• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Planet Chinchilla

The World's Number 1 Resource For Chinchilla Owners

  • Home
  • Behavior
  • Chinchilla Care
  • Diet And Nutrition
  • Habitat
You are here: Home / Chinchilla Care

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

Last updated October 6, 2022 By Josh 3 Comments

Do Chinchillas Like FleeceDo 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.

Contents

  • 1 Do Chinchillas Like Fleece?
  • 2
  • 3 How To Use Fleece Liners For Your Chinchilla
    • 3.1 Get Fleece Liners Cut To Fit Unless You Make Your Own
    • 3.2 Keep The Fleece Clean
    • 3.3 Potty Train Your Chinchilla To Make Fleece The Ultimate Weapon
    • 3.4 Two Sets Of Fleece Liners Make Life Even Easier
    • 3.5 Traditional Bedding Is Fine, If Fleece Is Not In Your Budget
  • 4 Chinchillas Love Fleece Liners: Final Thoughts

 

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.

chinchilla in cage with fleece

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.

Piggy BedSpreads Fleece Liners for Critter Nation Cage
Piggy BedSpreads Fleece Liners for Critter Nation Cage
5.0
$78.95
  • Designed specifically for Critter Nation Cage
  • Includes: Two large pan liners (one with a notch/cut-out for the ramp opening, Two small shelf liners and three ramp covers
  • Available in various designs
View on Amazon
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
03/22/2023 12:21 pm GMT

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

fleece liners for chinchilla cage
Fleece liners on all pans inside of my Critter Nation 2 chinchilla cage.

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).

MidWest Homes for Pets Deluxe Critter Nation Double Unit Small Animal Cage
MidWest Homes for Pets Deluxe Critter Nation Double Unit Small Animal Cage
5.0
$339.99 $319.99
Pros:
  • Solid and durable construction
  • Great size with four levels
  • Great platform fit for accessories like fleece liners
  • Sits on wheels making cleaning easy
  • Under cage storage
  • Total of four doors, making access very easy
Cons:
  • Large cage making it unsuitable for tiny spaces
  • One of the higher costing cages but for good reason; it is easily the best value for money
View on Amazon Our Review
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
03/22/2023 10:55 am GMT

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.

chinchilla poop on fleece in cage

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!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lexie says

    March 26, 2020 at 00:44

    Hi Josh! I’m currently struggling with my chin. Lately, after I’ve changed her fleece, she’s been chewing holes in the fleece typically in the corners she pees in. I’ve tried litter training, and she ultimately just shoves the litter box out of the way. I’m not sure what to do as I have so many toys in her critter nation, but I don’t want to have to continuously buy fleece liners. I clean her cage with Nature’s Miracle cage cleaner, so I’m thinking it may pertain to the residual urine stains that I can’t seem to clear with the cage cleaner?

    Reply
    • Josh Martin says

      March 26, 2020 at 18:09

      Have you been washing the fleece liners using cold water in the washing machine or only cleaning using the Miracle Cage Cleaner?

      Reply
      • Lexie says

        March 31, 2020 at 00:04

        I’ve been washing the fleece with ALL free&clear weekly in the washing machine, while also using the Miracle Cage Cleaner.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

Can Chinchillas Eat Popcorn

Can Chinchillas Eat Popcorn? (What You Need To Know)

Can Chinchillas Eat Spinach

Can Chinchillas Eat Spinach? (What You Need To Know)

Can Chinchillas Eat Carrots

Can Chinchillas Eat Carrots? (What You Need To Know)

Do Chinchillas Need A Wheel

Do Chinchillas Need A Wheel? (What You Need To Know)

Can Chinchillas Eat Bell Peppers

Can Chinchillas Eat Bell Peppers? (What You Need To Know)

Chinchilla Sneezing

Chinchilla Sneezing (What It Means & What You Need To Do)

Footer

Important Pages

  • Home
  • About Planet Chinchilla
  • About Josh Martin
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Careers
  • Chinchilla Care E Book

Follow Us

  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Search

Disclaimer

Nothing on this site constitutes official chinchilla medical advice. We are chinchilla owners, not professionals. Please consult a licensed veterinarian for medical advice.

Disclosure

Planet Chinchilla is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2023 · Planet Chinchilla · All rights reserved.