Chin urinating everywhere except in litter tray

[charbean1]

Hello!
I got my 2 year old chinchilla about 3 months ago & she was in a cage i thought was quite small, so I got her a larger cage with 5 levels. She has been urinating down the bottom in the litter great. However, this last week, she has started peeing on the shelves and slopes!
They are plastic (which she doesnt chew btw) and am wondering if im better off replacing the shelves with wooden ones?
I dont understand why she was great and then this week decided she will pee everywhere else?! I always clean it as soon as i notice it and disinfect the areas to get rid of the smell, in the hope she wont think its her peeing area.....
Her last cage, because it was small was ontop of a unit but this one is on the ground, could that be a reason? - she no longer uses her nesting box which is low.... tends to sleep in her hammock at the top instead.

I just hope theres not something wrong in what im doing.....

Any help and advice would be much appreciated!!

 

[Godofgods]

It might not be the most plesent thing to think about, but you could try useing the litter to absorb some of the pee up when its in a bad spot, then put the litter back in the litter pan/litter area. Try and let the scent of it guide her to where she should.

All of mine however develop their own spot to go pee at. Some times just got to work around them lol. With multi level, its not uncommon for them to have more then one area tho. Example; my girls use 5 of the 8 corners specificly for it.

Do you have any pics of the new cage? Allways nice to see them.

As for changing plastic shelve to wooden ones. Thats uasly always a good idea anyway. They might not chew the plastic now, (that you see...) but they can always start chewing it at any time, as long as its their. Plus theirs the benefit from wooden shelves of simply having soemthing extra for them to chew on. (Mine chew the wooden ledges all the time) Just have to make sure its a safe wood.

 

[Cuddlebug]

A sudden change in bathroom habits could indicate a urinary tract infection. Is the chinchilla doing anything else unusual in the chinchilla's behavior?

 

[charbean1]

Thanks for your replies!

I have managed to change two of the slopes to wooden ledges which stopped the peeing "upstairs", she has now picked a slope near the bottom so am going to pick up some more ledges this weekend!

I had Cookie checked over at the vets when I first got her and she was given the all clear- since then nothing seems to be different!
She seems so much happier since having her new cage and it also means (since some extensive chin-proofing in my apartment) she can come in and out as she pleases when I'm home! (a good few hours at the very least)

I will try the litter idea too and see if it helps before I put the other ledges in

The cage I now have is an F13 cage - im still trying to work out how to add pics etc to posts lol

Thank you for your help and advice she is my first chinchilla so I do worry about her, naturally! )