Question:
I have two questions today, see I noticed that Pocky is pooping quite a bit lately. Not unhealthy poos, just a whole lot of them! We usually put him in the bathroom if we're going to be doing some cleaning, using chemicals of some sort or other things that we don't want him exposed to. Well we were absolutely shocked to find him the past two times this week that he's been closed in there that his poos were just absolutely everywhere. I mean.. carpeting the bathroom!! He was only in there about 15 minutes, so we were a little suprised.. a lot suprised! So after tonight I checked the paper in his cage that was just changed two days ago and it too was just blanketed in poos! Is this anything to be concerned about?
Also, he's developed a chewing problem. A big one! We've been using bitter apple spray everywhere, but it seems like as soon as we spray one thing he finds another to destroy! We can't really coat every single thing in bitter apple! Is this just a phase the young'ns go through? Or is he going to be a chewing fanatic for good? It bugs me because he's not chewing on anything in his own cage, even though we've put all sorts of chew toys in there for him, and his shelves and ladders are made of wood. Argh, what a pain in my rear and yet somehow i'm still a sucker for him.


Answer:
Welcome to the wonderful world of chinchillas!
I wouldn't worry about the amount of poos as long as they are all normal. That means he is eating well and doing great! Some of my chins are bigger eaters, therefore bigger pooer's.
As for the chewing.....sorry, they are rodents and will chew. they know what they are supposed to not chew on and then chew on it two of ours chew through metal (aluminum) wheels (and their father chews through 1/4" aluminum rods). We tried 'fooey' which is supposed to be stronger than bitter apple and my boomer continued to chew. They need to grind down their teeth so your little one chewing is good just make sure he doesn't find anything harmful to chew on.


Answer:
I defenitly wouldn't worry. The other morning I walked into the chins room and it looked like they had a turd war. It was all over the place. No matter what you do a chin will chew. It's just what they do. They will chew anything you put in front of them.


Answer:
That's the problem, they're chewing everything except what we put before them I'm just kinda upset about it because now he's not going to be allowed out of the cage for as long of a run, and if he is, it'll probably end up having to be some area that's extremely small like the bathroom. I like giving my little trouble maker his time and room to roam and play!


Answer:
We used to block off our hallway in our old apt and use that as the playarea. the chins chewed the baseboards and walls....it was quite a repair job when we moved out. When we moved into our new place, darren built me a playpen that they could chew on (all made of pine).
If you have to let him play in the bathroom, that would be fine. I am sure he will be happy just being out and with you


Answer:
linus is my trouble maker and chews on everything
we place her in the bathroom for play time with adult supervision (not as in my adult chin sally but as in a human adult) such as myself or my son. She will destroy the walls and the baseboards when my son is in there with her but when i am in there she is little miss goody two shoe LOL.....she definately know she is not allowed. i do not think you can keep him from chewing....just remove him from the area when he chews and pver time he will get it...just as linus did....and then again maybe not LOL


Answer:
Might have to use a little reverse psychology with the little guy- tell him not to chew the toys and stuff you give him, and tell him it is his job to remodel ALL the woodwork in the house...


Answer:
lol, i wish he'd fall for something like that I guess tonight we'll give it one last try with the bitter apple, but I know that my bf's patience is getting pretty short with Pocky. If it were just me I could ride all of this out and probably not care, but everything kind of hinges on if the bf says "He has to go" or not, so you can see why I stress a little more than normal. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't just stay single!


Answer:
I really don't know how else to say this so if I come off as a I am sorry. When adopting any animal, it is important to do research before placing them into your home. Every animal, I don't care what type of animal will have its positives and negatives. Chinchillas, unfortunately, have the tendency to be big time 'gnawers' (if that is even a word) and poop constantly because of the amount of fiber they eat. It is a shame your boyfriend can not accept Pocky's natural tendencies and it is even more unforunate research was not done before you adopted Pocky.


Answer:
I don't think it's cruel to have his playtime in the bathroom... it's more room than he has in his cage plus it's safer than possibly chewing the wrong thing (like electrical cords)... I let mine out into the bathroom every 2nd night (one a night)... unless I have a foster animal in there. I also find it a very convenient place since they do poop alot... I just keep a little broom/dust pan set handy and sweep up the poops when he's done playing. I hope you & your BF can work it out... did you both agree to get the chinchilla? Or did you have the chin b4 you moved in together?