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[moraeslaurinha]

Hi! I adopted a chinchilla today, he was ab andones by his owner and the petshop had no clue about how taking care of a chinchilla. I wanted a new pet, i always had hamsters and now I have only one, and I have already studied a bit about chinchillas... So now he has a new home with love and care and I'm reading all about Chinchillas so AI can be a great owner.
I realized he has a huge area missing fur behind his ears and back. It doesn't look like he has any injury or pests. Just a big failure in the fur and itchy. It itches a lot, like a dog with fleas. I noticed that in the store they let the dust bath in the cage all day, witch is wrong, but I dint think that's enough to cause all this itch and hair loss. Its being a rainy and cold weather here, so I dint think its caused by dry weather or hot. They told me in the store that it used to sleep and spend ho rs a day with rabbits!!!! I wonder if the rabbits could have hurt him or ripped his fur or even transmitted him a disease. I am looking crazily after a specialized vet, but I cant find it. I have the money, so please dint think I won't give him all the help he needs, I will, but I live in Brazil and Chinchillas are not that commom here. I think he is suffering from the itch because he sleeps and wake up time to time to itch his back. While I'm trying to find a vet, could you guys give me any tip? He is still very scared and unsociable, so I still cant manage to take him with my hands to take a picture, because he runs like the wind, jumps and try to bit me. Also, I'm sorry about the bad English, I'm Brazilian and English is not my first language. Ill give you all the updates and answers you need and if I can, Ill try to take a picture. ah, he is an adult, big and dark grey. And I love him already and want to help him because I think that being itch all the time must be awful thank you all! xo, Laura

[GrayRodent]

Congratulations on your new pet. You will have a hard time taming him so I hope you are patient and love to work with animals. I imagine its diet was improper and that may contribute to the skin problem in a number of ways. It could be a fungal inection, excessively dry skin, an aftermath of an attack by a rabbit. It could by fur chewing from stress. A photo of him in the cage would be helpful. What color is the skin? What condition is the tail in? What is his diet now? Does he eat his hay?

[GrayRodent]

Another thing -he won't eat as much as usual for the first three days. Don't try to handle him or pick him up. Interact through the door.

[moraeslaurinha]

Hi!

I read it wasn't ok to change his diet on the first days, so I only offered him the Chinchilla proper food, the one you buy properly for them. It's pelleted. He was already eating that one, according to the person that was "taking care" of him. And new Alfalfa, but the same brand he used to eat, and it ate a little bit of it. And clean water. I offered him a bath today, but he wasn't interested. He is curious about me, so I keep talking to him, I sit in front of the cage, open the cage, show him my hand so he can smell it... I'm not trying to grab him so I won't traumatize him in this first days. I'm patient and caring. Hamsters sometimes are hard to get your confidence too and I had many hamsters for about 6 years now. The tail is normal, I can't notice any problem in the tail, it's beautiful and full. I managed to take this picture now, I think it's easy to notice now the problem. I tried to see if he is chewing the fur, but I think he is only itching a lot, not chewing, he is not grabbing and eating. And I can't see fur on the cage, when I got him he was already without the fur, so I think it's not falling anymore, but still itching. Thank you so much for your help, I hope the picture can show the problem properly!

[GrayRodent]

Looking at that it appears to me that the skin around the ear looks scaly. If that is the case it could be fungal or it could be dry skin still. Ringworm is a somewhat common problem but usually that leaves red totally bald spots so if it's fungus I think it's a different microbe. The dark undercoat seems to be intact and the longer fur has clearly been mowed down. You might not see him in the act of chewing but he may be doing it at night when you're sleeping since that is when chinchillas are most active. Fur chewing in itself is not dangerous but if there is a fungal infection that is causing it it can become dangerous it if spreads beneath the skin and into the body. This case is kind of strange to me because I understand that neurotic fur chewers tend to chew the fur on their hind legs and tail which also leads me to think something is wrong with the skin. It still could be from excessive dust bathing. That can really dry out the skin and start habitual itching and biting of the fur.

If you can't find an exotic vet I would try to find a vet that knows rabbits. Although there are important differences they are much similar to rabbits than cats or dogs. They might be able to identify the microbes (if it's fungal) and prescribe the appropriate medications. Since you don't know how long it has been like this you don't know how serious the problem might be.
Otherwise you can try a home remedy that I know works for ringworm. You can read about that here: http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,3994.0.html

It still could be neurotic chewing and with the stress of being relocated it will likely get worse before it gets better but it could be a symptom of an underlying problem that may need to be diagnosed. You can read more on fur chewing here: http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,3993.0.html

Also what kind of bedding are you using. Alfalfa hay is fine. I'm glad you see him eating it. That indicates that his teeth are still functioning. Also do you know if he had access to chew toys when he was at the store and you have wood for him to chew on now? This can cause serious problems if he did not. Also, are there any signs of wetness about his mouth or on his back from drooling? There was a case I know of where drooling caused this kind of thing to happen. The fur on its back was wet and matted from grooming so it chewed it off. This was a sign of a serious problem.

I hope others will comment. I am not a chinchilla expert.

[moraeslaurinha]

He has chewing toys and I gave him more, I couldn't see his teeth already as I can't touch him, but he is playing with the wood toys, so I think maybe it's normal because he already had those before.
I didn't see anything wet, drooling or anything like that, I think that's not really the problem.
I just found a place that might have a vet but it's closed already, I'll try to go there tomorrow but they don't usually work on weekends, so I'll probably only be able to find the vet on Monday or later, considering a especiallized vet may not work everyday in the same place.

