Wet bedding , what should i do ?

[Nickv0195]

So my female chinchilla Tilly and her two kits share a cage (well i rotate the kits every two hours) and Tilly seems to pee write in front of her waterbottle, now at first i thought that the water bottle might be leaking , but that water bottle doesn't leak so it seems like she goes right where her water bottle is , but it could also be water. So now the bedding infront of her water bottle is wet and i know that thats not good for them to be walking in wet bedding and it gets wet everyday and instead of having to change the whole entire cage bedding because that would be wasteful i just change the area thats wet, is that what i should do ? or should i change the whole cage ?

 

[StevieP]

I would smell the wet bedding to make sure it is pee and not water just so you know if your bottle is leaking. Either way I would just change the area that is wet and of course change all of the bedding on your normal cage cleaning day.

 

[Nickv0195]

OKay , thank you

I would smell the wet bedding to make sure it is pee and not water just so you know if your bottle is leaking. Either way I would just change the area that is wet and of course change all of the bedding on your normal cage cleaning day.

 

[Chinmama]

I have the same thing going on, and it's the water bottle. I think it must only leak when she is on her wheel because I haven't seen it leak otherwise.

I have a sand bucket and shovel (like you would use to build sand castles) that I use to scoop it out. I scoop and replace that area every other day. I'm trying to convince the hubby that we need to try fleece liners with a litter pan in her cage, but he must enjoy digging with the shovel because he isn't having anything to do with fleece liners idea.

 

[Nickv0195]

Yah i was thinking about fleece liners, but then i know how much chinchillas go and that means i would have to replace them everyday right ?

I have the same thing going on, and it's the water bottle. I think it must only leak when she is on her wheel because I haven't seen it leak otherwise.

I have a sand bucket and shovel (like you would use to build sand castles) that I use to scoop it out. I scoop and replace that area every other day. I'm trying to convince the hubby that we need to try fleece liners with a litter pan in her cage, but he must enjoy digging with the shovel because he isn't having anything to do with fleece liners idea.

 

[StevieP]

You are right Ann - some water bottles leak when the chin runs on their wheel. If the cage shakes hard enough, the balls inside the nozzle will bounce (lift) and let some water out.

 

[Chinmama]

You would need to replace them quite often, it just depends.

 

[Cuddlebug]

i have a bottle that leaks when the chins are on their wheel. I just placed a bowl beneath the bottle. That solved the problem.

 

[Sandi]

As far as fleece liners are concerned, if you have only 1 chin in the cage then I would replace the liners every 3-4 days but with multiple chins, I had to replace the liner every other day.

 

[Laurie]

You can try to use litter pans for your chins with shavings, tile or fleece liners. You just have to try to notice in the cage where the pee most--if you're lucky it's in the back of the cage. Take new shavings put them in the litter pan, take a small amount of shavings they have wasted on already and put this in the cage with them. They should start to use the litter pan the most and not wet the shavings, tiles or fleece liners as much. All my chins have litter pans--glass pyrex dishes, I used it with shavings and are now using it with fleece liners. Leonard, a single chin can go a whole week without a new liner as he is great about using his litter pan. As far as the litter pan cleaning goes I clean all of my chins litter pans every 3 days whether they are single chins or a cage with two chins.

 

[caiti]

My chinchilla pees underneath her water bottle. She did it in both her cages so I think it's a habit of hers. I have the bottle at the most convenient place. I could move it, but I think she would follow it. I have no idea why she does that but I've seen her pee underneath it many times so I know it's not leaking and I watch the water level. I just scoop up the litter and take some clean shavings from the bag or grab some clean shavings with a paper towel from the middle of her cage if I replaced the shavings recently. Just change out the spot every day or two, depending on how often your chin does it if you know the bottle isn't leaking.