Strong urine smell

[abbchin7]

Hi. I recently purchased 2, 8 week old male chinchillas from a breeder. One is standard grey, one is beige. I researched these pets for a month and was told multiple times that they are odorless. I am forced to clean their cage every 3 days because their urine is so smelly. Is this normal? Can anything be done to fix this? I use Carefresh Natural pet bedding. The packaging says #1 in odor control...obviously this is a farce. 2 days ago I started using Bi-Odor waste neutrilizer. I drop a few drops as directed in their water. That is supposed to take effect after a week or so. If I can't get their odor under control, I am not going to be able to keep them. Someone please help, I would be heartbroken if I had to get rid of them.

Thanks, Abby
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[cindyv3737]

I would switch your bedding. Carefresh has been known to cause impaction in chins. I personally use pine bedding. It smells good and I've never noticed a smell. I dont know anything about the water drops you are using.

 

[pinkpiggy1989]

Try putting a glass pyrex dish filled with bedding in the corner of the cage where they urinate the most. If possible, put a little bit of bedding that has already been urinated on in with it the first few times you change it, that way they can smell the scent. You'll still need to empty the litter pan every 2-3 days, but it wont smell up the entire cage since they'll mainly be urinating in one area.

 

[missjess10475]

Chin urine smells. I use fleece liners and change them every 2 days. I use Pyrex dishes for litter pans, but not all of them use them. I clean out the pans every day. Chins themselves should not stink, but yes, their urine does. I do quick clean ups daily. Change out liners every 2 days, and do thorough cleaning where I pull the pans, etc. all out and scrub everything once a week. They're not like hampsters that you can just let go for a week or two.
I used Carefresh for a while and didn't like the smell of it in general. Pine smells better but make sure it's kiln dried, and be prepared for messiness. They kick it all over the place. I have 8 chins and couldn't even imagine them NOT making a mess! They throw hay all over and kick bedding out of the cage constantly. There's no way to stop it.
I don't know what the drops are that you're putting in their water. I don't think it's natural for urine not to smell though, so I'd wonder what that's doing to their systems.

 

[mishellyshel]

also to note......sometimes when a chin is afraid he will let off an odor that smells like strong urine. i noticed that mostly with my two tx rescues.
i also use fleece with litter pans. i clean all poop, hay and dropped food every nite and dump their litter pans either every nite or every other. i am much less diligent about changing the liners and get to it maybe every 5 days. you have to be right up on their cages to smell any urine.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

One of the smelliest is when the chin pees on the hay. Remove any hay that is on the floor - it has probably been peed on

 

[momenteller]

I have not used fleece but I also recommend pine bedding. I think its masks the smell better. How big is their cage? When my girls were in smaller cages I had to change out the shavings almost every other day. As it is now, I have one girl in a two-level cage, and my other two girls in one-level cages. I have to clean the one-level cages much more frequently.

Good luck! I hope you can find something that works for you; chins are so much fun!