Dry Ears

[schweppes]

One of my girls has really dry ears and they're looking jagged on the edges, is there something like lotion I can put on them?

 

[Sandi]

Bag Balm is an ointment to put on dry skin on ears or feet. I've got it in my first aid kit for chins!

 

[Essentia]

You can also buy Vitamin E capsules. Just poke a hole in one of the capsules and apply it to the dry areas.

 

[Riven]

With a proper diet ears should not be dry. If the ears are dry all of the skin usually is. I'd evaluate your diet.

 

[Terbear24]

I have used bag balm on some of my chins ears before but its usually ones that I have gotten from someone and then they end up getting better.

 

[Stackie]

With a proper diet ears should not be dry. If the ears are dry all of the skin usually is. I'd evaluate your diet.

All of my chins have proper diets- they are fed Oxbow Chinchilla Deluxe and receive 1st & 2nd cut timothy hay and fresh water..minimal treats...2 out of my 6 have dry ears sometimes. I have never heard of dry ears being linked to a poor diet before? They do not scratch or anything like the rest of their skin is dry.

I use bag balm as well on the chins with dry ears. Vit. E capsules can get pretty messy.

 

[Essentia]

I also have a chin with dry ears who is on a proper diet. Like with people, I think some chins just have drier areas of skin, like the ears and feet.

 

[Riven]

If they are on a good diet then it is probably not dry ears, but instead just old skin flaking off. Sloughing of skin is normal, humans loose all of their skin in appx 2-3 weeks. So the skin you have today, even the bottom layer will not be there in a month. Humans wear clothes, sleep in beds with blankets, etc. and slough it off by doing so. Chins do not have this advantage to promote sloughing.

Also, what's a good diet for one person, is not for another. According to the government site regarding food intake etc, which is supposed to be aimed at helping american's loose weight, even what they tell me I should eat to loose weight is a LOT higher than what my doctor told me. Each case in individual when it comes to living beings.

I know that I very rarely have dry or flakey ears here, if I do and it bothers me, I gently rub the ear with a baby wipe, and it's gone. You'll see often black or dirt, old skin and stuff on the wipe.

 

[Claire D]

If I have some older chins who have the type of "scaly" ears Riven is talking about (the old skin just needs a bit of a hand to come off) then I use my fingers and the tiniest bit of baby oil.
I put a drop of baby oil onto my fingers and then blot most of it off - leaving my fingers with just a smidgeon of oil on them (just enough to feel it) and then I gently rub the chin's ears between my fingers - not only does it get the old skin flakes off but most chins love the massage effect - a gentle rub with a cotton pad to take off any remaining flakes and voila: one happy, clean eared chin. :thumbsup:

 

[Tanya]

You can also apply some calendula ointment.

Too many dust baths can dry out the skin.

Deficient diets can also cause dry skin/ears,flaking in chinchillas.

Dietary causes of dry skin include deficiency of essential fatty acids, vitamins( easpeciallly vitamin A), minerals especially zinc and magnesium.

You feed Oxbow right? I would just make sure that it's fresh ( Oxbow expiration date is 2 years from the mill date), stored properly and once you open the bag do not use it for more than 5-6 months. I try to get bags that are no more than 4 months from milling.

Vitamin A degrades quickly and Vitamin A deficiency can cause dry ears.
If that's the problem adding some alfalfa hay will help ( alfalfa is rich in vitamin A). Timothy is a lower nutrient dense forage with low content of vitamin A, it's mainly used for fiber and to wear teeth down.

I give my chins occasional tiny pinch of ground flax seeds to make sure they get essential fatty acids.

 

[Riven]

I would just make sure that it's fresh ( Oxbow expiration date is 2 years from the mill date)

I just wanted to clarify this, I think Tanya is saying here ( I don't use oxbow so I'm not sure ) that the Exp. date on the bag is 2 years past the mill date. Which means if your bag says it expires this month of this year, it was really milled two years ago.

After 6 months food has already begun losing nutritional value, so even the best food if old is not really giving your chin all you need.

That was not aimed at anyone in particular, just a general comment. And interesting to know, I didn't know that about Oxbow exp. date.

Just apply something to the ear and not "cleaning it" ( Claire gave a very good description of how to, the oil actually helps loosen the dry skin so it comes off easily ) is kind of like putting a bandaid on a problem. It binds the dead skin together so it doesn't look flakey, but doesn't remove it. Same deal with using lotion on ourselves, you should exfoliate before using lotion for it to work the best.

Feet ( and hand ) are actually different from ears because they actually have two more layers of skin than most general parts of the body to help prevent excessive wear since they are used so much more every day than say the skin on your back.

Applying an oil or bag balm will make the ears look not dry, yes, but to really solve the dry skin, if feeding a good diet, then the ears simply need to be sloughed.