Preparing for a Chinchilla Pet Show Article written by - Anjela Ross Crystal Chinchillas Belgium Co-director of the Chinchilla Club

If you are entering a pet show for Chinchillas you will need to spend some time on your animals to get them looking nice. I will go through the stages of preparation for you, but a few important guidelines should be remembered also. You should never enter a pregnant female into a show, as the stress of grooming, the journey to the show and being in unfamiliar surroundings may well upset her. Youngsters over the age over 4 months are usually the youngest to be allowed into a show, the reasons being that before that age they are still babies and it could prove too stressful for the animal, plus they still only have baby fur and a lot can change in the looks of an animal by the time it reaches adult age. Entering a young animal however, can sometimes be useful, in order that you can hear any comments the judge has to make on the animal, especially if it is one you have just purchased, or one that you have bred and are intending to keep for yourself, to continue the breeding line.

Cage Stain If your Chinchillas day to day home is dirty, then you will obviously expect your Chinchilla to get dirty. The most obvious sign of that, is a Chinchilla with a yellow colouring to the underside of the tail. When the animal is under the show lights the judge will notice any dirty marks on the fur of your Chinchilla as well as discoloured fur due to urine stains from a soiled cage. This is called cage stain and is very unattractive. No matter how beautiful your Chinchilla is, these dirty marks will detract from the look of the animal and make it appear much less attractive. If entering an animal into a show with cage stain, it is less likely to win anything, no matter how good the rest of the animal looks. Make sure that your cage is kept clean, including the food bowl and other cages items and toys, as if they are not clean, the dirt may rub off and mark your Chinchillas fur.

Dustbaths When preparing for the show, it is important that you allow your Chinchilla a daily dustbath. Do not leave the dustbath in all of the time though, just for around 15 minutes each day is enough. This allows plenty of time for your pet to clean himself thoroughly. When you handle your Chinchilla, remember that sweat and grease from your hands will be passed onto the fur of your Chinchilla. So after handling, be sure to allow him access to a dustbath when he returns to his cage, this will ensure any sweat or grease in the fur is removed. Always sieve the dust after use and in particular if preparing for a show, provide fresh clean sand for baths. You can always keep the older sand to use after the show has taken place for use on not quite so special days as that of a show. It should be good enough for upto a month, if you sieve it each day.

Grooming About a week to ten days before the show, start to groom your Chinchilla. For this you will need a grooming comb. If you do not have access to an actual Chinchilla grooming comb, then you can use a finely toothed mens hair comb instead. The teeth must be reasonable in length, smooth and very finely spaced apart. This will slip through the animals fur easily, clearing away any loose hairs and making the coat look even in appearance. Do not however, tug at the fur as this may cause tufts to come free and make the fur look uneven and messy. It is best to start combing from the base of the tail doing a small section at a time. You may need someone to help at first, as often the animal will wriggle and obviously to comb him carefully you need to try and keep your Chinchilla reasonably still. To remove the lines left in the fur by the comb, you can carefully give your Chinchilla a little shake. Hold the base of the tail securely and lift the animals back legs off of the floor, allowing his front paws still to rest on the floor, then gently shake his rear end from side to side a few times, as if he were wiggling his rear end at you. This will not hurt the animal nor cause him distress if you are careful and gentle with him. But in doing this after combing, not only will the small comb lines disappear, but it will help the animals fur to fluff back up and stand upright. Obviously you will need to practise to find a method of grooming that suits you best and I recommend that you groom your animal two to three times a week during the run up to the show.

Day of the show I would not recommend that you allow your Chinchilla a dust bath on the actual day of the show, as often the dust shows up in the fur of the animal, more so, when the Chinchilla is under the judging lights. However, if you do have to handle the animal, then you can give him a short bath after handling. Make sure that the Chinchilla stays dry, try to avoid water bottles dripping on the animals coat. On the day of the show make sure that their is no loose fur on the animals coat. Wearing fabric gloves, after having groomed him, run your gloved hands gently over the animals back. This has the effect of removing any loose hairs resting on the fur and gives a nice finish to the animal. A piece of silk is said to have the same effect. Now you are ready, the animal is clean, groomed, tidy and sitting in a nice clean show cage. If you have followed all of these steps and prepared your Chinchilla well, then even if on the day you do not win a prize with your furry friend, you will know that it was just the case that your Chinchilla lost to better animals than your own rather than losing due to poor presentation. Good luck with showing your Chinchillas!