Scab?

[xpokey77x]

A couple of days ago I noticed that there was some fur missing on Chewie's right side, behind her arm. I felt the spot and felt something hard so I pulled her out and parted the fur and found a scab. It's a little smaller than a jelly bean and it is missing hair around it, maybe 5 mm all the way around the outside. The naked skin is normal and she's acting normal, eating, drinking and pooping well. I've been checking her daily and weighing her and there was a small loss in the first few days (10g) but has been the same for the last 2 days. The scab doesn't look really recent bc it is dry and she doesn't really mind me examining. It definitely has a ways to go before being completely healed but I think it is probably about a week old or so.

I'm worried bc I have no idea how she got it. I looked all over her cage and cannot find any blood or anything sharp besides chew sticks. Also haven't seen any fur that equals the missing patch. I don't know if either she or her mate over groomed? They get along very well and are always sleeping together and grooming each other so I don't think anything was done intentionally.

I'm not sure if I should take her to the vet to get antibiotics or just let her heal on her own? Do people generally take them in for any injury or just if there are signs of infection or changes in behavior? I'm just hoping for a second (or third and fourth!) opinion as I do not know that much about chinnie healing. I just don't want to make her go through the stress of a vet visit if she will just heal well on her own. But I also don't want to wait too long if she does need to be seen

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.

[tunes]

I wouldn't take her to the vet just yet. If it is scabbed over, it's already healing. There's not much a vet can do for you unless it should become infected or became more like a cyst or abscess.

What I would watch for is making sure it IS a scab and not the start of fungus. Fungus primarily shows up around the eyes, nose, mouth, genitalia, and rectum to start (moist areas) but it has also shown up in out of the way places like the back or the armpit.

[xpokey77x]

Ok. Thanks. Any other opinions/experiences to share? It definitely doesn't look like fungus. It is also a bit farther back like 1 1/2 inches behind her arm, kind of on her side. I think she can probably reach it to nibble or scratch but I haven't seen her messing with it too much.

How can I tell if it is abscessing? The skin around it is a little higher than the rest of her but I don't know if that is just swelling from the injury. Or would that have gone down already? I wish I knew how she got it so I could prevent it happening again.