Litter trained chinchillas

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jess32247

jess32247

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Joined
Mar 8, 2012
Messages
576
This is for the people who have litter trained there chin, why did you decide to do it? First thing that comes to my mind is to keep the fleece or bedding fresh longer and to change it less. Was that the only reason?

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea. If I can find something to use rather then a plasic kitten box I hope to litter train my chin to keep her fleece clean for longer. What do you use to hold the liter? I was thinking of using a glass baking pan or something :p
 
Yes, a glazed ceramic or Pyrex type glass baking dish (make sure it is sturdy!) work well. I wouldn't say I have completely trained mine, but it is very helpful to have the urine concentrated in one area. Over time, I think the smarter (read: more capable of learning to pee in a shavings dish) chins tend to be cleaner. What I find works best to train them is to get some either peed on shavings or rub new shavings in pee and mix it in with the shavings in the litter pan. Most learn that this is where they are supposed to go, and once it is a habit, you're good to go! Good luck.

ps....just know that some chins never learn to pee in a litter pan:hair:
 
pyrex baking pans are favoured by members here. i use old stainless steel mixing bowls that are flat bottomed, and they work well for me.

i decided to have litter pans (not saying my boys are litter trained, as they like to pee everywhere in their cage! lol) because it means buying less bedding, and keeps the cage tidier. i use fleece liners in addition to the litter pans (one on the cage floor, another on an extra wide shelf/floor), and it makes the cage look nice with cute fleece patterns and colours :))
 
Hehe Seachin, before when I tried training her I got her about half way litter trained after about a week. She would still pee everywhere, but it was a start. It got annoying have to clean up shavings on the fleece because she would tip the box over all the time, cleaning dirty shavings isn't one of my favorites!

Thanks Chinnymom! That's were I got the idea of the glass baking pans, from seeing membors here with them. Hopefully next time we're near a thrift store or garage sale, I can pick one up rather then buying one new. I'm a total neat freak, so I think this would work well :D

How do you guys clean yours? Just dump out the shavings every few days and wash the inside? Thanks for the input so far!
 
The pyrex dishes or other containers can work great. Litter training a chin can be a wonderful thing! Here I don't use them much because there are just so many chinchillas, but with people with a few the litter pans can be a great help in maintaining cleanliness. Most chins will back up into a corner to urinate. Pans can help a great deal in keeping the urine in one place.

Definitely dump the shavings and put new in when the pan seems slightly saturated. I am always looking for small glass pans for customers and people looking for something that will contain the urine in one place and make it easy to clean.
 
I recently switched to the fleece liners and litter pan. I got an Anchor brand baking dish, it was $5, and I think it's 9"x7". The boys figured it out in about 3 days and after about 2 weeks stopped peeing on the fleece for the most part. They have recently realized that peeing on the fleece means play time, because I usually change it as soon as I notice the pee spot/smell. The dish gets emptied every to every other day and the fleece whenever it needs it. I usually dump it and either wipe it out with a baby wipe if it's not too dirty, or wash it with regular dish soap.
 
I did it because the smell would get bad and I would compulsively clean the bedding every three days or so because of it...its a lot tidier. Word of advice, the glass dishes are wonderful but may seem slightly expensive..try a ross dress for less in your area if you have one. ;) I got one of mine for $6 and another 13 cup one recently for $13. Much less expensive.
 
Ross dress? I'm not sure what that is! :p Can you post a picture of it?
 
I did it because my first chin was litter trained and I liked how clean his cage was. I half succeeded. Miesha got it! Yes, cleaning up shavings off fleece is a pain, but peeling wet fleece out of a cage is IMO worse. And the fleece smells. But Sonic doesn't get it. Still, he has a bowl. He's a bright boy. There's still hope that he'll get the idea that sleeping and sitting on dry fleece is better.

