Posted: May 27, 2009 7:30 p.m. EDT Q: My chinchilla has an
abscess under his chin that came up recently. What is it and
what can I do for him? Bugsy is 6½ years old and normally
healthy. A: Most abscesses that occur near a chinchilla’s chin
are due to dental-related infections, just as we see in rabbits
and guinea pigs. The best thing you can do is to visit your
veterinarian and have the abscess checked out. The veterinarian
will not focus only on the chinchilla’s abscess. Your
veterinarian will check the teeth, maybe under sedation, to
determine if dental disease was the cause of the abscess. To
determine this, skull radiographs (X-rays) may also be taken.
Finally, your veterinarian needs to make sure this is just an
abscess and not some other type of mass. See all of Dr.
Rosenthal's Critter Q&A articles>>