Peeing on his wood shelf constantly:(

[KristinC1983]

Okay, so my little guy, Sunny, is peeing on one of his wood shelves all the time. Let me see if I can figure out how to post a pic of his cage on the thread...

I don't know if that worked, lol. If it did, it's the bottom of the top half of the cage where he's peeing and it's so hard to remove and clean good It's where he used to pee before the addition. Maybe he doesn't feel like going all the way down or he still thinks it's ok to pee there?

Is there an easier way I could clean it, or any suggestions on how to cover the wood so when he pees there, it won't be soaking the wood anymore? He doesn't need that big of a hole there, so if there's a metal pan I could get (24"x24") with a hole that'd line up somewhere with that hole, I'd be happy to get it. Then I'd put fleece there as well just like on the very bottom. I saw that many of you in the Ferret Nation Club have that, but I don't know if/where I can get a metal pan that'd fit there.

Any help, I would LOVE you for!!!!

Yah! It worked-sort of, lol! The top 1/2 that's shorter is his old cage-I wanted him to have a wider cage though, so I sat the old one on top. It's weird but he loves it and I can sit on the ledge to reach the top, lol-I'm only 5ft 2in, so the cage is a bit taller than me. And that pic was taken a few months ago before his new Chin Spin, a few other changes like goodbye to my cardboard barriers around the cage, and before I covered the very bottom wire floor with fleece-I thought one level of wire would be ok and easier to clean. It was easier to clean, but I started worrying about his feet and decided it wasn't worth the risk! Still uses his litter box most of the time, though, which is a huge help Just wish he'd stop going on the one wood shelf.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

You could try putting a glass baking dish with shavings there to act as a litter pan - or you can order a custom metal one to fit from Bass Equipment www.bassequipment.com.

nice cage! I love seeing the handmade ones.

 

[KristinC1983]

Well, I'm not the builder of that cage, or any cage, lol! I do what I can to help, but not 'allowed' to do a lot, lol, besides sanding (which I do like crazy cause I love smooth edges-might as well be good at the one thing I can do). My father is the big builder-he's been building animal cages his whole life, and since I was born, ferret cages, iguana cages, rabbit cages, chemelian cages, and snake cages. Any pets I get in the future, I'm sure he'd love to build their cages as well (except guinea pigs for my daughter cause I really llike C&C cages). I showed him the drop in pan from that website and he's already coming up with things he could do instead, lol. I just tell him what I want basically and he goes nuts, adding stuff, rolling his eyes as he takes stuff away, lol. He's at the moment fixing a more stable way to attach my chins Chin Spin cause some of the cage rattles since its momentarily just attached to wire cloth.

Thanks sooo much for the ideas. I like the pan-they have a 24"x24" which is exactly what I need. But if he starts getting all complicated besides cutting a hole in it and liniing the hole with something safe so it isn't sharp, I'll just do a litter pan Sunny already uses a glass casserole dish on the bottom, so he'll know what it is, lol!

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I think the litter pan would be simplest - if you do go the pan route, Bass does custom pans and I am pretty sure people with ferret nations get custom pans with the holes already cut out and the edges already rolled. It would be safer to buy the edges already rolled so you don't have to modify and bend the pan. You will just need to tell the people at Bass what you want and the dimensions - they are really nice. I can tell you from experience that chin will keep peeing there once they've decided to do it.

 

[Stackie]

For my really bad shelf pee-ers, I went to Lowe's and bought granite tile (looks like the chin chillers). I had them cut to size of the shelves, then secured them on top of the wood with industrial stregth velcro. Now when they pee on the shelf, I can just wipe it up. The shelves have been covered with the granite for over a year now and it's worked wonderfully.

For pee stains on wood itself, I use peroxide. It takes the stains right off. Then I do a quick wipe down with water/vinegar.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Please tell your dad he is more than welcome to build my chins a cage! I have 4: 2 boys and 2 girls so they would need to be 2 separate cages! Those are just AWESOME!!!

 

[ticklechin]

I tiled all my wood shelves, cool on the chins feet and easy wipe up.

