Help! Very matted fur

[MyLilPintoBean]

I just rescued a chinchilla today and it's fur on her hind end is so matted that her skin is showing! I know they were using crappy dust so I threw out all the stuff they gave me for her and gave her a dust bath with blue cloud dust as soon as I got her home. The poor thing looks very miserable!! :cry3:
I don't know what to do here.... can I shave it since it's matted so far or will this cause problems?? I have her in quarantine and have her situated as much as she can be. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[threewingedfury]

You can pull the matts out with your hands. You're not going to save the fur out of the matts and shaving isn't a good idea.

Also, remember that your chin is probably scared in it's new surroundings. Give her a few days to acclimate to her new environment before stressing her out.

 

[MyLilPintoBean]

Yeah that's what I'm trying to do... My only issue with pulling them out is that it's like one huge clump about the size of my palm, which is the only reason why I was considering shaving. Does it matter what size the mats are when dematting a chin?? I guess I'm just a scared I'm going to end up hurting her or pulling out all of her on her back end and she will be bald and not trust me.

 

[mercynursie]

Please no matter what/who tells you, do not try to cut the mats out!! It is extremely easy to cut their delicate skin as it is often embedded in the mat too.Even if the mats come out by fur slipping and leave a bald area, the hair will grow back. If the skin gets cut while trying to cut out a mat you risk getting a severe infection,having to have stitches,etc.

 

[MyLilPintoBean]

Thanks for the heads up about that... knowing me I would have done what I do to my dad's dog and gotten out the scissors and tried to snip some! (Ok well probably not because I don't want to freak her out... but it might have been in the realm of possibility :wink3

 

[MyLilPintoBean]

Ok here are a couple of pictures that I took through the bars. They were taken with my phone so aren't very good. Sorry!

 

[Silverrose]

Gosh, poor thing! Chins slip their fur, so you should be able to pull the mats out without too much problem. Or if you don't feel comfortable using your hands to just pull on them, use a cat comb (not brush!) to comb them out. It's not going to hurt her. But wow at the size of those mats! She may have a bit of a bald patch, but the fur should start to grow in right away. And I'm sure she will feel much better not carrying those mats around. Maybe giving her a dustbath afterwards will make her feel much better also.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Like everyone else has said...don't cut, don't shave, just pull. She'll kack and pull away..that's usually what happens when they slip fur out of irritation rather than fear. It doesn't bleed and they sure as heck don't cry or go into convulsions from the pain of losing fur. Just pull out the matts or use a cat comb as Therese suggested.

 

[Essentia]

If the mats are that big and very plentiful you can bring the chin to the vet to be put under light anesthesia. I did that with a rescue that came in since I wanted his teeth checked anyway. While the vet checked his teeth the vet tech and I pulled out mats. They came out really easily and I didn't have to worry about hurting him with pulling out that huge amount of fur. Once we were finished it literally looked like we had a second chinchilla.

The chin I did this with was literally covered in matts though. About 75% of his fur was matts. I don't recommend just putting a chin under anesthesia just to do it.

 

[MyLilPintoBean]

Ok well I also think "she" might be a "he". My boyfriend let him in with my two female chins and he/she promptly mounted my beige chin before I could re-separate them. Could this just be a dominant female or a male? Bad boyfriend for putting my girls in this situation before I could properly sex the chin.

 

[Essentia]

No matter the sex that chinchilla should be no where near your chins for at least a month. Any new chinchilla, especially one from a questionable situations, needs to go through a 30 day quarantine period. You are putting your previous chinchillas in danger by letting them be that close together. You have no idea if the new chin has an illness or disease that your chins can catch. Quarantine is for the safety of your previous chins, and the new chin. The new chin is in a new environment and is most likely stressed. Being thrown in with other chins can escalate that stress even more. Quarantine lets the new chin get used to the new environment, smells, sounds, etc.

Also, just an FYI, chins can mate in just seconds. I pray that if the chin is male that you now don't have a pregnant chinchilla....pregnant by a rescue that you have no background information no less.

 

[MyLilPintoBean]

Yeah I had my FN split into 2 cages with no way for them to get at each other and he let the ramp down and took out the board I had in place because it thought they would be "fine". Boy did I let in to him...

 

[Dolyphinm]

Quarantine needs to be in a different room and hands must be washed between handling the new one and the old ones. Also a change of clothing can't hurt especially when coming from that bad of a situation of being matted up. That chin could have been exposed to a fungus, it could have a viral or bacterial infection that's air born.

Good luck with the mats though.

 

[MyLilPintoBean]

Ok. I have a smaller cage that I set-up in the office that will suffice for a month or more depending on what happens when she is introduced with the other two. I checked her thoroughly tonight for peace of mind while putting her into the smaller cage, and she's definitely a female and appears to be in heat.

 

[RDZCRanch]

There's no point in quarantine now. It has to be done from the moment you get the chinchilla. Separate rooms, no contact, wash hands between rooms, etc. etc.

I would not put a chinchilla under to pull out matts...even if they're all over the body. I had a chin I picked up from some crazy lady that was keeping her and her cagemate outside in 90+ degree weather. Sadly, her cagemate died before I could get to them, but she was in a rusty urine filled cage and covered in matts. It took me a good twenty minutes of combing and quick, hard tugs. I ended up with a gallon baggy full of fur and a chin with bald spots all over. She wasn't in pain, she had no problem with it. Slipping fur does NOT hurt a chinchilla. The tug may be uncomfortable for a brief moment, but their follicles are made to release fur when trapped, grabbed, stressed, etc. It's not like if we pull out our own hair where it's not only unpleasant but stings. Chinchillas just release the fur...tug out the matts.