I'm one of the wierd ones that will spend more than I should on just the right dish. Chipper had a medium sized Pampered Chef square serving bowl that fit perfectly in the corner of his cage. It was nice and heavy and he could perch on the edge without tipping it. So when I made him a cage and he decided it was big enough that he didn't want to go find his dish, I replaced it with a new pair - one for each floor. He didn't go anywhere else but the dishes. Miesha inherited them with the cage so when I got Sonic I went in search of another set and found a vintage, pressed glass version and had to get him two of those. Anything you like that has some weight to it and is big enough for the chin to get into will do, unless you're picky like me. ;)
 
For some reason my girls pee in the litter pan up on the top level of the cage but aren't as consistant on the bottom level. They pee everywhere in the bottom level though they are getting better about getting most the pee in the pan or just outside it. I got lazy one day and decided to remove the fleece from the bottom level and wash it with my other set. I left the fleece on the top level there. After doing that they went a whole two days (forgot about the laundry) not peeing outside the bottom little pan on the lower level. It appears they do not wish to pee on the metal pan. It's odd. I've also heard of people who tile having more litter training success then those with fleece. However, I think my girls are finally getting it. For some reason though they pee on my newer set of fleece liners more often then the older set. Maybe they hate it because it's new? The litter pan on the bottom level is also metal while the one on top is glass. Perhaps that has something to do with success. With my girls being only 4 months I didn't have super high hopes on litter training but as others said it just keeps things cleaner. Even if they sometimes pee outside of the pans, if even 75% of the pee ends up in the pans it cuts down on cleanup and odor.
 
woman_in_shoe said:
Ross Dress for Less, a discount clothing store that also sells home decorating, toys and other items. Also referred to as Ross's (sp?).
Click to expand...

OH! Thank you for clearing that up, I thought it was something entirely diffrent!

Lillybabe, I've heard of people having more success with liter training with tiled cages, too. It's odd how your girls wouldn't pee on the pan when it was in the wash. Chins are just so strange!

LOL DevnChip, I'm the same way. I pay way to much then I should on things, your chins are lucky to have vintage potty's! Hopefully I can get to a thrift store or something on Wensday, they always have lots of cooking supplies. Hopefully her potty training goes well!

I'm a little stumped though how to get dirty liter since I use fleece. Maybe putting the pan of liter in her spot will do
 
It was suggested to me to soak litter in fresh pee if you catch it, and with mine that was easy. They'd just back up and lift their tails all of a sudden and get a spaced out kind of look for a count of ten or so, then go back to doing whatever. I press a nice pinch of pine litter to the spot and it would soak up quite a bit. Then I sprinkle those shavings over the fresh ones in the bowl. If your chin favors a spot more than others, set the bowl there and see what happens.

Good luck!
 
Lillybabe said:
It appears they do not wish to pee on the metal pan. It's odd. I've also heard of people who tile having more litter training success then those with fleece.
Click to expand...

my boys are the same, they won't pee on a bare pan. must be that they don't like the urine pooling or getting them wet.
 
Thanks DevnChip! That sounds a lot easier to do then what I had in mind. I've gotten her in the habit of going before she comes out for playtime because of many "accidents" she's had before, so it should be easy to get some dirty liter for in the pan!
 
LOL, sounds like you have a chin that might just get it if you've got her trained to go before out time. Miesha's good but Sonic goes whenever the mood strikes so he has frequent "accidents". I swear he does it deliberately.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes! I may try Lillybabe's trick and leave Sonic's fleece out for a couple days just to see what he does. Worst that happens, I invest in some baby wipes to clean up a messy chin. Right? Poor Sonic. He has no problem going on the tiles in my bathroom so I don't imagine leaving his pan bare will stop him.
 
I found a dish I could use last night, so I cleaned it up and threw some bedding in it and put it in her cage during her playtime. I was actually cleaning her cage and that was the last thing left in her cage before I took it out, but she just walks in her cage and uses it! Yay! I know it's just her "testing" it like she does with everything else, but at least it's a step in the right direction. Knowing her, it's going to be a challenge every step of the way ;) I'll have to check later tonight to see if she used it or not again, I hope so!

LOL she was just like Sonic before I got her to go before outside time, she would go where ever she felt like it. No doubt they do it deliberately!

Good luck with your method! Keep us updated!
 
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