How to Dust Bath Chinchillas

For the final post of this quick tutorial blog, this post will guide you through the details of dust bathing your chinchilla to maintain a good hygiene.

How does dust bathing work? 

As I mentioned in plenty of previous blogs as this is super important, chinchilla coats MUST NOT come into contact with water, thus conventional bathing (soap and water) is not an option for chinchillas. Instead, chinchillas roll around in dust to rid their fur coats of impurities; cleaning each individual hair within an inch of its life. The way it works (basically) is when chinchillas roll in the dust, the dust particles fall deep into the coat all the way down to the skin; then after continuous rolls, the dust is pushed out of the fur, taking any impurities out of the fur with it as it flows out (McLeod). This technique is more than effective enough to substitute for bathing, as doing this routinely for the rest of a chinchillas life will keep their coats clean. 

Dust bath house

What do I need?

 The first you will need is the right powder for the job, which I recommend Blue Cloud chinchilla dust. It works like a charm and is readily available in stores such as Petco and Petsmart, and is even available on Amazon and eBay. The other thing for the bathing process is a container for them to bathe in; and it is recommended that the container is heavy so the chinchilla does not knock it over (Li). Some recommended containers are plastic boathouses or durable (and large) bowls [ie: fish bowl].

How do I bath them?

Add enough powder to the container to which the powder makes a nice layer of powder on the container floor (Not enough to make a pile of powder but enough to where the container floor is completely coated). Now there are 2 ways you can bath them: you can do what I do and set the bath container on the floor in a separate room in your home and let the chinchilla run around and bath at the same time; or you can set the container inside the cage with the chinchilla and let him/her bath in there. The estimated time you should leave the chinchilla with the dust bath ranges from about 10-20 minutes (Li). You should bath your chinchillas about 2 to 3 times a week, but give the chinchilla more frequent baths if his/her fur seems oily and give him/her less baths if you notice the fur being more dry and itchy (McLeod). The aftermath after a dust bath is quite messy, as the powder is often times just scattered around the room, so dust/vacuum the facility of the bathing shortly after bathing them to prevent discomfort in your own home.

Tips:

• You can reuse dust from previous baths, but discard previous dust after a few uses or if you notice a wet (or dried wet) spot in the dust, as it is most likely urine; & discard any feces in the dust if you do want to reuse it (McLeod).
• If you notice a wet spot on the chinchilla before you bath him/her, dry the spot immediately before letting them bath as the powder can severely irritate that spot if remained wet. 
• Vacuum/dust any surface in the room you bathed the chinchilla in (believe me, that dust goes everywhere).
• It is advised you bath chinchillas chinchillas in the evening as the chinchillas are more active, thus getting more rolls in the dust (Li).

Sources:

McLeod, Lianne, DVM. "Why Dust Clean For Your Pet Chinchilla."About.com. About Home, 15 Dec.   2014. Web. 11 May 2016. http://exoticpets.about.com/od/chinchillas/a/chindustbath.htm

Li, Larry. "Chinchilla Dust Bath." Chinchilla. Chinchilla.co, 2014. Web. 11 May

2016. http://chinchilla.co/chinchilla-dust-bath

What to feed your chinchillas!

Overview:

The diet is one of the most important things that affect how your chinchilla lives and drastically affects their health. There are 2 main components in the chinchilla's diet: hay and pellets. Hay provides plenty of protein and fiber, while the pellets fill in the rest of the nutrients that hay does not cover. Treats can also be given to chinchillas just as a fun little snack for them, however; it is not required to give it to them. The recommended nutrition for chinchillas is: 30% fiber, 14-16% protein, 35% carbs, 3.5% fat/oil, 4% sugar, 6% minerals, 10% moisture, 32.4 Vitamin D, 14 Vitamin A, and 80 Vitamin E (Poli).

Hay

According to the vet I interviewed at the Hendersonville Exotic Animal Clinic, out of all the different types of chinchilla hay (Alfalfa, alpine, timothy, etc.); Western Timothy Hay is the most recommended to feed your chinchilla (he also advised against providing Alfalfa hay). The brand of hay that I use is Oxbow Western Timothy hay, as it good in nutrition and is not too expensive. Chinchillas should have their hay supply constantly filled every day, as they chew on hay to wear their teeth down to prevent overgrowth of teeth (McLeod).

Pellets

While pellets are essential, chinchillas only need 2 tablespoons of pellets per day (Poli). Pellets are meant to provide the nutrients that hay does not provide, but do not just give chinchillas pellets without providing hay; as pellets do not wear down chinchillas' teeth at all. I recommend feeding Oxbow Essentials as it has a great balance of nutrients a chinchilla needs. 

Treats

Treats should be given to chinchillas very rarely, as too much treats leads to too much sugar then eventually death. Some treats that are recommended are dried rose hips, 3-4 tiny slices of raisins per week, and 3-4 tiny dried papaya slices per week (McLeod). 2-3 mountain ash berries per day is also a good choice as well (Poli).

FORBIDDEN FOODS!

Do not feed these to chinchillas as they are extremely unhealthy: anything with meat in it, chocolate, corn/maize, nuts/seeds, excess protein (more than 20%), vegetables and greens (causes bloat), pellet mixes, and tree bark (Poli).

Poli, Miranda. "Chinchilla Nutrition." TIP OF THE MONTH! Chinchilla Chronicles, 2008. Web. 04 May 2016. http://www.chinchillachronicles.com/chinchilla_nutrition_food_and_diet.html

McLeod, Lianne, DVM. "Feeding Chinchillas." About.com. About Home, 2016. Web. 04 May 2016.

http://exoticpets.about.com/od/chinchillas/a/chinchillafeed.htm