Chinchilla Hair Loss

[mmarcus03]

Hello Everyone, it's been awhile since I have been on and posted but j came on because I need some information.
My chinchilla has had fur loss for almost a year now.
I thought I was stress so I changed where he was in my house because he was in the basement and I thought that he was bored being down there so I moved him upstairs and it's still happening. I thought he was chewing at his hair because he is bored so I got custom ledges, tunnels, toys, etc, but it's still happening. Sometimes it seems like it's growing back but it never gets to where it should be. I did get him from PetSmart when I was in 7th grade so I don't know if it is bad genetics? Also I want to start bringing him to the vet because I got a job so I can now pay for the visits, but is there something the vet can do possibly? Like medication. I don't know if that is the best way, but if this happened to someone else and it's fixed please let me know what you did! I feel so bad for him.

Thanks
Marcus

 

[Minccino]

Unfortunately there is no cure for fur-chewing (assuming that's the reason for the hair loss).

It's awesome that you are doing what you can to reduce his stress! Providing lots of ledges and chews is good. That's all you can do, really. It may or may not stop.

Here are the different reasons, quoted from another chin site:

Hereditary: Fur-biting can be passed on from either adult parent to a kit. When breeding chinchillas, it is very helpful to know the background of both parents. Background includes breeding history going back two to four generations, as well as notes on genetic defects, health problems and type of temperament. Conscientious chinchilla breeders always maintain accurate pedigree information on every animal so healthy bloodlines can be maintained and chins can be paired based on genetic strengths. Using this information makes it possible to avoid breeding chins that will pass on undesirable hereditary traits like fur-chewing, bad temperament, malocclusion and heart defects.

Many pet chinchilla owners are not aware of these potential problems, because pet category chinchillas frequently have no breeding information available. An increasing number of pet chinchilla owners are breeding pairs of chins. Some results are good, but an increasing number of chinchillas with genetic defects are entering the gene pool.

The stronger the genetics of each baby chinchilla are, the healthier that chin will be, the longer it will live and the less he will cost in vet bills -- so paying some up-front attention to background can make the ownership of an exotic pet like a chinchilla a much happier experience.

Learned behavior: Often, if the mother is a fur-chewer/fur-biter, there is a higher probability one or more of her offspring will learn this behavior. Chinchillas sometimes fur-chew when young but may outgrow it as they mature. Other times, this behavior continues off and on throughout their lives. It can become so severe that the chinchilla's coat appears to be well-mowed around the back end, sides and on the chest. Not every kit born of a fur-biter will become one, but many do.

Stress: Noise is a common source of stress. Often if the cause is removed, the fur-biting ceases. For example, a chinchilla may begin fur-chewing because of a constantly barking dog close to his cage. When the dog is kept out of the room, the noise ceases, the chin calms down and the fur-chewing subsides.

It often takes about three months for a coat to re-grow and even out.

Other sources of stress for chinchillas include loud/discordant music, screaming or loud children, change of cage location, addition of a chinchilla into a cage group, loss of a cagemate, dislike of a neighboring chinchilla or cagemate, cage placement in an area where the chinchilla does not feel secure (some chins like their cage higher while others like it to be lower and darker), etc. It often takes a little detective work and some trial and error to finally determine the source(s) of a chinchilla's stress. But once you have narrowed down the problem, you can work on correcting it to make the chinchilla more at ease.

 

[mmarcus03]

Thanks for your help. I will continue doing what I can.