If you're afraid that bathing your chinchilla in dust will make a huge mess, or that you may not do it right, don't get too worried about it! It's actually quite simple as long as you have the proper tools. It's also very entertaining to watch your little chin roll around in his dust bath. Here's 3 secrets to giving your chinchilla a proper dust bath.

If you think that you can just go out back to the sand box and get some of that for your chinchilla to bathe in, you're quite wrong chinchi. The dust must be very fine and imitate the properties of volcanic rock dust, which they use in their native habitat. This means that you'll have to head down to your local pet store and purchase some specially made chinchilla dust for his bath. Other dusts or sand will not penetrate down to his skin like the specially made stuff will, which won't fully clean him and keep him healthy.

Obviously, you won't just want to put your chinchilla in the middle of your living room with a pile of dust nearby. You're going to want something to put him in to contain the dust and keep it in one place. There are a log of special chinchilla bath houses that you can buy at the pet store, but there are other things that may be cheaper and handier that you can use as well. As long as the container you use is heavy and won't tip over, it should be ok. It better be slightly larger than the chinchilla too, don't want him getting stuck in there! Glass is preferable so you can see him rolling around, which is quite entertaining (glass fish bowls work really well). Avoid plastic containers because they will get scratched and cloudy and will obscure your view of the little guy.

You shouldn't leave the dust bath in his cage all the time, as he might start using it as a litter box. Or he'll take too many baths and his skin will get dry and irritated. It's important to give your chinchilla dust baths often enough to keep clean, but not so often that it's unhealthy. A good rule is to start out with 2-3 dust baths per week, at about 10-15 minutes each. If you live in a humid area it may require more. What you need to do is keep an eye on little Chilli and judge for yourself. If he feels damp or oily, give them more often, if his skin looks dry and flaky, give him less.

To give your chinchilla a good dust bath, simply add about 1/2" of dust to the bowl or container you are using, and put it in his cage. He will usually jump at the opportunity , especially once he gets used to the schedule. So just leave the bowl in his cage for 15 minutes or so and give him ample time to take a bath. Be sure to take it out after each use and clean or replace the dust as needed. That's it! Pretty simple huh?