I could try the home made remedy for fungus today to see if it improves BUT he didn't want to take a dust bath yesterday or today. Do they realize they are too dry and stop taking the bath? Even if his skin is dry, would it be ok for me to spill the remedy powder onto his back??

Thank you so very much for your opinion!

[GrayRodent]

No, don't put it directly on him. The risk of dry skin is not as bad as the risk of an infection. You might try the dust bath after sunset when she will be more active. At least, I would if I were in the same situation.

[moraeslaurinha]

ah, ok! I'll try.
I found a vet but he will only be able to see us on tuesday. I might try this remedy until there, but I'll keep looking for another one to see us sooner.
I'll let you guys know the updates. Thank you very very much for the suggestions and opnions.

[moraeslaurinha]

Hi guys!

I was trying to clean the cage and he tried to scape, so I had to grab him. He actually became calmer with me now. So I got the chance to take a good look at his body to check for any other problems, found nothing. And I took the oportunity to take a better picture of the skin problem. It seems a bit dry. His teeth are normal, thanks god. Also, he is drinking and eating pretty good, so that a good sign I think. But the bad thing is that I realized the fur is still falling, as I grab him, a few fur came to my hands and clothes, and I didn't have to squeeze him or do anything that would cause that.

Follows the picture.

Thanks for the help <3

[GrayRodent]

That looks like a lot of damage from fur chewing. I still don't know if there's an infection of the skin. Usually a veterinarian will do a culture of the area and look at it under a microscope to determine that. Fur slip is not unusual at all when handling chinchilla that is not tame even if you don't squeeze. I notice with my tame chinchilla that when I handle him when he's in a bad mood that when I put him back sometimes I'll see clumps of fur that came loose but did not detach.  Looking at the size of the damaged area the fur still could be falling out because the skin may be damaged. It could just be habitual fur chewing from being stressed because of the poor conditions he was in.

[moraeslaurinha]

Hm, I see. But can he be chewing fur up from his top head and back/behind ears? Can they reach this places?
I'll look for a wheel for him, more toys (he is chewing a lot, he really sounds scared of the world and stressed) and I think I should start releasing him in a empty room I have, so he can play a bit. My only concern is how will I make him come back to the cage since he doesnt seem atracted to the dust bath at all...

I'll take him to a vet until tuesday anyway so I hope this mistery will be over soon and he will be healthy again. I hope the fur can grow back again.

Thank you again!

[GrayRodent]

You're right about the fact your chinchilla can't chew that high on his back and head. The fur looks chewed to me though, but like I said I'm no chinchilla expert. I've seen animals (cats, goats, and horses) chew fur and it's similar because you can see the guard hairs are gone but the undercoat is still partially there. I still don't know how to fully explain this one. Typically with fungus the skin looks red and scaly but the in the photo does not appear to be irritated. I do know of a case on this board where it did happen and the chinchilla responded well to anti fungal medication. That is why I think it's a good idea to let a veterinarian rule that out otherwise I'd wait a couple of weeks and see if there is any improvement just in case the rabbits were chewing his fur. It is very mysterious indeed.

I do know that chasing your chinchilla is going to stress him out and make it harder for him to gain your trust. What you might do at this point is let him run in an enclosed bathroom and transfer him there in a travel cage. Be very careful because chinchillas have very good memories about bad experiences. Letting him out in a room that is not chinchilla-proof is no fun. Eventually you'll find out what that's like 'cause chins are good escape artists.

I wish I knew what to say about the dust bath. My chinchilla used to be very uninterested in it and slowly got into a routine. It took him about 5 months. One of the issues was the time I'd give it to him was often when he wanted to sleep and it took him that long to adjust to my schedule. You might need to leave it in the cage overnight. He'll probably use it late at night when you're asleep. If you see signs that he used it you'll know he's been treated.

A wheel would probably be a good thing for him. Chinchilla wheels are hard to find and expensive. They must be at least 15" (38cm) in diameter or they can cause spinal injury. As you know plastic can be dangerous to chinchillas but the most plentiful designs are made of plastic. Wire mesh wheels can work if the wire spacing is small enough that their foot cannot go partially through it and they must be mounted to the roof of the cage for safety. Wire mesh that is too largely-spaced can result in bone fractures.  A wheel that mounts to the side of the cage can weaken the bars of the cage so watch for that too.

I plan on getting a wheel for my chin later this year once he's fully grown since wheels can stunt growth and bring down their weight. I've seen them sold on e-bay for about $50.00USD. If the vet determines your chinchilla is underweight you might want to postpone the wheel idea for a while.

Please keep us posted.

[moraeslaurinha]

Hi! Im sorry it took me so long to come back, my internet was out. So I took him to the vet and he thinks that he has two problems, a skin disease transmitted by rabbits and he is very stressed and he is indeed eating his fur. So I'm trying to keep him more busy letting him play in empty bathroom I have, so he jumps around and jumps in me too. I bought him chewing wood toys and trying not to bother him with noises and stuff like that.

The vet gave him a shot, I didnt get the name of the shot or the name of the disease, sorry! But its already working, every day i notice he is itching less and less. He might get 4 shots, depending on his improvement, but if he gets better with the second one, it will stop there.

Im saving up money to have somenone doing a cage for him, im gonna plan it and customize it, so Im doing a lot of research to make him a good and big cage where he can jump around and waste his energy.

Thanks a lot for your help, now it seems things are going to a better place for my little cutie.

[GrayRodent]

Sounds like he identified part of the problem. The stress should taper off noticeably in a couple of weeks. When you go back to the vet it would be nice if you could get the name of the infection and the medication. It could be helpful to others who have had this same problem. Thanks for the update. I am very glad to hear there is a progress.