Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Gabbsomatic]

I have two chins and one of them have been chewing or maybe clawing off the ends his whiskers. The other chinchilla is perfectly fine. Is this a sign of stress? They are jagged and really  short. This chin is also more paranoid than the other one. Any advice?

[Jo Ann]

    Whisker chewing can be caused for different reasons ...

The alpha chin could be showing dominance by chewing off the whiskers of the less dominant chin. 
Jealousy ... one chin being mean to another for no apparent reason. 

If the chinchilla is chewing it's own whiskers ...
It could be nervous, stressed or scared of something {maybe even it's cage mate} ...
It could lack certain vitamins or minerals.

A bad habit that needs to stop.  I would think about separating them.

How old are these chins?
How long have they been living together?
Is this a new occurrence or has it happened from the beginning?
Are you sure one is chewing it's own whiskers, or could the other chin be chewing them off?
Do you give them extra calcium?
Is there any chewing of the fur?

Sorry about all the questions, but the answers could help to solve the problem.

   Jo Ann

[Gabbsomatic]

How old are these chins? The one chin that is having this problem is 2 years old, I got him a few months BEFORE the other chin. So, not that big of a difference.

How long have they been living together? They've been living together for almost about 2 years now.

Is this a new occurrence or has it happened from the beginning? Well, I didn't really notice anything until maybe a year and a half later I've had them. It happened the first time and I was really worried but then about a month later, they seemed to be fully grown again. But recently, they went back to the same way they were before.

Are you sure one is chewing it's own whiskers, or could the other chin be chewing them off? That could be happening but they seem to love eachother. :3 But since the chin that is having this problem was here before the other one, wouldn't that make him the dominant chin?

Do you give them extra calcium? I don't know if this makes me a bad chin mother, but I honestly don't know...

Is there any chewing of the fur? There isn't any of that that I see, only sometimes when i'm picking him up, a little bit of hair comes out but nothing that I think would be a concern.

Thank you very much!

[Jo Ann]

   

Are you sure one is chewing it's own whiskers, or could the other chin be chewing them off? That could be happening but they seem to love eachother. :3 But since the chin that is having this problem was here before the other one, wouldn't that make him the dominant chin?

 The dominant or alpha chin is not necessarily the oldest one or the one you have had the longest ... the alpha or dominant chin is the one with the stronger personality ... he/she can be lovingly dominant by leading and teaching ... or ... he/she, if the dominance is more of the bully type, he/she will often terrify the other chin/chins or just make sure they are the first at everything.  It sounds like the dominant one you have is the loving type.  

Do you give them extra calcium? I don't know if this makes me a bad chin mother, but I honestly don't know...

You are not a bad chin mom ... if you were, you would not be here trying to learn more.  
Do you give your chins any supplements or vitamins?  Sometimes they have extra calcium in them. 
What brand chinchilla food are you giving them? Some are much better than others.
The cuttlebones that you find in pet stores in the bird section are a good supply of extra calcium.  To keep it from getting urinated on or soiled, I usually just break off small pieces of it and give it to each chin.  Sometimes they will chew them up right then, sometimes they save some for later. 
If your chin gives you a hair cut or a manicure ... he's finding his own source of calcium ... one I usually do not reccommend.   

Is there any chewing of the fur? There isn't any of that that I see, only sometimes when i'm picking him up, a little bit of hair comes out but nothing that I think would be a concern.

Chewing the fur or 'biting' the fur is just that and will leave an uneven length on the fur.  When it is bad you would see patches of fur where the top or ends have been chewed off.  The little bit of hair that comes out when you handle them is called 'slipping of the fur' ... this is normal.  As a safety factor, mother nature will allow the chinchilla to let fur slip or fall away from the body when it is being held, but especially when it has been captured ... the prey leave with only a mouth full of fur while the chinchilla scampers safely away.  

Hope this helps!

   Jo Ann

[Gabbsomatic]

Yes! The one that I guess is more dominate (Ashy is his name) is more loving than the other one! (Appa)

The kind of food I am feeding them is called "Sun Seed Sunauturals Natural Chinchilla Food". Here is the link to it if you want to see it. http://www.petsmart.com/product/zoom/index.jsp?productId=3076404 I really like this food the best because it has a lot of other great stuff for them to eat besides pellets. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Mazuri and Oxbow I heard are the best brands but I think that's a little boring...

Do you have any brands for vitamins, foods or treats that you especially like to feed your chins?

Thank you so much! This has really taught me a lot.  
Also, does his whiskers being cut or chewed down affect anything at all?

[Jhenderson27]

That other stuff that's in that food is BAD.  You do not want to be giving them all that extras, its not good for them and with all that sugar it can lead to diabetes.  However boring Oxbow or Mazuri may look, its the best thing you can do for your chinny.  I feed all of mine Mazuri, they are all very healthy and happy and for treats they get a wheat square or a plain cheerio or rarely do they get a nice raisin, RARELY.  Changing food is yet another problem in itself, as you have to do this very slowly and incrementally.  Search the forum and you will find many tips on how to do this.  I had to do it once and it is a very long process if done CORRECTLY.  A boring healthy food is the best thing you can give along with hay and lots of love.  That's what will make your chin love you forever, not all the tidbits in the other food.  Longterm love is better than shortterm with longterm health problems.

Justin

[Gabbsomatic]

That other stuff that's in that food is BAD.  You do not want to be giving them all that extras, its not good for them and with all that sugar it can lead to diabetes.  However boring Oxbow or Mazuri may look, its the best thing you can do for your chinny.  I feed all of mine Mazuri, they are all very healthy and happy and for treats they get a wheat square or a plain cheerio or rarely do they get a nice raisin, RARELY.  Changing food is yet another problem in itself, as you have to do this very slowly and incrementally.  Search the forum and you will find many tips on how to do this.  I had to do it once and it is a very long process if done CORRECTLY.  A boring healthy food is the best thing you can give along with hay and lots of love.  That's what will make your chin love you forever, not all the tidbits in the other food.  Longterm love is better than shortterm with longterm health problems.

Justin

Thank you. I'm going to go today and check out that kind of food. I bet the food you're talking about is cheaper than the one I'm currently buying. Thanks for your help! I don't want my chinnies to be unhealthy.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

In my cage of 3 females the one that always sleeps in the middle gets her whiskers chewed off. They sometimes just hate to be poked by the whiskers sleeping next to them.