Chinchilla peeing outside cage

[riotheoleo]

This problem is driving me insane.
So obviously chins pee. I have no problem with that. Its the fact that both my chinchillas choose to stick their bums up against the corners of the cage and pee outside the cage. The only place they pee is corners. I dont mind cleaning poo because I can just hoover it up but chin pee stains everything it hits!!!
The obvious solution is metal barriers or metal litter boxes with tall backs for each corner but living in the uk its hard to find some that a) are tall enough or b) are in the actual country (shipping usually doubles the price of the product).
Can anyone recommend a solution to this problem, or some metal litter pans/barriers in the uk or without high shipping prices?
Thanks

 

[Amethyst]

One idea I can think of that might work so long as your chins don't chew fleece is to clip fleece to the corners of the cage. You'll probably need to change it once a day or so, but it could be a quick fix until you find something more permanent.

 

[Minccino]

My chin does the same thing. It doesn't really bother me because I have tile floors so every time I clean the cage, I wipe away the pee spots from the floor too. At least his fleece stays cleaner that way, lol!

There is no way of stopping them from where they want to go, so you have the right idea about a barrier. Here is an idea for a fleece barrier. It seems fairly easy to make, of course it won't need to be as fancy as that one!

Another thing you could do is lay out a full sheet of fleece and keep the cage on top of it. They will still pee out of the cage, but at least it will drip onto the fleece instead of the floor, then just throw it in a wash weekly (or every few days, whenever it gets smelly).

 

[IceMaiden]

This man is based in Yorkshire and he makes splash backs for fixing around shelves:

http://www.johnhopewell.co.uk/default.asp?template=productlist.page.xml&CategoryId=24

With a bit of alteration or a few bolts you could put them vertically up the corners, and as he custom makes things, you could ask for them to be made wider than they normally are. Another option would be to place a toy in the corner so they can't get to them, or get those wooden chew cube blocks from pets at home or online (those sold as hamster nests), stack them one on top of the other in all the corners or the places you need them, and use washers and screws like you'd use to attach shelving, to securely fix them to the cage wire/bars. You can make them as high as you need by just buying more, their safe to chew, easily replaceable and if you stuff them with hay, which is what I do, your chins will have a really safe hayrack for added fun. If they only pee directly in corners, it should stop them completely as the square shape will block them off .

 

[riotheoleo]

Thanks guys!
I have a wood floor so its fairly easy to clean, its just that it normally lands on the near by rug and sofa!
Ice, the breeder i got my chins from is very good friends with John so I know who he is but I thought he only sold cages! Thanks

 

[IceMaiden]

John actually sells a lot of stuff, so he's a good first port of call if your in Britain. I noticed on his site he's started selling the Silver Surfer wheels, I think the only supplier of them over here which is brilliant, as it's incredibly difficult to get a chin sized metal wheel in Old Blighty, I spent months trying to find one!

Hope you manage to get you problem sorted, blocking the corners off is probably the only way your going to put a stop to it. My chin had a fiddlestix bridge hung up in her cage, which she would pee from and it would go out down the side of the cage. I took it out and as soon as she realised it wasn't there she started using the floor instead. Sometimes the best course of action is to simply outsmart them.