Question:
Hi,

I was just wondering what effective ways of litter training your chin are. I thought mine was litter trained until recently she had 3 "accidents" on three separate occasions, one of which was on a leather chair I have been using cat litter in her litter box and putting all her droppings in it since i got her (in JULY) but I guess that didn't work. I know cat litter sometimes they say to not use but I make sure she doesn't eat it or antything should i use something else/would that help?

Any advice would be greatly apprecaited

Regards,
Kippo


Answer:
Are you talking about peeing or pooing?
If it's pooing, there is no hope. Since a chinchilla's gut is always active, I'm afraid there really is no way to litter train them. They will poo whenever and wherever and most of the time they aren't even aware they are doing it. It's part of owning a chinchilla and you'll just have to get used to it.
As for peeing, chinchillas usually tend to pick a corner al always go there. I know some people who have trained their chins to pee on a dish towel that gets changed regularly, and others just use a litter box in a corner. For the most part, the chins train themselves on that.
The cat litter is a HUGE hazard for your chin even if you are watching them. You just can't watch 24/7 and a small ingested piece can cause a blockage or other problems...even death. I would remove that immediately from the cage.


Answer:
Hi!

Thank you for responding so quickly!

It was about urinating, actually, I became well aware after about a few weeks of owning her she would poo whenever/wherever lol.

I also replaced the cat litter with aspen shavings, i hope that works.

Thanks again


Answer:
I use Carefresh bedding in their litterbox.. it's super absorbent, plus I like to use something that is different then what I use in the rest of the cage.. which is Aspen shavings. When I let them outside the cage (I let them jump around the bathroom) I just bring their litterbox and place it in the corner and so far so good. Then I just sweep up the little poops with a little dustpan/broom and flush them down the toilet.
Maybe you're giving your chinnie too much freedom? The larger the area, the less likley they will remember to go find their litterbox when the urge hits.


Answer:
Originally Posted by suzoo
larger the area, the less likley they will remember to go find their litterbox when the urge hits.
If that's true then that might be it but I'm not sure what "too large" would be. She has total access to my room during her playtime, I cover all the wires and stuff and am always with her/watching her. My room is pretty big though and she's able to jump on my bed/nightstand whenever she wants (but apparantly that's still not enough since she INSISTS on finding ways onto my work desk lol)

Anyways, thanks I'll keep that in mind and maybe try bringing her litter box out with her once she gets used to it being aspen shavings