was a little more dry skin than usual.

Her nose seems perfectly fine, though I hope to look more closely when I can get my roommate to help me hold her so i can give her a through inspection.

Also- lately- her ears have become more scaled than usual, the edges have started to show tiny black marks, which worry me as well.

I am a good pet owner, i swear. I take every precaution there is to make sure she is loved and looked after. I clean her cage every two days, i change her water every time i clean her cage, i boil her "chilling tiles" and water bottle weekly, and disinfect her cage every two weeks, yet it seems just over night she looks absolutely terrible...

I need help... And I live in Mississippi- not an ideal place for exotic pet veterinarians.

Attached is a photo of the area in question- I will take a photo of her feet as soon as possible

Her nose is fine.

The top of her head is NOT fine.

The black tips of her ears are worrying me.

 

[Stackie]

It looks like some type of bite wound to me. Is she with another chin? Are there any other animals in the house she could have came in contact with?

Is she itchy at all?

The dark spots on her ears may be freckles or just dirt, believe it or not. Try using a damp wash cloth to wipe them off.

 

[Anna35]

For the dry skin you can use Bag Balm. I really have no clue about the other stuff though sorry. I hope it clears up for you.. Did you find the missing fur? Could she have caught it on a shelf or something in her cage?

 

[tunes]

I agree with Stack - those look like bite wounds. If she has a roomie, they are going to need separated. If she doesn't, I would be checking for other animals or bug infestations.

The tips of the ears are a little weird. I would try cleaning them as recommended and then start using some sort of moisturizer like the Bag Balm or vitamin E capsules. I'd like to see a picture after they are cleaned and moisturized.

 

[Osvaldo257]

There was nothing in her cage that even resembled like she hurt herself on it. There was sparse fur here and there, but thats true of her cage all the time. She is the only chinchilla, and only PET within about a mile in any direction.

I'm not sure what is going on with her, but I know it worries me.

 

[ticklechin]

Looks like some type of rodent bite, any mice or rat problems?

 

[Osvaldo257]

No, we have no mice or rat problems. How would they get into her cage?

 

[Vyxxin]

I agree, looks JUST like bite wounds I know for a fact rats (maybe mice as will) will try to get at chinchillas. If you're not sure you have rats you could always try leaving a food item out (something small, portable and attractive to rodents) near your chins cage (not near enough for the chin to pull in) and see if it disappears. If your bar spacing is 1"x1/2" you wouldn't have to question it but most people have larger spacing than that.

 

[starrynight0621]

Also look for mice or rat droppings, as well as chewed areas in your home.

Also, try setting up a mouse/rat trap and see what happens.

If you are concerned about something getting into your chin's cage, you can buy hardware cloth (I think that is what it is called?) from a hardware store and put that around the cage. It is metal with small 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch squares. Nothing should get in through that.

 

[Vyxxin]

I would've suggested a mouse/rat trap...but...well...I don't know if she has children, dogs, cats, how secure her chin cage is...I would strongly caution the use of kill traps in this situation

 

[Osvaldo257]

Again, i am 100% sure there are no rodents in this apartment. I live on the second floor of a concrete building that gets rodent inspections the first week of every month. She lives in a Ferret Nation cage on seven inch stilts with a sheet of black fleece around the base and bottom level of the cage. As far as i know- There is a better chance of a vampire biting her than a rodent of any kind (other than herself.)

Her nose has actually started to turn red and the hair has started to thin along with the region around her genitals- so I'm almost positive that she has a ringworm infection (aka- fur rot). More than likely the scratches (that look like a bite) came from her digging at the spot, or may just be an allergic reaction to the ringworm its self.

Thanks for all the insight though, i do appreciate it. I've cleaned the area with benadine and alcohol (to keep from having a negative effect from the iodine) and started her on an anti-fungal powder bath twice daily (yes, i'm making sure to keep it out of her eyes and away from her food). I'll definitely keep posting and updating this just in case- please feel free to let me know any other ideas i could check for.

