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[sdellin]

I have a new chinchilla.  I believe he is two years old.  He was purchased and then surrendered to the SPCA, then adopted out and offered to me by the new owner.  I have a lot of animals and keep them once I make a commitment to them, so this guy has a stable home now.

My question is:  What should I expect form him as far as touching/handling/etc.?  Also, will he learn to run on a wheel?

He loves being rubbed behind the ears and will tolerate me petting him down the back a few times, and he likes his tummy rubbed if I catch him stretched up on the cage.  I have been working with him slowly, trying to make friends with him.  I have seen definate progress in that he seems to be getting used to me, so will come to me for a treat and allow some touching.  I want to be able to pick him up and stoke his back, cuddle him, that kind of thing, but I've read some conflicting information.  Some sources say they don't like to be held and some sources say they like cuddling with their owners.  I bought two play pens and I put them together outside his cage every evening so he can get some exercise, he loves coming out and always protests when it's time to go back in the cage.  I also bought him a saucer-type exercise wheel and a regular enclosed plastic wheel, neither has bars to catch tail or legs in.  He has not figured out how to use them yet.

What have your experiences been?  Any tips appreciated.

[seaknife]

I think most chins are too "busy" to take much petting and cuddling. They like it for a few minutes, then they are off again and will return in a bit for more petting. There are a few though that actually do like to be held and loved on for extended periods. Out of 20, we have 4 like that. Only one of those is a male and only 1 of those females doesn't get ancy after 20 minutes.
Have you tried letting him run on the couch & watch tv with you?

[Jenova]

In my opinion it takes a year of owning a chinchilla for them to fully trust you. Try setting a chair up by the door of the cage with your knees level to it and let him run onto your lap on his own. Try giving him oats as a treat when he does. After a month or so of doing that start to cuddle him to your chest when he comes out and reward him. Most likely he will run back to the safety of the cage. But he'll come back because being on your lap it is quite easy for him to "pretend" to fall onto the floor and have a run around.

Just keep trying a bit at a time. He may never be cuddly but he may learn to sit on your shoulder or something similar.

If I hold mine, I like to have their feet resting on one hand and their front paws on my arm so they're kind of standing up. They seem to be more comfortable that way, although my girl will always jump onto my shoulder instead.

[nemue]

Sounds to me as though you're already made great progress.  When I adopted my girls, it was four months before I could touch them.  Over time you will get to handle them more, so if you're starting like that, that's a great sign!

I've heard it can take a few months for them to figure out a flying saucer.  But, listen at the door at night, because some chins are closet runners, and are too shy to run in front of their people.  Mine were like that for a few months. 

good luck!

[sdellin]

Thanks all for the advise.  We seem to be getting closer.  Every time I go anywhere near the cage, he stands up and reaches for me (or the treat he thinks I may have... maybe he doesn't know he's limited so he won't get fat!).  He closes his eyes now when I rub his neck or behind the ears.  You advise seems right on, he's climbing on my lap, likes petting or rubbing for only short periods of time and for the most part, seems very busy, so he takes off just running around the cage for no reason at all.  He's not running on the saucer yet, but I did put a silent wheel in his cage so maybe he can get used to that first.

Can you all tell me what kind of toys you have for your chins? I bought some tubes and some wood chews of various kinds, but I don't want him to get bored.  Can they chew leather, like the kind on parrot toys, I'm thinking of the ones that hang and have bells on the bottom.

[Jenova]

I only ever go for: wood (pine or apple), loofah and cardboard. You can get all sorts of dangly things which they seem to love. Wooden parrot toys and things. But make sure you take any string off because it can get stuck in their gut. I even bought a perch for my two with little bells on it. Anything that's interesting to chew. The best thing really is to buy a length of chain with a keyring on each end. Take a keyring of and thread different bits of wood onto it and then secure it again.
A wooden box to sleep in makes an excellent toy too and the more noise it makes when they chew it the more they seem to like it...
Plus all sorts of cardboard tubes (there is a brand called chubes which i find really good) a few (brown) toilet paper tubes and cardboard boxes. But make sure they don't eat too much cardboard. They chew it up, one of mine leaves it all over the floor of the cage and the other one has a tendency to actually ingest the cardboard so I have to watch him.

I also used to have wooden parrot ladders in the cage. I used them for about a year and my two loved them. But they started to pee on the bottom of them and I thought it was getting a bit unhygienic so I took them out.