Chinchilla chat/help please?

[greatBritishBogOff]

We rescued our chin two years ago (second one I've owned). Recently I've noticed his urine absolutely stinks! He's started wearing in his bowls and all around them, and I think he has just started chucking all the food out to do so!

I've also noticed urine stains all up the wall behind his cage I guess sprayed?? His urine is really dark I think too.

His cage is very tall, four levels, he has a wooden box, hammock, hay, daily dust baths and a run out of his cage several times a week (I try to to daily/every other day) in the evenings. Is he stressed/unhappy? He's in a pretty busy area of the house but nothing's changed. I'm really fond of him but the smell is intolerable. Can anyone more knowledgeable advise please?

I don't even know if he is a He 😳

Firstly, re whether he is a 'he', we have two male chinchillas and it is ahem obvious they are boys if you pick them up

Has he been on his own for long? Could it be loneliness? They are very social creatures and as far as I know, don't do particularly well on their own.

Have you tried moving and/or changing his food bowl?

Is he drinking enough water? Dark pee might be dehydration.
Is he put off using the water bottle at all? Maybe he cannot physically get the water out? Maybe the bottle or the water tastes off? Is it mildewey at all if its been in direct light?

Do you put his bowls in the dishwasher? Does he dislike the detergent?
Has there been anything round him that he wants to mask? Detergents, Air Freshener?

Is your heating on?
And chance a neighbours cat has got in and peed near him?
Anything changed in his dry food? Sometimes they do New&Improved and it might not agree with him.

I hate him being on his own. When we got him we were told he used to live with another one but they fought quite badly, were separated and that was that.

I don't think he does drink much. I'll have a good look at the bottle he has. Shall I give him a dish of water too?

It's the spraying I'm most concerned about, dh is really pissed off. We had the house decorated last year and the wall behind his cage is ruined. I can't think of any reason from your list. Nothing has changed for him. Bowls washed by hand (washing up liquid used).

Hey I have two chinchillas who are both coming up to being 5 years old however one of the sisters lost all its teeth last year! She had broken one tooth which ended up damaging them all as all of them had to come out by the vet however during her not having teeth she refused to eat and became increasingly skinny so we had to syringe liquid food into her mouth during this long process her coat on her chin started to clump together due to her saliva and the liquid food. She is on the mend now however her coat has gotten much worse and her faeces is catching on it while she is moving around, the poor girl looks a state. She is very stubborn and won't let us brush her. We give them regular sad baths but nothing seems to help. Any advise would be greatly appreciated for the cleaning of her coat.