Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: Lifeinlace on March 19, 2014, 06:40:25 PM
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Hi, so I woke up a few days ago and like always went to say good morning to my chinchilla Miffi. My heart dropped when I noticed a line like patch missing from her nose!!! I'm concerned it may be stress from a new cage or possibly fur fungus!? I've noticed today that she's been scrtching her fur more everywhere and I am thinking she may have dry skin? I checked out her "bald" patch and there doesn't seem to be any signs of fur fungus no red irritation or anything like that but she does seem to be scratching like I previously state so that leads me to believe that it is just dry skin? She still acting normally, still her crazy spunky self!
If anyone has similar issues or has come across this with their chinchilla I would much appreciate your advice and or to hear your story! I really don't want anything to be wrong with her.
Thankyou,
Whitney
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Here are some diagnostic questions:
How sure are you that the animal is itching all over?
What is your chinchilla's diet?
What kind of bedding are you using?
Is there fur missing from around the base of the ears?
Does the skin on the ears and feet look dry or irritated?
If it's fungus it's easily treatable but there are other things this can be.
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How sure are you that the animal is itching all over?
I have noticed her scratching everywhere on her body within the past couple of days quite a bit.
What is your chinchilla's diet?
She is given pellets and Timothy hay, nothing with excessive nutrients or ingredients.
What kind of bedding are you using?
I line her cage with fleece since I have gotten her and keep it very clean.
Is there fur missing from around the base of the ears?
No fur missing around her ears what so ever.
Does the skin on the ears and feet look dry or irritated?
They look dry but not irritated.
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Here is a picture, the best I could get close up to the missing fur. Perhaps it will help?
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Sounds like you're doing things right. Fungus usually doesn't present with itching all over and usually will present with red, irritated skin and it's usually a patch that starts closer to the nose. Sometimes if it occurs it may take a couple of days for that to develop so watch for changes. It's likely the missing fur was from rubbing on something.
If it was something irritating in the cage I would expect the skin on the feet to be appear irritated so I don't think it's that.
Sometimes dry skin occurs with paper beddings but you're not using that.
Sometimes it is a dietary issue from feeding pelleted diets that are of low quality and is caused by a nutritional deficiency.
One last question: how often are you dusting? If you dust more than every other day and/or for more than 20 minutes at a time that can cause dryness. You can try to add a day or two between dustings to see how she responds to that.
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For the last couple of days I have been dusting her daily, but usually I dust twice a week since it's winter. I'm sure that's the recommended amount for the winter months but if not correct me. I don't like to over dust because I do find her ears get more dry.
Thank you very much GrayRodent!
Very much appreciate you help!