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[LollyDolly]

So today I noticed that Henry was nibbling and fussing with his back foot, I picked him up and when I looked I saw that he has a smallish wound, it appears to be where some of the skin has been pulled off. It is red, fresh but it doesn't appear to be inflamed. He is perfectly normal within himself, wanting to play, climb and stuff his face as usual so I don't think it's bumblefoot. He has always had dry feet, is there anything I can do to help this?
Also is there anything I can do as regards to the cut? Currently I have just left it as I didn't want to make anything worse! It isn't bleeding, it is just a neat, red scrape wound.

Thanks!

[glafond]

Hello there:

For dry feet you can put bag balm on them   , as well as with dried ears.

As for the fresh wound, i am not sure, but im sure someone will know.

[GrayRodent]

Do you know what caused it? Is there swelling on any of the joints? (Could there be more trauma than just a surface cut)? If so you might need to get an xray.

Is your chin chewing on the area and causing more damage?
How small is small? Can you post a pic?
Based on your description I think it's probably not serious. However if there is any sign of infection in the next few days it's probably time to get antibiotics because foot injuries do not heal easily.

Skin dryness:
What kind of bedding are you using and how often is it changed?
Does your cage have a wire floor or prefer to rest on rough surfaces? This is usually the biggest cause of foot callouses that can cause this. The cure is to add wooden shelves to the cage if you don't have them.

How often does your chin get a dust bath and how long does it have access to its dust. (Rule of thumb is 20min every other day). You could extend this to every three days to help.
What kind of dust do you use? Some pet store brands are not good.
Do you live in a dry climate? You can use a humidifier if it's really dry.
What kind of diet are you feeding? A poor diet can do this too.

Is there scaling on the skin in other areas or around the base of the ears?

[LollyDolly]

I just checked it 5 minutes ago, it seems to have healed a lot! I took a picture although there isn't a lot to see, the red/black dot at the bottom of the foot is where the wound was. I can't believe how fast it has healed!


I have assumed that maybe he has caught one of his callouses on his foot when jumping around and tore a bit off, however I can't be 100% certain. I have checked the joints and there is no visible swelling.
Yes, he was chewing the wound. Bad chin!
It was about the size of a little finger nail.

He has a wire floored cage with cat litter in a tray underneath however he has so many perches and shelves that he never goes on the bottom of the cage, at least not that I've seen. It is changed once every 5 days usually, this is only because it gets full of hay as he scatters it everywhere! He has two huge wooden platforms, and has playtime everyday on a soft carpet.
He gets a dust bath every other day and has access to it during playtime, he usually spends around 15 minutes in total. He uses the only one that Pets At Home sell, it's made by B and D and is just called Chinchilla dusting powder. No I live in the UK so it's very wet here usually haha!
Oh he has a luxury diet, Pets at Home Chinchilla pellets and timothy hay and then treats of either rosehips or Xtra Vital Chinchilla Muesli, I prefer to use this as treats instead of a food as with muesli they just tend to eat the bits that they like and therefore don't get a balanced diet.
He does get dry ears, hence why I limit his dust baths.

Ps. Here is Henry when I was trying to take a picture of his foot, he was more than a little confused haha!


Pps. If you are wondering why there is newpaper on the other cage behind him it's because I recently got an 18 week old Chin and he is very skittish so he benefits from the extra shelter. It's not that my house is a mess or that I just leave things lying around in their room for them to chew haha!

[GrayRodent]

It sounds like your chins are well cared for. There does seem to be scaling on both feet from dryness.
Probably needs balm on both feet. Maybe someone can recommend something that is safe both to ingest, since your chis nibbling on it, and safe for wounds. I am glad it is improving and hope it just continues to heal on its own.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Oh my gosh. He's one of the cutest chinchillas I've ever seen!!! Feel better, Henry!

[LollyDolly]

Haha aww thanks so much!

So would you recommend getting some bag balm then for his tootsies?

[LollyDolly]

Ps. Precious' foot is all healed, it only took a day! And here's me convincing myself that it's bumblefoot and that I will have to insist that the vet comes to my house as I cannot have dearest little Henry getting too stressed! 

[GrayRodent]

I'm glad everything is okay. I kind of figured that would be the case. If it happens again anytime soon I strongly recommend a vet visit or ask a vet about what ointment to recommend because you don't want that to be an ongoing or worsening issue. From what I can make of your photo it looks like the skin was caught or pinched in something. You might want to examine the cage very closely. Make sure all the fasteners are intact along the floor and there are no gaps behind the shelves that can cause a pinch point.

If it's a skin problem a single visit for an otherwise healthy chin shouldn't hurt anything. (as long as your vet is competent with chinchillas) I would try to avoid oral antibiotics unless absolutely necessary because they can cause chins to stop eating. When that happens it can be hard to get them to start eating on their own again.

Recently our parrot ended up with sores on his feet. We thought it could be bumblefoot but ruled that out because there was no sign of an active infection like swelling or redness. We had him checked out by a vet to rule out a skin condition. The vet did a bacterial culture and found nothing. It turned out it was because he was perching on his stainless steel seed cups and the pressure from the uneven surface caused sores over many weeks. After we switched to a different style of cups and changed the perches everything healed up. It took a month for our african grey parrot before his feet looked healthy again. Bird feet heal slower than just about anything but maybe reptiles.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes how we worry and think the worst. !!!!