 

[Becky]

I don't know anything about your roommate, but would the roommate have gotten the chin out of the cage for any reason? Maybe something happened and you weren't told.

The spot could certainly be ringworm ( fur rot is not a term used with chinchillas), but the picture doesn't show the scaly skin associated with ringworm. A chinchilla can't reach the top of their head to scratch,so that doesn't make sense either. It certainly can't hurt to try an anti fungal. What are you using?

 

[jags]

I have to agree it does not appear to be fungus as the area is very smooth and healthy looking other than what appears to be some sort of injury.

 

[Spoof]

Looks like a bite or strike wound to me too. Definitely not fugus on that spot. If you could post pictures of what you now think is fungus that would be great. Granted if she is getting fugus it is likely that it is more from stress of whatever attacked her (looks like a cat wound).

Either way you could just add some sulfur to her dust bath and that would take care of the wound and the fungus.

 

[Osvaldo257]

Guys, I'm not saying any of you are wrong. But here are the facts- I was in the apartment the day the spot appeared, we have no pets, no kids, no friends came over, no strangers popped in to visit, no rodents aside from her are in the apartment, and her cage is free of sharp edges for her to bang against in the absolute best of my abilities as a human.

I'll try to take new pictures (most of you know, a scared or freaked out chinchilla is kinda hard to handle alone).

Currently I disinfected the area with Benadine solution, waited 2 minutes for it to dry, then cleaned the benadine off with rubbing alcohol, I removed everything from her cage and disinfected it all with a very mild bleach water, then rinsed each piece under water for 3-5 minutes- then let them dry in the sun (for the rock and metal pieces) or dried them in a 200 degree oven for 15 minutes (for the wood pieces) to make sure no rot set in on her chew-toys. I added 1tsp of Zeasorb anti-fungal powder to her dustbath and let her roll for 15 minutes last night before putting her back into her disinfected cage.

So any steps for fungus have been taken along with any steps for a minor wound- unless i've forgotten anything.

Update soon.

 

[tunes]

What about bugs? Animals that are allergic to fly bites can have them turn into larger wounds. Mosquitos, fleas, spiders - anything like that.

That just is not what fungus looks like. Typical areas for fungus to start are around the eyes, the mouth, and around the genitals. I've seen chins almost completely bald from severe fungal infections, and it never resembled bite wounds.

We're not doubting your message, just trying to troubleshoot and come up with reasons why there are bite marks on the back of your chins head.

 

[Stackie]

I agree- it does not look like fungus to me at all. As a vet tech I have seen plenty cases of it and that just does not present as fungus to me.

I don't remember if you answered or not, is she itchy at all?

 

[Osvaldo257]

Stackie- she WAS itchy at first, but after the dustbath (with added fungal powder) she hasnt seemed itchy at all. The only real reason i've worried about a fungal infection in that spot is because she has always loved trying to bite her waterbottle- the spout ends up pressing against her head- right in that spot- a lot of the time. I checked the rim of the water bottle and the ball on the spout- neither had hair, blood, anything like that.

She is still refusing to let me handle her easily- and since i'm trying not to stress her i just played with her a little tonight- sitting in the floor infront of her cage, gave her a treat, and let her sleep. She's normally super super active between 1-3am [even right now she's running so fast in her wheel i'm afraid she may go back in time] so everything seems normal.

I feel like one of those parents that walks to the kitchen to get a soda, comes back, and finds their kid with a busted lip and bruised face sipping his juice-box quietly.

I'm completely baffled. Everyone i've had look at her is completely baffled. It shows no signs of fungus, but i took precautionary measures anyway- shows no sign of a fight or violence, only one spot of missing hair, cleanly released from her head and two raised, red, "marks". She has a great appitite, she is running like normal, she is drinking plenty of fluids, she doesnt seem scared at all (other than the fact her wooden house was replaced with a cardboard one that i change every day and her toys are gone until i can make sure everything is clean).