Kingdom Chinchillas phone -01592571038 between 6-10pm

Wet fur around mouth in Chinchillas (tooth problems?)

Wet fur around mouth or nose

It could be a piece of wood from chewing, food, cuttlefish bone, or other foreign object trapped between teeth. Or if chinchilla not a hay eater with wood and fresh chew toys to gnaw on, it may be just tooth overgrowth. This in layman terms is an overgrowth of the teeth and roots of incisors or/and molar teeth. Teeth may have spurs on them which can be filed down by your vet. I have myself done this for an owner. It is harmless to the chinchilla, however it usually needs done on a regular basis if chinchilla is still not eating hay. I check my chinchillas every month for this by running my finger along the jawline to check. It rarely shows up in young kits or youngsters who are being fed a proper diet.

Damp fur at eyes, drooling mouth, fur at chest always wet?

This may be a sigh of advanced stage of malocclusion. A serious teeth and root malformation This must be dealt with by your vet. The vet will (note* this is not same as tooth overgrowth as decribed above) will take an xray of the roots. Molocclusion is seen on the x-ray as badly malformed teeth and roots. (a bucal pad examination is of no use for comformation of Malocclusion) The roots xray will be needed before a prognosis is made by vet, if roots are in advance stage of growing up into brain or eye socket etc. It is often kinder to put your pet to sleep rather than suffer starvation and ultimately a painful end to it's life. Pic showing advanced stage of Malocclusion permission was sent from Suki's rescues who sent the pic to us for use on our site

Not a pretty site, the rescued chinchilla was in severe pain and unable to eat poor thing. I have my private thoughts on owners who allow this to happen, I am sure after seeing this you will too. Please check your chinchillas teeth regularly.

Of course the eye weeping may be something as simple as dust from their bath in the eye. Check the eyes too just in case. Eye drops may be obtained at many pet stores. Or ask at your vet.

Fur missing in patches

Large patches of fur missing, the animal not eating well, is also very thin. Large area of bare skin showing. This may be due to diet or old age. This is very rare, I just thought I would mention it though as another possibilty. Do check there are no crusts or open sores which would suggest fur fungal disease.

Fur biting/chewing. This has a motheaten look to fur with patches of short fur. This can be from stress due to noise, boredom or an uhappy environment. Even something as simple as you moving the cage to a part of the room the cage had never stood can cause a chinchilla to start fur chewing.

Fur Fungus. Patches of fur may be missing. The nose, eyes paws and tail area may be crusty in extreme cases. The Whiskers may be brittle, broken. In the early stages this is not serious, however if there are large patches of seeping, crusty patches immediate action is required. I would strongly recommend seeing a vetenary expert. (if you can find a good one). I put half a teaspoon of antifungal powder (Mycil) in all my chinchilla baths once a month as a preventative.

Most fungus infection comes from mouldy hay or passed on from other pets or humans as the disease is related to ringworm. Check the hay out and always have it well dried and in a dry place. we have a link to a dust free hay on our links page if you have an asthmatic child in your home, this dustfree hay can be beneficial.

Injury? If the skin is broken dust with an antibiotic powder to heal and keep clean. This should clear up if not severe.

Fur coming away in your hands when you pick your chinnie up.

This is a reflex action from your chinchilla. In the wilds they use this action to escape predators. Their fur is so dense that the preditor is left with a mouthful of fur. The same happens if you try to catch a chinchilla against their will. The will shed fur to escape.

Sudden loss of fur when you bring your chinnie home

In 99% of cases this is environmental. Moving from a cool place to a warmer place like a house with high heating and humidity. try to keep your chinchillas cool never above 75f if possible or you risk heatstroke for your chinchilla.

Fungal Infection (Ringworm)

Prevention better than Cure!!!

A good disinfectant to clean cage and surrounding area is Virkon.

Some vets in US say they havent heard of it and its not sold in US. It may be bought online here Virkon US

Most UK vets have heard of Virkon.

For preventing it happening I use Mycil powder in sandbaths once per month. Happy to say the only time I had any fur fungus was in a rescue chinchilla and that was kept in a diiferent area well away from my own chinchillas.

Fur Chewing (Or Fur Biting as some refer to it)

Fur biting in Chinchillas, advice of fur biting

I am often asked what is the difference betwen fur loss and fur biting.

