Stinky chins

My chins stink! I've tried dust baths and cleaning their cages but they are still stinky little guys... One of them also has a patch of hair that has urine in it... What can i do for this?

How often are you cleaning the cages? I clean once a week and don't have any issues with them stinking. However they do pee in one spot that I will clean more than once a week.

As for the pee in the fur, you can take unscented baby wipes and gently wipe it off

Chins should not smell. If they do then there is a problem. Poor health of the chin or poor cleaning habits of its owner. Make sure the cage is kept clean. What bedding do you use? Perhaps you need to find one that does a better job of odor control. Are they rolling in dirty bedding? If they are then you probably need to clean it more frequently. In the meantime you could wipe them with unscented baby wipes and give them a nice long bath for a few days in a row and hopefully with a clean cage they can get out of their "funk". Why does one have a patch of urine? Do they seem healthy? Any drooling? How are their poos and eating habits? A little more information might help us help you better .

I agree, I clean my cage once a week and once when I was sick, I didn't get to their cage for almost 2 weeks and the cage stunk (sp.?) but not my chins, so I don't know why yours would smell, except for maybe the pee in the fur, but like Alli said just use a baby wipe and gently wipe it off and dry them up after if you get them a little too wet, and make sure its new dust in their dust baths. Sometimes they poop and pee in it if you leave it in their cage too long.

The only time I had a chin that stunk was because it got sprayed by another chin. I just gave her some extra dust baths and that got rid of it.

I use free hay I get from the covered haybarn at the feedstore, I put about 4 inches in and change it once a week. Do you chins have lots of ledges, hammocks and hidey houses off of the floor? Their poo should not be soft and sticking to them. Is it firm and fairly dry? Read the "safe treats and the "correct feed" posts, their diet may not be the best.

We have just started fleece liners, and I actually clean their cages almost daily (I'm TERRIFIED of having a smelly house!). I wash the liners twice a week, and I vacuum out poos every other day. I have noticed that if chinchillas pick a spot to pee that either gets on the carpet or on the outside of the cage it is harder to get the smell out, so you might need to wipe down the outside of the cage as well as the inside AND wipe down the walls around the cages (once again, I'm a neat freak, so I do this without thinking about it). Make sure you're picking all poo out of the dust bath before any other chinchilla uses it.

Overall, just wash, wash, wash anything and everything you can in the cage AT LEAST once a week!! Good luck!

I've gone two weeks without cleaning cages due to issues with getting bedding and my cages still didn't stink(not that I suggest this). I have cages of 2-3 chins as well. So my females spray each other as well when they get crabby, and still don't stink. So, I'd look into the care you're giving your chins.

I really don't think hay can remotely compare to pine chips for absorbancy, and hay gives a mouldy smell, even with water - pine gives off a clean smell with water, and more or less neutralizes chin urine! Try kiln-dried pine chips for a while - the nose knows!!

Hay is the best, no moldy smell (and I have a crazy sensitive nose), no chip flying out, no bare patches in the cage, no pee stains, they never eat it. Try it!

thanks

They have normal poop and are eating okay... No drooling.. I've only had them for a little while so it could possibly be spraying? Still getting use to the new home? I will try the baby wipes and I clean the cage about every two to three days. I wil have to look into getting some new bedding, I've been using the stuff the breeder gave me so I don't know what it is.

Magickalfairy111 said:

I've been using the stuff the breeder gave me so I don't know what it is.

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*** Please read in a light-hearted, non-lecturing tone even though it may be difficult to maintain LOL ***

I read this often and it troubles me that people do not find out what they are using to care for their chins when they get them. The breeder should be responsible enough to give you the information that you need to care for your pet but if they don't, then it is your responsibility to ask. Do you know what feed they are on? What will you do when you run out of things the breeder gave you? Chins have to be kept on the same feed or have to be switched very slowly if you choose to switch them or they could have real digestive problems. You should call the breeder and find out everything you don't know about the materials you are using to care for your chins or you may be in for some problems later.

If you are cleaning the cage every 2-3 days that should not be the cause of the smell. It is possible they are spraying each other, are they male or female or one each? A bedding change may also do the trick if you think they are healthy .

I would suggest taking the cage outside and give it a good thorough cleaning. Alot of times the spraying gets on the sides of the cage and you don't realize that it gets there and your chins are possibly pressing up against it and the smell is transferring onto them. At the same time, let your chins take dust baths. You'd be surprised where they can spray urine. Also, change to pine shavings, I don't have any problem with them, unless like others mentioned, something comes up and you can't clean the cages for 2 weeks and the of course its going to stink