I am fostering a chinchilla & will most likely foster him for life like I am doing with 3 rabbits. He has really thick mats, we got him like that. I use to groom 2 angoras for the rabbit rescue I volunteer at. The way we got the mats out was to slowly pull them apart & snip off the worst pieces to help loosen it enough to so we could gently pull them apart as not to hurt the bunnies. It was time consuming but we got it done. We used corn starch to loosen the mats. Can this be done with a chinchilla? And is it better to comb them or pull them out? I do not want to hurt him but he needs the mats out. I have never had a chin before & am enjoying having him. he is almost as entertaining as a ferret & just as adorable. Someone dropped him off at the rescue & the owner asked me if I would like to foster him as I already foster 3 of her bunnies (for life) plus have 2 bunnies of my own. I said yes but do not know alot about chinchillas. I am trying to educate myself as much as possible. Any help is greatly appreciated.
My chinchilla has bad mats
- Thread starter imwillow
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Stackie
I bite.
Gently tug on the mats and generally they will slip their fur and allow you to remove the mat. Once a chin is matted it really isn't possible to comb the mat. Lots of dust baths and patience will eventually get him unmatted. It is never recommended to cut them out, as chins are very wriggly and have very thin skin. You can also look into grooming combs made specially for chins, a #4 or #3 is good for general rough grooming.
Is it possible to gently pull them apart rather than pull them out? That's what we did with the Angoras. It was a contast battle keeping mats off of the two we were grooming. At least an hour a day per bunny & they had very long thick fur! It was not easy & it took so much time we finally brought them home so we could keep up with it. Skip a day & it was even harder than usual to do so we decided to keep them with us to make it easier to keep the mats under control. They finally got adopted & have a good home thanks heavens or we would still be doing it. lol. Beautiful Jersey Wooley angoras. I don't mind taking time to do it if it would be easier on the chin than pulling it out.
Stackie
I bite.
Their fur is just so dense that you really wouldn't be able to pull a mat apart.
Thanks for the info. Going to try that way first. If you ever had to groom an angora you would understand. Their fur is thick & long as well as slightly sticky feeling. If that does not work will try what you suggested. Will get back to you on how it goes ok? 
becky12883
Well-known member
It's completely safe to just pull them out. Chins slip chunks of fur as a defense mechanism so when you pull on the mats (gently but firmly) they should just slip. The chins fur will look a little rough for a while, but it's better than being matted up.
Stackie
I bite.
I have dealt with matted chins before, pulling apart the mats IMO is just not practical and doesn't work all that well, trust me I've tried. Not to mention it just seems to irritate them more that way than just simply pulling the mat out. I have one who just does not groom himself and gets matted frequently. Their fur is one of a kind. Best and most practical thing to do IMO is just gently tug them out.
If you wanna try, more power to ya.
If you wanna try, more power to ya.
AZChins
Pro Cage Cleaner Champion
Just pull a few mats out at a time to not stress the chin too bad. It's better to do that, the fur grows back quickly when you do it that way. I've had chins come in that were nothing but mats and it worked well to get their coats back into proper condition. If the mats are not removed, they usually get larger over time and make the fur look pretty awful. I guess you could pull out a couple every day and eventually the chin will be mat free.
