What Is It??!?!?!!!

[allpetsrock]

what is a dust bath! how do i use it, when do i let them use it, what is it, what is it, what is it!!!!! is it important?? wat do i use for it!! please tell me!!!!

[Sasami]

It's important but not life-threatening so you can calm down .

Dust baths are how degus stay clean since they can't be bathed in water. You can buy "Chinchilla dust" or "Chinchilla sand" at a pet store--they might also be called things like "dust bath" or "sand bath".

You put some in a container or shallow dish and the degus will roll around in it to clean off. It's pretty hilarious to watch, in fact .

Here's an example of what I mean: http://www.petco.com/product/7846/Su...t=OnSiteSearch

And this is an example of a container sold specifically to hold the dust bath: http://www.petco.com/product/7479/Su...t=OnSiteSearch

You should offer your degus a dust bath at least once a week. Some people just leave it in constantly, it's really up to you. I don't leave it in 24-7 because my degus find it amusing to dump it out of the cage when they're done . Also keep in mind that if you leave it in there a lot you'll need to change the dust bath on a regular basis because degus have a tendency to go to the bathroom in their dust baths once they're done bathing. In fact, the easiest way to litterbox train a degu is to just use bath sand in the litterbox .

[allpetsrock]

thanks! now how do i know their using it?

[Sasami]

Quote: Originally Posted by allpetsrock thanks! now how do i know their using it?

You'll see them rolling around, haha. Mine start rolling around when I pick up the box of chinchilla sand, even before I give it to them!

If they haven't had a bath before it might take them a while to get used to it, though.

[allpetsrock]

thanks!!! this really helps!