My chinchilla is losing hair behind her ears

Question
QUESTION: I just took my chin to the vet today because she is losing hair behing her ears and she has a few scabs on her ears, the vet did a ring worm test, but said it would take 3 wks to find out the results???, He siad it dont look infected and he doubts it is ringworm, and sent me home.  My prob is ehr fur is just falling out in clumps and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to help this or is she hurting or anythign.  She seems to be itching alot and the bare spots are just light pink, not red or anything like that.  Shoul I take the dust bath out for a while??? I use good recycled pet bedding as the pet store recommended and feed her sunseed chinchilla food??? any suggestions??? Please and thank you!!!

ANSWER: Hello Nicol,
it sounds like your chin has mange mites. Fur falling out, bald spots, lots of itching and scabs are all symptoms of mange mites. scraping the area wouldn't really tell you that the chin has mange mites though. I don't know any test that's really accurate for telling you it's mange mites. Generally the vet makes the guess based on symptoms. The only thing that gets rid of them is Ivermectin. I would really bring up the topic up of Mange Mites to your vet though as many times Mange Mites can get misdiagnoised. I hope this helps.

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QUESTION: That does sound like a good idea, but the only problem is I have two chinchillas and I have been sharing the dust bath between them until I noticed it, wouldn't the other one have this too??I also forgot to tell you that when we first got this one the other one attacked her and the hair is falling out where she had cuts?? I am concerned because of the itching?? The doctor said it is just because of trauma he thinks, I also started using this vanilla scented dust bath could it be that making the bare skin itch?? I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm so concerned, she is my little baby! Thank you

Answer
Hello,
it is possible that the other chin could have mange mites as well but has not shown symptoms yet. hmmmm you're using a vanilla scented dust bath huh. maybe change it to a dust bath without any scents. Sometimes scents can cause allergic reactions as well and cause irritations. Try this and see. It's good to try and rule out everything that you can as it also helps the doctor pin point what could really be the cause.