1. I put new toys in my chins cage every week, but I don't mess with the basic setup is.
I tried it in the past and mine don't like it so...
Doesn't really matter i guess as long as everything is there
2. I had the same problem.
- You could put the hay in a feeding bowl, but mine just dragged it out right away.
- You could put it into one of these metal balls that you can hang up in the cage, but I don't like this since I have heard and read many stories of peoples chins hanging themselves in it.
I have a small house where they like to go to nap especially during daytime (or when the lights are on) and i put their hay in there. They eat the hay inside their little house, and its rare that i find some in another spot.
You could also go for alfalfa cubes, since these are a neat alternative; they supply your animal with the same food, but in a compressed and thus less messy way.
Not every chin likes these though.
3. you can potty train them, so they pee in a bowl, but they poo whenever and wherever they feel like it (even in mid-air)
This doesn't work with every chin, but if you are lucky...
My chins come from a breeder where they were on shavings. I have put them into a big metal cage with wooden planks as floor. Then I have put in 2 aluminium dog feeding bowls (the cheap kind) in there with shavings in them.
Dunno if it is the association they make with the shavings or I am just lucky, but they pee almost every time in the bowls. Sometimes there is a little "accident" somewhere, but it's rare.
Dunno if your method with the droppings would work, but imo the best way is just to look where they pee (mostly in a corner) and then put a bowl there.
a few more poty training tips
- make sure the "pee-bowl" looks different then the one that holds their food (at the start I had the same bowls, they went in both
)
- be sure the bowls are heavy enough otherwise you will be busy cleaning up the shavings in the cage all the time
- don't wash out their potty every time, if you completely remove the scent you could also remove their association bowl=pee
- if you have troubles covering all the spots they pee, buy more bowls and remove one every week. That way you got every spot covered at first and narrow it down later on
- if they do pee somewhere they aren't supposed to, be sure to clean with some vinegar/water mix. It may stop them from doing their thing there
hope this was of any help for you!
