Bella is a dusty girl!

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Shelby.bubbles

New member
Joined
Nov 23, 2018
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4
I've had my female Chinchilla for about a month now (yay!) And she LOVES dust baths. My only problem is she is sooo dusty after and everything in her cage gets covered in dust! Is this normal? Or is there something I can do to prevent this?
TIA!
 
It's normal if you are giving her a dust bath in the cage, which is why I prefer not to. I have a small spare cage I use for the dust bath, with the dust bath container in it. It is in another room where they have playtime, when done they get taken back into their cage and I can vacuum up any mess. Another option some people do is just put the dust bath container in the shower or tub and let them bath there, when done just rinse any mess down the drain.

What you use for the dust bath container makes a difference too. I use a glass candy jar (lid removed obviously ;) ), so it contains the dust a bit better.
 
Hmm.. thanks! I usually take her out because I heard if you leave the bath in the cage they will use it out of boredom and dry out their skin. My only issue is she doesn't quite get all the dust off her before getting back into her cage. I've tried brushing her but she doesn't seem to like it. Will she get better at it in time? I use a chin dust bath from petsmart as she didn't seem to like jars/bowls.
Another issue I have is that she pees on her hard shelves and then sits in it (I have since moved her litter box from where I wanted her to pee to where she pees) and now has a dirty bum! I wanted to wash and dry it but she wont let me touch her bum or hold her belly up! Advice?
 
Well what I sometimes do is have the dust bath cage out during playtime, and then close it when they are done but allow them to play longer. Here is a little video of them dusting in their "bath cage" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES_H3-3TamQ (I put them in there while I clean their cage too so try don't get into trouble). For you just have the dust bath out and take it away once she is done, and allow her to hop around and play for a bit longer. That way they shake most of the excess dust off themselves before putting them back in their cage. There really is no way around the dust though, you can also try sweeping or vacuuming the cage a little while after she goes back in to get rid of the extra dust on things.

You should not brush or comb a chin right after a bath, it can cause you to pull out fur. Also brushes don't really work on chins, their fur is too thick. You need a fine toothed comb if you are going to groom her, you comb tail to head, and comb before a bath so all the loose fur ends up in the dust bath and helps the dust get all the way to the skin. Unless you are showing her or she got something in her fur, combing is not really necessary though, most chins don't like it.

As for peeing on shelves, that is a pain, you need to make sure you really clean up the pee or she will just keep going there. I don't know what kind of shelves you have but if they are metal just scrub the area down with some vinegar and water. If it's wood you may need to sand down the area where she pees in addition to using vinegar and water to get rid of it. If it's soaked into the wood too far to just sand down, you may need to replace the shelf. Oh and with litter boxes, you have to put them where they want to go, most instinctively pick a corner/spot to pee and then you just put the little box there. They aren't like cats, that prefer to pee in the box, chins don't care, some never even get the hang of it, and some will simply stop using the box for no apparent reason. My current two just take a couple steps from where ever they are and pee, luckily though they do go to the edge of the shelves to pee, so it ends up on the cage bottom most of the time, but other times it ends up on the floor outside cage :facepalm:.

Pee stains on the chin can be cleaned up with dust baths, just add a little bit of corn starch, about a teaspoon, into the dust to help remove the staining. It wont be a quick fix, but the staining should lighten over time with each bath once she stops sitting in the pee.
 
Another thing is that it might be the dust itself. I've always used the same dust for my guy but one time the store was out of it so I bought another brand. It stuck to him way worse than the usual stuff and took forever to come off, he was almost bright white for an hour after dust bathing. I didn't like it at all.
 
Another thing is that it might be the dust itself. I've always used the same dust for my guy but one time the store was out of it so I bought another brand. It stuck to him way worse than the usual stuff and took forever to come off, he was almost bright white for an hour after dust bathing. I didn't like it at all.

Yeah that is a good point too, I hadn't thought of that. I use blue cloud dust (All Living things or Oxbow brand) and it really does make a big difference compared to something like Kaytee, which is terrible. Kaytee tends to be almost sticky, gritty (blue cloud dust is soft), and it clumps.
 
Thanks! New problem.. I did a very bad thing last week. Bella had (what I assumed to be a) hissy fit and threw her hay everywhere in her cage and flipped over her food dish. To 'punish' her, i took away her hay for a few days. I noticed a few days later she had softer poo pellets that were moist. (Almost slimy) too the touch. I know it could mean sickness or not enough fiber. I've read in here to take away pellets and have only hay. I did that since last Thursday (with an exception of one day when my bf put her pellets back in) but her poop hasnt really changed. Today I noticed it was less slimy but still soft, I could squish her poop. Should I keep going on hay, or is vet needed? I would hate to take her to a vet and have an expensive bill over nothing, but I also dont want to brush it off and she really be sick. I've only had her a month!
 
Yeah, first the hay is the primary food, it should make up 70-75% of the diet, so it should always be available, and they can live on hay alone. You can try rationing the hay though, just put a small amount in at a time, and put more as needed. Some chins need to get it though their heads that the hay is not never ending and for playing in. I would also make sure the hay is still good, some chins will toss it if it's gone stale or starting to get moldy or simply don't like the hay you got.

Pulling the pellets should only be for 2-3 days, if the soft poop hasn't resolved in that time there is likely something else going on. Have you been giving her anything other then just hay? Any treats or anything that might be causing the soft poop? Also what are you using for water? Unfiltered tap water can contain all kinds of bad things for chins, the safe level of things in the water for chins is much lower then the safe level for humans. One of the most common issues with tap water for chins is the possibility of giardia (a microscopic parasite), which can cause soft, slimy, and stinky poops. You'll need meds to get rid of it.
 
Thanks! It's just tap water so maybe that. She pulls all her hay out of the ball and then won't touch it if I give more. I'll watch her this weekend, and add filtered water. If nothing improves I'll take her to the vet on Monday
 
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