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[Momosmom]

Hello all. I have a gorgeous 5 year old chinchilla named Momo who I rescued 2 years ago. She has always been very shy, so when I brought her home, I tried not to be too pushy with her, and to let her come to me eventually. I wasn't ever expecting her to be a lap pet, but she still doesn't even let me pet her unless it's through the bars of her cage (which she does--or did, as you will read, seem to like). She gets scared if I so much as open the door, and will run into her little wooden house. During out of cage playtime, she bolts directly for my couch, and hides under there the entire time. I've tried all the bonding tips I've read, including talking to her softly by her cage every day, nuzzling her with my nose instead of petting her with my fingers, etc. For the most part, she doesn't seem too interested in my attention, and at worst, she actively avoids it. I expected this the first few months, but not after two years of patient, loving care
Things got worse a month ago when I had to put her on antibiotics. This involved catching her in her cage twice a day for 10 days to give her medication. I tried to make it as non-scary for her I could--avoiding catching her from the "top" like a bird, speaking to her in a soothing tone, etc. But the poor thing would shiver the entire time I held her, and she has not been the same since. Now, two weeks after her final dose, she still won't even accept a treat from me through the bars! In fact, she runs to hide if she even hears me near her cage.
I would love to have a better relationship with her. Again, I fully accept her and have no expectations for her to ever enjoy being held. She is in her forever home and I will love her even if she is not so keen on me. It just seems like she could be less anxious. I want her to be happy. I don't know what her previous owner was like, although at the rescue, they told me she was never neglected/abused and had an owner who loved her. She was also surrendered with her sister, but she turned on her sister, and they told me she would be happiest as a solo chin (otherwise I would've looked into a companion for her.) Any ideas? I feel like I've tried it all, including simply giving it time, but I'm hoping someone has some input for me! Thanks.

[Flint]

Some chinchillas never accept handling or direct interaction, so please be prepared for this to possibly be the case with yours. You are doing everything to the best of your capability so please don't beat yourself up. If your girl is anxious when out of her cage, then try not letting her out for several weeks and see if this may help. It is not essential that chins have regular out of cage exercise. Try building up the relationship with her from scratch, making slow movements inside her cage, for example picking up and replacing her toys, food bowl eats, while totally ignoring her and see if this helps. Please let us know how you get on.

[GrayRodent]

Yes it is true chinchillas can have different personalities and some, although rare, will never accept human interaction. This is true in all kinds of pets. So with that in still in
 mind you don't know how it's going to turn out.

I think there are few mistakes being made. I recommend removing hiding places from the cage. Even a tame chinchilla will normally run under the sofa or into a dark place when out of the cage. It is rare when you don't see this behavior. Inside of the cage a hiding place can incite the animal to be more territorial and aggressive once inside. Most meaningful interaction with my own pets takes place inside of the cage and at the cage.

Chinchillas that are allowed to run around in large areas will also tend to act more wild. There is no real need to do that. At the very least limit that time to no more than 5-10 minutes per day. For training purposes just try cutting that time out completely for a few weeks, and try again at the cage. I think you'll find your pet will take more interest in you.

I do take them out of the cage and hold them for a minute or so and pet them and let them crawl around on my shoulders. This is a second step once you've master the inside-of-cage interaction. Chinchillas can be trained to stay in your lap but it is difficult and requires blocking them and preventing them from jumping which can be stressful, even for a tame chinchilla, so you before you go to that step your chinchillas must be comfortable with you at the other stages first.

[Devynthecatwithsocks]

I may be able to help. I have tamed many animals who don't trust people. What I would do is while she is eating see if she will let you watch while standing in front of the cage. If not take a few steps back. Eventually she will get used to you there while eating and at this point you can take a few steps foward and see if she is fine with that. If so watch her eat while standing in front of the cage for a week, at any distance that she is ok with. After a while of doing this you can see if you can touch the cage bars or slightly open the cage. Progressively get to the point where you can have your hand resting in the cage while eating. Talking to her through this entire process will help. If she is fine with that see if you can gently pet her. If you get to this point, it would be a amazing change. You can stop at that or you can continue to try to build a better bond. See if she will eat out of her food bowl while you are holding or touching it. This is a bigger step and she might be uncomfortable. If she gets used to that see if she will eat out of your hand.  In my experience, if an animal trust you around their food it is the greatest honor you can get from them. I would however for the next week, before starting this, leave her be to calm down. I would wait 2 weeks for you to let her out. When you do I would get small treats and see if she will come to you. If she does give her one and start rewarding her for being around you. I would make sure there is nothing she can crawl under or jump on. The best way to do this is to use pillows to cover areas or use cut up, flattened box to cover the areas. This will take time and don't push and of the training to far too fast. You know your chinchilla better than anyone and if you think she is too stressed out during these times, take a step back. One last thing. If she panics during these training methods and runs away, don't completely walk away, just take a step or two back. If you walk away she will learn that all she has to do to get you away from her is to run away. Like the others said she may never warm up to you. 5 years old is pretty old to be teaching social skills and she may never learn. Also do you know where she came from? What her past home was like? Mine was neglected and took her a while to get used to me. If she was abused in her former home her behaviors would make a lot of sense and would just take more time and patience. It could also be that she is shy. Chinchillas are weird little creature with different personalitys so just take it slow.

[GrayRodent]

Chinchillas are challenging creatures to tame. Chances are you will still be making progress in small steps even a year from now. I have one chinchilla who is very tame in regard to being handled but if he gets away he will run and hide and we have a horrible time catching him he's about 7 years old. I have another who is the exact opposite and won't run even you put him in the middle of the floor. Each chinchilla can be a widely different experience.

[Commo]

Chinchillas are challenging creatures to tame. Chances are you could use electric log splitters and will still be making progress in small steps even a year from now. I have one chinchilla who is very tame in regard to being handled but if he gets away he will run and hide and we have a horrible time catching him he's about 7 years old. I have another who is the exact opposite and won't run even you put him in the middle of the floor. Each chinchilla can be a widely different experience.

Is it fair to say that this depends on the personality of a specific chinchilla too? They're all different, right?

[GrayRodent]

All animals have different personalities. They also have similar basic natural instincts. Chinchillas in the wild live under rocks. They hide during the day from predators and are active when it is dark. I think it is rare to have a pet that doesn't automatically look for a dark place to hide, although I do have one like that.