Chinchillas > Q & A

Behavior Change

(1/5) > >>

righteousrose:
Hello everybody,
As I stated when I first joined this forum, my husband and I found our chinchilla on the side of our country road as we were coming home about 9pm March 5th. Poor little thing was dehydrated, weak, and hungry. We assumed that someone had released her in the wild because we had put ads in the local paper and asked neighbors up and down the road if they knew who owned a chin. A few people wanted to take her in and take care of her. I just couldn't do it because she was really sweet and fun. We went on a search to find her a  chin friend. Our local pet store found us a 3 month old female. From the first moment they met they became friends. The problem is it seems our chinchilla has become a real touch-me-not. She used to like having her ears scratched and she would play with us. Now she doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with us. The baby is hard to catch and they both fight us tremendously when we try to hold them. We know we can't hold them for long periods but used to we could hold them for at least a minute. Are we doing something wrong? Is this just a phase the chins are going through? We have only had the baby since May 30. It's amazing how quickly our first chin changed. Please advise.  ::cry222:::

Asikovsek:
Have you spent a lot of time with them or have you just kind of let them go since they had eachother???....you have to gain a chinchillas trust and it is crutial when they are babies...how the babies are raised will affect how they act later....I handle my kits like crazy when they are little...then they are all for being handled when they are older....as far as the older chin that you found....this chinchilla has been severly tramatized...and I am so happy that you found it and are caring for it...but with tramatized chins it takes extra patients........do they like raisins?....I use raisins to gain my chinchillas trust.....you never want to just grab a chinchilla out of their cage....they know their cage as "their home" and safe place....I sit at the edge of the cage with the door open with a raisin...chins are suckers for raisins..lol....I break up the raisin into three pieces....when the chin comes to the cage door they get a treat showing it that its ok and I wont hurt them...sometimes they jump away so I wait...once they come to the door again i give another piece of raisin and if they stay at the door I try to pet it...if it lets me pet it I back up and let him or her jump out of cage and by then they are  more than willing to jump...round around and play.....I have found also that when you pair chinchillas that were not paired before their personality tends to change...I have a female that when she is by herself is the sweetest chin ever....when she is with her mate she tends to be more skiddish....they change personalities when their situations  change....and some chinchillas just dont like to be handled it makes them feel out of control....some of my chins will play and be happy as can be and let me pet them and they love it...but if I try to pick them up they go crazy.....do you know how to properly hold a chinchilla???...you should never grab them by the body....you can grab and hold them at the base of the tail....this gives the owner complete control...when I have to hold my chins that dont perfer to be held I just grab them by the base of the tail and hold them with one hand and brace their feet with my other hand....it doesnt hurt them as long as you brace their feet or body...it just takes time....chins are not lap dogs and take a lot of patients and earning their trust.....if you just grab them out of the cage they will see you as someone trying to hurt them or take them away from their safe place...and chins have very long memory...the older chin when grabbed probably thinks it is going to be thrown to the side of the road again...you just have to earn their trust and for the five month old..you need to take extra time with it...it is almost an adult now and it is crutial to try to break him of not wanting to be handled....if you need anything else let me know...and I hope my advice helps... ;)

~amber~

righteousrose:
Thank you for your most gracious help. My husband and I do have a very busy lifestyle and we thought the new baby chin would be good for her. One or both of us will get down on the floor and play with them in the morning and evening but sometimes they just don't want to have anything to do with us. Other times it's hard to make them stop. It was really funny, when we found our first chin, she came hopping toward the headlights from the side of the road like she understood that headlights meant help. She was in bad shape. We were in just total disbelief that someone could do that to such a precious animal! For heaven sake if you can't take care of it find someone who will, don't turn it loose in the middle of the Ozarks! It was just pure luck that we found her! Owls, coyotes and any number of other creatures could have gotten her including being run over by a car! I think it really traumatized me to find her like that. I knew absolutely nothing about chinchillas but soon found out how intelligent and affectionate they can be. They also seem to be very moody. I like and respect their independence. I guess it hurts my feelings when they don't want me to touch them even briefly  :). You asked if they like raisins. It is an addiction with these two! They will practically wrestle my arm to the floor to get to the box! How many is too many raisins? I want to give them all they want but more than three in the am and at night will give them the runs. I always give the baby the small raisins. Tell me if I'm doing something wrong here. I just don't know what is the best treats for them.
Thanks again for answering!

Asikovsek:
you can give them a number of different treats...with raisins 1-2 a day they love them but they are not always good for them... you can give them any kind of dried fruit that did not have a pit...peaches and stuff like that is a no no.. Shredded wheat cereal is my chins favorite just make sure its the kind without frosting...any treat in moderation...1-2 a day and shouldnt have any problems with them getting the runs...and what you could do is dont give them the treat until they let you pet them...once they let you pet them then they get the treat..they will catch on really quick...the treat is the way to train your chin to do anything..lol...and chins catch on to things really quick...if they dont let you pet them then they dont get the treat...and they will realize the reward system it just takes a little time....but they should catch on pretty quickly....you can also give the chins a little bit of live bacteria yogert...dannon makes a little six pack and it restores thier digestive system I give it to my chins atleast once a month to keep their digestive tract in tip top shape and it has done wonders!!...Goodluck with your chins and treats in moderation..lol...its like junk food..we love potatoe chips but too much and its gonna start showing...lol... :2funny:

righteousrose:
Thank you for the advice Asikovsek!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page