Essentia
Jax Chinchilla Rescue
As most people know I have a chinchilla who was born with a birth defect. He constantly leaks urine so he has to be a water bath once a week, or once ever two weeks depending on how bad his fur looks.
I am asked often what my process is, so I figured I would put a tutorial together.
This is his before picture:
Step 1: The actual bath. I use baby organic baby shampoo with no sulfates, though most people just use regular ol' baby shampoo. I don't use sulfates on my head, so I figured I wouldn't use them on my animals either. The water is luke warm/cool but not cold. Unfortunately I realized too late that he isn't in the frame for most of the video. In the parts where you can't see him I am just putting shampoo on the messy parts and scrubbing lightly just like you would your head. I will be recording a better video of this the next time he needs a bath.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi6Z2fTnB8g
Step 2: Towel drying. This part Riku hates is part the most. It doesn't hurt him, he's just cranky. I towel dry to get as much moisture out as I can so that it doesn't take as long to blow dry. I didn't take video of this, but here he is giving me some pathetic faces.
Step 3: Blow Drying. This is his favorite part. I rarely have to hold him at all unless I am drying his tummy. I use a blow dryer on the cool setting. If your chinchilla is getting stressed out, give periodic breaks. With Riku, he doesn't need them. I blow dry until he is about 98% dried.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VxZQ_uXoyI
Step 4: Dusting. Roxas decided to join him during this portion of bath time. I use brand new, clean dust for this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKGcI89ZCUI
Step 5: Rough Groom. This is not mandatory, but it makes the after bath fur look better. During this he is about 99% dry, though you can still see a tiny bit of moisture on the tips of his fur. This will dry the rest of the way once I let him back in his cage for the final dusting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUF4f4RwgE8
After:
I am asked often what my process is, so I figured I would put a tutorial together.
This is his before picture:
Step 1: The actual bath. I use baby organic baby shampoo with no sulfates, though most people just use regular ol' baby shampoo. I don't use sulfates on my head, so I figured I wouldn't use them on my animals either. The water is luke warm/cool but not cold. Unfortunately I realized too late that he isn't in the frame for most of the video. In the parts where you can't see him I am just putting shampoo on the messy parts and scrubbing lightly just like you would your head. I will be recording a better video of this the next time he needs a bath.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi6Z2fTnB8g
Step 2: Towel drying. This part Riku hates is part the most. It doesn't hurt him, he's just cranky. I towel dry to get as much moisture out as I can so that it doesn't take as long to blow dry. I didn't take video of this, but here he is giving me some pathetic faces.
Step 3: Blow Drying. This is his favorite part. I rarely have to hold him at all unless I am drying his tummy. I use a blow dryer on the cool setting. If your chinchilla is getting stressed out, give periodic breaks. With Riku, he doesn't need them. I blow dry until he is about 98% dried.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VxZQ_uXoyI
Step 4: Dusting. Roxas decided to join him during this portion of bath time. I use brand new, clean dust for this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKGcI89ZCUI
Step 5: Rough Groom. This is not mandatory, but it makes the after bath fur look better. During this he is about 99% dry, though you can still see a tiny bit of moisture on the tips of his fur. This will dry the rest of the way once I let him back in his cage for the final dusting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUF4f4RwgE8
After: