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[EmilyfromOhio]

Hi, I apologize if this question has been asked before.

CHINCHILLA INFORMATION:
I have 4 chinchillas: Puff (mother), Fluff (father), Vladimir (daughter) and Fruit Loops (daughter). We bought Puff and Fluff when they were 6 months, in 2011 and we were told they were brothers. Vladimir and Fruit Loops were born 6 months later. Fluff was neutered in 2011 [The pet store told us, Puff and Fluff were both males and we didn't realize that Puff was female until after Vladimire and Fruit Loops were born]

QUESTION:
For around a year now, 3 of them have had bald spots on the base of their tails. Our vet told us
that that was normal because they are not the dominant chinchilla in the colony.  However  over the summer, Puff has had a bald spot grow on her tail.

The chinnies have plenty of things in their cage with different textures to chew on. They have two wooden houses that they sleep in made of chinchilla safe wood. They get daily exercise when I am home from college, and when I leave, my family takes them out 2x a week for the entire day. I will be leaving again on Saturday and won't be back till the beginning of March. They are kept entertained most nights, with a extremely long playlist of animated TV shows and music that they like (Puff like Dora, Vladimir likes Jazz music...)

1) I am not sure what to do, I tend to be very paranoid about health concerns so I don't know if this is a behavioral/colony thing, or a stress issue or a health issue. The vet told us that Puff has a severe underbite and would have to be put down early, so I am unsure if losing hair at the base of her tail, is a sign that something is going wrong with her teeth.

2) I also don't know if it a problem that Fluff, Vladimir, and Fruit Loops have the spots on their tails. Some sites I looked at said that chewing the base of the tail is a bad habit but others said it wasn't a problem and some said it was a sign there was a major problem.


Thank you for any help you can give! I really appreciate it!

Emily & Puff, Fluff, Vladimir and Fruit Loops

** I can include pictures if it would be helpful **

[GrayRodent]

I'm sorry to hear you are having such a bad time with your pets.

I've not heard of this happening before (chins pulling out their tail hairs because they are in a colony) but it is unusual for owners to keep a colony of chinchillas because it is risky so I don't hear a lot about colony dynamics. My first thought is you were looking at some kind of fungal infection since that is highly contagious and effects primarily the base of the tail and the nose. So if you start seeing baldness on their noses too it's time to treat for ringworm.

The most definitive symptom of tooth problems is consistent weight loss and deteriorating overall health. However you do have a definitive diagnosis already if it is has an underbite. It is a kind of malocclusion. The teeth and roots will overgrow and the teeth will grow past each other and curl into the inside of the jaws and skull. I've been through this with my first chin and had him euthanized. This always results in pain and infection and the animal stops eating. Monitor carefully for weight loss. There is no telling when it will get to that point.

I strongly recommend separating this one from the others so it cannot breed. Malocclusion is usually genetic and can be passed down to its offspring. Its parents should also be taken out of breeding if at all possible.

Fur chewing in itself is not life-threatening but if a chinchilla is chewing fur because it is in pain that is different. A fur chewer may also chew the fur of its cage mates. It is a known problem with chinchillas. Some breeders remove them from breeding because they fear it could be genetic but there is debate on that. The important thing is to rule out something serious that can be causing pain. Once health problems are ruled out you can safely say it's just habitual. I've seen several chins on this board that were simply habitual chewers. I've also seen chins come through with problems including fatty liver degeneration, malocclusion, and joint injury that chewed their fur because they were in discomfort. So it really depends. Since you have four together that is going to make it tough because you don't know which one is doing it. Typically fur chewers will have very rough looking fur on their back and chew down to their dull gray undercoats.

You should weigh all of your chinchillas about once a week. If you suspect one is underweight or not healthy your vet can tell you if it's at a healthy weight. Once you have a good baseline weight you can monitor your animals' health more easily. With multiple chins it is important to do this because if one gets weak and catches something contagious you risk loosing all of them. Log the weights and compare each week.

If you would like to post pictures I'd be glad to see them. It's kind of an unusual occurrence. I hope this helps clarify things for you.

[EmilyfromOhio]

Thank you for your concern! I will try and get a picture of each of them, but it might not work as they seam to have a fear of cameras, and freak out when ever I need to take a picture (unless they are sleeping).

None of my chinchillas breed, except for the accidental breeding that lead to Vladimir and Fruit Loops being born. Fluff was neutered immediately after we realized Puff was female, and Vladimir and Fruit Loops are both female, so we didn't think there was any reason to spay them.

I know its unusual to have 4 and not be breeding them. We were planning on selling them to another family after they got sexed but we grew attached and we decided to keep them.

As for the fur chewing, we have seen Puff chew the others tails numerous times, and the recipient doesn't ever respond when she does it. So I'm assuming that means it doesn't hurt them? Also, the base of the tail is the only spot that has fur missing. I don't think their fur looks rough, although I could be wrong, as I have never meet anyone else who has chinchillas in my home town.

I can't find a lot of information of chinchilla behaviors when they are in a group, so I sort of have run with what my vet said.

- Emily & Puff, Fluff, Vladimir and Fruit Loops

[EmilyfromOhio]

So I was able to get a picture of one of their tails. They put up quite a fight while trying to take them. It was also awkward trying to hold them without supporting their tail/bottom, but I managed to get one.

This is fruit Loops, one of the daughters. Her spot is the largest. The vet said that it was normal as she is the most passive and therefor on the bottom of the hierarchy.

*If anyone has ideas or thoughts about chinchilla "colony" behavior, please let me know? There is so little information out there of interactions between more the 2 chinchillas.*

[GrayRodent]

That's a great picture. Thank you for sharing that. I don't think I've seen one that looks like that before. Fur chewing is usually, like I mentioned, they'll take the guard hairs down to the undercoat but leave the undercoat largely in tact. If Puff starts doing that to himself it's time to see a vet because of his history but this is something quite different.

This is more like fur pulling exposing the skin like a fur slip. I'd monitor periodically and make sure the skin stays in tact and he doesn't do any damage to the skin. Anyway that is not something I've come across. I do know that tail hairs grow much slower than the rest of the fur so I wouldn't be too concerned unless you see redness, flaking, or signs of skin damage.

I know others have had multiple chins in the same cage (more than two) but they are all the same sex but I've still never been made aware of this behavior. I expect they'll behave differently because there is a male there. Breeders usually do not breed in colonies but use ranch run breeding where the females are in cages connected with a tunnel and they wear collars so they can't mix with each other. The male, not having a collar, can move about through the system. It is the preferred method to breed multiple chins. Unfortunately for you it makes your situation rare. Perhaps someone can comment if they have even seen it.