Chinchilla Dust Bath
Chinchillas are small and cute furry animals that are fun to have as pets because they are cute, charming and easy to take care of.
When keeping them indoors, you have to try your best to recreate the surroundings that they are used to like being able to climb up tall areas, and so you have to provide a lofty cage. They are also used to running about, and so you could give them access to a toy wheel inside their chinchilla cage, or provide a second floor, or balcony in their cage to let them perch on them, through its ladders.
However, another thing you have to assess is keeping your chinchillas clean, surely you would not shower it with water as you would your pet dog. The water will peel off the natural oils found in their fur which helps them keep their body temperature. So how does a chinchilla cleans itself in its natural habitat? They place themselves in a pile of dust which removes sticky or oily substances from its fur. That is what keeps them glossy and clean.
It might come as a surprise that dust enables them this, when we consider dust as dirt in the first place. It is recommended to let your pets have a dust bath once a week. You might want to give them frequent dust baths if your area is humid. Chinchilla dust bath is available in most pet shops in varying quantities and qualities.
The more expensive ones replicate the volcanic ashes that most chinchillas are familiar with in the wild. These dust baths could be bought from 50 to 150 lbs. You may place these in a concave jar made of glass so that the little chins would not chew them and they would not easily break them. However, after 20 minutes you should remove the glass immediately because they could get dust in their eyes which could lead to infection.
Expect it to be a mess and perhaps you could layer the are where your chinchilla cage is with some old newspaper. Watching chinchillas roll in and out of their chinchilla dust bath is pretty amusing too. They are just so cute and funny.