What are good shelves for chinchilla cages?

[SLChinnies13]

I know wire is not good for their feet. I've put in untreated wood but they make it such a mess since they are not litter trained. Is their a safe way to clean up the wood? It just looks ugly and smells bad when they constantly pee on it. I am not sure what to do. I really need some help to provide a habitat perfect for them.

 

[tcraighenry]

I managed to get ours potty trained. I usually sand down the wood if there's an accident.

(When they get nervous, they sometimes don't like to move from one spot to pee )

 

[StevieP]

Peroxide is good for cleaning pee off of wood. Sanding helps too.

If they keep peeing and find that they ruin wood shelves, consider tile shelves. You cut a piece of ceramic tile to the same size as the wood and glue them together with Elmer's Wood Glue Max (it's waterproof). Keep in mind these shelves are a lot heavier, so they require more support.

 

[SLChinnies13]

tcraighenry: Did you train them as they were babies or were they already adults?

StevieP: Thanks. That is a good idea, I will look into it.

 

[DelightfulChins]

I clean my shelves once a week with a 50/50 vinegar/water solution. It seems to work wonderfully.

 

[LoveBug]

i use peroxide on mine and then sand off any part of the stains that the peroxide didn't clean.

 

[tcraighenry]

tcraighenry: Did you train them as they were babies or were they already adults?

StevieP: Thanks. That is a good idea, I will look into it.

Our little one was a baby, but the big one is an adult

They're pretty easy, they really just like to pee in one corner so transferring pee dishes to that one worked out ok.

But as I said, when they're nervous they seem to pee anywhere

 

[SLChinnies13]

Hmmm. Mine pee in all 4 corners so that would mean I need four dishes. I am not sure if it would work out well or not.

 

[jess32247]

I've managed to train my adult chin before, I just kept sliding the box around everyday to whatever spot she was using. She caught on after about a week, but still had quite a few accidents. Maybe you can use 2 boxes for them, then try taking the one they don't use out.

I stopped potty training her though, I'm fine with her going on the fleece. To clean the ledges whenever she goes on them, I just wipe them down real good with 50/50 white vingear and water for a couple days straight.