HELP! red feet!

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

lilolulu99289

New member
Joined
Sep 8, 2020
Messages
4
Hi guys I just got my chinchillas a few days ago and her feet have red open pads. Is it bumble foot? They get dust baths every other day, they have aspen bedding, a bunch of wooden ledges and houses, no plastic, and a solid surface 15” metal wheel. What could be causing this? What do i do?
 

Attachments

  • 297B406C-4F10-4DD3-ACA7-5D365C9F1964.jpeg
    297B406C-4F10-4DD3-ACA7-5D365C9F1964.jpeg
    62.9 KB · Views: 9
  • E592754C-C79B-496B-96B3-7EC1E480FCA3.png
    E592754C-C79B-496B-96B3-7EC1E480FCA3.png
    367 KB · Views: 8
  • 3585D392-26B4-4DF0-9840-3B2019A490F4.jpeg
    3585D392-26B4-4DF0-9840-3B2019A490F4.jpeg
    65.2 KB · Views: 7
They do look dry and flaky, and possibly sore not bumble foot, yet. Bumble foot is an actual infection in the foot, you'll see redness, but also blood, pus, and swelling, if you see any of that get a vet to take a look. For now you can get some bag balm and rub a small dab of that on her feet until the redness goes away as well as the callouses soften a bit. Chins do need callouses on their feet, but they should be thin and flexible like the soles of a shoe, and should not be cracked. Unless you handling them a lot getting grease from your hands all over them and live in a humid place a bath every other day may also be too much, try cutting down to just a couple times a week and see if that helps too. Also do they have any perches, like what you get a bird, or even rocks or other non flat surfaces? Standing on flat surfaces all the time is unnatural, they tend to sit back on their heels which puts pressure on them and can cause them to widen and crack, perches prevent that as well as give a rolling pressure which helps with blood flow.

One other thought, do the feet always look like that? or only when he is sleeping or after playing? It's not uncommon for their feet to get a bit red simply because of blood flow, their feet and ears are the only places not covered in fur that they can really pump blood to cool down if needed. So although they could use some foot care the redness may not be as bad as it looks.
 
Back
Top