 

[KristinC1983]

Bostongirl, he makes great cages, but if I could do it all over again, I'd probably be a member of the ferret nation club-all that wood is hard to cover up so Sunny can't pee on it, but slowly his cage is being modified so it's easier to clean. He also eats his cage, lol, a LOT, but even if he got all the way thrrough, he couldn't get past the wire cloth, thank God, cause eventually, even if it's 10 years from now, he will!!!!

LOL, if he hears tile, it WILL be tile. He's a carpet installer-has been for like 35 years, so we have loads of stuff around the house-that's what he does-he just really likes to build stuff around here, like the decks, solar room, cages of course, and a bunch more.

The only isssue I'd have with tile is that there's a border (I guess I could say border-not a builder-about 1 in. high maybe) around that shelf of wood-shows it more clearly in the 2nd pic-has his dust on it, lol-he gets it everytime he pees. That's what makes it more complicated. When that was his cage, there was this lino stuff in it (he couldn't possibly get to it to chew), but he'd still pee on that border-the fleece liner helped with that, though.

I'll see which he'd like doing better-and I remember on the ferret nation club seeing the pan cut with the hole, so that'd work, too. You all are just great

 

[chinchillalover0927]

i have to say that cage is amazing. Id love to be your chinnie If i didnt have so many chins id love to build a huge custom cage for them!!

 

[6Dusters]

:hair: Chins peeing on ledges. I'm sure that is where the phrase " pea brain comes from. "
I use Murphy's Oil Soap and some hot water. Then follow up by drying them with paper towels.

 

[CJR]

For my really bad shelf pee-ers, I went to Lowe's and bought granite tile (looks like the chin chillers). I had them cut to size of the shelves, then secured them on top of the wood with industrial stregth velcro. Now when they pee on the shelf, I can just wipe it up. The shelves have been covered with the granite for over a year now and it's worked wonderfully.

For pee stains on wood itself, I use peroxide. It takes the stains right off. Then I do a quick wipe down with water/vinegar.

That is the best idea I've ever heard of concerning shelves and peeing... Bessie pees on EVERYTHING and refuses to use a litter pan for peeing - she'd rather move all the shavings out and sleep in it. -_-;

Do you think I could use industrial glue to secure the granite to the shelf?

 

[Essentia]

I have also started to do the same thing as Stacie. I also angle the shelves downward just a tad that way the urine runs off onto the liner. Works great.

 

[leni]

That is the best idea I've ever heard of concerning shelves and peeing... Bessie pees on EVERYTHING and refuses to use a litter pan for peeing - she'd rather move all the shavings out and sleep in it. -_-;

Do you think I could use industrial glue to secure the granite to the shelf?

Wow Atlas is the same exact way with his litter pan. Those 2 should have a love connection haha. But seriously, that is a good idea. He doesn't pee on the wood yet but I'm sure he's thinking about it.

 

[mommyslittlechins2010]

that's a nice big cage . did you make that? i want to build a cage jsut like that

 

[KristinC1983]

that's a nice big cage . did you make that? i want to build a cage jsut like that

If you mean me, lol, my dad built it. The top, smaller part was the his original cage made out of wire cloth and kiln-dried pine. My dad first built it many years ago for his chamelions, lol, but once they died, it was just sitting out in the solar room uninhabited by anything but a few gross spiders and dried up bugs I scrubbed that thing a few times like a mad woman before I got my guy (bleach, soap, vinegar-lots of rinsing) and sanded down the wood a bunch, and my dad put the shelves in, and lino on the bottom where Sunny couldn't get it, but it was easier to clean-just wood would've been nasty! But after a few months of Sunny living in it, I mentioned adding on, and before even the day was done, my dad was planning, lol-he loves building cages! I wanted wider, so that's how the old became the top. The ledge helps me reach the high spots though, and Sunny likes to sit on it and the door after his laps. I'm happy he doesn't still climb up to the very top, though. That'd scare the crap out of me, cause the cage is a few inches taller than me! It's all kiln-dried pine and wire cloth, though. I think its actually cheaper to buy a ferret nation, plus all the woods a pain too clean-especiallly when he pees on a little of it-but I love the cage And most important, SUnny does, too!