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Having such thick fur, chinchillas do not bathe using water - the water will clog the fur and make it slow and difficult to dry - under natural conditions the water against the skin can cause chills and even death in extreme cases.
A dust bath should be given to a chinchilla on a regular basis in order to keep the fur clean, soft and free standing, if this doesn’t happen then the fur can accumulate grease and dust and start to clump together causing the fur to cause knots which may get caught and pulled out of the chinchilla.
The frequency recommended for dust baths vary, personally due to the number of animals I have they tend to get a dust bath placed in their cage over night once a week. Most pet owners tend to place the dust bath in the cage for about 15-20 minutes.
Generally it is better to give your chinchilla its dust bath AFTER it has been handled as that allows it to remove the sweat and grease that your hands will have left in his fur.
Specialist Chinchilla dust can be bought from most pet shops, but most large breeders also tend to supply it - either in sacks or small amounts. The dust/sand that is generally used is Sepiolita,
Sepiolita sand
Though called sand and sand baths - the dust used is actually ground up volcanic ash and you should avoid any real sand and specifically NOT use any form of builders sand. Some sand can contain sharp bits that will cause eye irritation and may cause skin complaints.
Also reddish coloured sands should be avoided as they can stain pale chinchillas and will under show conditions ruin the "blue" glow that you are trying to achieve for top show quality.
Any container can be used to hold the dust for the duration of the chins dust bath - but if it is to be left with the chin for any length of time - especially overnight - then avoid any plastic containers.
Specially made chinchilla bath houses can be bought - but they are pricey compared to medium sized metal dog bowls, old large candy tins (don’t use if any rust on them), glass bowls, and plastic bowls.
You can buy a dust bath house which is designed to keep the majority of the sand inside so that the chinchillas make less mess when bathing - however I have found that they do tend to chew these quite badly.
You can also create the same effect by using a large glass candy jar with the dust inside and laid on its side (ensure the mouth of the jar is the wide ones as used for selling sweets by weight).
The dust in the dust bath can be reused quite a lot - and only needs to be discarded if it should be urinated in. After each use, use a spoon to remove any wet lumps if your chinchilla has urinated in the sand, and then sieve the sand to remove any poops, using a normal kitchen sieve such as the one shown below. (you will be surprised by how many of your kitchen implements end up being used for chins instead!)
When possible, use a different dust bath for animals in different cages - but animals that share a cage will often all try and jump into the same bath together at the same time. When quarantining animals it is ESSENTIAL that they have a separate dust bath to stop the spread of any infections.
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