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[duny]

Hello, I have 6 chins 3 males and 3 females. I think that there is a fungus around, ringworm maybe. One chin has lost some fur at his nose, and another one has an eye problem like conjunctivitis.

Now, is fungus has any relationship with conjunctivitis?

Of course, I quarantined both of them from the other. They are males both. I already cleaned and disinfection all the cages...hard work... and i must do it again...

I give Fuscidin Viscous eyes drops to the one with conjunctivitis, 2 times a day one drop. I give to all chinchillas dust bath every day with powder inside that has Miconazole except the one with the eye.

They have past 3 days now and the one with the eye problem seems better. I know that i must continue to the dust bathing with the powder inside everyday for at least one month. Until now, no other chin has signs of fungus ECXEPT an ear thing that 4 of the 6 things have. The two males that are at quarantine and two females, at the back of their ears and at the base to the ear where they start to have fur they have skin flakes like dandruff. Nothing else seems strange until now.

Could this be fungus? Dry skin? I have not noticed at the past and i am not sure if this was happening at the past, because now i am examining them so closely and thorough.

Any advice could be helpful for the total of my chins problems. I just hope the fungus thing to stop at 1 or 2 chinchillas otherwise i am going crazy  

Thanks in advance

[GrayRodent]

It could easily be ringworm. I think the eye thing was probably unrelated to the infection. With eye problems it's best to forgo dusting for a few days and it was probably dusting that caused it. It's not unusual in chins. I'm glad it's clearing up. If improvement stops then you might have something else going on.

Typically ringworm presents with fur missing from the nose with flaky and reddened skin that spreads outward. It is very easily spread by contaminated dust so you should be treating all of your chins as if they have it.

Unfortunately flaky skin is also a symptom of ringworm, but it could also be that they getting too many dust baths and it is causing dry skin. From what I understand They should be dusted every other day and given access about 10-15min at a time. Cleaning and disinfecting the cages every day is certainly good practice. It can also help to put the cage outside in the sunlight after cleaning it with bleach to dry off since sunlight helps kill the fungus too. It is important they do not share dust or dust bath containers during this time because this is the primary method for ringworm to spread.

I've treated ringworm with my 3 cats (all got old and died it was a while back) and it's a major pain. It can take months to fully clear up after daily baths in ringworm rinse (try saying that ten times fast). With one cat it kept recurring about once a year and then I got it myself!

[duny]

The eye probbably is unrelated as you say but it happened together with ringworm and i was astonished this day by just looking them after i came back from work and didn't know from where to start! Now The truth is I don't have a house so big for diffrent 6 cages to different 6 rooms... and definitely i don't want a chinchilla (noise!!) and even better a chinchilla with ringworm to my bedroom! So i put 3 chinchillas in one room to separated cages and about 2 meters away from each other, and in another room I have 2 chins to the same cage and one to a separate cage but this two cages have less than a meter distance. That is the best i can do to the house i live. I try not to bath the one with the eye problem yet. And I change the dust bath and disinfection the dust bowel fisrt for each one cage.

I am still curious if someone knows about the skin flakes behind their ears low where the fur starts. Except the flaky that is ONLY behind their ears there is no reddened skin to any chin to the ears or somewhere else and not even to the chin thas loosses fur at his nose there is not any reddened skin sign.

[chinclub]

OK, first lets be sure it is the fungus because dusting a chinchilla everyday will cause dry skin on the ears and feet.  You could be causing the symptoms you are trying to treat. 

The one with fur loss on the nose.  Is the baldness spreading?  Is the exposed skin red or the normal color?  Do you see any signs of new fur growth?  If the baldness isn't growing, the skin looks normal, and new hair is growing it is not fungus.  If the skin looks red and scaly, if the baldness is spreading it is fungus.

Were the two males (fur loss and eye trouble) housed together or in separate cages?  If they were housed together I would consider that is was a fight than caused both problems.

Unless you are activaly treating a fungus, a chinchilla sould only get a dust bath 3 times a week at max.

[duny]

Thank you chinclub for your answer and the way you try to put things down!

"OK, first lets be sure it is the fungus because dusting a chinchilla everyday will cause dry skin on the ears and feet.  You could be causing the symptoms you are trying to treat."

