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