Do Chinchillas Like Fleece? (Yes, But Follow These Instructions)

Do you hate wood shavings as much as I do?

When I first got my chinchilla, I used aspen shavings as her bedding.

It worked well, but I got absolutely sick and tired of always having to replace them.

Not only did it take up a lot of time, but it also costs money to have to keep buying new shavings.

That’s why I started researching reusable solutions.

And the most promising of those was fleece liners. It seemed they would be less work and less expensive over the long run.

Of course, the most important question was whether my chinchilla would like fleece liners.

Keep reading for the answer and a whole lot more on this promising bedding option. As a hint, I’ll tell you upfront that I currently use fleece liners as bedding for my chinchilla and have never looked back.

 

Do Chinchillas Like Fleece?

Yes, chinchillas like fleece. It is soft and comfortable on their feet. It is also comfortable to rest on and absorbs urine, keeping your chinchillas cage cleaner and odor-free. Overall, fleece is a great bedding option for chinchillas.

If you are anything like me, it doesn’t all quite add up in your head if you haven’t used fleece yet. I was curious where the poop and pee would go and how this fleece bedding system worked.

Well, as mentioned fleece is the only thing I use for my chinchilla at this point. So it definitely does work.

I personally believe fleece is essential to keeping a cleaner habitat and is overall just a large improvement. Especially for your chinchilla’s hygiene.

If you need further information on chinchilla’s hygiene, you read one of my other detailed posts. I have an ultimate guide that you can read covering everything about washing a chinchilla, which is misleading, since you don’t actually wash them at all.

You might also relieve some anxiety before moving forward by reading another one of my posts. It’s all about whether fleece is safe for chinchillas. (Spoiler Alert: fleece is 100% safe for chinchillas!)

Now let’s move on and see exactly how to use fleece liners in a chinchilla cage.

How To Use Fleece Liners For Your Chinchilla

As stated before, once  understood that chinchillas do like fleece, I was still leery about how it would all work, especially with the pee and poop.

It turns out it’s really easy. You just need to order the fleece liners and give it a chance, basically.

I ordered my fleece liners on Amazon. They were specifically cut to size for the Critter Nations 2 cage, which is my favorite cage and the one I use. But there are also other options are available for a few different chinchilla cages.

If you’re curious, these are the exact fleece liners I currently use for my chinchilla cage.

They’ve made my life much easier, but more importantly, my chinchilla seems to love them. She had no problem transition from old bedding.

From what I can tell, fleece is just more comfortable for chinchillas to rest on. Not only rest, but just more comfortable to walk, run, live, and interact on. It’s softer and provides more comfort than traditional chinchilla bedding.

You do however have a couple of other considerations to keep in mind. Here are the details on those.

 

Get Fleece Liners Cut To Fit Unless You Make Your Own

I know that the sellers who offer fleece liners on Amazon offer them for several different chinchilla cages.

There are still many cages for which they do not make them, but I’m 100% certain that you can currently get fleece liners cut to fit any Critter Nation chinchilla cage, which is the model I have (the dual-level version).

You can read about it and a few of my other favorite cages in my article on the top cages for chinchillas. I’m also certain that they offer the liners for the single-level cages, too.

The advantage of fleece liners specifically made for your cage model is that they are designed to fit right over the black plastic trays inside the cage.

The best advice I can give you when you try and find the fleece liners is to click around for a few minutes. Find a contact page if you have a different chinchilla cage for which no liners are offered.

Reach out to the online store and see if they can cut the fleece to fit your specific chinchilla cage. Otherwise, learn how to sew and craft your own. That’s not something I can do, but I’m sure it’s not overly difficult and something I could figure out with a few practices runs.

 

Keep The Fleece Clean

I hope this tip is one you already saw coming. You need to keep the fleece clean inside your chinchilla cage.

Luckily, this is extremely easy to do.

Shop vacuum all the poop nuggets off the fleece. Remove the fleece liners and wash them in cold water in the washing machine. Following the wash cycle, allow the fleece to air dry to avoid shrinking.

The last step is placing the fleece liners back into the cage. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

 

Potty Train Your Chinchilla To Make Fleece The Ultimate Weapon

If you were not aware, chinchillas can be potty trained to urinate in a litter pan. In fact, to help you out, you can read my post covering if a chinchilla can be potty trained.

Here’s why this can take fleece liners for your chinchilla to the next level.

Chinchillas do poop all the time. Likely, everyone reading this post understands that. If not, you can read my post discussing if chinchillas poop a lot.

Here’s the thing though, chinchilla poop doesn’t smell. Chinchilla pee, on the other hand, can produce an odor, if it’s not cleaned in time.

Especially when you use old school bedding like shavings, as opposed to fleece.

Well, unfortunately, although fleece liners for chinchilla cages are awesome, they can still have an odor after they get soaked in enough urine. This is when a litter pan and critter litter became a game-changer for me.

Don’t get me wrong, chinchillas take time to potty train. It took me several months to get my chin to use the litter box.  But now she rarely pees on any of the fleece liners.

Sure, she poops on them all the time, but this isn’t a huge deal. The poop vacuums up easily and takes about a minute to clean up.

If you can effectively potty train your chinchilla in this fashion, you can cut back to washing the fleece liners only once a week or so. Not to mention, you can rest assured that your chinchillas love the clean fleece liners.

You can feel good knowing the fleece liners are always keeping your chinchilla clean and cozy.

 

Two Sets Of Fleece Liners Make Life Even Easier

Hopefully, I’ve already convinced you that chinchillas like fleece liners. It’s absolutely 100% true.

However, I have one more key piece of advice. Purchase two sets of fleece liners. It’s going to make your life much easier.

I like having two simply so I don’t have to wash a set every week if I don’t have the time. Having two sets allow you to swap them out whenever you please. This is even more convenient if your chin is not potty trained and you need to wash the liners daily.

Not to mention, you can get two different designs for your chinchilla cage. This makes it so you can have some fun with it.

 

Traditional Bedding Is Fine, If Fleece Is Not In Your Budget

I wanted to make one last point. I know that not everyone has the means to buy 1 or 2 sets of fleece liners for their chinchillas.

If that is the case, do not worry. Regular chinchilla bedding will do just fine.

There is nothing wrong with using the traditional pull out trays with chinchilla bedding/shavings. A lot of owners do just that.

However, when your budget permits, consider purchasing liners. Chinchillas absolutely love the fleece and so will you. It really does make things so much simpler.

 

Chinchillas Love Fleece Liners: Final Thoughts

If you don’t have the budget for fleece liners, don’t sweat it. But if you do have the funds, you should consider buying fleece liners immediately.

Not only do chinchillas love fleece, but the liners are also going to make your life much easier. The sooner you switch, the happier you will be.

Plus, you end up saving a lot of money in the long run, since you no longer have to keep buying new shavings. The higher initial cost to buy the liners pays for itself pretty quickly.

I can promise you that.

But the main benefit is your pet’s comfort. Anything you can do to make your chinchilla more comfortable is great. And if it makes our lives easier, too, even better!

Turning the floor over to you.

Now it’s time for your feedback about fleece liners. I know a bunch of chinchilla owners use fleece for their chinchilla cages so chime in with your thoughts.

Do your chinchillas love fleece liners?

Do you love fleece liners and agree they make life easier?

Or do you prefer traditional bedding options. If so, which one and why?

Be sure to drop a comment below.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Chili and I appreciate you. Catch you next time!