please look at these photos & tell me what you think

[baby godzilla]

i've seen a few pictures of fur chewing, and i've seen my own chins do a fur slip a few times, but please look at these pictures and tell me what you think is going on.

the pictures are of all the same chinnie, my little boy, godzilla. i've circled in red the problem spot that i noticed. some pictures are blurry, sorry.

is it fur chewing? fur slippage? he's caged with another chin & they don't fight when i'm at home (which is when they're awake). could it be possible that they're fighting while i'm at work (but they should be sleeping during that time)? is it possible that he's all of a sudden become stressed that there's another chin around (but they sleep cuddled up on top of each other each night)? please please tell me what you think & what i can do to help him. thank you in advance!

my poor little guy...

[these are all of the same spot/location. i did see him chewing a bit tonight in this exact spot; however, how can you tell the difference between grooming & fur chewing & fur slippage?]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/swtddalgi/deb90652.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/swtddalgi/70e26681.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/swtddalgi/ff7f7aec.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/swtddalgi/b8142edc.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/swtddalgi/2593133f.jpg

[oneillrk]

to me from the pics it doesnt look like fur chewing, I would keep an eye on it but appears to be a possible fur slip, I would not be overly concerned with it.....

[foxbite2]

That looks like fur slippage to me too.. My standard gets spots like that on her for various reasons. My very first chinchilla was a fur chewer.. if I had a picture I would post it to show you the difference.

[nwernig]

It does not look like chewing to me either. I thinks it is just "rough" right now. I have a couple chins that are rough on the back side right now because they are out of prime- summer I guess.

[baby godzilla]

hmm....is it helpful information that he's one week shy of turning 7 months old?

my other chin (2 yrs old), who godzilla lives with, does not have anything going on with his fur.

thank you for your quick responses. if it is just fur slippage, what are the possibilities why it's happening? are they fighting? is he stressed?

[oneillrk]

It is very helpful!! That is a good time for the priming.....
if it is fur slippage it could be from rambuctious play, etc.. are you seeing tufts of fur in the cage? How do they seem to get along overall? Like said above, I dont think it is anything to be overly concerned with at this time... just teenager playtime, unless you see fighting, more fur slips, blood etc.. I would not stress about it...

[baby godzilla]

okay, thank you - that is good news to hear!

for the most part, my two boys get along very well. they sleep cuddled up together, i see them sometimes grooming each other, they sit next to each other... but there are times when they do kack at one another (usually over the dust bath), and yes, sometimes i do see tufts of godzilla's fur on the ground. never wallace's black fur, though.

i saw a picture recently of a chin priming (is that the correct term? where it looks as though they're shedding into a brand new coat?) and it seemed like the fur was coming out all over the body, whereas my chin's slippage (or whatever is going on) seems to be concentrated in one spot. hmm...

but i'll heed your advice, and not overly stress about this, while keeping a close eye on him & their interactions.

[AngelDawn]

That looks just like a spot on my Bowie's back. I thought it was fur slippage also but it still hasn't grown back in and it has been weeks. So anyone know how long it takes to grow a fur slip back in?

[SilverCelica]

That does look like a slip to me as well.

Slips can take a few months to grow back in sometimes.

[AngelDawn]

Thank you SC :)