Dry feet and ears

Hi,
My chinchilla Butters is a little over one year now and his feet and ears look dry. His feet have flaky white patches and his ears look a little scaly. They are not red or anything, just flaky and I was wondering if he had a fungus or just dry skin, and what do I do about it?
Thanks,
~Valerie

How often are you giving dust baths? Over bathing can cause dry skin in chinchillas. If you are giving a dust bath more than 3 times a week, that could and most likely is the problem. If you are really concerned, a vet visit is never gonna hurt Best of luck.

Strevale said:

Hi,
My chinchilla Butters is a little over one year now and his feet and ears look dry. His feet have flaky white patches and his ears look a little scaly. They are not red or anything, just flaky and I was wondering if he had a fungus or just dry skin, and what do I do about it?
Thanks,
~Valerie

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I don't believe your description sounds like fungus, maybe you can post a pic so we can see? Also try a little bag balm on the ears and feet first and see if that takes care of it. You can get bag balm (green tin) at Walgreen's, Wal-Mart and CVS.

MarissaRelf said:

How often are you giving dust baths? Over bathing can cause dry skin in chinchillas. If you are giving a dust bath more than 3 times a week, that could and most likely is the problem. If you are really concerned, a vet visit is never gonna hurt Best of luck.

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We give them dust baths once or twice a week depending on heat and if they look like they could use one.

Also, not sure if this is related, a couple months ago the base of his tail started turning dark grey, along with the base of his ears. His tail is now half grey. He also started getting dark spots/freckles on his ears. I can't really get good pics of his ears, and i rarely see the bottom of his hind paws.

I am guessing your little guy is a white? Sounds like a pink white to me which is a beige / white cross. Beige chins can get freckles on their ears, it is perfectly normal. White chinchillas can change colors over time. Most whites have black or gray on the base of their tails and it sometimes shows up in other areas as well. The markings can come and go over time. A fun thing to do is take pictures every now and then just to see how they change.

My chin has the same issue the Vet gave me a cream to put on his feet it is called udder balm, bag balm can contain menthol so u don't want to use that. The dry ears just leave them alone. the vet said that the ears determine his health and not to mess with them unless absolutely necessary. limit the dust baths.

Bag Balm is perfectly fine to use. You use a tiny amount and rub it in well. Wipe off any excess. It will not hurt the chinchilla.

We just started noticing Amp's front paws are covered in dry skin too, we are trying to bag balm her but she hates the smell so much that as soon as its on she runs to her dust rock and digs at it, wiping the balm off. Any ideas on tips or tricks to make her accept it a bit easier?

Lilune said:

We just started noticing Amp's front paws are covered in dry skin too, we are trying to bag balm her but she hates the smell so much that as soon as its on she runs to her dust rock and digs at it, wiping the balm off. Any ideas on tips or tricks to make her accept it a bit easier?

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maybe try the udder balm instead

Use just a small amount, rub it in well and wipe off any extra.