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[Dex21]

I took 2 new pictures of his tail roughly a week ago to examine the "flaky" substance in the bare spot as well as to compare the size of the missing fur.  I will resend you those pictures now.  Thank you again for taking the time to help me out!

[GrayRodent]

Here is one image.

[GrayRodent]

Here's the other image with some contrast enhancements.

[GrayRodent]

I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. These are good pictures. I'm not used to seeing bare chinchilla tails so I hope someone else with more experience will comment.

Based on my limited experiences I don't think you're dealing with an fungal infection but it certainly cannot be ruled out. The ones that I've seen get diagnosed typically appear more red and the skin appears damaged and crusty but it doesn't always work that way. It wouldn't hurt to treat with Desenex in the dust bath to see if that helps. I know many people who do that and I've done it myself. You can mix two tablespoons of Desenex foot powder in the normal dust bath and just use it normally. At this point I'd just stay with a normal dust schedule, (every other day) unless it becomes apparent there is an infection.

If redness occurs or if the site becomes larger I recommend getting a skin culture done to identify a culprit. There are measures you can take to treat an infection, usually topical medications, and very frequent cage cleaning and replacement of porous cage items. Until then my best guess is this is dry skin which would lead me to examine diet and climate. What is your chinchilla's diet and climate like? Also what kind of bedding are you using?

[Dex21]

Dex's diet consists of Oxbow pellets and Timothy hay.  Regarding treats I use the red/green colored corn chips and mini fruit bites (bought from the nearby PetSmart --> I do not exceed more than 4 treats per day and only use them to train Dex).
Note:  I do not give Dex 4 complete corn chip rods per day, I break off a small piece (roughly the size of one of his front paws) and give him that.

Do you know where I could purchase Desenex and which brand (if there are multiple) would be safest for Dex?  And I currently have about half of a "Blue Cloud Dust" (that is the brand name) dust bath so just to clarify should I only add 1 tablespoon of Desenex to the remaining container and then just mix it together?

[NatalieP86]

Hey
Is your chin chewing his tail alot? When one of my chins is bored, stressed she has a terrible habit of pulling out her fur 
Try to keep him entertained new toys etc and make sure he isn't stressed.
Hope it clears up asap!
Natalie x

[Dex21]

Dex chews his tail when he wakes up every night around 9:30pm (along with some other parts of his body), though his tail is the area that he chews more than anything else.  Would you recommend any certain toys to use for entertainment?

[GrayRodent]

Your diet is very good. I feed oxbow pellets myself and you probably won't find much better. If you can avoid treats maybe you should and see if that has any effect. If it's dried fruit limit it to two pea sized servings per day. I'd stop feeding corn based products but that is my opinion. I think it's doubtful those treats are the cause though.

I think 2 tablespoons to a half a jar of Blue Cloud (4 lb jar) is fine. I use regular Desenex powder (2% miconazole nitrate). I don't think they make another product but adding things probably wouldn't be good.

As far as toys my chinchillas play with mostly wooden things. They really like to chew on their scatter guards which are 1" firring strips mounted to the bars. They have treat-k-bobs with wood on them. They also like pumice. You can find that at a pet store pretty easily.

I'm suspecting this is behavioral. Try two weeks on desenex. If it gets worse or doesn't improve by then I recommend having a vet exam just to rule out a physiological cause. Also make sure you are keeping track of your pet's weight. If you see a 10% decrease in weight over the norm don't hesitate to get an exam.

As always we are not a replacement for an experienced veterinarian. If in doubt see a vet.

[BLS Chins]

The fruit treats should be stopped asap. They are extremely unhealthy for your chin and can cause other issues down the road. They can not digest the sugar in the fruit which can lead to stasis, bloat, seizures...

The skin looks fine so its safe to assume its just a fur slip and the hair will grow back eventually. Tails can take up to 6 months to fully come back in. If the area gets larger or becomes inflamed then he may have gotten fungus.

Any medicated athletes foot powder is good to use. Just read the ingredients. Some are just for itch which wont solve anything. You can find it at any drug store (walgreens, cvs, walmart...)

You mentioned chewing of the fur. Is the chin grooming or actually pulling hair out/biting it off?

[NatalieP86]

Dex chews his tail when he wakes up every night around 9:30pm (along with some other parts of his body), though his tail is the area that he chews more than anything else.  Would you recommend any certain toys to use for entertainment?

We give our chins bark bridges which they love to chew. Chew blocks, pieces of untreated wood, cardboard boxes which they love to shred and hide in. We try to interact with her as much as possible and get her out for a run every evening. We try to stick to a routine to give her a stress free environment which does help. It does help it never properly goes away she can so chewing for a while then she goes back to it whenever she is bored. We try to add a new toy once a month.
Natalie

[Dex21]

I apologize for my late response; I did not have internet for over a week.  I will add the desenex immediately and see if that has any effect.  Regarding his weight, Dex has actually gained 6g over the past couple of weeks (his weight hasn't dropped at all).

@BLS Chins: I looked up a video of a chinchilla grooming themselves and that is exactly what Dex does.  He does not pull out any hair during this process.

[GrayRodent]

Has there been any change with the missing hair? Is it growing back? I suspect you should see some signs of new growth by now.

[Dex21]

I have not noticed a significant change in the amount of hair on his tail, though maybe a very slight improvement.  Is this a bad sign?

[Aurora-Dawn]

Bring him to the vet or to a shelter, this could possibly be mites, ringworm and/or over grooming. Be careful with that kind of stuff.

[GrayRodent]

If it were my chinchilla I'd wait a couple of more weeks and monitor for any changes. If anything gets worse or hair starts missing from the nose see a vet immediately. It's your call. Tail hair takes a long time to grow back and if your chin is grooming it until the hair comes out it could be very difficult to definitively identify a cause. If you have an exam I highly recommend a skin culture.