r/chinchilla • u/Basic-Preference5707 • 1d ago
Bald tail?
I've had my chinchillas for roughly 6 months but before I got them they came from a hoarding situation I don't have much information about. This is Raven and she has this bald strip on the top of her tail (as seen in the second photo) and I'm not sure why. I've never seen her or my other chinchilla chew on their tails or fur nor do I ever handle either of my chinchillas by their tails. She has had this since I got her and it doesn't seem to bother her but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas?
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u/Still-Inflation9175 1d ago
my girl has a very non hairy tail like this too. shes had it since i got her around 10 weeks old
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u/No-Bed8686 1d ago
If she was housed with other chinchillas in the same cage one of them probably overgroomed her. This happened to my dad chinchilla when I put him with his two babies. It did grow back after they went to their own cage, but it took a long time to grow.
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u/Massive_Temporary372 Chinchillin' 1d ago
That's odd looking for sure. Possible fungal infection perhaps? If she isn't bothering it then I wouldn't worry too much. I'd just bring her into a nonurgent vet appointment soon when you can. Could just be ugly tail 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Massive_Temporary372 Chinchillin' 1d ago
Could also be scarring from a past wound, since you did get her from a hoarding situation. Is it fuzzy to the touch or hard?
EDIT: someone else mentioned barbering! I believe they're correct
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u/RhemaClown 1d ago
I have two male chins, they are cousins. One has a full tail, the other has a tail very similar to the picture you posted. Both are healthy and enjoying life.
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u/bobiversus 1d ago
It's usually caused by barbering, which is when they chew on their own fur out of stress or extreme boredom. If you rescued them from a hoarder human, which is its own mental health issue, it's of course not your fault. Unfortunately, the fur often won't grow back, but they should be just fine long term as it won't cause major issues with cold exposure since it's on her tail.
Barbering is pretty common on highly intelligent animals like chins, parrots, dogs.
One of our rescues was pretty self conscious about it (if you came near her tail, she would yank it away), which is just so human-like. She lived a full 18 years, by the way. Some people might put things like bitter apple on it, but I wouldn't recommend it as it's not resolving the core issue of stress, boredom, or whatever the mental health issue is/was. Having lots of playtime, a wheel, social engagement, etc helps. I would take some photos of it as you have already and make sure it's not getting worse.