Is a habit a chinnie picks up through nervousness, stress(through unexpected noise) or boredom. It can be seen as small patches of bitten fur at times. ie:- the tips of fur nibbled. try to pay attention to see when this is happening. I have radios playing in for all my chinchillas at time which may be stressful. (ie: fireworks, thungderstorms etc)

Sometimes it is hereditary. I myself have seen it a few time. Most recent one was a male I took to a show in beautiful condition. Upon bringing him back I noticed within a few days that he was biting at his fur. Realising the shows had stressed him I decided to sell him to give him the benefit of a new home as this change is usually just enough as change their habit. Glad to say he stopped biting his fur but sad to hear he may have been bred with. It is NOT advisable to breed with a chinchilla who has bitten their fur as the trait may be passed onto the kits who are born. How I wish people would listen.

Another one I bought, a female was doing it repeatedly. I changed the position of her cage, made it darker for her and she stopped biting her fur. However I have seen others chinnies almost bald through fur biting. again not advisable to breed with a fur biter.

Try as i said to change cage position, higher or lower etc. add soft music to drown out loud noises.

Saying that avoid placing cage near TV's and Music centres. Chinchillas have sensitive ears.

if it does not work don't put this chinnie in your breeding line. Thereby you are nor passing the habit on by genes. Keep it only as a pet. Try a product called 'Bitter Bite', this is sold by pet stores at the bird section. Normally used for parrots who pull their feathers. However, it does work on chinchillas I am told.

Fur loss or Fur slip

Handful of fur coming away when you hold the chinnie to stop it falling or escaping.

Can I just explain to you.

In the wilds, if a chinnie is chased or caught by a preditor it casts its thick fur to escape.

It is a natural way of escaping from capture if caught.

If you land up having a handful of fur in your hand........

it is because it wanted to escape. could not, so used a natural defence.

Your chinnie will change I assure you. Just be patient. It is just that at the moment it is a bit scared. Try bribery. Raisins or a treat works wonders. then when he is happy to be approached?

Your friendly chinnie will gladly be picked up if you try placing a hand under him, then hold the base of his tail (not the tip) firmly. It's when you hold their body they are most afraid.

Kingdom Chinchillas
phone -01592571038
between 6-10pm

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Wet fur around mouth or nose

Damp fur at eyes, drooling mouth, fur at chest always wet?

Not a pretty site, the rescued chinchilla was in severe pain and unable to eat poor thing. I have my private thoughts on owners who allow this to happen, I am sure after seeing this you will too. Please check your chinchillas teeth regularly.

Of course the eye weeping may be something as simple as dust from their bath in the eye. Check the eyes too just in case. Eye drops may be obtained at many pet stores. Or ask at your vet.

Fur missing in patches

Fur biting/chewing. This has a motheaten look to fur with patches of short fur. This can be from stress due to noise, boredom or an uhappy environment. Even something as simple as you moving the cage to a part of the room the cage had never stood can cause a chinchilla to start fur chewing.

Injury? If the skin is broken dust with an antibiotic powder to heal and keep clean. This should clear up if not severe.

Fur coming away in your hands when you pick your chinnie up.

This is a reflex action from your chinchilla. In the wilds they use this action to escape predators. Their fur is so dense that the preditor is left with a mouthful of fur. The same happens if you try to catch a chinchilla against their will. The will shed fur to escape.

Sudden loss of fur when you bring your chinnie home

In 99% of cases this is environmental. Moving from a cool place to a warmer place like a house with high heating and humidity. try to keep your chinchillas cool never above 75f if possible or you risk heatstroke for your chinchilla.

Fungal Infection (Ringworm)

Fur Chewing (Or Fur Biting as some refer to it)

I am often asked what is the difference betwen fur loss and fur biting.

Another one I bought, a female was doing it repeatedly. I changed the position of her cage, made it darker for her and she stopped biting her fur. However I have seen others chinnies almost bald through fur biting. again not advisable to breed with a fur biter.

Try as i said to change cage position, higher or lower etc. add soft music to drown out loud noises.

Saying that avoid placing cage near TV's and Music centres. Chinchillas have sensitive ears.

Fur loss or Fur slip

Handful of fur coming away when you hold the chinnie to stop it falling or escaping.

Can I just explain to you.

In the wilds, if a chinnie is chased or caught by a preditor it casts its thick fur to escape.

It is a natural way of escaping from capture if caught.

If you land up having a handful of fur in your hand........

it is because it wanted to escape. could not, so used a natural defence.

Your chinnie will change I assure you. Just be patient. It is just that at the moment it is a bit scared. Try bribery. Raisins or a treat works wonders. then when he is happy to be approached?

Your friendly chinnie will gladly be picked up if you try placing a hand under him, then hold the base of his tail (not the tip) firmly. It's when you hold their body they are most afraid.

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