Please help me with new chin owner trouble!

[smokie]

My youngest chinchilla won't come out of his cage before 8pm.  I'm not kidding, before 8pm it's like he's terrified of me.  After 8pm he's dancing to come out and jumps into my hands.   

Was happy going back in his cage until I moved and since then never wants to go back in.  I use a box with a hole in it as a sandbath so he's out he goes in and out of that a couple of times and when I want to put him away I just wait until he goes for a bath, put my hand over the hole and move the box to the cage. 

This link below shows a sort of 'human' equivalent of this trick!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVWJmUK1Yc0

[chingirls]

from what I have been reading, chasing your chinchilla is a no no. it scares them, they hate that. as for getting him to be a more handled pet like a dog or cat.  it can be done. I have been reading about it.

[jrod1195]

Chinchillas hate being chased around. If I had to guess about it (And I'm just guessing) maybe it triggers some sort of natural reaction, I mean, in the wild all they have to rely on is they're speed to get away from threats. I would try just sticking my hand in the cage and speaking softly to him, let him come to you if he wants.

[Hoppinchins]

Chasing isn't good and it doesn't make it any easier to catch them. I got smart and would block them off so it got to a point if pogo got out i knew where he was going and i'd block out the other part of my room. I'd wait till he came back out and cought him by blocking the rest of it off with the play fency and also using blankets.

[smokie]

I had one chin originally (she's still my favourite!!) but got her a buddy because it seemed so sad for her to be alone.  Now they are permanently squashed up against each other.  You might find your chin settles once she's got a friend as her cage won't be so lonely!
With regards to getting chins in, well i've got different tactics!
Maggie my rescue chin actually just goes straight into her cage as soon as i want her away (she's a mind reader), smokie insists on circling the room twice to show that she's boss  then goes in and Yuri puts himself in as soon as i put the chair up to the cage (his cage is quite high up).  To get to this stage with them I discovered that it's best not to have to chase them into their cage, i just let them out for hours so that they are happy to put themselves back to bed. I think routine is the secret.  Every night they are out a couple of hours and then they go away to their cage, the safe place where i won't pester them.  With yours, it might be an idea to make his cage a 'safe' zone where you don't chase him out of it or even try to stroke him, make it the nice food zone and quiet place and then he'll love it there.

Good luck!

[sarahlydear]

Something I do is I give rolled oats as the good boy treat(when he comes to greet me at the front of the cage or comes over to me at play time) and then when I hold Herby I take half of a raisin and while I'm holding him I give him little sections of that, then after an amount of time(I run out of raisin pieces) I put him down and give him the other half of the raisin. As the holding times get longer I'll probably start using more oats in between and eventually go down on the amount.
Then when I want him to go back in his cage I have a timer go off and when he easily goes back into the cage I give him another half of a raisin. Now my raisins are pretty small and since we're in a training "season" I see that as being OK.

[sandrajoan22]

My chins do this too... I made a game out of chasing them! (Well... more of a trick. But I think they like it!) What I do is I sit in the middle of the room, and when they come up to me, I tap them on the back. They run away, and then come back, and I tap them on the back again. Eventually they keep coming up just to get a tap on the back, and then I just grab their tail, tap them, and pick them up! Then they get a variety of happy "good chinchilla!" noises from me, and promptly get a treat when back in their cage.

My chin Spice has figured the "game" out though, so what I do now is I open the can of rasins, set it out, lay on my bed, and wait for the little stinker to come try to gourge on the treat! Then I snatch her right up. Hay also works for that. Just be patient and not forceful, and make sure you have plenty of play time for them, and catch time for you. If you get frustrated, they get antsy and stay away. So just stay calm, be patient, and let him have fun! Good luck!  

[Hoppinchins]

That little 'game' is a cute idea. Mine have play time in an enclosed play pen now, so no more trying to catch them.