Fur Chewing

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HaleyGoBoom

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Kingston keeps biting his fur, I keep finding lil patches of white hair everywhere. His tail is the only part where he pulls it out where it is really noticeable. Any advice? Or is this fur chewing?
 
It sounds like fur chewing. You haven't noticed any skin irritations have you? Nothing bothering his skin that may cause him to chew that particular spot?

Try providing him with new toys or re-arranging his cage to keep his mind distracted. He may be fur chewing out of boredom.
Provide him with hay 24/7 to keep him distracted.

Fur chewing is a pain in the butt. He may be really stressed and has resorted to fur chewing.

It's hard to know what the cause is or how to stop it. Keep giving him a lot of attention, fresh hay, new toys - etc to keep him occupied and he may stop chewing.
 
He had kind of patchy fur when I got him, and he has a cuttle bone, sisal carrot toy, LOTS of little wooden chews, and he does get his hay 24/7. I put a new feeder in his cage (he kept tipping his pellets over), and he rearranges his houses all day ^_^

He gets his dust bath about 3 minutes daily, just because he rolls on his fleece and I can't tell if he feels dirty or what.

I haven't noticed any skin irritation, he chews all over, but the fur is pulled out by the tail. Is it possible its genetic?
 
yeahh i have the same question about my chin haley...except mine are biting at eachothers fur....can anyone help me? lol. They seem to have stopped now but I would love to know what is causing it and why they do this. Thanks !
Awwwwwwwwww Haley I see you chose 'Kingston', that is too adorable !
(:)
It's good to see a happy chin and a happy owner...even though he could be bored.
lol. im just kidding. PM me sometime! (:) I wanna see more pics ! Please????
 
There is a whole bunch of debate as to whether fur chewing is genetic or not. It could just be.

I have a rescue who won't stop fur chewing no matter what I do. He's almost chewed himself bald! No matter what I do for him he would rather munch his fur.

Just keep doing what you are doing and hopefully you can eventually find something that gets his mind off of fur chewing.
 
My Rosey goes through phases of fur-chewing. I know she's not stressed, as she's a very laid back chin, never barks or freaks out or anything. She could just be bored, despite having heaps of toys and playouts every night.
Thankfully she doesnt do it to the point of being bald...usually she just chews racing stripes onto her flanks!
I think some just do it from habit, and its a hard, if not impossible, habit to break them from.
 
I would not do dust baths everyday. That can really dry out the skin, and maybe he is rolling around in the fleece because he is itchy. I would also consider it being fungus- he does seem to be itchy more than chewing for no reason, IMO.
 
A while back I took in two rescues, of which one was a sprayer and fur-chewer. After using a rubber glove to direct the spray "back at you" that stopped. I had just started using LifeLine on the herd, and she loved it, and the chewing stopped! When I adopted her out, about 3 months leter, there was no evidence she ever was, and haven't heard if it re-occured, one way or another!
I was also using Tradition feed and Oxbow hay.
 
Haley, the cuttle bone needs to come out of the cage. Too much calcium can give him kidney stones.

Check his teeth; if they aren't orange, he can have 1/4 of a tums antacid(they have calcium) per day for one week. Or, he can have small amounts of alfalfa for a little bit to boost his calcium. The cuttlebone is too much. :)

Is he biting the fur, or is he cutting it off with his teeth? Bald spots, or very short patches of fur? Pics would be helpful. :) He might just have itchy skin.
 
I agree with taking out the cuttle bone and reducing the dust bath. When you said he was taking a dust bath daily, the first thought that came to mind was maybe his skin is getting tried out and he's biting at his fur because he itches. It may not be the sole problem, but I'm guessing it may have something to do with it.
 
There is no debate. Fur chewing IS genetic. Debates do arise, but they stem from misinformation and a lack of understanding. Fur chewing is a genetic trait with a environmental trigger.

LovableFuzziezandCrawliez said:
There is a whole bunch of debate as to whether fur chewing is genetic or not. It could just be.

I have a rescue who won't stop fur chewing no matter what I do. He's almost chewed himself bald! No matter what I do for him he would rather munch his fur.

Just keep doing what you are doing and hopefully you can eventually find something that gets his mind off of fur chewing.
Click to expand...
 
Stackie said:
I agree with taking out the cuttle bone and reducing the dust bath. When you said he was taking a dust bath daily, the first thought that came to mind was maybe his skin is getting tried out and he's biting at his fur because he itches. It may not be the sole problem, but I'm guessing it may have something to do with it.
Click to expand...

Well I only did that because the second I put him in his new cage he kept rolling on the fleece (I couldn't tell what he was doing because I haven't seen a chinchilla do the *drumming* before they roll lol. Then when I put the bath in later I thought he might have needed one), I don't think the lady I got him from gave him dust baths but once a week. I skipped last nights bath, he's still chewing a little. He hasn't given himself any bald spots yet, the hairs just uneven in a couple of places, I'll try and get a picture
 
Alright so I got a video of him doing it, I'm uploading it to his youtube right now. He went into an itchy frenzy just when I started taking a video of him so I lucked out on documenting it.
 
If it's just shorter in some areas it's most likely fur chewing. Some do it when they're stressed. My Chibi does it when she's stressed. Like when I first got her she did it, and when I moved she did it again. But once she's settled in she stops.

Here's a picture of her from when she chewed her fur. You can see how some of the fur is shorter than the rest.
DSCN1054-1.jpg


So it could be just that your chin is stressed with the move.
And just because a chin rolls around doesn't mean they need a dust bath. You need to control that. Once a week in the winter is plenty since the air is dry. In the summer some do twice to 3 times a week depending on humidity.
 
Its not humid here, I live in CA so its really prettttyyyy dryyy
 
If it's dry, then I would do it once or twice a week. You should be able to tell by his fur. If it looks like it's getting greasy give him a bath, if it looks fluffy, he'll be fine without one.
Another issue you run into with too many baths is dry ears or feet.

A chin doesn't need the dust baths to survive, so even if you give too few, he'll be fine.
 
Alright so I'll wait a while for his next bath, I'm still uploading the video (on wireless) and I did get him doing this itchy frenzy he's been doing since day one. I don't know if he does it because there's something in the cage like he doesn't like the fleece? I haven't used any cleaners in his cage or in my room since I've had him. In his old cage he had very very little bedding and nothing in it but an igloo and a hanging toy. He was in a FN then too, but like I said barely any bedding. I'll post the link when its done, it really bothers me to see him throw such a fit.
 
He could just have dry skin. His fur doesn't look greasy, so I wouldn't say that he needs a bath every day. Especially if the area you live in is dry. Can you tell if his ears look dry? They won't have a normal appearance, they'll look a little flaky (not fungus flaky, but just dry in general)
 
His ears look normal, his eyes aren't watery at all, and he wipes his nose constantly but it isn't running. :/ Could it be the hay or something? He didn't have hay before just pellets, could possibly have some sort of effect on allergies or something?
 
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