Chinchilla has fleas

[Jesseman1]

I brought my chin with me to my parent’s house for a few days and she ended up getting fleas, is there anything I can do for her to get rid of them? My parents have some high quality flea drops for cats(not the cheap stuff from Walmart) and suggested putting just one drop on the back of her head, would this be safe?

 

[Pepperpot]

Are you certain she has fleas? A chinchilla's fur is too dense to harbour them. I would not use any form of flea treatment on a chinchilla. Have you seen fleas actually on your girl?

 

[Jesseman1]

I have not seen the fleas on her but she has not stopped scratching and biting at her fur. I also found a flea in her dust bath.

 

[Amethyst]

They can get fleas on any area that doesn't have thick fur, like feet, eats, or if the chin's fur in bad shape with lots of missing fur causing bald spots. Otherwise fleas don't live long on chins because the fur is too thick, they suffocate, solving the issue on it's own. If she isn't acting back to normal, or she is in poor shape I would take her to the vet, they would be able to clean the fleas out of her coat or figure out what is wrong. Flea meds for cats would likely kill the chin, the drops are basically poison that absorbs into the skin, so if the flea bites it dies, but even if it's safe for use on a newborn kitten (which I doubt) doesn't mean it's safe for a rodent, though you can call the vet and ask.

 

[Jesseman1]

I brought her back from my parent’s house and she stopped scratching and biting the next day so the fleas must be gone. Luckily this house only has wood and tile floors so there’s nothing for fleas to hide in here.