Renting with chins!

[rainey]

So I know I'm not the only one out there who rents an apartment and also houses chins. Who else faces the issue of "hiding" their chins occasionally, or being told that a single piece of hay or poop on the floor will not be tolerated?

Some of you know that I recently had to move apartments because my last landlord decided he'd had it with my room full of chins...I now have my chins in the lease at my new place, but I've also been told that if there's any odor or mess they'll have to go. In the next few weeks, they're sending someone to check out our place. Basically I have to have the chin room immaculate 24/7 if either me or my boyfriend are home to answer the door.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue and succeeded in not freaking out their landlord? If I had one or two chins it probably wouldn't be such a big deal, but I have 5 and they are all in separate cages, which just adds to the problem. We also have a cat and 18 mice Advice?

 

[Encantadora]

Maybe try putting guards up around the cage sides and use a shop vac for daily floor cleaning? Besides regular cage cleaning.

I only had a few when I rented and tossed a sheet over the cage if anyone came for maintenance. No one knew.

 

[ChinnyMom]

i believe they would have to give you a minimum 24 hour written notice to come do an inspection, so just sweep up constantly around the cages in that time frame and clean the cages the morning of the inspection. if they do not give you written notice, they can't come in. plain and simple.

as far as smell, i would think the cat's litter box would be stinkier than the chins' cages. make sure you clean that too, just before the inspection. good idea to clean the mouse cage(s) too. i remember when i had mice back in elementary school, they made the basement stink to all high heck if i didn't clean cages at least every second day.

 

[Rachelxx]

My boyfriend and I rent, we have 7 chins in 3 seperate cages as well as 8 rats in 4 seperate cages, a giant house rabbit, a russian dwarf hamster, a dog and 3 fish tanks! We only had the rats when we moved in. We have a visit every 6 months and get a letter stating the date and time it will be about 3 or 4 weeks in advance. If we're not in, they state that they will use their "registered pass key" to gain entry and complete the inspection, although there has always been someone here so far, I don't like the idea of that! With us, it's up to the landlord whether pets are allowed or not and we haven't had any problems but I think we're really lucky. Our landlord actually lives next door so we know them quite well.
I get stressed about inspections even without having to hide anything! So it must be really hard for you. Some people are so funny about small animals, or any animals.

 

[Christina Noraas]

Is there anything you could put under the cages to catch the poop like those big plastic box things that the plants come in, not in the cage but outside of it where they can't get to it so that way it would catch the poop? Or something along those lines? Maybe a peice of fabric like a big blanket and when they come knocking just wisk it up and maybe put it in a laundry basket? I'm not sure just trying to help.

 

[Laurie]

I have 10 chinchillas that my landlord is aware of. The are all in my bedroom and I've lived here for one year without a single incident regarding the chins. You can't smell the chins, if you clean the cages as they should be cleaned and clean and change cage liners regularly there should never be a huge smell. To say chins are odorless is a lie, all species urine has an odor, so if you don't clean it after a certain point it is going to smell. I shop vac or sweep out my cages daily, and shop vac around the cages daily as well. Litter pans are cleaned every 3rd day as is the cat box that is also in my room.

If you just practise common sense you should be ok. Landlords cannot enter without written notification first UNLESS it is deemed an emergency such as gas leak or fire. They can't just come in because they feel like it.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

I'm not a renter, but I have seen this topic discussed previously.

I believe that several of our members have tried to "hide" their chins, and when found out, were forced to move.

Luckily, you have yours in your lease. I agree that keeping them clean and sweeping the chin room daily would be to your advantage.

I believe the "magic words" that seem to calm down the landlords are "... that they are caged pets".

For some reason, that sounds good if you have multiples, no worries of them taking over the apartment building!!!

 

[muzzyj]

I had mine hidden in my first apartment and boy was it stressful. Mine are also in my lease now...well my first one is. And I did mention to my landlord I was gettign a couple more. Like everyone else says, you just really need to be on top of cleaning daily. I vacuum every day, and change liners at least weekly

 

[rainey]

Thanks for all the input. I recently bought an 8x6 sheet of vinyl to put under all the cages, that way most of the poop and shavings that fly out will land on it rather than the actual wooden floor. It's also a dark brown pattern so the poop is a little less visible.

I still need to cover all the baseboards somehow (not quite sure how I'm going to do that without ruining the paint) but then I should be pretty good. I just got a shop vac so cleaning is not too terrible. Really it's just the fact that I have so many cages, and two of them are quite big so it just looks pretty intense to the average person who has never seen a chinchilla before. If had more uniform looking cages I think that would help out too, but unfortunately that is not the case!

Also while I know it's illegal for them to enter without permission, I think in Boston no one actually takes those rules seriously. I learned a lot about the rules thanks to some awesome members on this forum when I was in the process of leaving my last place! But unfortunately there are all these crazy addenda in the leases that give all the power to the landlord in the end. Oh well. I think I'll be all right here, fingers crossed...

 

[ChinnyMom]

regardless of addendums on the lease, your landlord must obey the landlord and tenant laws in your state. if not, you have the legal right to file a complaint or take them to court.

as i mentioned in your other thread regarding your last apartment, landlords will often create addendums to a lease that contradict and go against the laws. if i were you, i'd sit down with your landlord and have your lease and a copy of the tenant laws in front of you, and point out any contradictions (perhaps highlight or circle things beforehand - but on a photocopy of your lease, not the original). i know you aren't a confrontational sort of gal, but things like this need to be cleared up and squared away, both for your peace of mind and the legalities of it all.

 

[rainey]

ChinnyMom, great advice, I agree that's true. I definitely need to get that done...it would for sure help me not feel as stressed.

