Wierd chinchilla behavior?

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MiloTheChin

Milo is my baby boi
Joined
May 5, 2018
Messages
7
Location
Canada
Hi,

I just adopted a new black velvet chinchilla named Milo less then a week ago. He is about a year old according to the last owners. I have starter to put my hand in the cage and he like to bite at my sweaters and sniff me.

He is more active at night which doesn't bother me at all but he can sometimes be inactive and likes to sit right in the middle of the two levels of his critter nation cage. He will sit there for hours and won't move. Is this normal behavior? Is it just a sign of stress or just trying to get used to his new environment?

My other question is his pee. He has a litter box he will pee in but he will also pee right outside his food bowl and it kinda smells. I heard that it's not normal for chins pee to smell bad so again I ask could this be because of stress or is it something I should have the vet check out? I'm afraid il just stress him out more with a visit to the vet and find out it's nothing.

Thank you!
 
If he is otherwise acting normal, it's possible he is just sleeping in the middle of the cage. Chins can sleep with their eyes open, and sleeping out in the open is a good sign he feels safe.

The pee itself should just smell like pee, but if they pee on something like their pellets or hay, that can cause a bad smell. Pee soaked hay stinks, so you need to make sure you clean up any hay on the floor of the cage everyday, at least in areas he pees. If you are also talking about the pee in the litter box smelling too, what are you using for litter? and how often are you changing it?
 
The pee in his litter box smells fine. I'm using aspen shavings and he's using that well. When he pees right by his food dish (not on the pellets but arund the dish) I can smell a bad musk. In that situation he just pees on the plastic of his critter nation cage. I clean his litter box every couple of days and the pee on the ground I clean as soon as I see it
 
I assume he is sleeping since he doesn't react to my hand right away but now that's also concerning me lol.

His litter box is aspen shavings and the scent is hidden by the Aspen. I can really only smell it when he pees around his food bowl ( He doesn't pee on the pellets) I clean his litter box every couple of days and the pee on the ground I clean as soon as I see it.
 
Weird behavior

Hello!

Ya I'm starting to begin to think he is just sleeping, mostly cause it will take him time to realize my existance or my hand that I pu infront if him.

His litter box has aspen shavings in them and they smell normal. When he pees outside of his food dish and I go to clean it up it smells weird. He doesn't pee on the pellets though. I clean his litter box every couple of days and the pee on the ground I clean as soon as I see it.

I'm also wondering what else could I do to bond with me? He seems more interested in escaping then trying to bond with me. He has hid under the cabinet twice and one time he hadent came out for hours so I had to get him from under there. I gave him time to adjust but I was wondering what else I could so. I at least want him like me a bit
 
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