Chinchilla Dry Ears?

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MinatoandChili

Well-known member
Joined
May 2, 2022
Messages
84
Hi everyone, I have my 2 year old chin who I rescued not too long ago from a lady who would shower him with water instead of dust and came to me with dry ears. I’ve took him to the vet, but to be honest I don’t trust the vet anymore so I stopped going to him. I was given a Tresaderm oil treatment for his ears but I’m not sure if I even trust it. As first I gave it to him and it seemed to somewhat work, but it went back to dry and flaky. I’ve researched about this problem with other chins and I’ve seen a solution is to use a swab and put vitamin e on the ear. I’m not fully sure what to do as I just want to get some advice to help his ears. He doesn’t show any signs of stress and doesn’t try to scratch them. As for baths: I give him baths around twice a week, these are some photos
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If he's being dust bathed too much, dry ears can occur. Two shouldn't cause dryness though. You can use vitamin E capsules for his ears. Just punch a hole in one and rub it on the ears, being sure to rub it in. It's light and pretty absorbent so he won't be a big mess after you're done. Also, if he grooms, it won't hurt him if he licks his paws.
 
Thank you for your reply, I have a picture below but would you know if these are safe for him? I’m not sure how to tell, I tried researching but I didn’t get an answer. And how many times? image.jpg
 
My rescue chin had a serious problem with dry ears as a result of being a bath monster. Like you, I found the vet rather unhelpful, with recommended balms ending as oily marks on his coat. So I made my own with 2/3 eco aloe vera gel (pricey but worth every penny) + 1/3 Sudocream Care (tested it first on the tip of his ear): I thinly spread it on both index & thumb & patted in place. Also, I drastically cut his bath time to just one roll. He was not very happy about it (actually if a chin's angry looks could kill I woudl not be writing this) but thus far, no more dry ears.
 
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I’ve used Bag Balm in the past for my chin’s dry back feet - they once cracked and even bled!

Now he only gets baths M, W, F.
It’s been a few years since he’s needed the ointment (and he hated it! 😅). I was also giving him too many baths back then
 
My rescue chin had a serious problem with dry ears as a result of being a bath monster. Like you, I found the vet rather unhelpful, with recommended balms ending as oily marks on his coat. So I made my own with 2/3 eco aloe vera gel (pricey but worth every penny) + 1/3 Sudocream Care (tested it first on the tip of his ear): I thinly spread it on both index & thumb & patted in place. Also, I drastically cut his bath time to just one roll. He was not very happy about it (actually if a chin's angry looks could kill I woudl not be writing this) but thus far, no more dry ears.
Thank you, I’m looking into that treatment because I see that vitamin e also gets on his coat. But I’ll be sure to update the process😊
 
I’ve used Bag Balm in the past for my chin’s dry back feet - they once cracked and even bled!

Now he only gets baths M, W, F.
It’s been a few years since he’s needed the ointment (and he hated it! 😅). I was also giving him too many baths back then
My chin doesn’t care much about it, but sometimes he does get fussy 😂 So hopefully he doesn’t get too bothered by the balm I’m planning to make! Thanks for the response:)
 
I'd cut back the dust baths to once a week....or maybe even less, like every 10 days. Even though twice-weekly dust baths are probably not the cause of the problem, the dust likely does dry out his ears a little, so while you're trying to get his skin in better shape, I think less is more when it comes to dust baths. I only bathe my chin once a week, and I handle her quite a bit. Her coat does start to look slightly greasy by the end of the week, but I think a slightly greasy-looking coat is better than dry skin.
 
My chin doesn’t care much about it, but sometimes he does get fussy 😂 So hopefully he doesn’t get too bothered by the balm I’m planning to make! Thanks for the response:)
Any updates?:) Hope he's okay now.
 
Any updates?:) Hope he's okay now.
The vitamin capsule has actually been helping his ears. I was going to try the homemade special balm but it seemed to work pretty well and while I monitor him it doesn’t seem to like he cares about it!
 
Sorry I didn't see this sooner! I'm glad the vitamin E is working well. As long as you rub it in, there shouldn't be an issue with his coat.
 
The vitamin capsule has actually been helping his ears. I was going to try the homemade special balm but it seemed to work pretty well and while I monitor him it doesn’t seem to like he cares about it!
That's good news. Thanks for the update, and keep us posted?
 
I have two questions please guide me about this. These questions are shown below here:

1. https://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/threads/from-gosloto-1-to-none-to-3.40656/
2. https://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/threads/mocha-lunchtime-my-service-chinchilla.40654/

Waiting for best answer as soon as possible. I am too confused here.
Neither of those threads you linked are questions, both are introducing chinchillas. You might want to just create a new thread and ask what you want to know.
 
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