Author: JoAnn
Luv'N Chins
Chin Owners and Owners-to-be
Training Your Chinchilla
As far as training a chinchilla ... the fact that each chinchilla has a different personality can have a great deal to do with how much you can or can not 'train' them. The most important fact that has to do with training a chinchilla is how much time, love, attention and patients you have or willing to give to your chinchilla. All chinchillas are intelligent ... much more so than we give them credit for. How we focus this intelligence is a direct result of what they may learn to do.
Start Training With A Treat
Please note that I said "start" training with "a" treat. 'Start' is the optimum word, because chins love to please someone they love and care about and will eventually do things you ask or like, just to get your attention, your praise and/or to please you. 'A treat' means one treat (morning and/or evening) ... a chinchilla has a very delicate system and should not be given to many treats, or diarrhea may be the result you get and diarrhea can be deadly to a chin.
Try to use treats sparingly and only for special times or rewards. Never give treats through the wires of the cage ... someone may stick their finger into the cage and the chin will assume it is being offered a treat and bite the finger (especially if it smells of food). Each chin has a different tolerance to each treat. If you find your little one develops diarrhea after giving him/her a treat, either cut that particular treat out entirely or in-half. A raisin may look tiny to you, but when compared to the size of a chinchilla, it would be like handing you a raisin the size of a basketball. Please keep this in mind when offering your chin treats.
Young chins (kits) should be given treats very sparingly and in very small portions or not at all. A very young chin can often be trained with no treats ... just extra love and attention. You become it's 'parent' when it is removed from it's natural parent. It will depend on you for the love and attention it's mother gave it. Keep this in mind when you decide to get a chin. A healthy chin, taken care of properly can live to be 20+ years old. This is not a responsibility that should be taken lightly. The tricks or things you teach it will bring even more fun and happiness for both of you to the time you will spend together.
Basic training such as to come when you call or let you hold them can be started with a treat, this is done to gain their confidence and/or reward them. Their natural instincts are to come when food is offered, especially their favorite food such as a raisin, a cranraisin, or a rose hip. Remember 'a' or 'an' means only one, and that is one treat, not one of each!
I usually shake a plastic container with raisins in it and say "treat time" to get their attention and/or get them to come to me when they are playing 'hide and seek' or 'catch me if you can' and they will usually come running. Chins quickly learn to associate sounds and/or words with something they enjoy. I have yet to see a chin that will pass up a treat. Patients is also a necessity. Do not expect them to do things quickly. Chins are just like children, they will take time to train and, like children, they have a mind of their own and will 'come around to your way of thinking' when they are ready, which is not necessarily as early as you want them to be ready.
Once your trust has been earned and your love and affection is obvious to your chin, they will do things for you just to please you and not for the treat alone.
Never, never, never chase, hit grab at or yell at your chin. Confidence is lost easily but very hard to re-gain.
Training to do Tricks
Most chins learn by doing, inventing or copying other chins (good and bad habits or actions). Often they will teach themselves to do things that are out of the ordinary (such as flips or dancing) to get your attention. The 'training' part you have, is to name the 'trick' and make up a hand signal for what they are doing. Each and every time they do it, call it by name, use the hand signal and praise them for doing it. It will take little time for them to catch on to the fact that they will be praised with your words and attention by doing these tricks and will do it repeatedly for you.
Words such as 'dance' or a phrase such as 'dance for mommy' while making a circular motion with your hand over or above their head, 'flip' and the motion with your hand of going up and over could be used. The simpler the word and motion, the better.
Training Chins to Return to Their Cage
At the end of their daily playtime, offering them a treat to come to you and letting them eat it while you talk softly to them as you take them to their cage is a good way to start. Once they will do this readily, you can try just showing them the treat, carry them to the cage and give them the treat once you get them in the cage (with praise for being so good), is a good second step. A ramp going from the floor to the cage door will allow your chin to return to the cage when they (or you) are ready. Simple words such as 'kennel up', 'time to go home', 'rest time', 'treat time' or 'night-night' can signal to your chin that it is time to get into their cage and get a treat. It will take time, but be patient. Chins learn by doing something repeatedly.
Potty Training
As to 'training' them to 'go-potty' in a special place is one of the easiest and/or hardest things to 'train' a chin to do. When training one to urinate in a specific area ... they more or less will show you where they have chosen to go to take care of this. Chins usually pick only one place to urinate in the cage. It is up to you to find the spot in their cage they prefer using by feeling for the wet or damp spot or seeing it when you clean the cage. A heavy, non-tip ceramic container with a base about the same size as the chin, may be placed in this area with a small amount of the already dampened bedding in the same place he/she usually goes to urinate. They will smell it and usually realize this is where they usually go. By keeping it emptied on a daily basis, they will usually return to it to use it. It can be lined with bedding or a clay litter and dumped daily. The clay litter needs to be all natural clay or bedding with no odor-absorbing additives. Odor-absorbing chemicals or woods (such as chlorophyll or cedar) can be deadly to a chinchilla. They may be safe for other small animals, but not for chinchillas.
Attempts to train them to leave their droppings in a special area is almost impossible. It is their nature to leave their droppings any and every where they go. These are usually easily swept or vacuumed up.
Training
If you have been paying attention, you have realized the 'training of a chinchilla' is actually the training of yourself. Training yourself to pay attention to what your chin does, likes and will do. If you ignore your chin, he/she will ignore you and usually become depressed and unhappy, the same as you would under the same circumstances. If you pay attention to your chin, give it love, affection and attention you will find that he/she will return this love and affection many times over, in many ways.
Happy training and learning with your special chin!
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