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[Ektoras]

Hello,

I bought my second chinchilla from a pet store.
I know it's bad, she was kept in poor condition for a chinchilla, in a small rabbit cage no floors to jump etc. The hair on her back was matted and her food was on the floor. So in a way, I hope I saved her from this.

I had to cut all the matted hair and the vet also cut the hair around her genital area.

The problem is that she won't use the sand properly. The only thing she does is to dig the sand and nothing else, except from peeing in the bowl.
I tried several options, changed the bowl etc.

I also noticed her doing flips on the floor like she would take a bath.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3kX10VoilpiYi1STUszb1d1ZVk/view?usp=sharing

Thank you!

[GrayRodent]

You should use a decent chinchilla dust. The only two that I think are acceptable are Blue Cloud dust and Chilldust (available online). You should dust 2-3 times a week no more than 15 minutes at a time. If you do it too often the chin will lose interest (and it can cause skin problems). This kind of problem is going to take weeks to straighten out so please be patient. Eventually your chinchilla will acquire a habit of dusting. In the meantime you can manually apply dust and rub it in a bit.

The bowl I use with my chins is a parrot dish that bolts onto the bars of the cage. A metal ring suspends the bowl so it's not on the floor. Make sure it's low enough that your chin doesn't have to jump onto it to eat but high enough that it's inconvenient to jump onto it.

To help with the urine problem I recommend collecting soiled items including soiled pellets and putting it into a pile on one corner of the cage. Don't let it get too nasty but there needs to be just enough to establish that is the corner for urinating on and you should see some improvement there. Chinchillas are habitual. They also do not like to urinate on hard surfaces. If you are fleece lining make sure there is an area with sufficient padding underneath to absorb urine or use pine bedding. The pellets are an attractive media if there is no bedding or appropriate areas in the cage to urinate on.