You are absolutely right and that is what i want to know. I really try hard to find if it is fungus or something else... Unfortunately there is no vet where I live to know from chinchillas and also to do blood tests or microscopic faecal examinations and cultures. Feces culture as I know needs a week and maybe more, though, to have results. I hope it is not fungus, but I react at the moment as it is fungus. I know how bad it is to be fungus and how important the care is before time shows real and bad results...

"The one with fur loss on the nose.  Is the baldness spreading?  Is the exposed skin red or the normal color?  Do you see any signs of new fur growth?  If the baldness isn't growing, the skin looks normal, and new hair is growing it is not fungus.  If the skin looks red and scaly, if the baldness is spreading it is fungus."

The baldness spreaded as I can see but only to the spot he started to loose fur. It didn't become bigger. It is not red but his normal color (grey most). I can't say if hair is growing, today is the fourth day and maybe is early. Because the baldness is exactly at the start of his nose and upper like 4mm, the skin is a little pinky where his whiskers are but that is normal, i think, not sure.

"Were the two males (fur loss and eye trouble) housed together or in separate cages?  If they were housed together I would consider that is was a fight than caused both problems."

They housed together with a third one too. I am not sure that it was a fighting because the one with the baldness is my first chinchilla, he is 7 years old and is extremely calm and good, never fights. But you can never be sure what happens at night when you sleep though... The other one with the eye problem for 4 days i was using chamomille to his eye 2 times a day and the eye was going much better. The white discharge was gone from the second day and it was almost 90% opened yestarday so I thought that no antibiotics will be needed. Suddenly though, today morning his eye was shut, sticked with the white tearing and i used warm chamomille to soft it and so to open the eye, and i started antibiotic drops now to his eye so i think that this is infection too like conjunctivitis.

I know that the situation is a little condused and thats the reason I opened the thread. I am lost and i don't know what I have to deal with exactly. Maybe time will show, but I try to find the cause and the treatment before time really shows and I am scared about myself too, as I know that IF it is fungus it can be spread on me too. I try to take all precautions like wearing other clothes, epsecially with the grey one that has baldness, and wash my hands good etc.

[chinclub]

Yes fungus is a bear to deal with, but it isn't the plague.     In a situation like mine with 400+ chinchillas it would be a nightmare, but with a small group of chinchillas it is totally manageable so don't panic.  As long as you wash up good after handling them you will be fine., assuming it is fungus.

I wasn't sure from your post, is the baldness spreading?  Fungus actively grows and the baldness gets noticeably larger.  It also spreads to other parts of the body.  From what you are telling me it sounds more like he rubbed the fur off either with a fight or from something in the cage.  Noses are prime areas for this.  I see it from time to time in my herd.  Keep a close eye on that spot.  Chinchilla fur grows really fast so if you look close you might can see tiny little hairs just breaking the surface.  The second you see that you are home free.  That would mean it is certainly not fugus.

The one with the eye concerns me more.  If it was a minor irritation the tea should have fixed it within 24 hours.  The fact that it is getting worse again tells me it is something more.  That one needs to see a vet.  Eyes are pretty universal so ANY vet should be able to handle that.

[duny]

Chinclub thank you for folowing me and trying to help!

First of all i wash my hands well after touching anything from any chinchilla or a chinchilla. When i particularly touch the two chinchillas the one with the baldness and the other with the eye problem i change clothes also.

Well the baldness definitely spread but there is nothing unusual on the skin like redness. The skin looks normal and I tries under strong light to see anything but nothing like red skin on the bald spot or around. It doesn't have any other bald spots at any part of his body yet and we are at the fifth day almost now (from the day the baldness spot at nose begun). It doesn't look like rubbed at the cage or somewhere else. I will try to find a digital camera (I don't have) tomorrow to post some pictures, of the nose and ears, so it may help you. I have a question and it has to do also with your question if tiny hairs grows: The fungus when it attacks at a spot, lets say a circle with diameter 10mm, the hair disappears completely from inside that circle? I ask this because it has scatteringly bold and missing fur. It is not like a clear spot that as i have read this happens with fungus. Maybe i am wrong. It is like 2mm without hair then 2mm with hair and all this scatteringly. I don't know if i explain it well because as you may already noticed, English is not my native language 

About the one with they eye problem, now that he is at antibiotic treatment, for the first day. I give him Fuscidin Viscous eyes drops two times a day (I spoke to a vet, but at phone) as it is likely to be conjunctivitis. You think maybe it is something else? Should tea clear conjunctivitis?

