Drinking pee!?

[Tillygizmo]

So today I noticed Tilly peed, and then turned around and licked it up!! (ew) and is this normal? I only noticed it this one time thought. YUCK

 

[Sandi]

Yeah, I don't know if its normal either, I witnessed one of my boys do this one time during playtime only when they were in the bathroom. They have shavings in their cage and never saw them doing that in there. Ditto on the yuck!

 

[IslandDreamer322]

Hmmm- I have never experienced that with my boys... that I know of anyway!! Sometimes chins just do gross things!!

 

[ABBY W.]

I can't say I've ever noticed my chins drinking pee, but they do eat poop so I guess it's not surprising. I second the previous "yucks" and want to add "ICK! EWWW!"

 

[Tillygizmo]

Yeah, for some reason drinking the pee grosses me out way more than eating poo....perhaps I am desensitized and also because I know they do it for the nutrients...the pee is just odd with clean water at their beck and call

 

[Stackie]

It's normal, but I couldn't tell you why they do it.

 

[rach-elie]

My boys do this too. If one of them happens to pee on the carpet while they're out for playtime and I don't get to it fast enough they'll both sit there and sniff at it then lick at it. I haven't seen them do this in their cage but they definitely do it outside of the cage.

 

[Cuddlebug]

I have seen one of my males drink a female's pee. This happens quite often actually.

 

[jmdebb]

My one male will lick up any pee he finds on the floor from my female when she comes out. If I don't pick it all up [and not that I don't try to, but sometimes I miss some of it when she goes] and my male comes out after her, I'll see him licking it up, and I agree with everyone on the YUK!!! I can deal with them eating their pooh, but for some reason, licking up the pee really gets to me.

Jean

 

[seachin]

I would hypothesize that they drink their pee as a means of conserving water or vitamins/minerals via recycling.

 

[Nancy S]

Mine have done it too--mostly with each other's urine. They definately are obsessed with it and it drives me nuts! And, i've learned telling them "no" does not stop them. And, it's gross-and i "second Abby W's ICK!:"hehe

 

[AZChins]

I've seen them do the same thing. Seachin could be right about them wanting to recycle some minerals possibly. More often than a chin sniffing or drinking his own pee I've seen them do it with other chins' urine. Most of the time it's with a male doing that where a female urinated! I always thought that it was because he was reacting to the hormones present in the urine.

 

[cherylslittleangels]

its usually my males or dominant females that I notice this in. I also notice that alot of them pee in the same spot too. Kinda like dogs.