However, when a chinchilla's dense fur gets wet, she can become quite chilled. Because they take so long to dry, even on a nice day, this can create a cold chin that's set up for a respiratory infection. Upper respiratory infections in rodents shouldn't be taken lightly. Unlike a simple cold in humans, respiratory infections can quickly turn into something more serious, like pneumonia.
Small animals also are at risk for other complications, like GI stasis from refusing to eat when not feeling well. A damp coat can also cause problems with the skin and fur itself. Fungal infections are just as fun as they sound. Moisture trapped in a chinchilla's undercoat creates an environment where fungus can thrive. Ringworm, usually to blame for fur fungus, isn't species-specific. Yep, this is the same headache that plagues dogs, humans, and spreads to other animals.
Over the counter medications do not technically "kill" fungus either although they stop it from growing, so over the course of several weeks the immune system can kick it to the curb. Plenty of chins are messy drinkers or forget their manners and spray their pals with urine and everyone still lives happy and healthy lives. Sometimes accidents happen and nothing but a damp cloth to the surface of the coat will solve the problem. A soaking wet chinchilla isn't advisable, but if you find your buddy a bit damp all is not lost.
It's damage control time. Dry her off with a towel first and use a no-heat blow dryer or the low-heat setting held around feet away.
You want to keep the room warm so she doesn't catch a chill, but avoid overheating her with the blow dryer. To prevent damp chinchillas in the future, swap drinking bowls for sipper bottles and supervise playtime for those get-into-everything types.
If it stays damp, it can catch fur fungus. This is common sense: any species that could never even touch water would quickly die out. Chinchillas are naturally very skittish creatures and generally do not like to be held, although they can become very attached to their owners. Just provide the dust in a safe bath hut for 10 minutes or so a few times a week.
The first is that they live in and around the Atacama Desert. Your chinchilla has 80 hairs in each follicle — quite a lot more than your one hair per follicle. On top of that, if your chinchilla gets wet, he could lose body heat quickly and easily become chilled, leaving him vulnerable to getting sick. A real water bath would most likely kill a chinchilla within minutes. Not to worry, though. The rodents are notable for their extremely thick coats.
If these coats come into contact with water and become damp or fully wet, the fur can become tightly compacted together, creating a big, uncomfortable mass. The thick fur also can be extremely slow to dry, and can create chilling problems for chinchillas. Lastly, due to the excessive dampness, water also can bring upon fungal infections in the small animals.
Keeping your chinchilla out of water in no way means that you have to forsake bathing him entirely. One way in which to keep your pet squeaky clean is by allowing him to move his body over dust, which is capable of soaking up excess oils, and encouraging coat health and shine. Purchase dust made specifically for these purposes at your local pet store. If you place some inside of a bowl, your cutie's instinct will be to lavish it all over her body.
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