Dust Bath?

If you've heard a thing or two about chinchillas, you've probably heard they take dust baths. You may have thought to yourself, "what the heck IS a dust bath?"

In the wild, the way a chinchilla cleans itself is to roll around in volcanic ash. The ash penetrates their coat and keeps it clean, healthy, and gets rid of excess oils and dirt.

Chinchillas should never be bathed in water. The water will remove the natural oils in their skin that keeps their skin healthy. The dust sold at stores mimics the type of dust wild chinchillas roll in. The dust is placed in a bath house, which is usually a small enclosed container that's large enough for the chinchilla to roll in.

Dust baths are very enjoyable for chinchillas. They love them! This is why its necessary to only allow your chinchilla to take a dust bath 2-3 times per week. Over dusting can cause their skin to be dry and itchy.

So, to sum things up, the dust bath keeps chinchillas clean, they enjoy it, and they look extremely cute while they're doing it!

Here's a video of my chinchillas getting their first dust bath in their new home.