Chinchilla Care: Some Dos and Don’ts

At home, chinchilla dust or sand can be used to give these lovely pets a refreshing dust bath. Like natural volcanic ash, chinchilla dust can remove dead skin, excess oil, and moisture from their fur coat. Chinchilla bath houses that are designed to meet the bathing behaviors of these pets are available in the market. Any large bowl or dish like a glass fish bowl would also serve the purpose.   

Chinchillas should not be given regular water baths as water can make their fur heavy. They are very delicate and their internal organs can get damaged due to the weight of the fur. Water also removes the natural oil secreted by their skin. Moreover, excessive wetness of their fur makes them more prone to infections like ringworm. 

Chinchillas can easily get digestive problems and so they have to be fed only with specially formulated chinchilla pellets. Their daily diet should also include hay and fresh water. Give them timothy hay if their food is alfalfa based and they should be fed with alfalfa hay if their pellet mainly contains timothy. Raisins are a favorite food of these pets. However, chinchillas have an increased risk for developing obesity and sugar-related diseases like diabetes. They do not have a gallbladder, so it is better to avoid foods loaded with sugar, fat, and oil as much as possible from their diets. 

Chinchillas love to jump and run around and so they have to be kept in a large cage. A group of same-sex chinchillas will live together in a cage without any problem. It is recommended to avoid keeping one female and two males together in one cage as it can result in constant fighting between the males over the female chinchilla.