Bedding & potty training. Help!

[leyyya]

Around sometime next week I'll be a new chinchilla pet owner.
And even though I've learned what I can through research on resourceful pages from the internet and gotten useful advice from my boyfriend, who also owns a chinchilla, I'm still not sure over what to do when it comes to bedding.

I've read some past threads on here and everyone seems to be a big fan of fleece.
Except I'm not sure if I should go with that option.
I've seen some of the custom made things some people on here have made, and I really like it. Except I would like to learn for myself to make it inexpensive.
If anyone can help me with that I'd appreciate it.

And the only reason I'm so worried is because the way my chinchilla's breeder has accustomed him to, isn't fleece. More like Aspen bedding. And I only want him to be comfortable in his new home. So far I have everything he will be needing. Even a cage that I got from my boyfriend, since his chinchilla has outgrown it. And its a decent size. His chinchilla had freedom to jump around every once in a while, but he upgraded to something similar to a FN cage.

Any who, my issues is only the bedding. Fleece or no fleece. Potty training or not.
Also, my boyfriend's chinchilla chewed up her bedding, if I'm not mistaken it was the carefree brand. Its soft and its usually what some pet owners use with hamsters. Any advice for him too?.

I know I may be asking a lot, I just need some guidance in this area.

 

[carmen holt]

The carefree brand is not good when they start to eat it i had my chinchilla on it and he started eating it so i switched him to aspen bedding even if they chew on that it wont hurt them..i have fleece in my cage i like it very much looks nice and it is easy to clean

 

[Amethyst]

There are pros and cons with going with fleece, the biggest con being some chins do chew it. I just wrote a quick post the other day about fleece http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38433 Pine or aspen bedding works well, but is messy, as said don't use carefresh it can lead to gut issues if eaten. I wouldn't worry about your chin being use to wood shavings if you want to go with fleece, and would actually help with litter training since it will be use to peeing on shavings.
There is a DIY list here http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15265 that covers several projects. You might have to a bit more specific on what custom items you liked and I'm sure someone can point you in the right direction on how to make it.
As for the potty training, first keep in mind that it's only pee training they have no control over pooing. Also not all chins take to litter training, it's worth a try, but it can take time, and only really makes sense to me if you are using fleece or tile for floor covering. If you go with wood shaving bedding I'm not sure how litter training would work at all, chins naturally pick a corner or corners to pee in, but if you have whole floor covered in shavings then I don't think it would understand a separate pan of it, would be like putting a cat litter box in a sand box. Most chins do try to just pee only in their cage though, but if the cage isn't accessible when out and they have to go they will pick a spot to go. If you do go with pine or aspen bedding you could also try putting a dish of it out when it's playing so it hopefully thinks wood shavings=where to pee while it's out.

 

[saffy78]

Hi Leyya,
I am a very new chin owner, so I am really not an expert, but I got my girls 10 days ago and managed about 2 days with wood shavings before realising what a messy nightmare it was!
I had 2 sets of fleece liners made for my cage and I have to say I am so happy with them, it's so easy to just spot clean the droppings every day, my chins don't chew the fleece, and also they have been pretty good with potty training, about 80% of their pee goes in their litter tray, I'd call that a success!
To potty train, I just worked out which corners my girls were using as a toilet and put a 9" ish pyrex dish on both levels of their cage with some carefresh and some of their bedding with pee on in the litter tray and they have used them ever since, they just seem to have got it, after reading the post above on carefresh being eaten by the chins, I think I should rethink what I use in their litter tray though! hope this helps, and feel free to ask me any other questions

 

[leyyya]

The carefree brand is not good when they start to eat it i had my chinchilla on it and he started eating it so i switched him to aspen bedding even if they chew on that it wont hurt them..i have fleece in my cage i like it very much looks nice and it is easy to clean

I only tried the carefree brand with my hamsters in the past.
And I was just worried over my chinchillas comfort and what would be best for him.
Fleece has been recommended to me many times, except I don't have a vacuum to clean up his droppings, or a washing machine at work to wash the fleece as necessary.

so that may not work out.
All I can do is put tiles in his cage so he can have more than one resting spot other than his chiller.

 

[leyyya]

There are pros and cons with going with fleece, the biggest con being some chins do chew it. I just wrote a quick post the other day about fleece http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38433 Pine or aspen bedding works well, but is messy, as said don't use carefresh it can lead to gut issues if eaten. I wouldn't worry about your chin being use to wood shavings if you want to go with fleece, and would actually help with litter training since it will be use to peeing on shavings.
There is a DIY list here http://chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15265 that covers several projects. You might have to a bit more specific on what custom items you liked and I'm sure someone can point you in the right direction on how to make it.
As for the potty training, first keep in mind that it's only pee training they have no control over pooing. Also not all chins take to litter training, it's worth a try, but it can take time, and only really makes sense to me if you are using fleece or tile for floor covering. If you go with wood shaving bedding I'm not sure how litter training would work at all, chins naturally pick a corner or corners to pee in, but if you have whole floor covered in shavings then I don't think it would understand a separate pan of it, would be like putting a cat litter box in a sand box. Most chins do try to just pee only in their cage though, but if the cage isn't accessible when out and they have to go they will pick a spot to go. If you do go with pine or aspen bedding you could also try putting a dish of it out when it's playing so it hopefully thinks wood shavings=where to pee while it's out.

I'm starting to see the cons to going with the fleece :/
and opting to instead add pieces of tile here and there in his cage.
Since aspen bedding is messy :hmm:

And the custom fleece items I was interested in making for him was something like these

http://www.fuzzieskingdom.com/ferret-chinchilla-accessories/guineapig-chinchilla-rat-house.html
or corner hammocks.

As far as him maybe peeing when let out is not much of an issue just yet, I was planning on just keeping a look out and clean it as soon as he did it.
But thank you for all of your input so far

 

[leyyya]

Hi Leyya,
I am a very new chin owner, so I am really not an expert, but I got my girls 10 days ago and managed about 2 days with wood shavings before realising what a messy nightmare it was!
I had 2 sets of fleece liners made for my cage and I have to say I am so happy with them, it's so easy to just spot clean the droppings every day, my chins don't chew the fleece, and also they have been pretty good with potty training, about 80% of their pee goes in their litter tray, I'd call that a success!
To potty train, I just worked out which corners my girls were using as a toilet and put a 9" ish pyrex dish on both levels of their cage with some carefresh and some of their bedding with pee on in the litter tray and they have used them ever since, they just seem to have got it, after reading the post above on carefresh being eaten by the chins, I think I should rethink what I use in their litter tray though! hope this helps, and feel free to ask me any other questions

I do realize how easy it would be with fleece, but at the same time like I mentioned before, I don't have access to a vacuum or washing machine at home. I could get a portable vacuum cleaner just to clean out his cage while he plays, but then the issue would be the washing.