Ear bite or over cleaning???

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oxchincerelyxo

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So my boys, Stolie and Sambuca, have been together for probably 5 months, maybe a bit more. Today I was letting them have some playttime before I went into work and saw on Sammy's ear a mark that looked like dried blood. I took a closer look at it and it seems like it could be from a bite. The skin is only broken on one side, there wasn't much blood (just a bit dried on his ear and none in the cage) and aside from a little dominance humping I have never seen much issues with them. Even today before I saw the cut they were fine together. Could this just be from over cleaning from Stolie???? I had one fight with them when I re-did their cage, but it was mainly Stolie re-claiming dominance and they were fine right after that which was a few months ago. Any suggestions would be fine. I do have an extra cage that I have set up just in case and have seperated them because I'll be at work tonight. I just don't want to risk it. Anyone have this issue before???
 
When Odelma was younger, occasionally she had some bloody-looking spots in her ears that I mistaked for biting marks. She has a habit of folding her ears tightly against her head when sleeping, which caused microscopic red bruises. The spots were located in quite center of her ear and always vanished in a couple of days. Does Sammy fold his ears when taking a nap - could that be it?

Of course there's possibility that your little Sammy has been bitten. :( I hope not. Just keep watching them closely.
 
Mick St. John and Wesley groom each other more than any of my other chins and sometimes Wesley gets a bit over zealous with grooming. I think this could be a case of that. But I do have to say that Virus' post about the ear folding has happened to me with GiGi--she gets what looks like a port wine stain in her ear. I think it's probably something minor--most likely grooming. If they were fighting you would definitely know, there would more signs of aggession than a small mark in one of the chin's ears.
 
Along with checking for bites, scratches, etc..Look for slipped fur. Lots of slipped fur can be a sign that they are stressed out and chasing each other around.
Also having two separate food bowls and water bottles can help as well by decreasing the chance of them fighting over the same one.

Kumiko my pink white also had those purple-reddish bruises Virus commented on. They show up more in the lighter colored chinnies.
 
They have two bowls, bottles etc. The only time I've ever had an issue was when I re-did the cage, but I put in a wheel and all was well (go figure). I'm hoping it will be fine. I have been letting them in the same cage only when I'm around because I saw some chasing and got paranoid.


The first thing I check for was other bites, fur slips etc...Sammy slips pretty easy and I didn't see any...so I'm guessing it isn't anything serious...I just had never had this issue before so I figured I ask...


When they have the folded ear thingy, is it broken skin??? Or just like a bruise...because Sammy's skin was broken:yuck:
 
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