Potty Training

[sourpatch23]

I have read several times before that it is impossible to potty train a chinchilla. Is this generally true? Cause I put a little plastic box with news paper in it, in his cage, and from that day on, he will not pee anywhere else. If he is out of his cage for an extended time, he will only go if there is a paper towel on the ground. It's bizarre to me. Is this unusual? I'm used to having rats, and they just let it out. lol

 

[Pikaia]

No, you can train a chinchilla to urinate in a certain spot in his cage. Most people use a pyrex dish with shavings in it. You can't train a chinchilla to poop in a certain spot- they go wherever they want! My chins like to pee outside their cage on something soft- so I can see why yours did it on a paper towel!

 

[BeginnerChinLover]

Same here! I use a rectangular pyrex dish filled with shavings. To start, I found the corner that they peed in the most and put it there. For the most part they go in the dish, although there is one spot that they sometimes use that's outside of it - although not too often! I WISH there was a way to poop train them...someone would be rich writing that book!

 

[ticklechin]

All of mine are potty box trained.

 

[cindyv3737]

They can be trained to urinate in a litter box. I highly recommend changing your plastic pan for a glass or metal one. If your chin is chewing on the plastic and swallows a chunk it could lead to impaction. You should also remove the newspaper and use shavings instead. Newspaper stains the fur and feet. It also smells terrible once urinated on. Shavings work great and help to mask the smell.

That being said: I'm jealous your chin is already potty trained. Mine refuses to. She's a stubborn little thing. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Jenn]

My chin has 2 different litter pans. One inside her cage and one in her playpen. I use bedding in them for her to go potty in - I use fleece liners on the cage floor. I just put the pans in her favorite pee spot and she was instantly trained. Too bad they won't train to poop in the pan as well, lol. That would make clean up so much easier!