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[DaniDVM17]

Hi everyone! I'm new here and new to chinchilla parenting. I adopted my male chin from an acquaintance who could no longer give him attention but she was very vague about details about his life prior to his re-homing. She said he was about 2-3 years old. Chewbarka has been with us since May and seems to be doing well. A couple weeks ago we noticed his fur was clumped near his right ear and when we were finally able to touch the area its seems as though the clump is caused by a piece of feces and probably urine. We figure this happened because he likes to hang out in his exercise wheel so there is often fresh urine and feces and then also go lay under the wheel. So my question has two parts: What can I do to improve/ remove the clumped fur by his ear? His dust baths do not seem to be doing anything for it. And secondly, any suggestions for how we can discourage him from laying under the wheel so as to prevent this from happening again? He does have 2 hideaways on other levels of his cage.

Thanks for reading!

[kageri]

What style is your wheel?  You can buy chin combs from a few sites.  I was told a size 5 or 7 would be good to have around. http://www.ryersonchinchilla.com/website_shopping_pages_014.htm  A dog flea comb can work though.  You don't want to pull on the fur too much while trying to get tangles out because they will just slip the fur and you'll end up with a bald patch.  You can try rubbing dust in to the tangle better than he can get it there rolling and it might loosen it up after a few days so the comb can get it without pulling all the fur.

[DaniDVM17]

Thanks kageri, I'll try rubbing the dust on it while I get a comb. The wheel we have is a super pet plastic type. Thanks again for the advice!

[kageri]

You shouldn't use plastic wheels.  The chins nearly always decide to destroy them one day and may ingest plastic and die.  The metal wheels are rather expensive but the silver surfer isn't too bad if it will hang on your cage.  The hooks don't work on critter nations.  There is also a flying saucer knock off that does not mount to the side of the cage but it will take up floor space. http://www.exoticnutrition.com/trwhla14in.html  These wheels will most likely out last several chinchilla lifetimes and you can often sell them for most of the cost back.  There are occasions when a very destructive chin actually eats a metal wheel.

[GrayRodent]

If the fur mat is real bad and close to the skin and won't tease out sometimes you'll have to cut them out. If you're a DVM you probably know how that is done (otherwise consult a vet).

The thing that bothers me is that it has urine on its head. That is a bit strange since chinchillas usually (almost exclusively) urinate only in one small area in the cage. If there is urine on the shelves or places where your chin hangs out (like on the wheel) that could indicate it needs to re-establish that area especially if the cage was not properly kept up with in the past. If you're having problems with that when you change the bedding just put some soiled bedding back in one corner and the problem should correct itself over several cage cleanings.

My chinchilla probably would lay upside down under the wheel if he could but I have it low enough to the floor where he can't do that. He'll sometimes jam himself in the corner to try to spin the wheel from the outside but that's not a problem. Plastic wheels are certainly not a good thing for chinchillas. Plastic can be dangerous for them to ingest and lacerate their insides. Wheels should be a minimum of 14" in diameter for chinchillas.

[DaniDVM17]

I have 3 years left til I'm officially a DVM, but I have removed many mats from cats and dogs. I'm going to try to gently comb them out as I'm still in the process of establishing trust with this little guy.

I had read about thier preference to urinate in one area though it seems as though Chewbarka has not been notified. He does prefer to urinate in the corners of the different tiers of his cage in addition to the urine in the wheel and the wheel does sit in one of those corners. Do they typically like to urinate on the bedding? From what I can tell he doesn't as there are 3 areas where I see urine on the wires. Would you suggest I move the wheel to another area of the cage?  Also, I'm not sure I'm understanding what you meant by re-establishing the area. Should I put some of the soiled bedding where he likes to urinate?

Thank you for all the info!

[GrayRodent]

No problem. Without exception healthy chinchillas will choose one area of their bedding to urinate in. At least I'm not aware of a chinchilla that doesn't except for when there are cases like yours where the problem was corrected.

Usually all you have to do is put some soiled bedding in the same corner each time you clean the cage. The chinchilla will go there to urinate. You'll also need to clean the shelves and other places in the cage where there is urine and make sure they stay clean. Mildly soapy water should do it. The wheel can stay put. I think they go mostly by smell first and then habit. I've seen several cases like yours. Sometimes additional steps are necessary.

If your chinchilla is wetting itself and there is a lot of staining it could mean (but not always) it has a UTI or some kind of health problem but it's not as common with males. Rarely but sometimes this can be a factor. I expect the problem should correct itself in 2-3 weeks. If not you may need to try other things.