By the way here is a picture to give everyone an idea, though I have one additional cage on the opposite wall. Hopefully the two girls will be able to be caged together in the big one soon.

 

[ChinnyMom]

nice big cages for all your babies )

the middle cage, it's a cat cage, right? by chance is it the Precision kitty condo model?

 

[Pikaia]

I rent too. My landlord was kinda against pets from the get go. I really wanted to get a cat when I first moved in (two years ago) and they said no. I guess they had some tenants with a cat that started urinating everywhere. I don't blame them. After doing research and falling in love with chinchillas, I got up the courage to ask if I could have one. They didn't even know what one was and I had to explain it to them. Since it is a "caged" pet, they are fine with it. I don't think they realize that they "run around" but that will be our little secret I keep my cages clean- they even knew that Chichi had babies and I had made the decision to keep them. The thing is: My landlords live below me! In the same house! LOL!

Good luck with your inspections!

 

[annm13339]

I never told my landlord about my chin. Ive had rocko for about 3 weeks now. my landlord lives an hour away so never comes by and he doesnt do inspections. he said from the get go no dogs or cats which i understand but he never said anything about chinchillas! we dont have a lease either so im sure we are good about it all.

 

[Isabella Whateva]

I still need to cover all the baseboards somehow (not quite sure how I'm going to do that without ruining the paint)

I struggle with this issue too. I have a spare bedroom that's 99.9% chin safe, so of course my chins go for the ONLY thing in the only room they don't have free reign over- the baseboards. I can't nail anything to them cause I'm afraid I wouldn't get my deposit back. I try pushing things up against them, but it's a big room and they end up just squishing behind the stuff anyway. I'm scared to use thumbtacks cause I don't want the chins to pull them out by accident and get hurt.

 

[momenteller]

I struggle with this issue too. I have a spare bedroom that's 99.9% chin safe, so of course my chins go for the ONLY thing in the only room they don't have free reign over- the baseboards. I can't nail anything to them cause I'm afraid I wouldn't get my deposit back. I try pushing things up against them, but it's a big room and they end up just squishing behind the stuff anyway. I'm scared to use thumbtacks cause I don't want the chins to pull them out by accident and get hurt.

While I am super jealous you have a chin room, I think it can be too big of a space to monitor. Have you thought about getting a playpen? They can be kinda pricey but so can home repairs and not getting your deposit returned!

 

[partygirlha]

as a landlord who rents a "pet free" apartmetn that's in my house... the only reasons it's a no pet lease is because I don't want another cat or dog on one side of the apartment door that my cat then yells at (or an animal that's in way too small a space). Too late for this place but I think most people would never know if you said "Chinchilla - sork of like a hamster only a bit bigger. It's in acage and has a wheel and a water bottle."

It's great that you put down plastic. after re-doing my wood floors a few years back, I keep platic under my chin cages. But oddly not because of the chins... it's because I also have guinea pigs who play in the same area and get under the FN and make a huge mess.
To be hoinest, as a pet owner and landloard piggies are a MUCH bigger issue than chins and I'm sure many people gegt piggiers and never say a thing to thier land lords.

Oh - one last thing - if you are really worried I've seen people who wrape three sides of thier cage in fleece and that contain most of the poo - something to think about.

and I guess you should worry about the baseboards, both because of the landloard, but also becasue you don't want the chins chewing on unknown paint and wood.

good luck

 

[Ash]

I never told my landlord about my chin. Ive had rocko for about 3 weeks now. my landlord lives an hour away so never comes by and he doesnt do inspections. he said from the get go no dogs or cats which i understand but he never said anything about chinchillas! we dont have a lease either so im sure we are good about it all.

This is an issue that's been discussed repeatedly on here. It's immature and irresponsible to have animals without permission, regardless of whether there's nothing in the lease/no lease, or just because the landlord said "dogs or cats". You need to have permission from the landlord, and get it in writing that the animals CAN be there. It saves a lot of hassle in the long run, and is the responsible thing to do.

 

[rainey]

the middle cage, it's a cat cage, right? by chance is it the Precision kitty condo model?

it IS a cat cage, I have no idea what model though because Sadie came in it and that was all she told me. It's so nice and big, but hard to clean since I can't get to the back of it and I can't open the bottom door without Sadie escaping. But she definitely loves it

Pikaia-- you are very lucky! That exact scenario happened at my old apartment...when Dre had babies and I suddenly had 4, I physically showed them to my landlord and he said it was totally fine, no worries. Then a few months later he freaked out on me because they were doing tours of our apartment for the September renters, and told me they had to be out of my place by the end of the weekend. It was TERRIBLE and I probably could have fought my way into keeping them but I had other issues with the place going on so I had to sublet and move to a new apartment. So even though your landlord said it was fine, I would get it in writing

partygirlha-- that's interesting to know about the pet free term! We ended up needing a Cat-okay apartment though since we have a cat, and my argument was that if cats are okay, caged animals should be. Besides, the litterbox smells wayy worse than the chin room. Also I've been considering wrapping the cages for about a month now..I think that's a GREAT idea I'm just afraid they'd chew it (I've never had fleece in the cages before so I don't know).

And about the baseboards...I need to keep doing research on this and try and figure out the best method. My chin room is pretty small so I wouldn't say it's too much space for them for playtime, but I guess a playpen is something to consider. Hmm...

 

[Dusty Foot Prints]

This is an issue that's been discussed repeatedly on here. It's immature and irresponsible to have animals without permission, regardless of whether there's nothing in the lease/no lease, or just because the landlord said "dogs or cats". You need to have permission from the landlord, and get it in writing that the animals CAN be there. It saves a lot of hassle in the long run, and is the responsible thing to do.

I agree. I could not sleep at night if I rented and did not have permission to have pets.