[chinclub]

If you run your hands down the backs of the two chinchillas do you feel and tiny bumps?  I am still thinking it sounds more like a fight.  When you have males housed in the same cage with females around (in the cage or in another cage in the room) eventually they will fight.  It isn't a question of if it is a question of when.  When they fight they pull hair and they bite.  You can tell a fight after a day or so because all of the tiny little bites develop scabs.  You can't always see the bites the first day or two but by now they would be obvious if they were there.  Check them both, even in the spots with hair.

I can't be 100% without seeing your chin, but I just feel that the skin would be obviously red and scaly.  With fungus the bald area will continue to grow outward and the bald spot will get bigger and bigger.  Here is a picture of what the skin will look like with fungus:

[duny]

I did this already and i didn't feel any bumps, but i will do it again more thoroughly. I will also find a camera tonight to post a couple of pictures of the bald spot and the flakes behind the ear. Fortunately, i would say, the picture you posted it isn't at all the same with my chinchilla's bald spot. There is no any red or scaly signs in his skin. I hope when i posts the pictures to help you more!

[chinclub]

I was thinking about your situation today and something else came to mind.  How is his eating? Could their be a problem with teeth? I have seen bald spots before on the face when there is a situation with pain.  I have had bad eyes cause chins to rub the fur from around the eyes.  I had a chinchilla splinter a front tooth and rub the fur off around her nose and mouth wiping at the mouth.

[duny]

I don't know how to thank you for trying to help my chinchillas. 
He is eating normally and all of my chinchillas are eating normally, i would say maybe a little more than other months. His teeth are deep yellow to orange and normal. This chin with the bald spot he is 7years old now and he NEVER had any health issue until now. The chin with the eye problem is the one who eats more of every other chin I have!

I found a camera to post some pictures for his nose and ears. I hope this pictures to help you for a solution ro my chinchiullas problem.
 
Nose Links
 http://www.seatech.gr/Bnose1.JPG
 http://www.seatech.gr/Bnose2.JPG
 http://www.seatech.gr/Bnose3.JPG
 
Ears Links
 http://www.seatech.gr/Bear1.JPG
 http://www.seatech.gr/Bear2.JPG

[chinclub]

OK, the nose still looks like a fight to me.  It looks like there is a bit of an injury close to the nose.

The ears do look a little suspect, though.

[duny]

Yes that is exactly what I can understand from the nose too, but the baldness is quite large though and that terrified me about a fungus situation.

I searched again the two males, for fight signs, (the one with the bald spot and the other with the eye problem) but didn't find any bumps and also tried to look at all the body blowing the fur but didn't find any bite either.

Now for the ears. As i told you I have the three male at one cage and the three female at another cage. When i saw the nose problem I immediately quarantined this chin and the same day the other male with eye problem came up and quarantined this too. BOTH of these chins have the thing you saw at the pictures at their ears. The third male doesn't have this problem until now which is the 6th day. Finally the females 2 from 3 have this ear thing problem. I haven't quarantined them as I don't have another room for that.... I use dust bath 3 times a week for 20 or 30 minutes. Also the place I live is high in humidity because it is an island. I searched at the internet very much and didn't find anything about this as it is at the pictures I posted. Their skin where the flakes are behind the ears is just normal, and no fur loss seems to be.

[chinclub]

And you are dusting the ones with the ears everyday, right?  Did the ears come up after you started doing that?

There can be a lot of fur loss during a fight.  Like I said before, when males are kept together with a female in the room they will fight and usually it is very violent.

[duny]

It is now 6-7 days that I give them dust bath every day. I hadn't noticed the ear problem before but only the last 3 days. I haven't really noticed a difference as it is maybe too early yet. IF it is dry skin problem you think it is good to continue give them dust bath every day? I don't know if dry skin could happen only to ears though, and because the humidity here is high they shouldn't have dry skin problem I think.