Spoof
Kung Fu Chinny!
When you get a new chinchilla, give them a couple of weeks to adjust to their new home.
Fill the entire bottom of the cage with the bedding you are going to use in the litter pan.
Do not clean the cage for a week. Watch where they pee. There needs to be pee in there for them to be encouraged to use the same spot.
At the end of the second week if they are over six months old they should have picked a couple of places to pee and be using them for both weeks. If it is still scattered all over like baby pee you'll need to continue putting bedding in but only cover the areas you've seen them pee. Leave the rest of the bottom empty. Keep doing this for a couple of weeks and slowly move towards not covering the entire pee area. They will usually stick to peeing on the bedding and may even move the spot (bedding and all) to an area they like better.
Put pans with bedding in the spots when they've picked their pee place. It is important for the first few months of potty training that you use the same bedding*. You are teaching the chin that wherever that bedding is = pee spot. Now you will move on to teaching wherever the pan is = pee spot. After a few months when they've got that down you can start switching bedding types and even move the pan. They'll still find it and use it and I recommend keeping one in their play area as well.
*I've found in a few cases if you change bedding too early and too frequently it bothers them and they start peeing on shelves.
Babies
About 30% of chinchillas from weanling age to 6 months just don't get litter training. They just pee all around the cage in little spots. That is completely normal and with time they will be able to hold it long enough to pick a corner or two. I see the same pattern with babies and it progresses from the day they are born; all over the cage, around the edges, every corner, one corner. It really depends on the individual as to how fast they learn. Since I have taught all of my moms to use one spot some babies are trained by the time they are weaned.
I still occasionally run into a chin, usually young males that take 8+ months to get the hang of it.
I have not yet had one that could not be potty trained.
Fill the entire bottom of the cage with the bedding you are going to use in the litter pan.
Do not clean the cage for a week. Watch where they pee. There needs to be pee in there for them to be encouraged to use the same spot.
At the end of the second week if they are over six months old they should have picked a couple of places to pee and be using them for both weeks. If it is still scattered all over like baby pee you'll need to continue putting bedding in but only cover the areas you've seen them pee. Leave the rest of the bottom empty. Keep doing this for a couple of weeks and slowly move towards not covering the entire pee area. They will usually stick to peeing on the bedding and may even move the spot (bedding and all) to an area they like better.
Put pans with bedding in the spots when they've picked their pee place. It is important for the first few months of potty training that you use the same bedding*. You are teaching the chin that wherever that bedding is = pee spot. Now you will move on to teaching wherever the pan is = pee spot. After a few months when they've got that down you can start switching bedding types and even move the pan. They'll still find it and use it and I recommend keeping one in their play area as well.
*I've found in a few cases if you change bedding too early and too frequently it bothers them and they start peeing on shelves.
Babies
About 30% of chinchillas from weanling age to 6 months just don't get litter training. They just pee all around the cage in little spots. That is completely normal and with time they will be able to hold it long enough to pick a corner or two. I see the same pattern with babies and it progresses from the day they are born; all over the cage, around the edges, every corner, one corner. It really depends on the individual as to how fast they learn. Since I have taught all of my moms to use one spot some babies are trained by the time they are weaned.
I still occasionally run into a chin, usually young males that take 8+ months to get the hang of it.
I have not yet had one that could not be potty trained.
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