We are all here to help each other.
We've all been at the point you are now in learning about chinchillas ... and we are all still constantly learning.
Do you think that the cracked tooth will grow out? Or do you think the vet could clip it?
I've never had one with a cracked tooth, so I'm not to sure about that one. Let me do some checking around and see if I can find the answer for you. I know of a man that was/is a dentist (for humans) and became a chinchilla dentist because of his love for chinchillas. I'll try to get in touch with him.
Can you post a picture of the tooth, or describe better how it is cracked? If it is a line crack, one that goes up and down, that's one thing ... but if it is cracked, as in a chip of it is gone, that's entirely different.
I am very nervous about taking him back to the vet to have teeth work done. He hasn't been pulling out hair for the past couple of weeks and I don't want him to get stressed and start again.
Stress is best avoided, if possible ... but, if he is in pain, that will stress him also. You have to be the judge of which would be the least stressful of the two.
Any suggestions on what to do about crusty chinchilla hair? What fur Kirby has left is pretty yucky.
Can you post a picture of that, please? Chinchillas are very clean animals and like to stay that way. Sometimes they will chew away or pull out a clump of matted hair. If by crusty, you mean it has gotten moist from the drool, then dried and is sticking together ... Is it sticking together just at the ends of the fur, or is it sticking together all the way to the skin?
Jo Ann