Chinchilla crusty ears?

[rosario]

So I got a 12 year old chinchilla a few months ago (owner moved to another country) and I noticed that her ears were kinda crusty and I just thought that's how their ears were. But when I look at chinchilla pictures, their ears are always pink and clean so...

Are her ears okay? Should I clean them? If so, how do I do that?

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Her ears look dry to me. Have you tried putting bag balm on them?

 

[saphire]

ditto!
Bag Balm will do the job. Put a thin layer, I would say twice a day all is good.

 

[AZChins]

Her ears have a lot of build up on them from dust baths and life in general. It isn't necessarily dry skin, just a lot of dust and dead skin flakes.

You can dissolve this from the ears by using some type of edible oil, the lighter the oil the better. I use jojoba oil, but you could use some cooking oil or vegetable oil to clean them off. Use a cotton ball, blot the ear with oil and then wipe off the ears with the cotton ball. You will be amazed at what comes off. It will leave the ears looking very soft.

This type of build up on the ears is very normal for chins to develop over a short time.

 

[rosario]

Thank you all! I'll do that then!

 

[MyzarandGemma]

Bag balm!! You can pick it up at Walgreens It's a good thing to have around!

 

[Amy555]

Its definitly something i keep an eye out for, and they always seem to appreciate not having all that dry skin buildup. http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showpost.php?p=392835&postcount=7